Chapter 10 - THE PACK THAT HUNTED ITS OWN QUEEN
We didn't make it out of Seattle.
At the highway interchange, Nia noticed the first car.
A gray sedan.
It had followed us for six miles.
Then a second vehicle appeared.
And a third.
Nia's expression hardened.
“Bloodbound.”
I looked into the rearview mirror.
“Are we talking about the red-eyed people from the elevator?”
“Yes.”
“Wonderful. I was beginning to miss them.”
She didn't laugh.
That frightened me.
We exited toward an abandoned industrial district.
Nia drove through narrow streets and parked beside a warehouse.
“We need to go on foot.”
I grabbed my bag.
Then felt it.
A cold pressure behind my ribs.
Something was reaching toward the remnants of the mate bond.
Not Dondre.
Something darker.
We ran.
The Bloodbound surrounded us near an old railway yard.
Six men.
Three women.
Their eyes glowed red.
An older man stepped forward.
He wore a long gray coat.
“Honey Evans.”
I sighed.
“Can everyone stop announcing my name as though we're in a courtroom?”
His expression didn't change.
“You belong to Hollow Crown.”
“No.”
“Your blood is necessary.”
“Still no.”
He lifted one hand.
A wave of dark energy struck Nia.
She collapsed.
I screamed her name.
Then something inside me awakened.
The silver wolf.
The voice.
The power I'd barely begun to understand.
Choose.
The word filled my mind.
I looked at the Bloodbound.
Their faces were twisted with pain.
Some fought the enchantment controlling them.
I could see it now.
Silver threads wrapped around their hearts.
Not real threads.
Bonds.
Forced bonds.
I reached toward them.
The cold energy surged.
And suddenly, I understood what Moonkeepers were meant to do.
Not destroy wolves.
Free them.
I placed my palms against the ground.
Silver light spread across the concrete.
One by one, the Bloodbound fell to their knees.
Their red eyes faded.
The older man screamed.
“No!”
The enchantment shattered.
The wolves collapsed.
Some cried.
Others stared at their hands.
For the first time in years, they could feel their own thoughts.
Nia slowly opened her eyes.
“Honey?”
I knelt beside her.
“Still here.”
She looked around.
The former Bloodbound were helping one another stand.
Nia stared at me.
“You released all of them.”
I nodded.
“I think so.”
Her eyes filled.
“No Moonkeeper has done that since Selene.”
My throat tightened.
“Then perhaps she taught me more than I realized.”
The oldest freed wolf introduced himself as Rowan Price.
He had been Bloodbound for nineteen years.
He told us Hollow Crown wasn't merely a research project.
It was an underground detention network.
Wolf children with unusual abilities were taken from their families.
Their powers were suppressed.
Some were conditioned to serve powerful Alphas.
The records identified dozens of missing people.
I felt sick.
“Where are they?”
Rowan looked toward the mountains.
“Beneath the old Blackwood observatory.”
Nia went pale.
“That building was sealed after the Winter Schism.”
Rowan shook his head.
“Only aboveground.”
I stared at him.
Then asked the question I'd been afraid to ask since learning my father's name.
“Was Cassian Ardent taken there?”
Rowan's expression changed.
He studied my face.
Then whispered, “You have his eyes.”
My heart stopped.
“You knew him?”
Rowan nodded.
“He was alive when they brought me there.”
I grabbed his arm.
“Is he still alive?”
Rowan looked away.
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
Then he whispered, “I don't know.”
By nightfall, news of the railway-yard incident had reached the Sovereign Council.
Varrick declared me a fugitive.
He claimed I'd attacked royal personnel.
He ordered every loyal pack to report my location.
But something unexpected happened.
Not every pack obeyed.
Families whose relatives had disappeared began contacting Nia.
Former Bloodbound spoke publicly about their captivity.
Pack leaders demanded an independent investigation.
For the first time in twenty-six years, the old secrets were becoming impossible to hide.
Then Dondre called.
I watched his name appear.
I didn't answer.
A message arrived.
Honey, Varrick has issued an unlawful arrest order. I'm challenging it. Please be careful.
I read the message twice.
Then turned off my phone.
I could care about Dondre.
I could even still love him.
But I wasn't going to wait for the man who broke our bond to decide what happened next.
May you like
I had people to find.
And a father who might still be alive.
