< Chapter 12-2
+25 Points
Chapter 12-2
Unfortunately, my father offered something a little more desirable to Kane.
Me.
“Strike a nerve?” Troy asked. “He knew all about your trip, but he didn’t know why. He did insinuate that the two of you were close.”
“Jealous?” As soon as the word was out of my mouth, I desperately wished I could take it back. But since I’d come this far, I went ahead and threw my whole weight behind it. Glancing over my shoulder, I shot him a teasing smile. “Don’t worry, mate. I’m all yours.”
His eyes-tinged gold, and I quickly snapped my head forward. Even teasing him was playing with fire. “If you’re going to say something like that, you should wait until you can meet my eyes without shaking in fear,” he snarled sardonically.
“Yeah, well, the person and the wolf aren’t always simpatico, and as you’ve already discovered, my
mouth tends to get away from me. When did you speak to Kane?”
More importantly, did he know where I was?
“I joined the supply run two weeks ago.”
I read between the lines of his casual delivery. The Oak Fur pack was the closest to human
settlement and actual civilization. That was also an errand that was far beneath Troy. He’d gone on
purpose.
Looking for information.
“Discover any other deep dark secrets about me while I was there?”
“Why, Kiana? Is there something you want to talk about?”
Abruptly, I stopped and pointed to our left. “Do you see that hollow?”
Stopping so closely that I felt his breath on my neck, his hand brushed against my waist.
Instantly, I tensed and stepped away. To his credit, he didn’t follow. “I do.”
“Anything seem strange about it?”
He looked a little bit longer. “It’s a perfect circle. I find that odd. The edges are a little bit blurred.”
“Magic, although it’s small. As long as no one tries to enter it, we’ll be fine.”
“It does look like it would make a good shelter,” he muttered darkly. “What does it look like to you?”
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< Chapter 12-2
+25 Points
It lit up in a brilliant pink, the glow spreading like wildfire. Delicate tendrils of light slithered outward -thin, curling streaks that danced through the air like glowing vines, reaching for everything
around them as if alive.
“It’s blurry,” I lied, forcing my tone flat. “We’re officially in Wisteria Wood now, so keep your guard up.
“Where were you going when you escaped? Were you trying to get to the coven?”
My thoughts turned back to the night I’d so desperately raced toward my freedom. “I needed to head to a source of water so my father would lose my scent. After that, I only knew that there was an area he avoided. I had no idea there were witches, not until I started to see the traps. Then, I only thought that it was the perfect place to hide. Honestly, I didn’t give a damn where I was going. Only that I could get away.”
All that work. Everything had been going my way. I’d finally found my freedom. And still, I hadn’t been able to keep it. The memory still made me bitter.
“Once he was freed from the trap, how did he get back to you?”
“My father was smart. He went back, gathered enough wolves, and threw their bodies at the spell traps until he reached me.”
Troy made a strangled sound in his throat, and I glanced over my shoulder. “Oh, you think I should feel guilty for their sacrifice? Every single one of them had innocent blood on their claws. There wasn’t anyone my father ran with that would deserve your respect.”
“Yourself, included?”
“I have innocent blood on my claws too, but then, you already knew that.” I glanced up at the sky. The sun was reaching its highest point in the sky which meant more rogues were waking up. Hard to know if the closest was miles away or if we were about to pass one napping overhead.
“Keep your power pulled in. We’re probably not going to be alone for long. Most rogues don’t have a problem with other rogues, but some are territorial, as you’ve already seen. Every wolf wants to think they have their own land, whether they’re in a pack or not.”
“And some will challenge me for you,” he pointed out.
He wasn’t wrong. There were nearly ten times more male rogues than females, and alone on the woods, many rogues tended to be more feral. Consent was not a thing in these woods.
“But I’m sure this is what you’re used to,” Troy continued.
“It was. Then, for three years, it wasn’t,” I said quietly, remembering the man who’d sworn nobody would touch me. And somehow, after time, I learned to trust it. Trust him. Not a single wolf
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< Chapter 12-2
touched me when Parker was alive.
+25 Points
Troy stared at me, and when I turned my head, it wasn’t because I was scared. It was because a new anger had simmered to the surface. He blamed me for Parker’s death.
Without warning, his hand shot out and grabbed my jaw. Hard. His fingers dug into my skin, forcing my face back toward him. His grip was rough, almost punishing, and his eyes bore into mine with cold, unforgiving fury.
“I know you’re lying to me, Kiana,” he said, voice low and dangerous, his breath brushing across my lips like a threat. “I know every single time you lie to me.”
I clenched my fists at my sides, trying not to show how much it stung-how much he stung.
“You might think I live a cushy life as an alpha,” he went on, his tone now razor-sharp, “but if I ever decide those lies are meant to betray me or my pack, I’ll kill you without hesitation. And this mating bond?” He sneered. “It’s not going to save you. Do you understand me?”
A violent shiver passed through me. Bringing up Parker had been reckless. I could feel the truth of his threat crackling in the air between us, in the way his hand trembled slightly against my jaw.
Then I jerked back, ripping my face from his grip with a force that made his hand drop like I’d slapped him. The space between us snapped tight with tension.
We stood there, glaring. Breathing like we’d just come out of a battle. Disgust thick in the silence.
But underneath it all, the bond still pulled at us. Twisting. Mocking…Alive.
I had to be very careful to make sure he didn’t realize I was betraying him until the very end.
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