I expected Ezra to growl, break some glass or something. But as my hand fisted the back of his shirt in panic, his own hand went around me, pushing me closer to his back. He was silent. Calm. Too calm.

His end of the bond felt like the deep ocean. Placid. Dark. With the promise of a monster lurking in its murky waters.

"You're going to lose your heads before you take her away from me," Ezra said in a bone chilling voice. It wasn't the voice I was used to. His words held a pledge of death.

"You will give her to us, your highness, if you don't want the humans to discover our little secret," the man replied, his voice smug. "I'm going to shift right here, right now, if you don't."

My eyes widened. The three skyscrapers standing in front of me stiffened. I peeked through a gap between Sam and Ezra's arms. The man looked dead serious. His eyes started to glow. Oh my God, he wasn't bluffing.

Ezra's hand pressed me tighter to his back. I glanced at the doors. The other rogues were still waiting right outside. People walked in and out of the store. Unsuspecting humans. I glanced up and around. Surveillance cameras. If he shifted here, it would be a disaster.

There was no way out of this. Except maybe...

"Ezra. The guards are still outside right?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied, his voice tight. Sam threw me a glance before fixing his glare on the wolves, still waiting for Ezra's response.

"Do the other rogues know about them?"

"No, they're still hidden, waiting for my instructions."

"Good. Look, maybe I-"

"No."

I sighed. Of course he would have thought of it.

"So? What's it going to be? People are starting to notice," the rogue said, grinning. His canines were already longer than normal.

And he was right. One of the cashiers had her hand on a phone. She'd probably call the police if we didn't move.

"Listen to me," I said firmly. "That's the only way. You know that. Besides, we have an advantage, they don't know I can link you and they don't know about the guards."

"Dammit," he hissed, looking over his shoulder at me. The bond was strained with a sense of panic. "We can get just slaughter them and take care of the humans later."

"You know that's going to be difficult. There are too many humans for you to contain the situation." I put my forehead on his back. "You'll come for me. I know you will. Nothing is going to go wrong. Please, let's do this."

There was a moment of silence. He exchanged a look with Sam, who nodded.

Ezra cursed. "Fine."

"I'll go," I said out loud, stepping between Sam and Ezra. Ezra's hand found mine, and he clutched it like a life line, keeping me from moving forward.

"Come on, prince. The girl has a good head on her shoulders. It's better this way," the rogue said, his eyes scanning me from head to toe. For his sake, I hoped Ezra hadn't caught his look, because he would rip his body apart faster than I could say decapitation.

"Be careful," Ezra linked me, still not letting go.

"Don't worry," I told him with more bravado than I felt. "Just don't be late."

I pried my hand out of his and walked toward the rogues. They instantly closed their ranks around me and turned to the door.

The rogue leader looked over his shoulder at Ezra. "There's more of us outside. And we have the girl anyway. I don't think she'll mind missing a finger or two if you guys decide to be heroic."

Ezra's power threatened to seep through. I clenched my fists. I liked my fingers right where they were, thank you very much.

The rogues moved and I moved along. We got out of the store in one piece, the orange sunset reflected off the parked cars, painting everything in a reddish glow and sharpening the shadows on the ground.

Humans were loading their groceries into their cars. A group of laughing toddlers were playing, their parents busy in a conversation a few cars over.

One of the rogues nudged his friend and whispered. "Watch this."

Was he going to hurt the kids? My heart stuttered, my magic pushing forward.

As we walked past the toddlers, one of the rogues growled low, his eyes glowing a paler color, and flashed his long canines to the kids. The rogues snickered amongst themselves, and I breathed out a sigh of relief.

The kids screamed and ran towards their parents, by the time they reached them and were pointing at us, we'd reached a big black van at the edge of the parking lot.

One opened the door and basically stuffed me inside. I scrambled to sit up, stiff as a board.

For all my brave talk to Ezra, I sure was close to dying of a heart attack right now. My heart was beating so loud, I could barely hear the doors closing as the driver stepped in from one side and the rogue leader from the other. The back of the van was separated from the cabin, and I could hear more people getting in the back.

The cabin smelled like old sweat and alcohol, and the two rogues on either side of me didn't smell any better. The driver started the car.

