Page 36

SOREN

T he clock ticks too loudly, a reminder of yet another hour gone by without news. I grip my hair tightly, peering into Seraphina's face, distraught.

Even miles away, I felt her fear spike through the mating bond, even before the mind-to-mind with Eric went dead, and finding her became my only purpose.

Still...

I was too late.

My hands scrub at my face. The trail had gone cold when I arrived, and further orders to my men only confirmed the worst. The tracks led them all the way to the Southern borders.

I should've been more careful. I knew Ronan would retaliate, was prepared for it, but it never occurred to me that he would target Seraphina in this manner. She could've died in that explosion. Landon could've died.

A frustrated breath leaves me.

Except he somehow knew which of the vehicles were carrying her and Landon. Which would mean there was a mole in our midst, still.

Fuck, I should've been more careful.

Seraphina cries in her unconscious state, and it feels like my heart is being torn out of my chest as she reaches for the bed beside her, as if to touch Landon. And when it hits the empty mattress, she cries harder.

Unable to watch, I step out, gripping the railing hard enough to dent it.

Footsteps echo along the hall and a pale-looking Eric limps over to where I stand.

His lips twist in an even worse expression than earlier, when he woke and blamed himself for everything, refusing bedrest, believing himself unworthy of it while Landon remains in the hands of the enemy.

"You should be sleeping the wolfsbane off," I manage, noting the bit of blood staining the bandage over his wound. It won't heal until the wolfsbane is completely out of his system.

He shakes his head, green eyes dark. "Aleksandr returned with news." The single pause feels like an anvil to my chest. "Callahan named Landon his heir."

My eyes shut, the beginning of a headache forming.

The fucker.

It's a declaration of war. Trespassing into his lands to take Landon back will be met with force. And deaths. Too much bloodshed. Gods .

"The men he went with, Kincaid and Zephyr, were shot down. He's given orders that our men be killed at first sight. The patrol around the perimeter has been tripled. There is no way in or out without passes or invitations," Eric says, his face solemn and tired.

My fists clench. While I am not averse to starting another war, it is unwise to move the men all the way to the South, leaving the Pack defenseless. I can see right through Callahan's chess game, and he would expect me to do that.

It fits. The final puzzle piece. Axel and Mikhail's fundings being transferred into funding the rogues and men he keeps aside from those who have pledged their loyalty to me.

Moving most of my men to the South leaves my seat, my family, my pack and the surrounding packs defenseless and damn easy for Axel to stage a hostile takeover.

It isn't ethical, but I have no heirs to duel him when he does. It would work. Axel would be positioned as Head Alpha, while Mikhail heads the council. But they would both only be figureheads, pawns really, while Callahan runs everything. Owns everything.

As usual, Callahan's plan is brilliant. I wonder if he'd planned this all along with his original aim to use Tova. As expected, even his child is a fucking tool to him.

I feel an invisible noose tighten around my neck. It's a corner. A tight one. Had it been my father, he would never let the enemy get one up on him. He would've abandoned Eric and I and fucked some woman on the side to get an heir out of her.

Letting him have Landon isn't even an option. Landon calls me dad in his usual gibber. He's bit my fingers and pulled out my hair. He has licked my cheek and peed on my most expensive suits. The boy and his mother are mine.

"He hasn't stated his conditions?" Knowing Callahan, it will come sooner or later.

"No," Eric grunts, his fists turning white-knuckled. "But I received word from the East. Ronan has Gunner's support. He's told the old man you stole his son. The treaty is broken, sides are being taken. This won't end well, brother."

Fuck if I didn't know that already.

An alarmed cry echoes from the bedroom and I twist, knocking into the door as I rush to Seraphina's side. Her blue eyes are wet and wide, her fingers shaking as she rips at the sheets, as if she might find Landon underneath them.

She turns when she hears my footsteps and she has a relieved smile on her face.

"I had...I had the worst dream. There was an explosion and Ruslan.

.." She shakes her head, wiping at her face with trembling fingers.

"Eric was shot and I couldn't..." She twists in a circle, taking in the state of the gray coat she had worn this morning, the shreds of the carrier that had strapped Landon to her chest and her eyes fall on Eric behind me, making her retreat, the back of her knees hitting the bed-frame.

