Chapter 77
Chapter 77
Damon
I woke with a sound I didn’t recognize as my own.
A sharp gasp–no, a choke–ripped from my throat as I sat up violently, sheets twisted around my legs, breath coming in shallow, desperate pulls. My skin was slick with sweat, chest heaving like I’d run miles..
The fire in the hearth had gone out. The room was dark. Cold. And I couldn’t breathe.
Zane was howling inside me. Howling–long, guttural, and agonized.
It hit me like a knife straight to the heart. My hands flew to my chest, fingers splaying over my sternum like I could claw out whatever was tearing me apart. A pulse of heat–wrong and bright–seared through my ribs, blooming beneath the skin.
The mating bond.
It wasn’t quiet anymore. It screamed.
Something had snapped across it. Like a live wire struck water. Like lightning in my blood.
I doubled over with a groan, pain flaring in my jaw, my back, my temples. Zane surged forward, not asking permission–he was demanding action.
She’s in danger. She’s bleeding. She’s not safe. He raged.
Her scent crashed into me like a storm and beneath it–iron. Blood.
It wasn’t a memory that assaulted me this time; when Elena reminded me of Natalie I knew the difference. This wasn’t that.
This was happening. Now.
I stumbled to my feet, bare and half–blind with fury, the taste of copper rising in my mouth. My legs nearly gave out, but Zane steadied me–urged me
forward.
Every nerve in my body burned. My skin felt too tight. I could feel her fear through the bond, electric and spiked and too far away.
Where was she? Where is she?
I slammed the door open, the wood cracking against the stone wall. The corridor outside was dim, only a few sconces lit, but movement approached-
fast; quiet.
Ronan.
He turned the corner just as I did, boots silent on the stone. Fully dressed. Armed.
He’d felt it too somehow.
Our eyes met and he stopped cold.
“She’s not safe,” I growled. My voice was barely human.
“I know.”
That made me pause. A beat. A crack in the whirlwind. I narrowed my eyes on him. “You knew something was wrong?”
“I knew something woke you,” he said, calm but quick. “And I know what it means. The bond-”
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“She’s hurt,” I snapped, shoving past him. “And I don’t know where the fuck she is.”
“She was sent to a field post for the next trial,” Ronan said, keeping pace. “Remote, but not dangerous. A small border territory. It was supposed to be a liaison assignment. I thought you were briefed.”
“No one briefed me.” My voice shook. “When?”
“Five days ago.”
My feet stopped. My vision didn’t. Five. Days. I turned slowly toward him, my heart pounding so hard it inade my ribs ache.
“And you thought I knew?“.
“I thought you approved it.”
The air went razor–sharp. I felt something snap again–not the bond this time.
Me.
Zane surged forward, snarling. Not at Ronan. At the system. The council. The lies. But Ronan was who was in front of me in that moment.
I spun and stalked away.
Barefoot. Half–shifted. Teeth bared. Because wherever she was–whatever they’d done–I felt her slipping.
And I was done waiting.
“Where is she?” I snarled.
Ronan didn’t answer fast enough. I turned on him, bare feet scraping stone, pulse roaring in my ears. “Ronan. Where. The. Fuck. Is. She.”
His jaw tightened. “She hasn’t returned yet.”
The words hit like ice down my spine.
“She was sent to a temporary border post. Near the rogue line.” He spoke like someone defusing an explosive, careful, level. “A reassignment. Council vote. It had your sign–off. I assumed you decided to push her into coming clean with you.”
“I didn’t sign anything.” My voice cracked open like lightning.
Ronan’s mouth pressed into a grim line. “Then you need to see it for yourself.”
I didn’t wait for more. I pushed past him, feet pounding down the corridor, Zane pacing just beneath my skin. I didn’t register the startled servants pressed against the walls. I only felt her–faint, flickering, slipping.
And I ran.
The council record room was locked tight for the night, but it wouldn’t keep me out. I slammed my shoulder into the heavy oak door once–twice–until
it cracked open with a thunderous groan. Scrolls scattered across the floor like paper bones.
I tore through the records with shaking hands, rifling through stamped packets and official transcripts until I found her name.
Elena Ashford.
Well, her false name. It was there–in crisp, bold ink.
“Misconduct. Potential interference with trial integrity. Temporary reassignment recommended and approved by majority vote.
My name was listed. My signature was on it. But it wasn’t mine. My throat closed as my anger opened fully.
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Chapter 77
“They forged it,” I whispered.
Zane growled, low and brutal. They tried to erase our mate.
Ronan entered behind me, slow and silent, but I kept my eyes on the forms.
90%
There was a complaint attached–a forged note claiming she tried to tamper with Pack assignments. Testimony from palace staff I’d never seen in her orbit. It was all built to frame her. Quietly. Bloodlessly.
To justify disappearing her.
They hadn’t just tried to remove her. They’d planned her erasure–a political burial hidden beneath protocol and lies.
And I’d been too distracted to stop it. Too blind to feel what was slipping away.
My hands clenched the parchment until it tore. A sound rose from deep in my chest–inhuman, ragged. And Zane surged fully forward.
I slammed my fist into the stone wall, cracking both skin and mortar. Then I turned and roared.
The sound shook the room. Papers rattled on their shelves. I heard guards running outside the hall, uncertain whether to approach or flee.
“She’s been out there for days,” I said through bared teeth, voice shaking. “Alone. Injured. Near Rogue lands. And none of you–none of you thought to question it?”
“We didn’t know the placement was false,” Ronan said. “But I should have-”
“You should have told me,” ! growled. “You should have known she’d never survive that long without help.”
“She survived worse,” he said quietly. “But not without cost.”
I barely heard him.
My claws slid out, slow and sharp. My body was already shifting, not fully–just enough for Zane to bleed through. My muscles stretched, skin tightening across bone. My vision sharpened. The bond burned hot.
“Ready a team,” I snapped. “Riders, fast. Medical transport behind. Weapons. Trackers.”
Ronan moved. “It’ll take time to-”
“I’m not waiting.” My voice was pure steel now. “She doesn’t have time.”
I turned, striding toward the exit with nothing but fury and instinct wrapped around me.
My feet were bare. My chest was bare. And I didn’t give a damn.
I burst into the courtyard, moonlight washing over stone. Zane surging with every heartbeat. Her scent. Her fear. Her name.
Let them try to stop me. Let them see what happens when you touch what’s mine.
I let
AD
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