"Well, that was pretty easy," the leader said, his gaze burning my cheek. "I guess he cares about his responsibilities as a prince more than than he cares about you, huh, Redhead?"

I didn't respond. I kept my eyes straight ahead. I could feel Ezra through the bond, his fury and anxiety, but I was still scared. What if something happened and he couldn't get to me?

"Not much of a talker, eh?"

"Don't you think it went a little too smoothly?" the driver asked. I tried not to show my unease. I hoped he didn't suspect anything.

"We cornered them. There was nothing they could do. The others will stop them when they come after us. There's no way they'll beat more than a dozen rogues with just the three of them."

"Right," the driver replied, tightening his hold on the steering wheel.

We drove for about five minutes, leaving town behind and taking a deserted road that wound through the woods. The sun failed to break through the tall trees on either side of the road.

The sound of a phone ringing made me jump. The rogue leader chuckled and fished it out of his jean pocket, accepting the call.

"Yes," he answered. There was a voice on the other side of the line. A male voice. But I couldn't make out any words. If only I had werewolf hearing.

"We got her. Don't worry. Just keep your end of the deal."

The phone call ended, and the leader cheerfully returned the phone to his pocket. "Perfect."

"Hold onto something, baby," Ezra's voice filled my head.

The rogue leader turned his head, about to say something to the driver when the latter cursed, hitting the brakes. "Shit!"

I had my feet on the dashboard in front of me, keeping myself in place, when the car screeched to a halt.

The driver braced against the steering wheel, but the rogue leader wasn't as lucky. He hit the windscreen with a muted thud.

"Dammit!" he hissed, plopping back down to his seat. "What the hell, Damon?!"

Damon didn't answer the leader. Like me, he must be looking straight ahead. At the two SUVs that just shot out of the woods and were blocking the road. Eight men and women spilled out of the SUVs, their eyes glowing in the dim light.

The guards.

The leader cursed, then his arm wound around my neck, jerking me to him, my back to his chest. The sharp edges of his clawed fingers pricked the skin of my neck.

"Do something!" he yelled at the shocked driver. "Run them over or back up-"

The doors on each side were ripped open. The driver was dragged out of the car by Sam and into the woods in a blink. The leader's grip around my neck eased, his claws scratching against my neck as he was pulled back. I scrambled away and turned in time to see his head being bashed into the dashboard so hard it cracked. Hot blood spattered my face.

The rogue leader went limp. I looked at Ezra beyond him, my chest heaving. Everything happened so fast, if I blinked I would've missed it.

Ezra's eyes glowed the palest shade of brown, they almost looked golden. He hauled the unconscious rogue out of the cabin and threw him outside as if the burly man weighed nothing. Two warriors dragged the rogue the rest of the way into the woods, and the trees swallowed them. The van shook, the grunts of fighting and pain flowed from the back of the van into the peaceful evening woods.

Ezra reached for me, his hands incredibly gentle.

"Are you okay?" he asked, urging me out of the vehicle. He growled, his eyes on my neck.

"I'm fine," I rushed out, feeling the warm blood against my neck. He hugged me to him, his hand pushing my head against his chest. I breathed in his scent, my body shaking from the rush of adrenaline. Ezra hugged me tighter. Safe.

"Everything is taken care of," Hayden said, walking over to us.

"Right," Ezra said, easing his hold on me. "Let's go."

Ezra, Sam, Hayden and I took our seats back in Ezra's car, parked not far behind the van. Sam and Hayden took the front seats this time, because Ezra wouldn't let go of me.

One of the guard's cars drove behind us. Ezra slipped off his t-shirt and wiped the rogue's blood off my face, then the wound around my neck. It must be deeper than I thought, because there was a lot of blood.

Ezra growled, distress tightening his features. "Why isn't she healing?" He asked no one in particular, then looked at me. "Did you try?"

I frowned and tried to tug my magic towards my neck. It flowed there for a fraction of a second before it was sucked in. I tried again, this time pouring the magic to my fingers and putting them against my neck. To no avail.

I shook my head. "I don't think it's working."

"It's pulled in before it could act on your injuries," he said. Right. He could feel it through the bond.

