Free Web NovelChapter 180: Chapter 180
Nathan’s POV
Fear, real, primal fear surged through me.
Before I even realized it, I had Collins by the collar.
“Find her,” I snarled, my voice more wolf than man. “Contact the Waterfall enforcers. Pull up every road surveillance feed. No matter what, you must bring her back to me.”
My vision was edged with red. Collins’s eyes widened...he had never seen me like this.
He immediately handed Lana to the nanny and rushed off to relay orders through the pack’s emergency channels.
Then Lana suddenly locked her gaze on my phone left in the car and began fussing and whining with urgency as though she was sending me a message.
“What is it, little one...?” I murmured, turning to look.
My phone screen was lit. My heart thudded once then seemed to stop altogether.
I snatched the phone.
A message glared back at me:
[I’m in danger. Please call the enforcers.]
For a moment, the world around me faded. I felt the shiver rack down my spine, my wolf pushing forward with a snarl.
It wasn’t a normal message...It was the phone’s auto-alert function.
Which meant Aria hadn’t even been able to type.
She couldn’t message me... this was the only thing she could trigger.
My chest tightened until it felt like iron bands were crushing my ribs. There was a link attached. I clicked it instantly.
A map opened—her phone’s location plotted with a path stretching across Asterfell.
It was North and that path led to only one place. A city in the outskirt.
My blood boiled and iced over at the same time. Crescent City was isolated, dangerous, crawling with rogues who didn’t respect pack lines.
I didn’t hesitate.
“Head north—toward Crescent City!” I barked.
But my voice cracked with a rare tremor.
I shoved Collins aside and slid into the driver’s seat myself. The moment the engine roared alive, Collins scrambled in, still on the phone.
Lana suddenly burst into full crying mode. She squirmed in the nanny’s arms, reaching toward me desperately with her tiny fists.
Her wail cut through the air like a howl.
The nanny struggled to hold her, looking to me helplessly. “Alpha...”
“Get in,” I ordered.
She blinked. “Me?”
“Yes. Get in.”
The moment the words left my mouth, Lana stopped crying, as if that was exactly what she’d been demanding..
I slammed the accelerator.
Collins smacked into the window with a grunt as we shot forward like a silver arrow. The engine screamed, tires biting into asphalt as I pushed the car harder... faster...
Traffic enforcers spotted us immediately, stepping into the road, ready to stop us but as soon as they saw me in the driver’s seat, they bowed and waved us past.
We flew past the city limits. The highway turned rough, gravel spitting beneath the tires as the Maybach tore through the terrain without slowing.
Dusk bled into the sky, purple clouds settling over the horizon. Less than an hour had passed, but the air was already colder and heavier.
My wolf pressed against my skin, restless and furious.
Aria’s POV
I curled up inside the shallow pit I had dug with my own claws. The scent of earth was heavy in my nose.
Around me stretched an endless ocean of grass, whispering in the wind. Even though the wild grass towered tall and thick, my white fur still felt like a beacon screaming, Here I am.
The man was still out there. That lunatic.
I could hear his engine growling across the field, circling like a predator with wheels. There was no way my weak wolf could outrun a car.
So I hid.
Waiting for him to give up... or at least move far enough for me to breathe. free𝑤ebnovel.com
His curses carried through the wind, each word slamming into me like claws raking down my spine.
“You bitch!” he shouted. “When it gets dark, the bears will come out. Better come back to me than get torn to pieces out here!”
My heart stuttered.
Bears?
A chill sliced across my skin as the wind shifted. It howled past my ear, mimicking a low animal growl. For a split second my breath caught, my wolf bristled, ears flattening.
Moon Goddess... are there actually bears here?
I hated that fear gnawed at me. I was a wolf, for heaven’s sake. But tonight, with an injured knee and no pack, even a fox could finish me.
The man’s voice grew angrier and closer.
“Damn it! How the hell does she run so fast?!”He snarled.
My pulse thudded painfully. Every instinct screamed stay down, stay small. I pressed deeper into the dirt, praying to the moon that he wouldn’t see even a hint of movement.
After what felt like forever, the sound of his engine finally began to fade.
He was leaving.
My chest rose once, sharply with relief. It was weak and shaky, but real.
When the headlights disappeared entirely, I dared to lift my head, just a fraction.
Still... I didn’t move.
That man was crazy enough to double back just to spite me. And now that I had escaped him once, he’d enjoy breaking every bone in my body if he caught me again.
My injured knee throbbed in the cold wind, sending pain shooting through me.
Once the night settled into silence, I slowly came out of the pit.
Crouching low, I moved toward the tree line. I changed back into my human form. I finally straightened to my full height.
The knot in my chest remained tight.
If I stayed here, that mad man wasn’t the only danger lurking.
I hurried through the grass, each step careful and silent. My sense of smell was shaky, panic had dulled it...but my hearing was sharp. Every rustle of wind felt like something creeping up behind me.
The moment night fully fell, the crescent moon appeared overhead. Its silver glow brushed the field, giving me just enough light to navigate.
Finally, the tall grass thinned. My boots hit gravel.
“Thank the Goddess...” I whispered, relief flooding me.
I followed the road, limping but determined. And then finally structures appeared ahead. There was a building.
My heart soared.
I half-jogged, half-stumbled toward it and froze.
It wasn’t a house.
It was an abandoned cabin, one that looked like something massive had smashed into it. The door hung crooked, deep gouges carved through the wood.
The word slapped me across the face.
Bears.
I stumbled back, my pulse skyrocketing. The night was too quiet, the kind of silence that meant predators were nearby.
I pressed a hand against my chest, forcing my lungs to work.
Stay calm, Aria. Stay calm. You’ve survived worse. You’re a wolf. You can do this...
But fate didn’t care.
A rustling sound broke the silence behind me.
I froze.
Every hair on my body stood on end. My wolf bared her teeth inside me, terrified but ready.
Then I saw it...
A massive shadow stretching across the ground behind me.
A cold chill shot down my spine.
