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Chapter 11
Magnus
My meeting finished earlier than expected, and by early afternoon, I was headed back to the office, wanting to surprise Mila. Parking the car in the underground lot, I headed straight up to my office. My secretary was absent, obviously still on her lunch break.
I stepped into the office to find it empty. Mila’s scarf was draped over the back of my chair, her unique scent permeating the air. She hadn’t been gone long. Maybe she was in the bathroom.
A sense of unease stole over me. My gut churned, and I frowned. Something was wrong.
Heading down the corridor, I paused outside the ladies' bathroom. “Mila?”
No reply. I pushed the door open and went inside. It was empty. I was about to turn and head back out when something caught my eye. I moved to the sink and crouched, picking up the small syringe. A tiny drop of blood was smeared on the floor.
Mila!
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see Thor’s name on the screen.
"We found the blackmailer," came my brother's terse voice. “We traced a deposit to an offshore account. We didn’t pick it up straight away because it was such an insignificant amount. Less than a dollar. The account is in the name of Maria Silver, but it’s an alias for Shannon Matthews. Mila’s mother.”
Fear surged through my veins. Mila’s mother?
“I have to go. Mila’s mother has her.” I ended the call without another word, my bear already surging to the surface. I needed to get out of here, needed to shift so I could follow her scent. My bear senses were far more attuned to my mate. We would find her. They couldn’t have gone far.
There was no thought, only reaction as I sprinted from the office and headed back down to the parking lot, Mila’s scarf clenched in my hand. Gunning the engine, I raced through traffic to the park on the city's outskirts. Parking at the edge of the woods, I sprinted into the cover of the trees and stripped off my clothes. I quickly concealed them beneath a pile of leaves beneath a large pine tree along with my car keys. Then I shifted, sniffing the air and allowing my primal senses to take over, seeking my connection with my mate.
Magnus, I love you. I’m sorry. So sorry.
I swore I heard Mila’s voice in my head. Had I imagined it? My snout twitched. There! Her scent. It was weak but still discernible to my ursine nose. Then I was racing on all fours, the world a blur of greens and browns. Pine needles crunched underfoot, the drumbeat of my heart urging me faster through the dense wood.
I wasn’t aware of time. My sole purpose was to find my mate. Her scent grew stronger as I ran, tugging me to the right.
I burst into a clearing, spying an abandoned cabin almost concealed by undergrowth and trees. She was there. The copper tang of her blood hung in the air, and I growled, my paws pounding toward the door. It splintered with one swipe of my paw.
And then I saw her. My mate. Her mother poised over her. Blood on Mila’s neck from the knife pressed to her throat, her feet and wrists bound. Her terrified eyes locked with mine.
“No!” her mother screamed, raising the knife and lowering it in a deadly arc toward Mila’s stomach.
Mila twisted at the last moment, and the knife plunged into her chest. My heart stopped. My bear roared as Shannon yanked the bloody knife from Mila’s chest.
Her blood, her precious life force, spilled onto the worn floorboards.
One swipe of my giant paw sent Mila's mother sprawling, but before I could finish her off, she shifted, and a silver wolf stood before me. She circled until her back was to the destroyed door, her muzzle pulled back in a snarl. Rearing onto my hind legs, I swiped again, scoring my claws across her face. She yelped, backing up a few steps. Then she turned and bolted, racing into the forest.
My mind warred with the need to pursue her, to end her life, but my mate’s need was greater. I would have my retribution. Later. Right now, Mila's life force was ebbing away.
I shifted back to my human form, uncaring of my naked state. Mila was all that mattered.
She lay before me, gravely wounded and in desperate need of healing. There was no other choice.
“Shift, Mila!” I rumbled, the sound more growl than speech. I rubbed her cooling cheek, willing the change to come over her. “I need you to shift, Mila. Find your wolf! She’s in there! Damnit, Mila, shift!”
Her eyes snapped open, the blue almost swallowed by silver. Grabbing the discarded knife, I freed her wrists and ankles. She’d never done it before, but it was up to her now. She needed to control it, embrace it.
“Yes, Mila! That’s it. You can do it, my love. Your wolf will heal once you shift.”
Mila's body convulsed. The fire of the first shift was agony. Fuck, I felt so helpless. If I could bear this pain for her, I would. But this was a trial she had to endure alone. She needed to harness the primal power lying dormant within her.
Anguish washed over me with every agonizing spasm that racked Mila’s body. Her clothes shredded as she began to contort and shift, her bones cracking and reshaping beneath her skin as her human form gave way to that of a magnificent silver wolf. With a gut-wrenching cry, she completed the change, and her screams became howls.
