Kacie
I woke up to loud noise. I found two men standing over me and I was disoriented as they dragged me out of bed. What the hell is going on? I look behind me to find Viktor isn’t in bed. What is happening? Think, Kacie, think.
They’re quick and I don’t have time to react as they lunge at me on the bed. I fight and kick against them but they shackle me with a rope around my neck before they drag me from the bed.
I scream as the wolf’s bane sears my skin and I grab at it with my fingers. It burns and I hold onto it so it doesn’t sear my neck. This has to be a dream.
Where are the guards?
Where’s Jake?
Where’s Viktor?
I fall to my knees and glare up at them. The on the left squats down and looks me in the eyes. He’s bald and has a beard, his eyes are bloodshot and he reeks of alcohol.
“She’s gotten pretty,” one of the men murmured.
I froze. I don’t recognize him but he must know me from before. That doesn’t make sense. Why would Ken’s pack attack here and how could they? They don’t have an Alpha and they don’t have their Beta. If anything, they should be in scrambles trying to figure out who their next leaders will be.
The one on the right is still standing and looks down at me. I look up at him, he’s in his twenties and has a head full of blonde hair and he’s clean-shaven. He doesn’t glance at me, his eyes stay on the bald man beside me. When the bald man doesn’t look away from me, the blonde speaks.
“Alpha wants us to bring her down unharmed,” he hissed in an authoritative tone.
The man beside me looks up at the blonde.
“And she will be,” the first one promised.
The blonde doesn’t budge. “We won’t do anything outside of our orders. Nothing else. We aren’t on holiday.”
The man beside me scoffs.“Eyeing that Beta position, huh?” He laughs.
The blonde ignores him and pulled on the leash connected to the noose around my neck.
“Alpha’s waiting.”
The bald man tsks and stands up. He walks in front of me and stands beside the blonde. They lead me out and I follow them out. They must not see me as a threat as they’ve turned their backs on me.
“I hope Viktor…” Athena trails off.
“Viktor will be okay. He’s the strongest person we know. He’s fine,” I said.
She nods.
“We are Luna of this pack,” Athena whispered. “We can’t let them capture us. What will it mean for our pack?”
I shake my head.
I don’t know.
“I didn’t plan on going with them,” I tell her. My heart feels like it’s beating out of my heart. I decide to go for it and I’m about to hurl myself at the bald one. The second one speaks over his shoulder to me; distracting me.
“We’re going to our Alpha… and yours. They’re together right now,” he said.
I swallow.
“If we wait any longer, we will be significantly weaker,” Athena said hurriedly. I bite my lip as my hands tighten on the rope around my neck.
“They’re taking us to Viktor, right now,” I tell her. “Do you have no faith in him?”
“It’s not that I don’t have faith in our mate, it’s that he can’t be in a good situation right now if they’re tying a rope around our neck and leading you out like a dog!”
She sighs.
“Look at you! We can’t let them capture us!”
“They already have,” I said.
“We don’t have time to argue! If the outcome is worse than we fear, we might need to take action and save Viktor! Our mate could be hurt.”
“We would know if he was hurt,” I tell her.
“We need to see what the situation outside is like. When we know what’s going on we can decide on a course of action. Right now, we don’t know anything.”
“Right now, you’re being too fucking calm,” she growls.
They throw the door open and I follow them out. We need to see what the situation outside is like. When we know what’s going on we can decide on a course of action.”
When we step outside houses are on fire, and men were slaughtered in front of their homes. Women and children were outside in tears. They had been forced to their knees in front of enemy troops.
The men pulled on the leash and I couldn’t help but be dragged. My people lifted their heads and watched me as I walked past.
What the fuck happened here?
“We’ve seen what the situation is, and it’s more serious than we thought,” Athena murmurs. “Now what?”?
***
One hour earlier
Viktor
My heart twisted in my chest and the screams were deafening. I needed to wake up. I had to wake up. This nightmare was going to swallow me whole. I had to escape. My people were screaming, my family was crying, the children of my pack were pleading. As soon as I wake up from this nightmare I’ll find my mate by my side and my people sleeping soundly.
Get up!
This isn’t real.
Wake up
Get up!
Now! I roar and rip myself from my nightmare. Sweat coats my forehead and I blink and turn my head to find my mate sleeping safely by my side.
The crying, screaming, and begging are still there. I sit up quickly and my head threatens to split in half. I grab my head and strain against the pain.
Something is wrong. Something is very wrong. I look to my sleeping mate and press a kiss to her temple. I need to figure out what’s wrong. Tomorrow is supposed to be the start of our lives together. I pray by the time she opens her eyes I’ve found the problem and fixed it.