About halfway down the path, the world explodes with light, banishing the comforting darkness.
Caught in the center of the illumination, Josh's potion can’t hide us from the light flooding the pathway. This is bad. This is catastrophically, life-endingly bad.
Shit! Panic floods through my veins. I freeze like a damn deer in headlights, then force myself into action, wheeling back around.
"Run," Marlow hisses, fingers clamping around my hand and yanking me back.
We backpedal toward the safety of the shadows we left behind—but it’s already too late. A bone-chilling howl pierces the quiet night. Shapes are materializing out of the darkness, circling closer, blocking our escape.
Wolves and humans alike materialize from every side, pack members I've known my whole life, now staring at us with narrowed eyes and bared teeth.
They knew. They knew we were coming. The note baiting us was a trap.
I thrash against the guards as they slam me to the ground, wrenching my arms behind my back. Cold metal bites into my wrists. An odd sensation blooms where the handcuffs touch my skin and spreads outward—a tingling warmth accompanied by the scent of herbs and the sharp tang of magic. These cuffs are crafted specifically for wolf shifters, designed to drain my strength and keep me from breaking free.
I catch a glimpse of Marlow a few feet away, his own struggles fading as the guards overpower him. Our eyes lock for the briefest moment and it shatters something inside my chest. This whole time I've been his rescuer, his protector, keeping him safe and alive. Now there's absolutely nothing I can do.
The circle of hostile shifters penning us in parts, and there's the last person I want to see.
Adelaide’s golden eyes blaze with fury. "He knew you'd try something," she spits at Marlow. Her fists clench at her sides like she's holding herself back from lunging forward.
My stomach twists as her gaze shifts to me. "I hoped he was wrong about you.” Her disappointment is like a knife to the heart.
A figure parts the guards and emerges from the shadows. Detective Harper. He’s intent and focused on his prey even now, eyes glued to Marlow. His shoulders only loosen a fraction as he confirms that he’s finally apprehended his fugitive. I can’t decideif it’s better or worse that he doesn’t gloat or even look very pleased, only a grim sense of satisfaction about him.
Marlow lunges forward, a feral growl rumbling in his chest, but the guards yank him back, slamming him to the ground.
"Where is he?" Marlow roars, struggling futilely against the guards. "What did you do to him? You son of a bitch! Bring him here now!"
My heart breaks watching him fight so desperately for his friend. That loyalty, that fierce protectiveness—it's one of the things I've come to... No. Don't go there. Not now.
"You're in no position to make demands," Harper states evenly. The detective only spares me a moment’s glance, severe and unflinching, before he turns away and starts barking orders.
Taking Iggy. The ultimatum in his note. Harper provoked us, trying to draw us out. The wolves were on high alert, ready and waiting for us to try something. We walked right into the trap. The magic couldn’t hide us since we were their targets.
I've betrayed my pack, my family, to help a wanted criminal.
But I'm more terrified for Marlow than myself. What's going to happen to him now?
25.The Alpha's Gamble
Wynn
One of Adelaide's guards throws me in a dark little room at the police station. An interrogation room, I figure. My hands are bound in front of me. I'm too busy testing the enhanced cuffs to pay attention to anything else.
What will I even do if I can get free? Sneak off in a busy police station, fight the officers, pray for a miracle? None of it sounds promising.
Light flickers on before a plan forms. A glass window in front of me illuminates and reveals itself as a two-way mirror. I'm not on the side I expected. I can see through to the room on the other side.
Marlow sits there, shackled at a table. This room is more like what I expected—sterile and intimidating. I don't think he can see me, especially since I'm jolting against my bonds and nearly falling off the seat, snarling and trying to get to him.
"Marlow, Marlow!" I call out, but he doesn't hear me.
Adelaide strolls into the interrogation room, standing in front of the table with her back to me. She's bigger and more intimidating than any detective I've ever seen. And from the tight bunch of her shoulders, she's angry.
She gives no indication I'm here or that I can see everything, though I doubt it's an accident she angled herself to avoid blocking my view of Marlow.
What the hell is going on?
