Chapter 100: Chapter 100

“Men like David always hide something, always,” Ethan said, his voice neither cruel nor degrading, but factual. “They have heaps and heaps of skeletons in their closets. They might let you see some, but they’ll never give you the full hand.” Apart from the muffled trash metal music coming from Lucy’s headphones, the inside of the sedan was silent. The hum of the engine as we moved down the road was the only sound.

The emotions within this confined space were starting to give me a headache. Only Lucy seemed completely at ease, so utterly happy that she was like a Tylenol for my aching head. Her teenage ignorance and enthusiasm for danger felt good, like a reprieve from the weight of others’ emotions.

Aly and Nicolas were so aware of each other that every movement, every exhalation or sound from one would make the other react. Nicolas still had a tight grip on his emotions, but Aly was practically an open book. While I could only see through that tiny c***k in Nicolas’s emotions, I was definitely starting to pick up his social cues too.

Every time Aly sighed or yawned, her fingers trembled. Her phone vibrated against the leather seat of the sedan, and when she answered a call from her father, Nicolas’s entire body went rigid.

After a few moments, he turned his gaze to the passing forest and spoke. “That reminds me of something my father always used to say,” he mused, and though his voice was thoughtful, that cold edge still remained. “Never reveal your full hand.”

We simmered in his words for the next twenty-five minutes. Had we been foolish to trust Nicolas? Sure, he had willingly gotten into a vehicle with us, but here we were, driving toward an unknown place in the hopes of rescuing Liam. Was Nicolas revealing his full hand? No, I highly doubted it.

By the time we entered a deteriorated neighborhood with more abandoned houses than habitable ones, I had made a decision. He had told me countless times that it was worth risking everything for the twins, and now I needed to stand by those words.

The houses had the structure and design to look really nice, better than anything I’d ever lived in. It was clear that funds had run dry, as some houses were missing small things like paint or a front porch, while others lacked windows and doors.

I was diving into this blind, trusting someone who had every reason to chain me down, because Liam and Ethan were my only true weaknesses. “Where are we going?” I asked Ethan, who had driven through the entire neighborhood. “We’re going to the next street. There’s a heavily wooded area between the two, which we can use as cover to get into the house,” Nicolas replied before Ethan had a chance, which I supposed made sense. This was his plan after all. “Wouldn’t David put wolves in the woods?” I asked, a bit confused. “As I said before, I gathered as much information as I could about this place,” Nicolas said harshly, causing Ethan, Aly, and me to squint at him. For a moment, I wished Nicolas could feel emotions.

While Nicolas was a complete a*****e and snob, he was actually quite intelligent and quickly attempted to rectify his mistake. This place wasn’t supposed to exist. He had placed men inside the house and some in a neighboring one, nothing more. Anything else would draw attention. Too many different scents wafting through the air.

“Mm, I feel qualified to give you advice since I’m on Sussan’s good side,” Aly’s tone was sickeningly sweet, and I knew that meant trouble. The tension between them was constantly growing, especially now, forced to be together in such a small space. I was practically drowning in Ethan’s scent, and I knew any hint of desire on my part would trigger his.

While I couldn’t exactly tell what Nicolas was feeling, I knew he had to be affected by her presence. Aly continued without missing a beat, smiling at him through the mirror. “She’s going to take your dad’s place at the High Table and she’s going to turn your whole world upside down.”

Nicolas’s icy eyes hardened as he looked at Aly. With her golden hair and baby blue eyes, her expression clashed with her appearance. A guy like him wasn’t meant to brood and pout; it added a kind of roughness to his handsomeness.

Just as Nicolas opened his mouth to start what I’m sure would be a big argument, Ethan pulled over onto the bumpy path of one of the abandoned houses. The driveway looped around the house and led straight to the back. It would provide cover for the sedan, which seemed out of place in such a decrepit neighborhood.

The garage was nothing more than a hollow shell of rotting wood planks and poorly made concrete. Still, we made it to the crooked structure and parked. Judging by the markers on the ground, there was supposed to be a fence around the backyard. It was just another unfinished thing in this neighborhood.

It was an easy ten-minute walk through the small forest separating the backyards of the neighborhoods. We stopped a few meters from the tree line, watching a row of abandoned houses.

There was one in the center that looked slightly more elaborate than the others. Sheets covered the windows, makeshift curtains. Another positive note was that the house actually had a door. As my eyes scanned a few houses down, I noticed much the same. Two houses that looked a bit nicer than the rest.

“There are two houses. Liam is in one; the guards are in the other,” Nicolas pointed to the two structures he was referring to. “The one in the center has Liam. Lucy and I are going to the house with the guards, we’ll incapacitate them while you three check out the house with Liam. There will be guards, so make sure they don’t see you. Don’t enter the house, not until Lucy and I come back.”

“So, am I supposed to trust you with my life then?” Aly scoffed. “I won’t give you a damn chance, Zoe.”

Someone has to be there with Lucy. Someone strong enough to protect her,” Nicolas grunted back, his eyes narrowing in Aly’s stiff frame. “I’ll go with Lucy,” Ethan spoke up, surprising even me. He barely glanced at Nicolas. “You can go with Sussan and Aly.”

“You know this could end horribly with those two paired up, right?” I said to Ethan, letting my thoughts merge with his. Both he and Liam were like a constant flow in my mind. I could tap into their thoughts anytime I chose. Since they took him, I hadn’t been able to sense Liam’s thought stream. It made sense; Nicolas had said they kept him sedated.

“I have faith that Nicolas cares enough about his life to pull this off,” Ethan’s thoughts were angry-edged, but he managed to hold it together for Liam and for me. “He’ll try to resist the mate bond, and he’ll fail. It might still go wrong, but there’s no sense walking on eggshells around him.”