"Maybe it's because of the Lock," Hayden answered my unasked question. "We supposed you could use your magic to a certain extent because your bond with Ezra is strengthening. But the spell is still there, which means there will be instances when you won't be able to use it. You'll probably not be able to control it fully until the Lock is removed."

Ezra cleaned my neck the best he could, then wrapped his arm around me, his hand protective on the back of my head. I melted into him, my head on his chest. His skin felt scorching hot.

He was still on edge, his wolf close. I tried my best to comfort him through the bond, but there was only so much I could do when I knew both our minds were plagued with what just happened. They were trying to take me away from him.

"How the hell did they get so close?" Hayden mumbled to himself. The rearview mirror showed his eyes, staring out of the windshield, amber and blue swirling.

"Are we still on pack territory?" I asked. He shook his head, flickering his eyes to me in the mirror before they looked ahead again.

"No, but we're close enough, and rogues usually avoid pack territories like the plague. Especially the royal pack," Sam said. "But these were obviously on a mission."

I shuddered, snuggling closer to Ezra. "Why do you think they wanted me?"

Sam sighed. "It could be anything. There's a big chance they were hired by someone. Rogues who aren't sick usually work as mercenaries."

"One of them was speaking to someone on the phone," I said, remembering the rogue's phone call. "They were talking about some deal."

"Good. We'll take a look at the phone later. Maybe we'll get lucky and actually find something this time."

Maybe. Although with our unlucky track record, I wouldn't be surprised if the rogue's phone broke on the way to the pack.

"I thought all rogues were sick," I said, though now that I thought about it, I remembered Ezra's grandfather saying something about Wren having been a rogue.

"Rogue is an umbrella term for supernaturals who don't live under any structure, be it a pack or a coven," Sam explained. "The majority of rogues are sick supernaturals, but there are sane supernaturals who prefer to live alone."

"So you call them rogues, too?" I asked. "Is it, like, illegal? Living without a pack or a coven, I mean."

"It's not exactly illegal, but it's frowned upon," Ezra said.

"Why?"

"Because a supernatural can only live so long alone before his or her mind starts breaking down," Ezra said. "Supernaturals cannot survive sane without a structure for long. That's just how we're wired."

"Oh," I mumbled. I never knew that.

"What worries me is their numbers," Sam said. "We don't usually see this many rogue wolves working together."

Silence claimed the car. The night had fallen, and the road was eerily empty. I kept waiting for something- or someone- to jump out of the dark woods.

I shivered. Someone out there had purposefully assembled more than a dozen rogue wolves and mobilized them, provided a way of transport so they wouldn't get detected easily, and sent them after us. After me. But why?

There were a couple of answers to that question. It could be because I was Ezra's mate and the future queen of werewolves. Or it could be because they knew what I was.

The question to which I couldn't find the answer, however, was how they knew where we would be?

"How did they know where we were?" Ezra asked, following my train of thought.

Sam glanced at us in the rearview mirror, his pale blue eyes grim. "There are different possibilities. They could have had someone watch the pack borders so that they know whenever you leave."

"But if someone was watching the borders the entire time, patrols or sentries would've spotted them at some point, especially since the king upped the security around the borders recently," Hayden said.

"What's the other possibility?" I asked.

Sam pursed his lips, his brows tugged low over his eyes. It was Ezra who answered. "Someone told them that we were leaving the pack."

"You mean someone from inside?" I asked, my eyes wide. Ezra nodded. My guts twisted. Someone from the inside was keeping tabs on us and reporting our every move. A traitor. This meant trouble.

"Let's just hope they had someone watch the borders, however unlikely that is," Ezra said, whispering the last part to himself.

Well, this turned out to be a rather interesting shopping trip.

Ezra's eyes kept flickering to my neck.

"I'm fine," I linked him.

"No, you're not," he replied. His guilt weighed down the bond.

"It's not your fault."

He didn't answer. Nothing I said would convince him otherwise.

If I couldn't make him stop blaming himself, I could at least make him realize he was the one who saved me from being delivered to the unknown.

"Thank you for coming for me."

