Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I raced through the castle and out onto the grounds, holding up the blasted skirt of the over–the–top dress in two angry fists. The high heels I was wearing weren’t helping me any as I made my way over the uneven ground,

How could he? How could he send Shawn off like that?

I remembered Shawn’s sad words to me, that Hale could, indeed, send him away to prevent him from mating me. I hadn’t wanted to believe it. I didn’t want to think Hale could be so petty.

But Shawn had been right. Now, all I could do was try to make it to him in time.

I’d shift, soon, and run through the woods. I’d drag his drunken ass back by the scruff of his n*eck if I had to.

I wasn’t willing to live in a world without Shawit, no matter what Alpha Mason. Hale intended for me.

As Fate would have it, however, I had to run into Giselle again before I could shift and be on my way. She was standing in front of me, her arms folded beneath her chest, as I came toward her.

“So, she said, loping along beside me as I passed her by without a word, “going back to your love?”

I gritted my teeth and ignored her. I didn’t have time for her nonsense about Shawn

When she didn’t get a rise out of me that way, Giselle changed tactics. “That dress looked better on me, you know.”

I ignored her again. I didn’t have time for her nonsense about Hale, either. If she thought it would upset me to know this was a hand–me–down dress, she was wrong.

Giselle was disappointed by my lack of response and stopped running with me. “Go on! Get yourself killed! Nob*dy gives a damn about you!”

She was wrong.

Shawn cared.

And I was going to go get hirn.

Kora Munroe was going to be the death of me. After a few seconds of shock, I stood from my chair, knocking it over onto the floor with a thunk, and headed out of the dining hall after her.

I almost immediately ran into my mother. “Annalise,” I said coldly, running a hand through my hair. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

My mother’s jaw stiffened, and she narrowed her eyes on me. I thought I’d come one more time to try to make you see reason. And since when have I been banned from dinners in this household?” She stared down her nose at me as if I were still a child

“If you’ve come to make a fool of Kora, you’re too late. Dinner’s over,” I replied flatly, sweeping her out of the way,

My mother trotted after me. “Mason, you simply CANNOT mate that girl. I forbid it, do you hear me?!”

Without even turning around to look at her, I responded in a deep voice. Your objections are noted. Now, didn’t I say something to you about staying in your room?” I growled.

Annalise Hale, Luna Regent of the Fullbright Pack, was not so easily put off. Unfortunately. “Mason, she will destroy this pack. Mark me. And she’ll kill you. Just like her father killed yours. Or don’t you remember that?”

She might as well have slapped me. My head snapped to face her as I abruptly stopped near the hallway dobr. “You think I’ve forgotten that day? You’re wrong. I also remember YOU sending Kora away for something she didn’t do. See? I haven’t forgotten that, either

din

“Are you determined to hold that against me for the rest of my life?” my mother breathed, her eyes narrowed in rage. Bursting through the hallway door, I took the stairs two at a time, my mother holding her skirts to do the same. “I think there are many in the Traitors‘ Cave who do hold it against you and will until the day you die And I can’t say I blame them.”

“You’re the one who sent out a spearhead team,” my mother reminded me.

“With Lyle menacing our people at the border, there’s little else I can do,” I responded, “What kind of an Alpha would I be if I let our people burn?”

“What kind of Alpha are you to take a traitor’s daughter for a mate? It will tear our pack apart, at a time when we need solidarity more than ever. There will be war between our packs, ours and Lyle’s. You know this. I know this. And STILL

Trounded on her, stopping on the landing. “And still what, Mother? I have made my choice, before the Moon Goddess. And

that is that.”

Before she could answer, I marched down the hall, intent on dragging Kora out of her room by her hair, if I had to. Then, I’d drag her down to my office. Then, we would have a long, LONG talk.

I slammed her door open, not caring if it had been locked or not. She was my mate. If she was n*ked, well..

The room was empty.

“WHERE IS SHE?!” I roared, spearing my mother with a dark look.

“How should I know?” Annalise Hale shot back, just as incensed.

“I know where she is.”

I looked past my mother and groaned inwardly when I saw Giselle. “Yes. Fine. Where?”

Giselle looked like the cat who got the cream. “She went to him. Her lover.”

Her lover? Shawn? I snorted. Shawn was no competition to me. Though, I was coming to regret not sending the spearhead team back home and perhaps asking for volunteers instead. Something about that way of doing things, no matter how far back it went, seemed… wrong.

“Oh, really?” I deadpanned.

“Really” Giselle was nearly vibrating with excitement. “She’ll see him at the border again. And this time, I’m sure she’ll go with him. So you should reject her fully before she makes a fool of you.”

See him at the ? “Who are you talking about?” I asked.

“The one who gave her the second scar on her face,” Giselle said. “I heard it was an Alpha.“.

An Alpha? What Alpha was Kora going to meet at the bord-

Lyle.

Lyle Shadowmoon.

I grabbed Giselle by the upper arms and shook her. “WHERE is Korn now?!”

“Sh–she ran across the grounds!” Giselle said, teeth chattering.

“Mason, really, you don’t need to be so rough with her,” my mother admonished me.

“Oh, I really do. I’ve had enough of your bullsh*t, Giselle. I don’t ever want to see you again. Do I make myself clear?!” I snarled.

Giselle’s eyes filled with tears, and she ran away.

I turned back down the hall and began running down the stairs.

My mother huffed and puffed, but was, surprisingly, able to keep pace with me. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m going to go get Kora,” I growled. “And you’re not going to stop me

My mother’s nostrils flared. “You are a fool, Mason Hale.”

I

‘Perhaps I am, I thought as I ran out of the castle and across the grounds.

But I was a fool who wasn’t losing MY Kora to Lyle Shadowmoon.