Page 15 of Chosen Destiny

Not wanting to repeat everything, I pulled Jack, Miles, and Lucas into the conversation. They were the royal advisors I trusted, and I needed the five of us to be on the same page with any decisions made.I’ll link with the alphas in Oregon and Idaho and spread the word to keep a lookout for a van that might seem suspicious.

We can help out since Zeke’s gone,Jack linked.

Lucas smacked him on the back of the head and murmured, “Dude. Bodey doesn’t know anything about that.”

The damage was already done. Bodey’s dread flowed into me as he asked,What did Zeke do now?

Before I could answer, agony shot through Bodey into me. The pain receded before more slammed through him, making me sick.

If she won’t tell you, I will, because it’s that fucked up,Jack started, unaware of what was happening to my mate.

“Stop,” I rasped. “They realized he’s awake.” I closed my eyes and clenched my hands so tight that my nails bit into my palms. They were hurting him, and I had no fucking way of getting to him. How could I expect to protect all my people when I couldn’t protect my mate?

“Are they hurting him again?” Michael’s face twisted in agony.

I nodded, unable to say anything more.

Something buzzed. My eyes fluttered open to find Jasmine looking at her phone. Her face was pale, but she whispered, “It’s them, but I can call them back.”

“Take it now.” I needed to know their answer. If they weren’t going to help, I had to determine a way to pretend to hand myself over to Queen Kel.

Each new jolt of pain made me more desperate to save him.

That had to be Queen Kel’s goal.

Jasmine nodded, swiped her phone, and placed it to her ear.

The connection between Bodey and me cooled again. The discomfort lingered, but he wasn’t conscious to feel it. That didn’t make me feel any better. I raised a shaking hand to my mouth.

Miles placed a hand on my shoulder. “We will save him. We’ll figure out a way without you sacrificing yourself.”

“You can’t make that promise.” Samuel crossed his arms. “There’s no way she can sacrifice herself, so she may—”

“With all due respect.” Miles’s normal, quiet demeanor slid into that of someone who’d be heard. “You don’t have a mate. You don’t understand the emotions she’s going through, and though I have an inkling, they probably aren’t half as strong as what she’s experiencing because, fortunately, I’ve never experienced this situation with Stella. If we don’t find a way to get him back, shewillmake the trade, and there’s not a damn thing we can do to stop her.”

Even though Miles was the quietest of the advisors, I’d never doubted his fierceness. He reserved his words and actions for when they were warranted, and I appreciated him for standing in my corner.

“That’s why we need to stop her.” Samuel nodded, his nose wrinkling. “We can tie her up or put her in a room.”

Jack snorted. “I think you’re forgetting she’s ourqueenand you aren’t our king. We do anything to her, and we’ll be alpha-willed so hard she’ll have us lying on our backs, wanting belly rubs as she skips past us.”

A strangled laugh escaped me, sounding more like a croak than anything. Leave it to Jack to get me to laugh even while I was losing my sanity.

“Enough.” Michael stepped between Miles and Samuel, breaking up whatever stare-down the two younger men were having. “Fighting among ourselves isn’t the solution, and Samuel, I know we groomed you to lead, but you aren’t the leader. Instead of arguing, we need to work together. Like Caroline, I’m all about getting my entire family home safe and sound, which includes her.”

Being called Caroline sounded weird. Even though the name was mine, it didn’t embody the person I’d become. “Everyone here, please keep calling me Callie.”

“Whew.” Jack wiped his brow. “Good. Because I was getting nervous about the new name.”

Lucas raised a hand to smack him, but Jack shuffled away while pointing his finger.

“Thank you, Katelin,” Jasmine said. “I know you did everything you could. Give me a call when things are settled.”

That didn’t sound good, and that blasted feeling I’d tried all my life not to feel vanished, deflating me like a balloon.

Damn hope.

While living in Zeke’s pack, I’d learned how dangerous hope was, but the thought of having allies to rescue Bodey had caused that emotion to surge within me, and here I was, devastated again. I should’ve known they’d say no. It wasn’t their fight.

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