Fuck. This.
Nikolai’s POV
Anna held my hand in a light squeeze as we waited for Drew to arrive. He had already mindlinked us saying that he was close by. I nodded at her, understanding all she was trying to communicate to me. But I knew I would not be able to relax until Liyah was standing unharmed by my side. I signaled the pack to hide in the shadows as we heard footsteps approaching.
Anna and I did the same. A few seconds later, a figure clad in a cloak slipped into the courtyard. My wolf growled but I held back. We needed to be calculative. As soon as he was in the middle of the hall, I stepped out. The spy staggered back in shock. As he made to escape, Drew pushed at him from behind, dealing him with a deathly blow before he could recover from the shock. As I walked toward the man who lay on the floor squirming and begging, I shifted to my elbow. He played a huge part in Liyah’s abduction. He was part of the reason why she was not here with me.
Kicking him up in the air, I held him forward by the collar. Without a second thought I dug my claws into his throat, slashing a line in his neck as I let him fall to the floor. Quickly, I looked up at Drew questioningly.
He nodded. “Just like we suspected, they were awaiting us. But after the spy gave him our fake news he ordered his men back in. He expects us at dusk today because he thinks we are busy training. It’s four-thirty in the morning now. If we start moving, we’ll take them off guard in an ambush.”
For the first time in the past few hours I was grateful that Drew and Anna had stopped me from the irrational decision that would have put us all in the line of danger, especially Liyah.
I turned back to the rest of the pack. “Let’s march!”
Quickly, they poured out of the mansion. Margaret and a few others had stayed back to protect the kids, I couldn’t trust Jonas not to try anything stupid. But I was rest assured that if anything came up Margaret was capable of handling it. Moving past the pack until I got to the front, we marched through the night, the light of the moon leading us through. Finally we got to the Monhowl territory.
Different emotions pumped through me; anger, sadness, anxiety. And fear, for my Liyah. For a second I wondered if she was okay. I shut my eyes, trying to mindlink her. My heart dropped, she was too far. But as I shut my eyes to try again, a warm feeling filled up my chest. I could feel her. I could feel her presence.
‘She’s alive,’ I mindlinked Drew and Anna who stood in the opposite side of the trees flanking the Verbeck mansion.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.
‘Thank the goddess.’
A surge of hope filled me. Liyah was alive. There was still time to save her. My determination twice as strong, I motioned the rest, moving in the sequence we had planned. There were guards at the entrance of the mansion, but they were sound asleep. Stealthily, we surrounded the mansion, taking out every single guard on the outside.
Drew and Anna approached me. “I’ll go find Liyah. I’ll mindlink her, and as soon as I find her I’ll let you know,” Anna said.
“I’ll move with the rest of the pack, take out any other guards and take control of the other section of the mansion. If anything comes up, I’ll let you guys know,” Drew offered.
That left me with Jonas. I had no issues with that. “Goodluck.” With one last nod to each other, we all went our separate ways.
It was time to bring Jonas Verbeck down.
Liyah’s POV
‘Liyah.’
I gasped, sitting up when I heard my name. My eyes surveyed the room in one sweep. There was no one around. I slumped back against the wall in disappointment, pulling my hair away from my face as I tried to catch my breath. The wounds I had from Father’s blows were just beginning to heal and so my face still hurt badly.
‘Liyah?’ I heard it again as my eyes began to droop. Alert now, I recognised it as Annalise’s voice. Why would I hear her voice in my head? I wondered.
Unless…
I jumped to my feet, facepalming. I had completely forgotten about mindlinking. ‘Annalise,’ I tried.
‘Liyah? Thank goodness. Where are you? We’re currently in the Verbeck mansion. Stay put wherever you are and I’ll come get you.’
I nearly jumped out of my skin with joy. They were here to save me. They were here for me. ‘I’m in the dungeons. There’s only one guard outside. I can take care of him and I’ll meet you outside.’
‘Okay. Be careful.’
I nodded, although I knew she couldn’t see me.
‘Finally, some action!’ I heard Nova say, making me laugh out loud. I couldn’t feel any happier, my family was here to save me. Because they loved me and they wanted to keep me. I wasn’t a nobody. I mattered. To myself, and to them.
And now, I needed to return to my family.
The first smile forming on my face since my abduction, I walked to the exit of my cell. Gripping onto one part, I easily broke through the bars, kicking it down and moving out the dungeon. I could see Mira gape at me from her own cell.
“T-that-that’s not possible!” She cried, staring at the cell door that had just fallen. “That shouldn’t be possible. You…”
I only smiled at her and kept going.
‘We’re just going to let this bitch go? After everything she did to us?’ I could hear the anger in Nova’s voice as she asked. I could also feel my anger radiating. Since I discovered Nova I had begun to get easily and increasingly angered or irritated. But there were more important things to do right now.
“I know, I feel the same. But she’s not worth it. We just need to end all of this and get back home. Okay?”
She grumbled. ‘Not even a little…’
“No,” I said. And I meant it.
“Wow, look who finally broke her little voodoo curse,” I heard Mira cackle, making me pause in my steps. I turned around. She had also broken through her cell. “I knew that witch was a fake, I mean she did say it was unbreakable.” Still laughing, she looked me over, shaking her head. “What do you think you’re doing? Your wolf is obviously not mature yet. So what’s your plan exactly? Take your father out?” She apparently found her words so funny that she began to laugh.
‘I need to teach this bitch a lesson.’ I held Nova back. I couldn’t give Mira the satisfaction of knowing that her words got to me. She wasn’t worth it, I reminded myself. So I ignored her and kept going.
“Oh well. I guess it makes sense that you die young. You know what they say, like mother like daughter.”
I froze. I shut my eyes tightly, trying to take control of myself. But my hands shook in anger. Like mother like daughter?
Fuck. This.
I turned. In less than a second I had gotten to her. Rage bubbling through me, I grabbed her up easily by the collar, pushing her hard against the cell repeatedly. She struggled in my grip, reaching out to claw at my arm. But I didn’t stop. Releasing her from my grip, I kicked her back up before she could reach the ground.
She groaned in pain as blood oozed from her lips. “Fuck you!” She yelled, crawling into her cell and kicking the bars down. I pulled her backwards by the legs, making her face me. All her words from earlier started to replay in my head. And for each hurtful thing, I rammed my fist into her face. As blood spurted from gashes in her face, my fingers shifted into claws which I planted deep into her chest.
As she screamed in pain, I brought my claws to her throat. I needed to end this. After all she had hurt me. So much. But my hand only hovered over her neck. Finally, I pushed her away. I wouldn’t do it. I’d rather leave her here and let her drown in her own misery. She was half dead after all.
With one last look at her, I rushed out of the dungeon. There was someone I needed to find.