Chapter 30 030

Chapter 30 030
Chapter Thirty

Sera

The forest was dark despite the afternoon sun, the canopy thick enough to block most light. I ran on four legs, my wolf form pushing through underbrush and over fallen logs, following the bond that pulled me toward Elena like a rope around my heart.

She was terrified. I felt it through our connection—her confusion at being separated from me, her fear of the stranger holding her, her desperate need for the safety she'd only known for one day.

I'm coming, I pushed through the bond. Hold on, baby.

I didn't know if she could understand, if our connection was strong enough for real communication. But I felt something shift in her emotions—a small easing of panic, like she knew I was getting closer.

My wolf senses picked up Adrian's scent. Fresh, less than ten minutes old. He was running fast, but not as fast as someone fleeing for their life. He thought he had time, thought he'd gotten away clean.

He was wrong.

I pushed harder, my muscles burning from exertion. The birth was only yesterday—my body wasn't ready for this. But I didn't care. Pain didn't matter. Exhaustion didn't matter. Only Elena mattered.

The scent grew stronger. Five minutes ahead now, maybe less. I was gaining on him.

Through the bond with Dante, I felt him trying to reach me. He was alive—thank god—but weak from the silver poisoning. He was pushing me to slow down, to wait for backup, to not face Adrian alone.

I ignored him. This was my daughter, my fight, my choice. Just like I'd told Maya.

A clearing opened ahead. Adrian stood in the center, human form, holding Elena awkwardly like he'd never held a baby before. She was crying, her small face red with distress.

I burst from the trees and shifted mid-leap, landing in front of him in human form, the knife Maya had given me already in my hand.

"Give her back," I said, my voice deadly calm.

Adrian looked at me with something like regret. "I can't do that, Sera."

"Yes, you can. Put her down, walk away, and maybe I let you live."

"You don't understand. This isn't about hurting you or Elena. It's about survival." Adrian shifted his grip on Elena, who was screaming now. "I'm sorry. I truly am. But I don't have a choice."

"Everyone has a choice. You chose to betray Dante, to steal a baby, to become exactly what Garrett wanted you to be." I took a step closer, the knife ready. "Now choose to make it right."

"And then what? Face Dante's judgment? Live the rest of my life knowing I betrayed my Alpha?" Adrian shook his head. "I'm already dead, Sera. The moment I took Elena, I signed my own death warrant. At least this way, my family gets the money Vaughn promised. They'll be set for life."

"Blood money from selling a child."

"My children need to eat. My mate needs medical care I can't afford on a Beta's salary." Adrian's voice cracked. "You don't know what it's like, watching people you love suffer because you're not quite important enough, not quite powerful enough, not quite wealthy enough."

"So you decided to sell my daughter to fix your problems?"

"I decided to take the only opportunity I'd ever get to actually provide for my family!" Adrian's composure was cracking. "Dante has everything. Power, wealth, a true mate, an heir that will be strong enough to rule for decades. What do I have? Years of service and empty promises of 'someday.'"

Elena's cries were weakening. I realized with horror that she was getting cold—Adrian had her wrapped in nothing but the blanket from the Council Hall, no protection from the temperature dropping as evening approached.

"She's getting hypothermic," I said. "Whatever you're planning, you're going to kill her before you can deliver her."

Adrian looked down at Elena, seeming to notice her condition for the first time. Uncertainty flickered across his face.

"There's a vehicle meeting me two miles from here," he said, more to himself than to me. "Heated, with proper supplies. She'll be fine once we get there."

"Or she dies in the next twenty minutes because you're too stubborn to admit this is wrong." I took another step closer. "Adrian, I know you. You're not a monster. You've served Dante faithfully for fifteen years. Whatever Vaughn paid you, whatever promises he made—they're not worth becoming a child killer."

"I'm not killing her! I'm delivering her to people who'll raise her properly, train her to be the weapon she's meant to be—"

"Listen to yourself! You just called my daughter a weapon!" My voice rose despite my attempts to stay calm. "She's a baby, Adrian. One day old. She deserves a life, a family, a chance to choose who she becomes. Not to be molded into someone else's tool."

Adrian's hands were shaking now. Elena had gone quiet, which was somehow worse than her crying. The cold was taking her, shutting down her tiny body's systems one by one.

"Last chance," I said. "Give her to me and walk away. I'll tell Dante you changed your mind, that you tried to stop Vaughn. I'll lie for you, protect you, whatever it takes. Just give me my daughter before she dies."

"You'll lie?" Adrian laughed bitterly. "You, who couldn't lie to save your own life? You'd tell Dante everything, and he'd hunt me down and kill me slowly for this betrayal."

"Maybe. Or maybe he'd show mercy because you chose to do the right thing in the end." I was close enough now to reach out and touch Elena if I wanted. "But if she dies because of your greed, there won't be mercy. There'll just be two wolves hunting you for the rest of your short life."

Adrian looked at Elena, really looked at her for the first time. I saw the exact moment he registered how still she'd become, how her lips were turning blue.

"I—" He faltered. "I didn't mean—"

I moved.

Not attacking, just reaching for Elena with one hand while the other held the knife ready. Adrian didn't resist as I took her from his arms. She was so cold, so still, barely breathing.

"Oh god," I whispered, wrapping her against my chest, trying to share my body heat. "No, no, no. Elena, stay with me."

Through the bond, I pushed warmth, life, everything I had into her tiny body. She stirred slightly, her heartbeat fluttering weakly.

"She needs a healer," Adrian said, his voice hollow. "Immediately. There's one waiting with the vehicle, supposed to monitor her during transport—"

"Take me there."

"What?"

