Free Web NovelChapter 26: Chapter 26
The tranquilizer darts hit the concrete pillar where we’d been standing two seconds earlier.
"Move!" Christian yanked me toward a maintenance panel near the floor, his fingers working at the bolts with supernatural speed. The metal grating came free just as I heard Vanessa’s heels clicking across the garage floor.
"They went this way," one of the hunters called out, his voice carrying a weird electronic distortion that made my skin crawl.
Christian dove into the maintenance tunnel first, then pulled me after him. The space was barely wide enough for our shoulders, filled with pipes and electrical conduits that scraped against our backs as we crawled.
"Where does this go?" I whispered.
"Old storm drain system. Connects to the river." His voice was tight with barely controlled rage. "My father sold you out, Sophie. My own fucking father."
The betrayal in his voice made my chest ache. Harold wasn’t just trying to kill me—he was destroying his son’s trust in the process.
We crawled for what felt like hours but was probably only twenty minutes, emerging through a grate near the industrial district. The abandoned warehouse Christian led us to smelled like rust and old motor oil, but it was shelter.
"We can’t stay here long," he said, checking his phone. "Dad’s calling an emergency pack meeting."
"How do you know?"
Christian tapped his temple. "Pack bonds. When the Alpha sends out a command, we all feel it."
My phone buzzed with notifications—missed calls from unknown numbers, text messages that made my blood run cold.
*You can’t hide forever.*
*We will find you.*
"They’re really not going to give up, are they?" I showed Christian the messages.
His dark eyes went cold. "No. But they’re making a mistake if they think I’ll just stand by and watch."
"Christian—" freeweɓnovel.cøm
"I have to go to the meeting," he said, his jaw set with determination. "If I don’t show up, they’ll know something’s wrong. But Sophie, listen to me. Whatever they say about you, whatever lies they tell, don’t believe them."
He was gone before I could argue, leaving me alone in the warehouse with nothing but shadows and the sound of my heartbeat.
The Shadow Ridge Pack gathering looked like something out of a supernatural nightmare.
Thirty wolves stood in the forest clearing, their eyes glowing in the moonlight as they waited for Harold to speak. Rebecca Hayes whispered something to Thomas Beck, their expressions hostile. Elena Reeves stood with a group of older pack members, all of them radiating the kind of aggression that meant violence was coming.
I watched from the tree line, my enhanced senses picking up every word despite the distance.
Harold stood in the center of the group, his Alpha authority making even the most dominant wolves submit. His steel-gray eyes swept the assembly with calculated fury.
"Sophie Martinez has proven to be a security threat," he announced, his voice carrying supernatural resonance. "Her abilities are unnatural. Dangerous. She’s compromised our pack’s safety and must be eliminated."
David Kim shifted uncomfortably. "But Alpha, she passed the trial. She proved herself—"
"She proved she’s been enhanced," Harold cut him off. "No lone wolf has those kinds of fighting skills naturally. She’s either a spy or a weapon sent by our enemies."
Jennifer Walsh looked confused. "Enhanced how?"
"That’s what we’re going to find out," Harold said, his smile as sharp as a blade. "After we capture her."
That’s when Christian walked into the clearing.
His sandalwood and cedar scent hit the pack immediately, but it carried notes of defiance and protective fury that made even Harold pause. Christian positioned himself directly across from his father, his dark eyes blazing with challenge.
"She’s not a threat," Christian said, his voice carrying enough authority to make pack members step back. "Sophie’s abilities are natural talent, not artificial enhancement."
Harold’s steel-gray eyes narrowed. "And how exactly would you know that, son?"
"Because I’ve seen her fight. I’ve seen her instincts. She’s a natural warrior, not some lab experiment."
"Your judgment is compromised," Harold replied, his Alpha senses detecting something that made his expression darken. "Isn’t it, Christian?"
The mate bond. He could smell it on Christian, the supernatural connection that explained his protective behavior.
"My judgment is fine," Christian said, but his scent betrayed his lie. Every wolf in the clearing could smell his emotional investment in protecting me.
Rebecca Hayes leaned toward Thomas Beck. "He’s defending her like she’s his mate."
"She is his mate," Elena Reeves whispered, loud enough for supernatural hearing to pick up. "Look at how he’s standing. Smell the protective pheromones."
Harold’s calculation was visible on his face as he processed this information. A mate bond would explain Christian’s behavior, but it also complicated his plans to eliminate me.
"Where is she, Christian?" Harold demanded, using both parental and Alpha authority. "Tell me where Sophie is hiding."
"No."
The single word hung in the air like a supernatural slap. Christian had just refused a direct command from his alpha and father.
"If this pack can’t accept Sophie as a legitimate member," Christian continued, his voice growing stronger, "then I renounce my position as heir. I’ll leave with her."
The pack erupted in shocked whispers. Jennifer Walsh gasped. David Kim stared in disbelief. Even Rebecca Hayes looked stunned by the ultimatum. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
Harold’s face went white with rage and something that might have been fear. Losing Christian meant losing his heir, his legacy, everything he’d built.
"You would choose her over your pack?" Harold asked, his voice deadly quiet.
"I would choose her over corruption," Christian shot back. "Over lies and betrayal and selling pack members to hunters." Oh, shit. Christian knew about Harold’s deals with the supernatural hunters. This was about to get very messy.
That’s when car headlights swept across the forest.
Every wolf turned toward the approaching vehicle, supernatural senses going on high alert. The scent signature was unfamiliar, carrying notes of mountain air and something else that made my stomach clench with recognition.
A black SUV with Colorado plates pulled into the clearing.
Tom Bannett stepped out.
My blood turned to ice as I recognized his brown hair, his green eyes, and the way he moved with predatory confidence. He looked older, more dangerous, like the rejection had twisted something inside him into something darker.
"Alpha Blackwood," Tom said, approaching Harold with respectful deference. "I’m Tom Bannett, beta of the Silver Moon Pack. I’ve come to reclaim my mate."
Harold’s steel-gray eyes lit up with interest. "Your mate?"
"Sophie," Tom replied, pulling out official-looking documents. "She was mine before she left. Pack law grants me the right to reclaim her within one year of separation."
Christian snarled, his wolf responding to the threat with protective fury. "You rejected her. The bond is broken."
Tom’s smile was sharp and obsessive. "Rejection can be... overcome. With the right persuasion."
The documents he handed Harold looked legitimate—official pack seals, legal language, and Alpha Marcus Denver’s signature granting Tom authority to retrieve his "stolen mate."
Harold read through the papers with growing satisfaction. I could practically see him calculating how Tom’s claim could solve multiple problems. Remove me from Christian’s protection while maintaining pack law legitimacy.
"Interesting," Harold said, his voice carrying dangerous amusement. "Very interesting indeed."
Christian stepped forward, his protective instincts overriding everything else. "Sophie isn’t property to be claimed. She made her choice."
"She made the wrong choice," Tom replied, his green eyes burning with fanatic determination. "But I’m here to correct that mistake."
The pack members exchanged uncertain glances. Pack law was ancient binding, even when it involved situations like this. If Tom’s documents were legitimate, he had legal grounds to take me back to Colorado.
Harold’s smile widened as he saw opportunity in the chaos.
"Well then," Harold said, his Alpha authority radiating satisfaction, "it seems we have a solution to our Sophie problem. Welcome to Shadow Ridge territory, Tom Bannett."
Christian’s wolf snarled with fury, but pack law was pack law. And Tom Bannett had just been granted official permission to hunt me down.
