Chapter 19: Running Alone

CORALIE

Running through the forest, I can’t shake the feeling of unease that is threatening to swallow me whole. Maybe it is because I can feel how much it bothered the alpha to stay behind, or maybe it is the fact that I am running into the darkness alone. I catch Darius’s scent, which helps to ease the nervousness slightly.

On the far side of the border, he’s leaning against a large tree with his arms casually folded over his chest.

I shift and walk up to him, noting the smile on his face.

“Your lycan is beautiful, Coralie. I see you finally got rid of that cursed ring.”

I glance down at my hand, then back to his red eyes.

“I assume there is a reason to call me to the middle of the forest in the middle of the night?” I raise my brow and fold my arms over my chest.

His expression becomes serious.

“Things are bad. Caleb moved Luca to Alpha Laurent’s pack. From what my sources are telling me, Caleb has made a deal with Laurent. If he catches you, Caleb is allowing him to keep you as his prize. Luca is the bait. Laurent is foolish enough to believe he can use you as leverage to create an alliance with the witches’ council.

“He thinks he can trade you for their cooperation. You and I both know that Caleb would never let him keep you. He’d never allow you to live. He wants his revenge. To him, Laurent is just a pawn. Oh, and the witches’ council and were council are both feeding intel to Caleb. It seems they’ve all joined forces against you.”

I feel the blood in my veins turn to liquid fire. My heart pounds violently against my sternum.

“How long ago did he move Luca?” As my mind plays over everything, I feel the little control I have slipping. It would be one thing if they came after me, but to use Luca to get to me? How dare they?

“A few days before you first came here.”

I clench my fists at my side, trying to focus on taking deep, calming breaths. I feel like I am inhaling shards of glass.

“I need to go. Thank you for your help, Darius.”

He grabs my arm, turning me to face him.

“Coralie, when the time comes for you to go for Luca, call on me. My people will be with you. We will get your brother back. We will make Caleb pay for his crimes against not only your people, but the alpha’s people, and ours as well. The man is a monster, but we’re not afraid of him. He should be afraid of us.” He places a phone in my hand and folds my fingers closed around it. He pulls me into a quick hug before vanishing.

I hurry back to the pack house, slipping the phone into my pocket. It takes almost thirty minutes to reach the pack house in my human form, but I dare not shift. I don’t think I could control my beast right now.

Much to my surprise, the alpha is sitting on the steps in front of the pack house when I walk up. He’s looking lost and worried until his eyes find me walking toward him.

“Cora? Are you okay?”

I nod as he rushes to me. He holds out his hand, my ring resting in his palm just as I left it. That’s sweet.

“Hold onto it for me. I need to speak with Lady Laurent.”

He slips the ring into his pocket while giving me a look of confusion and worry.

“I can take you to her. Is everything all right?”

I can’t bring myself to look at him. He’ll see the struggle in me. I can’t hide it from him.

“I need to know how much she knows,” I say. “Darius told me where Luca is being held. Her father has him.”

“I’ll take you to her.” He wraps his arms around me.

I surprise myself by letting him hug me. It feels so good, so right, to be in his arms. I’ve never felt like this for anyone. I’m sure he hasn’t either.

Both of us pull back at the same time. It wouldn’t look right for us to be embracing, and people inside the pack house can look out and see us here.

He leads me past the pack house to a large brick building, taking me through the front door and down a set of stone stairs to a room with several cells. I can smell the bitch before we even enter the room. Her stench is a mixture of fear and rage.

We reach the door to her cell. She is sitting on the edge of the bed with her hands folded in her lap.

“I would be excited to see you, Jordan, if it weren’t for the disgusting creature you brought with you.” A wicked smile rests on her evil face.

I step closer, letting the faint light shining through her window illuminate my face enough for her to see that I am barely containing my beast. Her eyes become wide, and the scent of her fear becomes stronger.

“Are you the one who sent Danny to me?”

Her brow furrows before she pulls on a mask of indifference. She can hide the fear on her face, but she can’t mask the smell.

