Chapter 156
Nathan’s POV
“…Did he finally kick the bucket?”
Marcus’s rough voice dragged through the darkness first.
I groaned, forcing one eye open. “Forgive me for assuming dead people shouldn’t be talking.”
“See? I told you,” Liam snorted somewhere near the bars. “He’s not dead, just grumpy.”
“Well, you’re welcome for keeping them breathing,” Zynair’s dry voice piped up.
My inner wolf instantly went on high alert. Zynair. She was the last person who should be here.
I blinked against the blur. Liam was crouching right outside the iron gates, wearing a massive, stupid grin. He was bruised and battered, but completely alive.
“Hey, brother,” he smirked. “Miss me?”
I looked past him. Marcus stood right behind him, arms crossed, covered in soot and blood. “Get up,” he
muttered, checking the hallway. “We need to get out of here.”
And right beside them stood the witch who had sold us out.
“You,” I growled, the sound coming from the darkest depths of my chest.
“Oh, here we go,” Liam chuckled. “There’s the Alpha King energy.”
I dragged myself up, pushing through the raw agony as the silver chains snapped tight against the stone wall. ‘You killed them. You betrayed my entire pack.”
“Technically, that was all Varga,” Zynair said quickly, holding her hands up as my wolf bared his teeth. “And hey’re not dead. They’re alive, Nathan. All of them.”
Everything inside me came to a sudden halt. Alive. “This is great,” Marcus interrupted impatiently, glaring back Coward the dungeon stairs. “Truly beautiful. But can we do the family reunion after we escape the psychopath’s
>asement?”
Zynaír unlocked the cell door and stepped inside, though she stayed as far from me as possible. Smart girl.
“Nathan, I’m thrilled to see you too,” she said, her voice shaking slightly as she knelt by my chains. “But I need to get this silver off you. And please, don’t rip my throat out the second you’re free. This was all Emily’s play.”
I froze. “Emily?”
“Yes. She told me to play along with Declan to get his trust. So I’m unlocking you now, and you are going to let me keep my head. Deal?”
“Just get them off me,” I rasped.
2:03 pm P P
The silver cuffs clicked open and hit the floor with a heavy thud.
“What’s her play?” I asked, rubbing my burning wrists as we slipped out of the cell.
“Well,” Zynair said carefully, “Emily’s explicit instructions were to free you and get you safely out of the castle.”
“And leave her behind?” My voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. “Not happening.”
Liam punched my shoulder lightly, a familiar, wicked glint in his eyes. “Then again, since when do Alphas actually
isten to rules? Let’s go.”
We broke into a sprint, heading up into the dark, stone corridors.
“Tell me what Declan is doing to her,” I demanded as we moved.
“Her final trial starts at midnight,” Zynair explained, breathless. “The second it’s over, he’s going to take her
power. But he’s not going to kill her.”
“Then what?”
“He’s using one of Varga’s ancient blood rituals to force a mate bond,” she said darkly. “He’s going to make her his Luna and bind his soul to hers permanently. He’ll become a parasite, draining half her energy for the rest of his
ife.”
“Why the hell would it be permanent?” I asked, completely lost.
Zynair stopped dead in her tracks.
Marcus nearly plowed right into her back. She turned around to face me, her expression dead serious, all the
sarcasm gone.
“You don’t know?” she asked.
“Know what?”
“Nathan… Emily isn’t just some regular Luna. She carries the power of all Eight Moons, Onqe that final trial ends, er endless life force activates. She will live forever. And so will whoever is bonded to her.”
The air around us felt suddenly heavy, freezing the breath in my lungs.
I stared at her, my mind spinning. I knew she could heal people. I knew her magic could grant others a longer life,
But this?
“Immortality?” My voice came out rough.
“Yes,” Zynair said softly. “And if Declan forces that bond… he shares it. Forever.”
“Forever,” the word hung in the air, cold and heavy.
“Not going to happen,” I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “I’m not letting that psychopath spend another single day near my mate.”
2:03 pm P P
Marcus stepped in front of me, his expression fight. “Nathan, look at us. We don’t have the numbers. They sutnumber us a hundred to one. We need to fall back, regroup, and map this out.”
I locked eyes with him, matching his intensity. “If Poppy was up there… would you fall back and regroup?”
Marcus went rigid. He didn’t even hesitate. “No”
“Exactly.” I pushed past him. “Zynair, where is the final ritual taking place?”
“The courtyard,” she said quickly, keeping pace with us. “There’s a platform out there surrounded by silver rings. They’re embedded with crystals meant to contain and trap Emily’s power.”
Liam whistled through his teeth. “So it’s a trap. And the place will be crawling with rogues?”
“Yes,” Zynair nodded. “Declan wants an audience. He needs everyone to watch his victory.”
“Good. Then we blend in with the crowd,” I said.
“Nathan, they’ll catch our scent the second we step outside,” Liam pointed out. “We smell like raw alpha energy
ind pack warriors.”
“Not if I mask it,” Zynair said. “And Emily left us a little something.”
The witch was pulling a couple of glowing, medium–sized crystals from her tunic pockets.
I stared at the stones, skeptical. “How is that going to help us? Emily isn’t even here.”
“No, but her magic is,” Zynair countered. “We knew we’d be outnumbered. You already know she has power, but vhat you didn’t know is that these crystals act like storage boxes. Emily spent days pouring all of her gifts into
hem, not just her shields.”
Liam let out a low whistle. “Holy shit. So she literally boxed up her magic?”
“Exactly,” Zynair nodded, keeping her pace. “She packed them with her mind purification too–that heavy mix of ›ure empathy and mental persuasion. And you made it so hard for us to prep because you were constantly tracking
›ur every move.”
I narrowed my eyes at the witch, my jaw tightening. “So you two were running a secret operation right under my
lose.”
“We had to,” Zynair defended quickly. “We managed to hide these crystals all over your pack territory before the
ttack. The second Declan and Varga marched you away, I triggered the stones. They sent out a massive energy vave that completely cleared the minds of the rogues left behind to burn your home.”
“Man, you should’ve seen it,” Liam chimed in, a grin breaking across his face. “The wave hit them, and they just
›linked like, Oh man, what are we even doing here? Your mate is a total badass, Nathan. Even when she’s locked up, she’s winning the war.”
A strange mix of confusion and fierce pride washed over me.
2:03 pm P
She is the best mate we could have ever asked for, Asher’s voice suddenly echoed clearly in my mind. And we don’t deserve her. The silver collar was no longer suppressing him. The connection was back.
Good to have you back, buddy, I thought back.
I looked at the guys. “Alright, we have a play. We find some cloaks to cover up. The witch masks our scent, and we
slip right into the courtyard to get to Emily.”
“And then what?” Marcus asked.
“Then we act.”
Liam raised an eyebrow. “Based on what plan?”
“Based on instinct,” I smirked, my wolf roaring for blood beneath my skin. “See a rogue, kill a rogue. Save Emily.”