Chapter 186: Have You In My Arms
Zara
I hid the silver shackles under the bed, curled up under the covers, and mentally searched for Kane. At some point, I plunged into darkness.
"Zara?" a seductive, deep voice rang in my head. The voice called to my soul, tearing me from sleep with a rough hand. "Zara, are you there?"
The man’s rough voice grew stronger and more desperate as he called for me. My eyes snapped open, and a wave of anxiety washed over me as Kane’s voice echoed in my head.
For a moment, I froze on the bed, grinning like a fool. It was the greatest comfort I’d felt all week, and I’d truly underestimated how much I’d missed Kane’s voice.
"Zara?" He hissed, his voice thick with fearful anger. "This is the first connection I’ve been able to establish with you all week. Answer me!"
"Kane," I sighed heavily, fighting the pain that pierced my eyes. Tears blurred my vision, and pain ran through my chest as I heard his voice.
"Goddess, Zara," Alpha groaned. "Don’t you dare scare me like that! I haven’t heard from you all week. What happened?"
"Silver cuffs... I’ve been put in silver cuffs," I squeezed out. I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths, calming my nerves so I could tell him everything that had happened. "I have so much to tell you, but I don’t have much time."
I had no idea when Marcus would return or when those manacles would be placed on my wrists again. I didn’t want to tell her about the other side of my heritage through the telepathic link.
I wanted to look into the depths of his dark eyes, telling him who I was, what a monster my Father had wanted to make me.
"Sophia and Govinda have returned," he replied, and I let out a stifled sob. My Father had kept his word, and the thought filled me with a wrenching relief.
"Listen carefully," I hissed, unable to savor the joy. The voice of my chosen one, the feeling of his presence through our bond. "My father is planning an attack tomorrow night. Half his men will come from the north, the other half from the west, and they will try to ambush you. You need to start evacuating people, Kane. Now."
"Consider it done," Kane replied, and I felt his terror through our bond. He wanted this war as much as I did, not at all. This war was a necessity. This pack—our entire species—was threatened.
There was only one way to eradicate such a threat. Cut off the head of the source—my Father. "Where are you, Zara? You can’t stay here anymore. I need you here, baby. You have to come home."
"I miss you so much," I whispered, feeling a gentle touch through our bond. "I’m in an abandoned Macy’s warehouse in Scriven, South Carolina. Just off Morgan Street."
"I’ll come for you, Zara," Alpha murmured. "When I find you, you’ll never leave my sight. You know that, right?"
"After all this, you won’t be able to get rid of me," I chuckled, but then my expression grew serious. "Kane, I don’t have time to explain the details, but there’s someone else here we need to save. My half-sister, I can’t leave her. You know you can’t come here, right? You have to stay with the pack, lead it—be its Alpha."
"Zara, you won’t shut me out. Not again," he growled, but I heard the hesitation in his words.
He knew I was right, but neither of us wanted to admit it. I wanted him here more than anything, but the pack came first. They needed a leader; they needed Alpha Kane Sterling to instill courage, hope, and motivation.
Alpha was the glue that held this pack together, and right now, they needed him more than I did.
"Alpha, we’ll see each other again. I promise," I whispered. "Our pack needs you. What kind of Luna would I be if I put my needs above the pack’s?"
The connection between us was lost for a few moments, then Alpha finally responded.
"Okay," Alpha sighed, his voice heavy. "I’ll send a team to pick you both up. It’ll take a couple of hours; I can’t let my people go in there blind. I’ll search for the blueprints and scout out every exit and guard location. By this evening, I’ll have you in my arms."
"My sister, Holly," she said, "there will be a small guard at the warehouse once our father leaves with his people. They leave tomorrow at sunset."
This is our best window, and it will cause the least damage. I’m locked in a room on the east side of the warehouse, on the second floor.
"If you can, try to have your sister in the same room when the time comes," Alpha replied. "That way it’ll be easier to get the two of you out, not throwing down the entire warehouse."
"I’ll do everything I can. I love you so much, Kane." I exhaled, and a wave of emotion rolled through my bond. When my hearing grew stronger, and I heard heavy footsteps in the hallway, I called out to Alpha, "I have to go, someone’s coming."
As soon as I ducked under the bed and emerged with the silver handcuffs, my bedroom door opened, and Marcus walked in. His eyes were still filled with worry, torn between what he believed in and what his King expected of him.
Marcus was still insufferable, but I learned more about him than I ever imagined. I didn’t delude myself into thinking I’d earned his loyalty, but he helped me where no one else could.
"If I were anyone else, you’d be in terrible trouble right now." He glared at me, his gaze sliding down to the cuffs on my hands.
"Well, I guess I’m lucky," I snorted. "Do I need to put them back on?"
"Yes," he nodded tensely. "Your father is inviting you to dinner."
"Dinner?" I winced. "I thought demons didn’t eat human food."
"They don’t," he said darkly. "He wants to make sure you’re still under my control before he leaves. I don’t know how, but he’s going to test you, Zara. Whatever you do, don’t break."
