Chapter 93

You are coming with us,” the taller of the two men said. He was right beside my bed. There were guns pointed at me from two different angles. One wrong move and it would be adieu.

“I’ve been instructed to stay home.” I shrugged.

There would be no wrong move. I felt a deep calmness inside me and it had nothing to do with the short sleep I just woke from. There would be no wrong move. I could almost see how everything would play out.

Magic whispered in my veins, secreting through my system. It helped me stay calm, giving me a sense of control. My wolf stirred and she too felt the calmness. She did not pace, did not ready herself for an attack. She was relaxed as if we didn’t have guns pointed at us.

One of the men cocked his gun. I smiled at him.

“You have a lot of nerve coming in here. Did Skylar tell you how dangerous it would get?” I stretched in bed.

“Get out of that bed!” One of them hissed when I continued to grin at them.

“Or what? You shoot and miss, and I promise, you will miss. My Beta would come kicking this door down at the sound of any disturbance. Or maybe you’ll be unlucky to have my mate walk in.” I paused when the taller one moved. “You shoot and you don’t miss, I’d be dead but so will you ‘cuz then this whole place would be on lockdown and you wouldn’t leave alive.”

You talk too much.” The taller approached me with all intent of dragging me with him. “You are coming with us. You have no place in this pack anymore.

“Or I could scream.” I looked at the smaller man. He looked like he was reconsidering his decisions, weighing his options. He knew I was -right. There was no way I would go willingly ,with them and there was no way no one would notice if I started a ruckus.

“Or I could kill you,” I said in a falsely cheerful voice. The taller man snorted. Familiar sparks warmed my b***d. I flexed my fingers and as expected, they glowed.

The taller man reached for me with one hand holding on to his weapon. I rolled away from his reach.

“We shouldn’t be playing games with guns in our faces,’ my wolf reminded me.

I had no chance bringing down a Bane warrior.

They were trained with weapons and were the slickest and fastest warriors as they were the slimmest. I could not outrun them and I could not hope to throw even the smaller man. They me. They had the had guns trained on advantage but I’d be the first person they ever encountered with magic.

I wouldn’t win while sitting in bed. I kicked the tall man in the groin when he tucked his weapon away and reached for me with both hands. My foot connected with his groin when he grabbed my shoulder.

I heard a loud, deafening sound, felt air whoosh past me when I stood, the taller man on the floor. My mouth fell open and my heart – dropped to my stomach. The calmness I felt earlier vanished without a trace as reality slammed into me. The weight of the situation smacked me in the face.

The men were armed. They had guns loaded with silver bullets which they planned to use on me if I didn’t cooperate. He’d fired and missed like I said he would but it didn’t change the fact that he could and would fire more.

“You weren’t supposed to do that, idiot,” the taller man cursed, standing. He grabbed me again but I grabbed his wrists. He hissed, the smell of burning flesh permeating the room as I grabbed him. He tried shaking me off but I held on for a second before shoving him away from me with all my might, turning frantically to the other man that still had a weapon trained on me.

“I’ll shoot. I promise ” I raised my hand and shoved. He was at least ten feet away from me but he moved alright, flying into the air the minute my door burst open.

Valens, Jabari, and at least five other men rushed into the room the second the smaller of the two invaders crashed into my mirror. I kicked the other man at my feet when he reached for a weapon.

The men that came in with Valens and Jabari rushed at the two men on the ground. Jabari barked instructions at them while Valens looked perplexed from me to the man at my feet.

“What the hell happened?” He demanded when they dragged the men out.

“You could hug me, you know?” I huffed. “I almost got shot in the face.”

“I-He choked. Don’t say that,” he said but he did walk over to wrap a hand around my shoulders, sitting beside me. “I may have aged twenty years in the past ten minutes,” he said, letting out a loud breathe.

“Okay, old man,” I shrugged him off, standing.

He gave me a weird look. “You left me all alone to protect me and what do I get?”

‘Don’t b!tch now,’ my wolf scolded while I glared at Valens. ‘Seriously, we have more important things at hand. Bane is filled with traitors at this point. Remember Strauss created that unit?’ Artemis probed me.

“Fine,” I said out loud. “I am going to attach myself to you like a leech at this point,” I told him. He scrubbed his palms against his face.

Tell me what happened, Sagira.” I was surprised at his drab tone. He was right. He did look like he had aged. I recognized the signs of fatigue as I’d dealt with it a lot before meeting him.

“Nothing happened, really.” I returned to my spot at his side. They broke in thinking I was asleep but I woke up before they were fully in- the room. Kicked and roasted the first guy that got too close to me and magic dealt with the other. No big deal.”

“No big deal,” he muttered under his breath.

“Right, no big deal. Except, I heard a gunshot and I can see the bullet.” He pointed at the silver bullet meant for me.

“They had guns. One shot at me, he missed.”

“Goddess” he scrubbed his hands across his face again. “It’s dangerous to be with me at this point. Redville is riddled with traitors. I’m constantly among warriors that can pull a gun on you at any second, ” he mused.

“They can pull a gun on you too,” I reminded him. “If there are traitors around you, they will certainly target you. Don’t forget you are no longer invincible, Valens. One bullet and it’s over.”

“Worry about yourself, love. I have dealt with traitors, guns, swords, and whatnot for decades. You haven’t,” he reminded me.

You are annoying. Stop acting like I am the only one in danger here. You are too. You aren’t the Cursed Prince anymore! You can be hurt-e

“I can be hurt but not as easily as you. Not as fatally. You are vulnerable. Too vulnerable. I’m moving you to the packhouse – The cut him off the way he cut me off.

“Enough of this nonsense.” I stood and walked around to the other side of the room. I flung my wardrobe door open, careful of the mirror shards on the ground. You are not dealing with this alone.'” I grabbed shorts and a shirt.

“I’ll be dammed if I let you do this alone. You are clearly tired but you are too proud to admit it.” I grabbed my boots and a coat.

“It’s three a.m. Where do you think you are going?” He asked. I felt him approach.

“Wherever you are going, I’m coming along,” I declared, shrugging off my nightclothes.

“What if I’m not going anywhere?” He almost sounded amused.

“You can take a nap if you want but I have an investigation to carry out. Bane isn’t to be trusted.”

“I’m ahead of you on that. I have officially dissolved Bane. Some traitors among them connived with Skylar and I have them in the dungeons.”

“The same dungeons that Lucien and Zavier broke out of? I don’t trust the guards there.”

I have my people there now. They are not breaking out any time soon,” he informed me.

There is nothing for you to do. Please, rest.” I got dressed and pulled my hair into a ponytail as he spoke.

“There’s never too many men when one is at war. The office?”

“Closed. The pack is on lockdown. Warriors from six other packs are on their way here to retire the warriors of Redville. I have everything under control.”

“Why did you return them? Your text sounded urgent.”

“Jabari informed me of Lucien’s demise. I – ” He shook his head. “I felt you were in danger.

Anyway, we are relaxing border security for a few days to lure in Skylar. I thought –

“What!? I exclaimed, my eyes bulging out of their sockets.