CHAPTER 237
CHAPTER 237
AMARA
I slipped into our room and closed the door behind me with a soft click that sounded far too final.
The moment I was alone, the fake smile shattered completely.
I leaned back against the wood, eyes squeezed shut, breathing hard like I’d just run a marathon instead of lying through my teeth to my friends.
What the fuck is wrong with the universe? I thought wildly.
Of all nights, why did Alice, Cassie, and Dominic decide tonight was perfect for a heartfelt thank-you party in the hallway? I’m trying to commit noble suicide here, not win Best Healer of the Year.
My gaze landed on the bed, and the memory hit me like a punch: Alaric’s teasing voice this morning, the heat in his hazel eyes flecked with gold.
“Tonight… don’t get on that bed until you have it on. Wait for me.” The black lace bra. The promise of me riding him while he watched, getting his show.
I wouldn’t be here tonight.
Guilt and grief twisted so sharply in my chest I had to press a hand over my heart.
I crossed to the dresser, opened the drawer, and stared at the delicate black lace for a long second.
My fingers brushed it once, then I closed the drawer again. No point taking it. No point pretending I’d ever get to wear it for him.
I gave myself exactly three minutes to fall apart. Three minutes of silent tears slipping down my cheeks as I buried my face in his pillow, inhaling the scent that was purely him.
Then I straightened, wiped my face, and forced steel into my spine.
Focus, Amara. Parents first. Alaric and the pack second. Yourself… somewhere very far down the list.
I adjusted the backpack—now convincingly filled with “things for Zara” if anyone asked again—and moved to the window.
The eastern side of the pack house overlooked a stretch of lawn that bled into the woods.
Guards were posted, but fewer at the perimeter than in the main halls. If I could get past the ones inside using my shaky new compulsion, the rest might be manageable.
Elara, I called silently, reaching for my wolf.
We’re doing this. Help me figure out the timing.
She stirred, her presence warm and bristling with disapproval.
Timing? The timing is terrible, and the plan is worse. But fine. Wait until the shift change in twenty minutes. Dominic might be on door duty, but even immortals get bored and wander. Use the side exit near the laundry. Less eyes.
I nodded to myself, pacing the room quietly while the minutes dragged like hours.
Every creak in the floorboards made me freeze. I practiced the compulsion under my breath—soft, commanding whispers that felt strange on my tongue but carried a strange humming power.
Whatever I was becoming, it was enough to freeze vampires before. It had to be enough now.
When the clock in my head hit the twenty-minute mark, I cracked the door open.
The hallway was quieter.
Dominic’s voice drifted from somewhere farther down, arguing playfully with Cassie about something ridiculous.
Good.
Distracted.
I slipped out, keeping my steps light and my head down, the backpack a guilty weight bouncing softly against my spine.
The guards noticed me immediately.
Marcus — or was it Mathew? I could never keep their names straight — straightened near the eastern door like a wall of muscle and duty.
Three other guards stood with him, alert and broad-shouldered, their eyes sharpening the second I appeared.
“Miss Amara,” Marcus said respectfully but firmly, already stepping forward to block my path.
“Alpha’s orders are clear. You’re not to leave without escort, especially at this hour.”
“I’m just going for a walk....”
“I’m sorry, Miss Amara, but Alpha’s orders—”
Okay, I mumbled under my breath.
"Looks like asking politely isn’t going to work."
I looked up at him, forcing my best smile — soft, innocent, the kind that usually disarmed people.
“Sorry,” I said sweetly.
He frowned, brows pulling together in clear suspicion.
The other guards shifted, hands inching closer to their sides.
“But I really have to go,” I added, taking a small step forward.
Marcus began to close in, his massive frame moving with purposeful alpha-trained grace, one hand already reaching out to gently but firmly guide me back.
The others tensed behind him, ready to box me in.
That was it.
No more time.
“Stop.”
I shouted the word this time, pouring every ounce of desperation, fear, and raw new power into it.
My voice came out low and steady at first, then cracked with command — laced with something ancient and unnatural that wasn’t quite human, wasn’t quite wolf.
The effect was immediate and visceral.
Marcus froze mid-step, his outstretched hand halting inches from my shoulder.
His eyes widened, pupils dilating with confusion and sudden resistance as invisible chains slammed down on his muscles.
A low, strained growl escaped his throat — the sound of a powerful wolf fighting an unseen force.
The three guards beside him locked up harder, bodies going rigid like statues carved from stone.
One of them stumbled, knee buckling as his legs refused to obey.
Another’s hand hovered frozen above the hilt of his knife, fingers twitching uselessly.
More guards — five, six, then nearly all of them in sight — jerked to a halt.
