*Lucas*
“Where the hell have you been?” I grumbled.
“After you and Sasha got knocked overboard, I hopped on another boat and ca to track you down,” said Oliver. “Sorry that it took so long.”
“How long?”
“Two days.”
“Ugh. It seems like a lot longer than that.”
“I brought a bunch of my best n here to get you. We have a ship anchored nearby and are ready to go. Brady and Phoebe are with them. Where is Sasha?”
I glanced around the open area we were in. It was too exposed.
Grabbing Oliver’s arm, I pulled him into Sasha’s room so we wouldn’t get spotted by a pack mber.
“She’s with the Alpha of this pack, I think. It is my best guess. But I don’t know what he wants from her. I think she’s a prisoner.”
Oliver nodded. “My intel suggests the sa. Though, it doesn’t seem like the Alpha intends to hurt her.”
I saw his eyes flick around the room.
“These are rather nice accommodations.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, you should have seen where he stuck .”
Oliver chuckled. “Look, my n are standing by. The best thing to do is regroup with them. Sasha isn’t in any imdiate danger. We can wait on the edges of the territory until everyone is asleep and get her out unnoticed.”
I nodded. It didn’t sit well with .
Sasha had been all dressed up in a fancy dress when I saw the guards co for her. What would Alpha Michael want with her? Why did he need to get her all dressed up for it?
My wolf snarled in my head, urging to start busting down doors to find her.
I pushed the urges away. There was a part of that wanted to ignore Oliver’s suggestion and go get Sasha now, even if just to see what that scheming, grimy creep wanted with my Sasha.
Oliver and I joined the rest of his n on the grounds. He ordered them to spread out and stake out the mansion and the surrounding territory. He sent several of them to keep the pathway to the ship clear. Once we got Sasha, we wanted to make a quick, clean exit.
I hunkered down in so bushes with Oliver. We could see without being seen.
It was only about seven at night. We had a long wait before everyone was asleep.
“You know, I’m guessing that even in an isolated place like this, Alpha Michael has night patrols.”
“Of course, he does. I’ve got that covered. My n are watching closely and reporting their patterns back to . We already know where Sasha is being held at night. It’ll be easy.” Oliver blew off my concerns.
I wasn’t as optimistic as him. Sothing uneasy stirred in my stomach. I felt like assuming this would be easy would get us all in trouble.
It sounded like Oliver planned for any problem, but I knew there were always other variables.
My heart lifted when I saw so of the lights in the pack house going out. It ant people were winding down and going to bed.
Soon, Sasha, very soon... I’d have her back in my arms where she belonged.
Movent on the path to the mansion caught my eye.
“Uhh... Oliver....”
“I see it, I see it.”
His eyes glazed over and I could tell he was talking to his pack through the mindlink.
“It’s a man in a cloak of so kind. He has so kind of powerful aura around him.” Oliver squinted his eyes and pressed his fingers to his temple like he was trying to listen harder to the mind-link.
“Damn!”
“What? Who is it?”
“No one good,” I growled.
“Don’t go flying off the handle just yet,” Oliver warned. “An unexpected guest could be a distraction if we need it.”
“We don’t know if he is unexpected.”
Oliver shrugged. “Then we just need to keep an eye out. I’ve got plenty of them scattered around the territory. Trust , brother, I’m all over this.”
I waved him off and watched the cloaked figure as he approached the mansion. No one else seed to notice him. One guard stopped him at the front door and then quickly backed off.
It looked like the guard was afraid or sothing.
The man went inside and disappeared.
More waiting.
I began plucking at blades of grass, my mind sifting through different situations that Sasha was dealing with.
Alpha Michael had purposefully kept us apart, or tried to. Did he know that we were mates? Was he trying to keep us separated? What did that an?
My wolf growled suddenly as a thought occurred to .
Was this all an elaborate sche to seduce her?
I gritted my teeth together, a muscle in my jaw twitching. If he even laid a hand on her, I wouldn’t stop to ask questions. I’d just rip him apart.
I slamd my fist down on the ground.
“Dude, what are you doing?” Oliver glanced over at .
“Oh... just letting my imagination get the better of–”
Oliver held a hand up to silence . “I’m getting a report. It looks like sothing is happening inside, in the dining room. The Alpha, Sasha, and that cloaked guy are there.”
I balled my hands into fists. “What is it, what’s happening?”
“Um....”
I looked around the bushes and saw all the security guards running into the mansion.
