CHAPTER 17
1261 Words
XAVIER’S POV
The deeper I went into their territory, the quieter everything became. At first I thought it was because the forest had thinned, but that wasn’t it. It was the kind of silence that felt deliberate, as though the land itself had been taught not to speak. No birds. No insects. Not even the wind moved the branches above me. Only my footsteps broke the stillness, and even that sound seemed swallowed too quickly.
I hated it.
The scent was stronger now. Mia’s, mixed with that cold metallic trace I was beginning to associate with them. It was enough to keep me moving, but not enough to tell me where, exactly, they had taken her. They had led me in just far enough to make turning back impossible.
I knew that.
And I kept going anyway.
The trees opened at last into a clearing so sudden it almost looked unnatural. The ground there was flatter, darker, the grass thinner and pressed down in strange patterns as though too many feet had crossed over it. Beyond the clearing stood an old structure half-hidden by vines and shadow. It looked abandoned at first glance, but the longer I stared, the more obvious it became that it wasn’t. The stone walls had been repaired in places. The windows were narrow and dark. The heavy wooden doors at the front bore fresh scratches, not from age, but from use.
This was no ruin.
It was a den.
I slowed, taking in every detail. Whoever stayed here did not care to be found by wolves, but they also weren’t afraid of being discovered. That bothered me more than I wanted to admit.
A movement to my left made me turn.
Two vampires stepped out from the shadows between the trees. They did not attack. They only stood there, watching me, waiting to see what I would do.
“Am I supposed to be impressed?” I asked.
One of them smiled faintly. “No. Just aware.”
“Then be aware of this,” I replied. “I’m not leaving without her.”
That wiped the smile off his face, though only for a second.
“You say that like she’s still yours.”
My jaw tightened. “Where is she?”
Neither of them answered. They only looked toward the building behind me, and that was answer enough.
I moved before either of them could step in my way.
The first one reached for me, fast enough that a weaker man would have missed it. I caught his throat and slammed him hard against the nearest tree. The second lunged for my side, but I twisted away and drove my elbow into his chest before he could pin me. He stumbled back with a hiss, his eyes flashing with something darker than anger.
They were trying to slow me down, not kill me.
That meant someone had given orders.
I shoved the first one aside and crossed the clearing in long strides. By the time I reached the doors, three more had appeared behind me. I could hear them, even if I didn’t turn to look. Light feet. Controlled breathing. Careful distance.
Cowards.
I pushed the doors open.
The smell inside hit me first.
Blood. Damp stone. Candle wax. Something sweeter underneath it all—old perfume, maybe, or flowers left too long in water. The entry hall was lit by lanterns hanging from iron hooks, their flames steady despite the draft creeping through the cracks in the walls. A staircase curved upward on one side. Another corridor led down.
I stopped in the middle of the room and listened.
Nothing.
Then, faintly, a chain scraping against stone.
My entire body went still.
Mia.
It was weak, but it was there.
I turned toward the lower corridor just as a voice drifted from above.
“You really do have terrible patience.”
I looked up. He stood at the top of the staircase, one hand resting against the rail as though he had been expecting me for hours. There was something infuriatingly calm about the way he carried himself. He didn’t look like a man who had stolen someone from an Alpha’s territory and expected consequences. He looked entertained.
“Where is she.” I said.
He smiled. “You came alone. That was bold.”
“Or efficient.”
He descended the stairs slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. The vampires behind me stayed where they were, but I could feel their attention sharpen as he came closer. He had that kind of authority. The kind that didn’t need to be announced.
When he reached the last step, he paused.
“She’s alive,” he said, as if he were being generous. “You can stop looking like you’re about to tear the walls down.”
“Bring me to her.”
“So direct.”
My patience was already thin before I came here. Hearing him speak made it thinner.
“I’m not here to negotiate.”
“No,” he agreed. “You’re here because you’re afraid.”
The word landed between us and stayed there.
I didn’t answer immediately. Not because I had nothing to say, but because I didn’t intend to give him the satisfaction of hearing it.
He noticed anyway.
“She matters more than you expected,” he continued.
“You know nothing about what I expected.”
“Don’t I?”
He stepped closer.
For the first time, I noticed that his eyes weren’t just brown. There was gold in them too, faint but unmistakable, and something about that made my wolf stir uneasily beneath my skin.
“She speaks your name like it means safety,” he said. “That alone tells me enough.”
My fists clenched at my sides.
“What have you done to her?”
“Less than I could have,” he replied. “More than you would like.”
That was the first time I nearly lost control.
I took one step toward him, and every vampire in the room tensed at once. He did not move. He only watched me, measuring, curious.
“You’re playing a dangerous game,” I said.
He tilted his head slightly. “So are you.”
There was a chain of silence then, the kind that made the whole room feel narrower.
I could still hear it in the distance. The scrape of metal. Faint breathing. A heartbeat I knew even from here.
She was below us.
He saw the moment I realized it.
His smile changed. Smaller this time. Sharper.
“There it is,” he said quietly. “That look.”
I didn’t bother denying it. “Move.”
“Or what?”
I took another step, close enough now to see the red still faintly staining the edge of his sleeve. My voice dropped.
“Or I stop treating you like someone worth speaking to.”
The room went still.
He looked at me for a long moment, and for the first time since I arrived, whatever amusement had been in his face faded.
Then he gave a soft laugh and stepped aside from the corridor leading down.
“Well,” he said, “let’s not keep her waiting.”
I didn’t trust the gesture. I didn’t trust him.
But Mia was down there, and that was the only thing that mattered. So I walked past him, every nerve in my body ready for whatever came next, already knowing this was no rescue.
It was the beginning of something worse.
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