Page 44 of Nick
Nick’s hazel eyes flickered among the assembled shifters, allies who were quickly becoming his lifeline in the search for Sarah.He swallowed hard against the bile of guilt.
“Nick!”Ryker’s voice cut through the haze of despair.“Vincent isn’t some rookie making mistakes.If he wanted Sarah dead, she’d be gone by now.”
Bronx stood beside Ryker, his imposing figure a silent bulwark against the encroaching darkness.His eyes, deep pools of resolve, met Nick’s.“He’s right,” Bronx said, his voice low but sure.“This is a power play.Vincent took her for a reason.”
The words were meant to be a lifeline, but Nick felt them wrap around his chest like steel bands.Breathe, he reminded himself.
“Like what?”Nick’s question was the growl of a man teetering on the brink.“Why take her?”
“Control,” Anders said.“She’s leverage against us, against you.”
Conall nodded.“Vincent knows we’ll do anything to get her back.He’s counting on it.”
Quinton’s fists clenched at his sides.“We should’ve seen this coming,” he spat out.
“We’re wasting time,” Conall agreed.
“Let’s go get her,” Quinton said.
Without discussing it, they all moved out into the desert, stripping down and shifting into their wolf forms.
Malcolm and Larissa led the way to the old mine.
Nick had been there years before, but he hadn’t remembered the name of it, couldn’t remember if he’d ever been inside.
As they neared the location, the group’s pace quickened, their bodies tensed for the confrontation ahead.Nick’s muscles coiled tightly, ready to spring into action at the first hint of danger.The thought of Sarah, alone and at Vincent’s mercy, clawed at his mind, leaving trails of guilt and fear.
They moved together, shadows flitting across the desolate terrain, driven by a singular purpose—to rescue one of their own from the clutches of a monster.
Nick’s throat tightened with the need to howl, to call out to Sarah and assure her that they were coming, that he was coming.
But the time for howling would come later.
Now was the moment for action.
Ahead, the outline of the old mine loomed, an abyss waiting to either swallow them whole…or give them the woman they were heading in to save.
Tonight, they would bring Sarah home—or die trying.
Chapter 19
THE STENCH OF DAMPearth and her own blood was the first thing Sarah registered, acutely aware of the pain that crawled over her body.
Bound to a rough wooden chair in the center of the cave, she could feel every bruise pulsating with pain, every cut stinging as though salt had been poured into it.The gag in her mouth was soaked with saliva, making it difficult for her to swallow.
She tried to shift, but the silver chains biting into her wrists and ankles, drawing fresh lines of agony across her skin, kept her in her human form.
Sarah’s long dark hair hung in matted tendrils, sticking to the sweat on her brow and cheeks.Each shallow breath was a struggle against the tightness around her chest.
This was not how she was meant to end—not here, not at the hands of such cruelty.
And I won’t end here, she vowed silently.
She would survive this.
For Nick, for their child, for herself.
The wooden beams overhead creaked ominously as a door scraped open, announcing Vincent’s arrival.The alpha’s imposing frame filled the doorway, his dark hair and pale skin making him appear like a specter conjured from the shadows.