“We can’t wait Oliver. Sothing bad is happening.”
CRASH!
I sprang to my feet and sprinted toward the mansion, ignoring Oliver as he called out to . If security was heading in there and things were crashing around, I wasn’t leaving Sasha to fend for herself and get hurt. I didn’t care if Oliver backed up or not.
I raced through the front corridor, my shoes skidding on the waxed floor as I turned toward the dining hall. At least, I thought it was the dining hall. More security guards were running in that direction.
My heart hamred in my chest and I silently pleaded with Sasha to hold on for .
When I got to the entrance of the dining hall, I saw the ss.
The table was tossed aside and the cloaked man was near the center of the room. All of Michael’s guards attacked him at once and he easily tossed them aside with powerful magic.
I stopped dead, my heart seizing up when I saw Michael gripping Sasha’s arm.
For the mont, she was out of harm’s way. I couldn’t get to her with all the guards flying around. They were like living projectiles in the air.
Quickly, I scanned the room. There had to be a way to get to Sasha and escape with all the chaos.
Oliver caught up to , panting.
“I’ve got our retreat covered. Get Sasha and let’s go.”
“That’s kind of the problem,” I growled. I ducked and pulled Oliver down just in ti to avoid getting hit by a security guard who got blasted through the air.
When I looked up again, I saw Sasha walking to the center of the room.
“What are you doing?” I spoke aloud.
“Lucas, you have to stop her. We need to get out of here and she’s getting right in the middle of it.”
“I know, I know.”
Sasha raised her arms above her head. There was sothing still about her. She wasn’t panicked or fearful. Her movents were deliberate and precise.
I held a hand up to Oliver.
“Wait... sothing’s happening.”
Sasha threw her arms down and a blast wave exploded from her. All the guards, servants, and everyone else in the room were swept up in her power, knocked back all around the room.
The shockwave stopped short of striking and Oliver.
I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding.
“Now’s our chance. Get her and let’s get the hell out of here.”
I didn’t reply to Oliver. I raced into the room and grabbed Sasha’s hand before the others recovered.
She turned her eyes to . They were blank and vacant like she was looking straight through , not seeing at all.
“Sasha?”
She didn’t respond. In her eyes, I saw sothing moving, creeping, just under the surface. It was dark and eerie.
I swallowed hard, resisting the urge to pull away from her. Instead, I pulled her close and hugged her, kissing her quickly on the lips.
“Co on, Sasha, we have to get out of here while we have a chance.”
She blinked several tis and looked around at the people scattered across the floor.
“Did I do that...?”
“You did. We don’t have ti to talk about it, though. Oliver is waiting for us. It is ti to get away from this horrible place.”
I cupped her cheeks and kept her focus on . Her eyes still seed distant and lost. I leaned in and kissed her again.
This ti, she responded, kissing back. That was good.
“Ready to get out of here?” I grabbed her hand and squeezed.
She sighed and I saw her shoulders sag. It looked like a huge weight lifted from her.
“Yes, please. I’m ready to go.”
I slipped my arm around her shoulders and tucked her close to my body. There was no way I was letting her out of my sight now. Bad things always happened when I did.
We rushed to a side door where Oliver’s n were waiting for us. I glanced at the unconscious bodies again. So of them were already recovering and getting their wits back.
“Head straight down this path to the beach. My n are guarding the path and we will cover your retreat,” Oliver explained.
“Thank you.” I clasped Oliver’s hand and nodded to him.
“What’s family for, eh?”
I smirked and headed down the designated path. Sasha seed weak as we walked. She lay all her weight against , her steps lagging slightly.
“Are you alright?” I murmured against her hair.
“Fine... just... tired.”
Her voice was distant and far away. I imagined that the power she used took a lot out of her.
We made it to the beach, where a longboat was waiting. Two of Oliver’s n rowed us out to the ship anchored nearby.
I got Sasha settled in a cabin, with a comfortable change of clothes, where she could rest. While Oliver and the rest of his n loaded back on the ship, I watched Sasha sleeping. She succumbed to fatigue quickly.
That was probably for the best.
I rejoined Oliver on deck once the ship was in motion.
“How is she?”
“Exhausted, but resting.” I stood beside Oliver and we looked out over the ship’s wake.
The lights from the pack mansion faded slowly as we moved away from that isolated pack. I was glad to put it to our rudder.
“We’ll reach Winter Forest in just a few days. Mom is waiting for you.”
“Of course....”
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