Page 125 of My Solemn Vow

I groan, forcing myself away from her. Her heart is still beating, and her chest rises and falls.She isn’t dead. If she’s dying, she’d be dead.

Shifting back is agonizingly painful. Torn between wanting to stay and needing to go, picking a form between wolf and man is a battle of will. Until finally I’m naked and standing on two feet.

I can’t keep my eyes off her, keeping her in my peripheral vision.

My wolf is hyperfixated on her, demanding I make glances between pulling up memories of us together.

Every time my phone hits Royal’s voicemail, I call again.

Jack comes hobbling in through the underground garage, practically carrying Declan with him. He leaves him to slump against the wall before running out the back doors again. My father follows Jack back out to help.

I go back to searching for Royal, using my credentials to patch into my parents’ security camera feeds. There’s just too much footage for me to sort through on my own, even with six tiny screens at a time on my tablet.

“What did you do to Royal?!” I snarl, forcing myself to look at Neil.

He’s been quiet for a while. Unlike most people in my basement, he’s standing, not trying for any sort of relief, and then this fuckin’ asshole shrugs.

I’m torn between torturing it out of him and just killing him. But killing him would leave me trying to figure out the piecesfrom the cyber trail, and that’s usually something Royal does. He’s better at it. I sit atop a throne of a tech empire, but it’s always been his domain.

I keep watching the screen.

Declan writhes on the ground before sputtering, “Fuckin’ hell. Get the goddamn bullet out.”

“Just a minute. Quit your belly achin’. No one wants to hear it.” Jack scolds him as they drop a very bloody and broken Samuel, Neil’s eldest son, and prop him up against a wall next to his father. He’s in and out of consciousness. Jack nudges his thigh with his shoe. “Tell the alpha what you told me.”

Samuel rocks his head back and forth on the wall. “Dad’ll kill me.”

“Don’t say anything,” Neil growls, and his teeth click with a snap.

“Dad’ll kill me but they’re —” He turns his head to the side and vomits bile and blood onto the floor. “They don’t want anyone to find him. Not until it’s too late. Took him out to the nature preserve.”

“Tell me which one,” my dad snarls.

The command is evident, and it’ll have to be followed, but Dad wraps his fingers around Samuel’s throat for good measure.

I search through more footage of my parents’ driveway, finally finding what I’m looking for. A vehicle pulls up and Royal comes out of the house. He suspected something because he has a gun tucked in the back of his pants.

I fast-forward through the struggle. I don’t need to watch him lose, knowing that what’s done is done. I can kick his ass in training if we get him back. Finally, the van moves, and the idiots Neil used were incompetent. The license plate is still on and clearly visible.

“Got the plate,” I mutter and quickly start using the automated link Royal hooked into the city’s traffic cameras.

My phone rings, and Royal’s name flashes across the screen. Hesitantly, I answer. “Valor.”

“Fuckin’ hell. It’s not Antonella. Don’t hurt her. I couldn’t get the damn thing to call out or answer. They shattered the damn screen. It’s not Antonella.” Royal is gasping for air.

“You’re okay?” She’s well past the point of hurt, but there’s no point in telling him now.

“Neil and fuckin’ Samuel are trying some shit. They’re —” His phone cuts out a little bit. “God fuckin’ damn it. What good is a fuckin’ indestructible case if it breaks and destroys the phone? Can you hear me?”

“Yes, I can hear you. Can you get here?” I don’t bother telling him everything we already know. Information only slows us down at this phase.

“Yeah. I’m on my way as soon as I fuckin’ find the goddamn keys. Fuck it, faster if I hot-wire it. I’m on my way. Don’t hurt Antonella.”

It’s too late. I hurt her and then let her die.I try not to look at her. To not confirm she’s dead.

My wolf forces my attention back to her, where I’m sure to see her lifeless. But she’s still hanging on. Antonella’s chest rises and falls. It’s shallow, but she’s still there.

Mate is strong. She’ll fight. She’ll heal.He assures me.She’ll be wolf.