His eyes softened. He pressed his lips to my forehead, lingering for a long moment, the bond that had been strained with feelings of guilt and fear, now hummed with immeasurable love and affection.

Being in his arms, so close to him, I could finally breathe again.

*** **** ***

Haley was waiting for us in his parents' house. She healed my neck while Ezra changed his clothes.

After Haley left, I went upstairs to wash up and change my blood-spattered top as well.

Five minutes later, I was following Ezra down the stairs, fuming at him.

"But why can't I go?" I asked for the hundredth time.

Ezra stopped on the first floor and turned towards me. "You just can't."

I stopped, went back a couple of steps in order to be taller than him, then put my hands on my waist. He caught the movement and his lips twitched up.

"I'm serious!" I said, narrowing my eyes. "Why can't I? I have the right to be there as much as you or Sam do, if not more. They were after me!"

He took a deep breath. "Orla, that place is not... it's not a good place. They're underground cells, deep in the forest. It's a dark place and I don't want you there."

He was trying to shelter me from something I might not like- I would certainly not like.

But it's past time I started acting like part of this world, of his world. And this world wasn't just pretty glowing magic and special abilities. A big part of it was blood and violence and death, and I had to be able to face that.

Ezra couldn't shelter me from everything, and he had to learn to live with that as much as I did.

"Did your mom ever go there?" I asked. With Wren's personality, she had probably gone there against Zyron's wishes more times than I could imagine.

He sighed. Resignation traveling through the bond. "Yes. She goes there."

I raised one eyebrow. He growled half-heartedly. "Okay."

I grinned and launched myself on him. He caught me in a hug. "You're going to drive me crazy," he said.

"I love you too."

"I love you." He kissed my forehead."Just stay close to me."

I didn't stand a chance against any of those wolves, so I was going to keep my fat butt right next to him even if he hadn't said so.

***

The cells were in the middle of the woods, away from the pack village. The large building was one story, but according to Ezra, the cells were all underground.

Wolves surrounded the squat brick building, their eyes glowing. A dull lamp post flickered on and off, failing to banish the darkness and adding to the eerie vibe of the place.

Sam, Zyron and Zane stood in front of the door. Zyron's eyes flickered between me and Ezra, and he looked like he was stifling a smile.

"Alright. Let's go in," he said.

The building was darker than I had expected it. It smelled of must and an indescribable old rancid smell. Old blood?

I had to hold onto Ezra's shirt to keep myself from falling and to know where to go. His arm around my waist, guiding me through the pitch black interior until we reached a flight of stairs.

A basement.

The creepy vibe only gained in strength as we went down the uneven flight of stairs. The rancid smell intensified, mixing with the coppery scent of fresh blood and sweat. Faint light bulbs flickered along a seemingly infinite hallway.

Our steps echoed on the stone floor, metals doors stood like looming gates to the underworld on either side of us. Pained moans and faint gurgles echoed in the hallway. I clutched Ezra's hand tighter, trying to keep my heart from beating harder.

Guards stood in front of several doors. We stopped at one. The guard opened it, the metal clank of the key jarring in the ghostly silence.

The cell was surprisingly large compared to what I expected. Zyron, Zane and Sam walked in first. Inside, chained to the wall across the door, were three men. My steps faltered.

Their faces glimmered with sweat under the weak light pouring in from the hallway. Their writs hung from manacles suspended from the ceiling, their ankles chained to the floor. The rogue leader was one of them, blood covered his forehead, glimmering a dark brown.

"Our friend in the middle here seems to be the one in charge. Aren't you bud?" Sam asked, crouching in front of the rogue leader.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the rogue replied, his voice hoarse.

Sam stepped back and Zyron took his place. He grabbed the rogue's jaw in one hand. Then Zyron's voice lowered to a pitch I didn't think a person would be able to achieve. His voice, deep and low and unrecognizable, oozed authority and power.

"Talk. Who sent you? Everything you know. Now."

I shivered, feeling an incessant urge to speak, as though I had to tell Zyron everything I knew. Ezra wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed my temple. The sudden urge disappeared.

"The Alpha King's command. No werewolf can resist it," he said through our link.

My eyes widened. Wow. That must be pretty handy. The rogue looked like he was struggling to breathe. His two companions stared in horrified silence.