Weapons half-drawn clattered back into holsters.
Feet planted themselves to the floor.
Jaws clenched tight against the compulsion, veins standing out on their necks from the effort to fight it.
A chorus of frustrated snarls and confused curses filled the air, but none of them could move more than a few inches.
Guilt clawed at me—Alaric trusted these men—but I shoved it down.
My parents were in Master’s hands. I couldn’t risk a full pack war that might get Alaric killed.
“I’m sorry,” I repeated, quieter this time but no less commanding, stepping carefully around Marcus’s frozen form.
One guard’s eyes met mine — filled with betrayal and worry for his alpha — and guilt stabbed deep into my gut.
These men were loyal to Alaric. To us. And here I was, bending their wills like puppets.
Forgive me, I thought, but I didn’t dare say it out loud.
I moved fast after that, slipping through the side exit door before the compulsion could waver.
The cool night air hit me like a slap, pine-scented and heavy with freedom and dread. I didn’t run — not yet — but I walked with purpose across the lawn, shadows stretching long under the moonlight as the tree line beckoned.
The moment the woods swallowed me, the bond flared violently.
Amara! Alaric’s voice slammed into my mind.
Where the hell are you? Something’s wrong. Get back here. Now.
I stumbled, pressing a hand to my temple as his frantic energy flooded me.
He knew. Of course he knew.
The alpha bond, the mate bond—nothing stayed hidden for long.
I can’t, I sent back, tears already burning.
I’m sorry. I love you. But I have to do this.
Do what? His mental voice roared, laced with raw panic and rising fury.
Amara, stop whatever you’re doing right now and turn around. That’s an order. If this is about Master—don’t you dare. We face this together, remember? Come back to me. Please.
The “please” broke something inside me.
Alaric never begged.
Not like this.
I could sense him moving, barking orders at someone in the background, his heart pounding hard through the bond.
Alaric, I—
No. His tone turned desperate, commanding, terrified all at once.
I’m coming for you. Stay where you are. Do not take another step. Amara, I swear to the Moon if you—
His fear for me crashed over me like a wave, choking me with love and rage and helplessness.
I could almost see him—eyes blazing gold, shoving through doors.
I’m sorry, I whispered through the bond one last time, voice cracking even in my thoughts.
I love you more than anything. Forgive me.
Then I reached inward, throat tight.
Elara. Do it. Now. Block the bond. Completely.
She sighed dramatically.
Handing ourselves over on a silver platter. Let’s just gift-wrap ourselves for the ancient bloodsucker. Hand-delivered with a side of fries. I still say we tell him. He’s our mate. He’d burn the world down to keep us safe instead of us serving ourselves up like this.
Elara. NOW!
Fine. But I get ‘I told you so’ rights for eternity if we survive five minutes in that monster’s lair.
The block slammed down like a heavy iron curtain.
The golden thread of the mate bond—Alaric’s warm, steady presence, now frantic and demanding—dulled instantly and then vanished.
The sudden emptiness punched the air from my lungs.
I gasped, staggering against a tree as the world went colder and quieter without him.
His final roar of my name echoed faintly before cutting off completely.
Keep moving, Elara urged, her tone gentler now beneath the sarcasm.
I forced my legs to work again, stumbling through the underbrush toward the outer perimeter. Branches snagged my sweater but I kept going.
The wards hummed faintly ahead—magical barriers meant to keep threats out and pack members in. I reached for that strange power again, whispering commands under my breath.
The wards rippled, parting just enough for one small, desperate hybrid to slip through.
No alarms.
No howls.
Stepping beyond pack territory felt like crossing into another world.
The forest here was wilder, darker. Pack house lights disappeared behind me as I broke into a jog, following the coordinates Jesse had sent to the burner phone.
Every step hurt.
Memories of Alaric assaulted me without mercy: lazy sunlight on his bare chest, his fingers tracing my spine, his rough morning voice murmuring “Morning?”
The way he’d cupped my face and said “I love you too” like it was the truest thing he’d ever spoken. The heat in his eyes when he promised tonight would be just us—me in black lace, riding him slow while he watched with that reverent hunger.
He’ll think I ran because I was scared, I thought bitterly, tears streaking my face as I ran.
Or Jesse will poison him with lies. Or he’ll blame himself for not protecting me enough. He was so frantic… I could feel how terrified he was for me.
You’re an idiot, Elara muttered.
A brave, self-sacrificing idiot, but still an idiot.
“I know,” I whispered aloud, voice breaking.
“But I can’t let my parents die for me. I can’t drag the pack into a slaughter. If giving myself to Master buys them time—if it lets Alaric end this without my blood on his hands—then it’s worth it.”