“I guess it’d be nice to see her scold him again,” I sighed, resigning myself to my fate.

“Lucy, put away those headphones,” Nicolas huffed, clearly trying to rein in his patience. Once her headphones were finally stashed and she came back to reality, Nicolas went over the plan. “Ethan and Lucy will call when they’re out of the pack’s house. We’ll have about twenty minutes to locate Liam and get out.”

“I’ll try to buy us more time if I can, but I can’t push too hard,” Lucy chirped, pulling a piece of gum from her pocket. She certainly seemed older than a teenager, but still had that air of not taking anything too seriously. She laughed, “It won’t be much help if I’m in a coma too!”

“Lucy, focus,” Nicolas commented under his breath, as if he’d done it countless times before. His eyes flicked toward Ethan momentarily. “Keep her on track. She gets easily distracted.”

Ethan nodded straightforwardly.

Nicolas handed Ethan one of those disposable phones and continued. “Use this to stay in touch. We’ll notify you of any guards we spot.”

“And what about our faces?” Aly asked, her typically friendly voice now hard and grating. “Unless Lucy can erase memories, we can’t let them see our faces.”

“I’ve got that part covered. Seems I’m here to do most of the heavy lifting,” Lucy quipped, tossing her comment at Nicolas. Lucy rummaged in the bag she had slung over her h*p and pulled out five pieces of black cloth.

“Are you serious?” Aly chuckled, holding up the piece of fabric. They were typical thief masks, with eye and mouth holes.

“They’re good for a pinch, I always keep one with me,” Lucy winked and blew a minty green bubble before popping it with her teeth.

The house that held Liam also had a driveway that wrapped around the house. There was a backyard, with a fence that reached halfway before stopping altogether. There was also a concrete foundation for a front porch, with shoddy wooden steps leading down to it.

I was getting anxious now, practically trembling as we got closer and closer. My soul knew what my body and mind couldn’t grasp. I could feel Liam nearby.

Even though I couldn’t sense that connection between us, I knew he was there. I was certain I could feel the beat of his heart even as we walked silently through the dew-covered grass. Maybe I was just hearing things, but I clung to the hope of seeing him again, of not being torn away from him before we could have a real life together.

“Okay,” Aly whispered, placing a hand on my back. “I know you’re getting a little antsy, but we’re going to get him back.”

‘I’m starting to regret coming,’ Ethan’s sigh sounded in my head. ‘Just say the word and I’ll turn around.’

‘No, just finish what we came here to do. I can keep calm, I promise,’ I assured, sending a little warmth and courage his way.

“Judging by the extra glassy look in your eyes, I’d say Ethan just suggested something,” Aly laughed, the first genuine laugh I’d heard from her since meeting her mate.

My head snapped toward said mate. Every muscle in his body seemed to lock in place as our eyes met, and it was like we were having a conversation solely through our gaze.

My eyes said, ‘I know what you just felt. You can’t deny it, and you can’t dismiss it.’

His eyes were dark, holding the promise of a thousand meaningless threats that failed to instill even a hint of fear within me. Not that Nicolas Zoe isn’t worth fearing, but I trusted my packmates and his family implicitly.

“Extra glazed?” I raised an eyebrow at Aly.

I didn’t change the subject for Nicolas’s sake but for Liam’s. All three of us needed to focus and wait until Lucy finished whatever she was doing.

We crawled to the front of the house, crouching as we made our way to the backyard. Parked in a partially finished garage was a fairly new-looking truck. There was a big hole in the backyard, square-shaped, and what looked like the beginning of an in-ground pool.

There was a sliding glass door at the back, and we all took care to avoid being seen by anyone lurking. We hunkered down, waiting and waiting until my gut twisted with anxiety.

When the dull buzz of the phone vibrating sounded, I let out a small relieved huff.

“Lucy’s done, they’re on their way,” Nicolas whispered to us both, his eyes scanning the house as we all crouched.

That’s when I realized what he was wearing. Every time I’d seen him, he’d been in a tailored suit. This was the first and only time I’d seen him in a pair of pants and a simple long-sleeved shirt. While I’m sure his shirts cost three times as much as mine, they looked plain. It was another jarring, odd thing compared to his bitter personality.

Ten minutes later, we could hear Lucy and Ethan approaching.

Lucy’s pale skin was slightly red, and her eyes seemed somewhat dilated. Her clothes were disheveled, her hair a bit mussed. Whatever her abilities were, they came at a physical cost.

‘What’s her ability?’ I asked Ethan, a bit curious considering he was the second white wolf I’d met.

‘You’ll have to wait and see,’ Ethan’s response was instant and full of amusement.

“There’s a bathroom window low to the ground. That’s the best way in,” Nicolas said in a hushed voice, nodding toward one side of the house.

We managed to slip stealthily past the sliding glass door, to the other side of the house. Ethan, Lucy, and I had just gone out of sight, rounding the corner of the house, when the sliding glass door slammed open.

A gasp threatened to escape my lips, but I managed to close them just in time. The three of us pressed against the house, our hearts beating in unison. Even Lucy’s fake, relaxed demeanor shattered at the thought of actually getting caught; even she knew the risks.

Aly’s emotions were the last thing I expected to feel, but what was even stranger was that they weren’t negative emotions. She felt surprised and secure, though she was still angry and hurt.

I couldn’t dissect her emotions even if I wanted to, because the moment the glass door opened, a gust of air wafted out of the house. Stale cigarettes, mold, cheap beer, takeout food, and the stench of body odor. In the mix of that medley of scents was one I recognized, one that was partly mine.

“Liam,” I gasped, leaving my place against the wall to follow his scent.