"We met him in a club," the rogue leader said, his voice strangled. "I don't know much about who he is, but I think he's just a messenger."

"Why did he want her?" Sam asked.

"I-I don't know."

"How did he get his hands on all of you?" Zyron asked.

"I don't know. I met all the other guys there through him," he said, wiping his forehead on his shoulder. "He introduced us and told us we'll be working together with him."

"How did you know where they would be?" Zyron inquired, jerking his head towards us.

"He told us by phone. He had us stationed in a warehouse, with a couple of vans. When we hear from him we're supposed to drive to the place he says and get him the girl back to the club."

A club.

Sam exchanged a look with Ezra. Was it the same club Sam had seen in Noah's memories?

"This man you're talking about, what is he?" Zane asked.

"A wolf," he croaked out. "He's a wolf."

"A rogue?" Ezra asked, his brows furrowed.

"I couldn't tell," the rogue said, shaking his head.

"You said you thought the wolf was only a messenger. Why?" Ezra asked.

The man clenched his jaw, looking like he was fighting against something. But then he spoke.

"At first I thought he was the one in charge. But one time I saw him bowing to another guy. A vampire. They were always coming in and out of a door that led to the basement. One of the regulars told me there was an underground club, sort of a VIP thing for vampires there. But I never went in. None of us did..."

"Do you know what that man looked like, that vampire?" Zane asked.

"He was always wearing a cloak. A black cloak that covered his face."

A cloak.

Dark cloaked people.

The dream flashed in my mind. The burning village. The cloaked men chasing women and children.

I felt silly because it was only a cloak. Anyone could chose to wear a cloak. But the way my magic stirred in my chest, making Ezra look down at me in concern, told me otherwise.

"Did he have a tattoo?" Zane asked.

The rogue hesitated. "He does. I caught a glimpse of black ink on his hand. Letters. I don't know. Something like a V?"

It could be the same vampire Noah told us about. It had to be.

"Can you link that wolf, the messenger?" Zyron asked.

"No. He only contacted us by phone. I only saw him that one time when he recruited me at the club."

"Sam," Zyron said, nodding towards the rogues. "See if you can get us anything useful, please. The wolf's identity, or maybe the vampire."

Sam stepped forward. "You got it, king."

***

"There was considerably less action than I thought," I linked Ezra on our way out of the prison.

Ezra raised his brow as we stepped into the fresh night air. "What did you expect? Torn limbs and spilled guts?"

"Not exactly that," I said. "Maybe a little?"

He chuckled. Zane and Zyron gave us a knowing look.

"So, do you think it's the same club?" Zane asked.

"If it is, we have to take a look there," Ezra said.

Zyron crossed his arms, his frown thoughtful. "It could be-"

"A trap. I know," Ezra said. "We got them easily, too easily. He couldn't possibly not know that there wouldn't be guards with us and send his men straightforward like that. Especially if he was watching us closely."

"True," Zane agreed with a nod. "These rogues are probably expendable for him."

"But why?" I asked. "Why does he want to lure us to the club?"

"That's the question, isn't it?" Zyron sighed, shaking his head. He fixed Ezra with a hard look. "And you're going to go there knowing it's a trap?"

My guts churned. I chewed on my bottom lip. Ezra's hand found mine, and he twined our fingers.

"We'll have to go there either way," Ezra said. "We were going to check that place anyway, remember?"

Zyron stared at the ground for a few minutes. He must be linking someone. Probably Wren.

"We still have to wait for Sam to confirm it's actually the same club," Zane said. "Also, we tracked the rogue's phone logs. The calls were made from different numbers. Most likely burner phones. Our tech guys are trying to see if they can figure out a location."

"Alright," Zyron said. "You can go, Ezra, but not tonight. He would be expecting something tonight. Tomorrow morning. Tomorrow morning they would have their guards down after being on edge all night."

The bond buzzed with so many wild emotions, the most prominent one being dread.

Because in that moment, Ezra and I exchanged a tense look, both realizing that whatever this was? It has began.

--- ---- ---

Thoughts?

Don't forget to vote and comment. I appreciate it.

Much love <3 <3 <3

M.B.