Page 409 of Hate Mates

Every second that passes, I feel them closer.

She’s at my side in an instant. “Where do we go?”

I take her hand, because I can’t not touch her, because even with danger pressing in, I need to ground myself in her warmth.

“South,” I say. “There’s a safehouse—someone I know.”

Vivienne hesitates. “Someone you trust?”

I almost laugh. Trust? There is no trust in the Order’s world. Only survival.

“Someone who hates the Order more than they hate me,” I settle on. “That’ll have to be enough.”

She exhales sharply, nodding. “Then let’s move.”

We slip out of the cave and into the forest, the night pressing in around us like a second skin. Vivienne stays close, her breathing steady, her steps silent despite the damp earth beneath her boots.

She’s always been a fighter, even if she doesn’t see it yet.

But they’re coming.

I can feel it now—more than one. The weight of their power claws through the night, creeping through the trees like a storm on the horizon. Too close.

We’re running before I even give the order, our bodies moving as one, slipping through the underbrush, darting between twisted roots and low-hanging branches.

Then—a crack.

Vivienne gasps as the air behind us explodes—a surge of dark magic aimed where we’d been standing just seconds ago.

The forest erupts with movement. They’re here.

I grab Vivienne’s hand and yank her down as another pulse of power rips past us, burning through the trees, sending embers scattering into the air.

Three warlocks emerge from the shadows.

One of them is Kieran Vale.

My stomach turns to iron.

Kieran is a hunter like me, but he never hesitates. Never questions. He is what the Order wants all of us to be—merciless.

His eyes flicker to Vivienne, calculating. His lips curve into a knowing smirk.

“Well, well,” he drawls. “Look at you, Orion. The Order said you were taking too long. Guess we know why now.”

Vivienne tenses beside me. I step in front of her.

“Walk away,” I tell Kieran. My voice is calm. A lie.

He laughs. “That’s cute.” He gestures lazily. “You know the rules. The girl comes with us. And if you put up a fight…” His smirk sharpens. “We drag your corpse back instead.”

Vivienne reacts before I do.

She raises her hand, magic surging to life, wild and uncontrolled. She sends a blast toward Kieran, but he cuts through it effortlessly, swatting it away like it’s nothing more than an inconvenience.

She gasps, stumbling.

Too weak. Too untrained.

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