Page 114 of A Wolf's Heart

I held the phone in front of me and opened an app I had rarely used, pressing the red button.

Within seconds, Kage’s and Rainor’s phone went off, buzzing, as did mine. The screen flashed red with the messageAll Handsin blood-black letters.

I didn’t wait to see if the others would follow me. I took off for the fifth floor. For the armory. What those fuckers decided to do was on them. I was going to get my mate, I was going to rip the heads off the ones who had her, and I was never going to shut my bond down again.

I tried to reach out to her, praying I wasn’t too late, but it was her fear that ripped into me.

Kage and Rainor were right behind me, getting into the elevator. “Do you feel her now, assholes?!” I snapped at them.

The wetness traveled down my cheek, causing my breath to hitch as the elevator doors closed. The pain and fear inside of me was more than I could comprehend, and that was likely due to the fact that it wasn’t mine. I had never felt an emotional fear as my mate was feeling at this moment.

I reached up with two fingers and wiped the tears, bringing my hand down so I could see them, rubbing the pad of my thumb through them. “When was the last time you cried?” I asked Rainor, who had swiped at his face and stared at his hand in a sort of horror.

“I cannot remember.” Though, from his racing thoughts traveling through the link, he was thinking about the time that he did not cry. Watching Lila mourn the loss of Max had reminded Rainor that he did not cry over the death of his mother. Having been the one to carry out her death, he believed he didn’t deserve to grieve her. He’d refrained from shedding a tear since the age of ten, afraid doing so would bring forth the soul of his restless mother, punishing him for all the crimes he had committed.

I glanced at Kage, who let Lila’s tears from our bond flow freely from his eyes, not touching them at all.

“What does it mean?” I asked him.

“Our bond is getting stronger,” he said. “I will count every tear she sheds, and I will deliver the pain tenfold on the one responsible.”

“We will find her.” The beast growled, Rainor’s eyes glowing red.

I stared at the wetness on my fingers, slowly balling them into a fist. Those fuckers hurt her. Those fuckers made her scared. Those fuckers stole her from me. “Yes…let’s make them bleed.”

33

LILA

Iwoke up with the worst headache I had ever experienced in my life, while lying on a cold hard floor, face down, with my hair spread all around me. It was as if they had tossed me here. My brain was thumping in my skull, the pressure causing me to wince.

Slowly, I managed to lift myself up with my arms, sitting back until I was on my knees. The cell was dark, and it was just that, a cell. Iron bars, concrete floors, and absolutely no sign of any light, except for one lantern across from me, sitting on an old wooden stand.

The tightness around my neck had me reaching up, grasping at the fabric collar wrapped around.

“I wouldn’t pull that.” A rough voice came from the dark corner behind me.

I jumped to my feet, fighting back the dizziness as I backed away, keeping my eyes on the other prisoner in the cell with me, shrouded in the shadows.

“Once the box on the side doesn’t feel the pressure of your neck, a needle will snap out, injecting the liquid silver into your carotid,” he explained, his voice sounding exhausted.

“Where am I?” I asked.

“Ophidian.”

“I know that.” The sight of Markus standing over me while I lay, unable to move, at the precinct, gave me shivers. “I meant, where in Ophidian?”

“The holding cells.” I could almost hear the ghost of a smile in his voice.

I crossed my arms over my chest, having hit my limit with the damn male sass in my life. “If I know where I am, I might be able to reach out to my mates.” I had no idea if I could, but I could try. Then again, would they even listen?

After the number of times I’d made it known how much I loathed them, would they just cut their losses with me? I had no one else. I still was upset. Did that mean it would be wrong of me to rely on them at this moment?

“No can do. That collar also blocks out the powers within. No mates, no bonds, no…gifts.” He sighed. “Get comfortable, kid. The only way out of here is through a body bag.”

“That wouldn’t be logical for Markus. If he wanted to kill me, he would’ve done it right away. Everything else would be a waste.” I began walking around the cell, testing each of the bars, my eyes skimming the room for anything.

I was exhausted, but I couldn’t just sit and wait to see what Ophidian had in store for me.

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