“So what if I did? I needed a witch to perform the spell. You are a witch, aren’t you?”

I allow my beast to come forward just enough for my claws to extend as I wrap my fingers around the bars.

“A witch, yes—and ~so~ much more. Where is your father hiding Luca?”

Her face drops slightly. She knows her father has my brother.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who is Luca?”

I smile, a wicked and sinister smile.

“I would threaten your father, but I doubt you care about him. You don’t care about anyone but yourself. So, I am going to make this real simple. You tell me where my brother is, or I will begin filleting your flesh from your bones, little by little. I will allow your body to heal, and then I will start over again. I will make you suffer until you are begging me to end your life, but princess, the end will never come. Not for you.”

Her eyes are the size of saucers by the time I finish speaking. Her mouth hangs open as she stares at me.

“You wouldn’t dare lay a finger on me. My father will kill your brother if you even hurt so much as a single hair on my head.”

I snarl at her as I slam my shoulder into the door, breaking the lock and sending the door slamming into the brick wall. I stalk toward her like a hunter with its prey. I shouldn’t be attacking Alpha Jordan’s prisoner like this, but I’m so angry.

“So, you ~are~ aware of the fact that your father has my brother. You have proven to be useful already. Where is he hiding him?”

Her body goes rigid as I stop right in front of her.

“I don’t know where he is keeping him. If I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”

I use one of my claws to force her chin up so that she is looking me in the eye.

“Then you will become the bait in our trap. I am not sure if you know, but the bait usually doesn’t survive. I think we would be doing the world a favor if we removed you from it. Take care, princess. We will meet again very soon.”

I turn and exit the cell as two guards come past me to move her to a new cell. Once I step out the door, I take a moment to calm myself, breathing in the cool night air. I make my claws retract and my beast retreat with each breath.

“Remind me to never piss you off.”

I turn to the deep, soothing voice, allowing my eyes to meet his. I’m embarrassed that he saw me lose control. At least I didn’t kill her. “Sorry I broke your door,” I say.

“It’s okay.”

“Looks like we have a common enemy. Danny is not going to be happy about being used in the Laurents’ little game.”

He shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair. “No, he won’t. So, are you going to give up on your plans to make this a solo mission?”

I smile weakly and let out a defeated sigh. “Darius said the witches’ and were councils are working together with Caleb. I was meant to be Laurent’s prize, but Caleb wants me dead, and I know he won’t give up on his revenge, especially not for Laurent. Laurent wants to use me to broker a deal with the witches’ council while doing goddess-only-knows-what with Luca, but there is more resting on this than just me and Luca.

“All those families he has torn apart, we can’t let him get away with it. Darius is on standby. He and his people will be helping us to get them back, all of them.”

He grabs my hand in his. The sparking energy ignites the fire in my veins. It feels so good when he touches me. Now the fire in me is not rage, but something much deeper.

“I will be with you every step of the way.” He smiles, and his eyes drift down to stare at our hands. His smile grows wider.

“I have a few people I can call on to help us,” I say. I’d taken this job because I thought I needed the money to pay Darius for his help, but he seems happy to help regardless. Maybe it was time to call everyone who might feel the same. “I have a feeling we are going to need all the help we can get. Would you be willing to allow them on pack lands?”

He pulls me into his arms and holds me to him. “We will do whatever you need.”

I step back and take a deep breath, wondering if he grasps what he is signing his people up for.

“Alpha, I am about to declare war on not only Laurent, but the council. Not just the witches’ council, but the were council as well. Are you sure you are prepared to risk your pack’s safety?”

He holds one of my hands in his and raises the other to my cheek, stroking it with his thumb.

“I would follow you into the depths of hell with a smile on my face. There is nowhere you would go that I would not follow.”

I feel the warmth and comfort of his words. A sudden surge of energy passes between us, causing my beast to stir, though it is not from anger. My beast steps forward, peering into the eyes of the alpha. I utter the word that both frees me and confines me.

“Mate.”

End of Book 1