"Juliette still has him?" She asks hopefully, and I see her trying to convince her mind that none of it happened, even if she can very well see the wound on Eric's shoulder. "Tell me Juliette has Landon. And we never left. And...and..."

Her breathing becomes strained and I move on instinct, catching her before she can crack her skull against the wood.

But she recoils, snarling at me, vindictive. "Where is he?!"

It's a trauma response, but I feel it like a stab, I feel her despair multiplying down the bond, throwing even Kaelin into a world of hurt and for a moment, I can't breathe. I can't bear it.

"Seraphina," I say, but she is going hysterical, screaming his name, struggling against my hold like I am keeping him from her. She wails, thrashing, pleading, her nails drawing blood from my neck, my cheek like I am the enemy.

I take it. Because it is my fault. I should've gone with her, irrespective of her wishes. I should've tripled the guard detail. I should've arrived there sooner. I should've been more careful. I hate seeing her hurt or cry like this, like her life is being drained from her.

Eric breathes sharply behind me and I hear his footsteps withdraw and halt outside, but I know he can't outrun it. Neither can I.

I grip both her cheeks, forcing her violet gaze to mine, and I let my words carry as much authority as I can let it, lest I hurt her. " Landon is alright ." Her pupils dilate and a tear rolls down her cheek as she nods once. " I will bring him back. "

Seraphina nods again.

" You will remain here and take care of the pack in my absence, " I whisper. Her grip on my shirt loosens as she soaks in the words and nods again. Though, another tear runs down her cheek. "You are the strongest woman I know, Sera. Never forget that."

Another nod and she deflates in my arms, letting me hold her for longer and rock us both back and forth on the ground, her trembles easing.

And I absolutely hate myself for it but I bring my lips to her ear, voice heavy and layered as I command in an Alpha tone, " No matter what happens, you will not come after me. "

Her muscles tighten as the weight of my command settles. I see her brows furrow as she fights it, fights the next words I whisper into her ears and seal with a kiss.

" Sleep ."

Her eyes fall shut, her head dropping against my chest, but her fingers stay closed around my thumb, refusing to let go. I have no idea what to think of that, but everything in me wishes it were that easy. Or true.

It was a trap.

One I willingly walked into. My hands strapped in tight behind my back. My knees kicked in forward, four times until they crashed into the concrete. My lips busted, nose bleeding onto my shirt. The walk of shame through the hallways of the Red Wolf Pack.

If I couldn't get my men in, I had to infiltrate it myself.

The chains around my feet rattle as I test them, nostrils flaring at the stench of piss and dried blood.

I squint, trying so hard to pierce the blanket of darkness, but it stifles.

The wolfsbane works through my blood, not enough to kill me, but just enough to render my senses confused. Disoriented. Irritated.

Footsteps thud several feet away. A prisoner whimpers. A lash slices the air and screams echo through the paper-thin walls.

Sweat breaks on my forehead as I reconsider the possibility of failure. Of dying in here, never seeing the light of day again. Blue eyes taunt the crevices of my mind and I snap out of it.

No.

Letting myself get captured was all part of the plan.

Callahan may have Gunner's support, but holding a Head Alpha hostage will have repercussions.

A council of six will be summoned to discourse the best approach to prevent an impending war neither of us want.

If everything goes according to plan, Seraphina will never have to go through this again. Ever.

The footsteps halt by the bars and I can make out Ronan's golden head even in the dark.

And his curved mouth as he steps inside, hands folded behind my back, peering down at me in triumph.

"I never pegged you for a fool but," his brown eyes are bright with amusement. "Seraphina would do that to any man."

Ignoring him, I fix my gaze on the ceiling, noting the leakages, the mismatched steel forming each wall. Odd.

"You walked right into my stronghold for the child of a man who murdered your family." His polished boots glint in the dark as he steps closer. "Did it never occur to you that I could very well kill you? Or are your thoughts being suctioned by her tight pussy?"

The jerk is immediate, my canines flashing in anger. He laughs at me, walking around the seat, and I hide the stiffness in my shoulder at his presence at my back. There were no speculations with Callahan. You give him your back and he'll stab it to shreds.