"The vehicle with the healer. Take me there now, or we watch her die while we stand here arguing." I met his eyes. "Whatever happens after, whatever consequences you face—we deal with that later. Right now, save this baby."

Adrian hesitated for only a moment, then nodded and shifted. His wolf form was larger than mine, built for carrying weight. I climbed onto his back awkwardly, cradling Elena with one arm and gripping his fur with the other.

He ran.

Not away from me this time, but with me, racing toward the vehicle and the healer who might save Elena's life. The irony wasn't lost on me—the man who'd tried to kidnap my daughter was now helping me save her.

Through the bond with Dante, I felt his panic as he sensed Elena's weakening life force. I pushed reassurance I didn't feel, telling him we were handling it, that she'd be okay.

The vehicle appeared ahead, a black SUV with tinted windows. A woman stood beside it, medical bag in hand, clearly waiting.

Adrian slowed as we approached, and I slid off his back. The healer's eyes widened when she saw me.

"I was told to expect a Beta and infant," she said. "Not—"

"Plans changed. The baby's hypothermic. Fix her." I held Elena out.

The healer didn't ask questions, just took Elena and immediately began working. She had a portable heating unit in the vehicle, blankets designed for infants, equipment I didn't recognize.

"How long has she been exposed to the cold?" the healer asked, her hands moving efficiently over Elena's small body.

"Twenty minutes, maybe more."

"And you're the mother?"

"Yes."

"Then get in. She needs skin-to-skin contact along with external warming." The healer gestured to the vehicle's back seat. "Strip to your waist and hold her against your chest. Your body heat will help stabilize her temperature."

I obeyed without hesitation, climbing into the warm vehicle and pressing Elena against my bare skin. The healer wrapped blankets around both of us, then attached small monitors to Elena's chest and head.

"Heart rate's low but steady. Temperature's eighty-seven degrees—dangerously low but survivable." The healer pulled out supplies, mixing something in a small bottle. "I'm going to give her a glucose solution to help generate body heat. Hold her steady."

Adrian had shifted back to human form and was standing outside the vehicle, watching. His expression was stricken.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," he said quietly. "I thought I'd be in the vehicle within ten minutes. I didn't factor in her getting cold so quickly."

"You didn't factor in a lot of things," I said, my voice hard. "Like how a mother would track her child to the ends of the earth. Or how Dante would destroy you for this. Or how selling a baby makes you exactly the kind of monster you always claimed to despise."

"I know." Adrian sat down heavily on the ground. "I know what I am now. What I've become."

The healer administered the glucose solution carefully. Elena stirred against my chest, her tiny body starting to warm. Her heartbeat strengthened slightly, the monitors beeping more regularly.

"She's responding," the healer said. "Keep her against your skin. Talk to her. The sound of your voice will help."

I held Elena close and spoke softly. "I've got you, baby. Mommy's here. You're safe now. You're going to be okay."

Through the bond, Elena's presence grew stronger. Not out of danger yet, but fighting, surviving, holding on.

A howl echoed through the forest. Dante's howl, full of rage and determination. He was coming, tracking us through the bond despite his injuries.

Adrian heard it too and stood. "I should run. Give myself a head start before he gets here."

"You won't make it a mile."

"I know. But I have to try." He looked at Elena one more time. "Tell her I'm sorry. When she's old enough to understand what happened today, tell her I'm sorry."

"Tell her yourself," I said. "Face what you've done instead of running from it."

Adrian shook his head. "I'm a coward, Sera. That's what Vaughn saw in me, what he exploited. I'm too much of a coward to face Dante's judgment."

He shifted and ran, disappearing into the trees just as Dante burst from the opposite direction.

Dante saw me in the vehicle, saw Elena in my arms, and his entire body sagged with relief. He shifted to human form and staggered toward us, still bleeding from the silver wounds.

"She's alive," I said quickly. "Hypothermic but alive. The healer's helping."

Dante climbed into the vehicle, pressing his hand gently to Elena's head. Through the bond, I felt his love and relief and residual terror.

"Adrian?" he asked.

"Ran. That way." I pointed. "He helped save her in the end. Brought me to the healer when he realized she was dying."

"Doesn't change what he did." Dante's voice was cold. "Doesn't change what he tried to do."

"I know. But maybe it counts for something."

The healer finished her immediate work and checked Elena's vitals again. "Temperature's up to ninety-two degrees. She's out of immediate danger, but she needs proper medical monitoring for the next twenty-four hours. Do you have somewhere secure we can take her?"

"Council Hall's medical wing," I said. "If it's still standing after the attack."

"It's standing," Dante confirmed. "Garrett's dead. Most of his mercenaries are captured or killed. The Council's cleaning up the damage now."

"And Vaughn?"

"Escaped. But now we know what he looks like, how he operates. We'll find him." Dante's eyes were hard. "No one threatens my family and lives."

The healer started packing up her equipment. "I'll drive you back to the Council Hall. But I need to know—am I under arrest for conspiracy?"

"Were you part of the kidnapping plan?" I asked.

"No. I was hired to provide medical care during a legal custody transfer. I was told the mother had agreed to give up the child to collectors who'd pay for her care and education." The healer looked genuinely disturbed. "If I'd known it was a kidnapping, that the baby was being stolen—"

"Then you're not under arrest. You're a witness." Dante leaned back against the seat, exhausted. "But you'll testify to everything you know about who hired you and what you were told."

"Of course."

As the vehicle drove us back toward the Council Hall, I held Elena close and felt her temperature continue to rise, her heartbeat grow stronger. She'd survived the first major threat to her life.

But as I looked at Dante's silver-poisoned wounds and thought about Vaughn still out there, about Adrian running through the forest, about all the enemies we'd made—I knew this was far from over.

We'd won this battle. But the war for our daughter's safety had only just begun.