Chapter 112 Bravery in Chains
Anne's POV
The silence inside the armored SUV was suffocating, broken only by the low hum of the engine and the rhythmic thrumming of tires on asphalt.
I sat rigid against the leather seat, hands folded in my lap, but beneath the skin my Alpha instincts thrummed like a high-tension wire. Across from me, Captain Kaelen sat motionless—a Beta, biologically inferior, but the calm in his unblinking eyes told me he knew exactly what I was capable of. And he wasn't afraid.
Forty-eight hours, I told myself. The glamour holds. He won't check the safe.
Beneath my coat, the stolen ledger burned against my ribs like a block of ice.
"You seem tense, Lady Anne," Kaelen said, his voice a low rumble.
I forced a thin smile. "Merely anxious to return to my studies, Captain."
"Of course. Preparing for the union with Silvermoon is a heavy burden."
The lie tasted like ash. "It is a necessary one."
Three miles to the neutral zone. Whispering Pines—where Chase waited—was just ahead.
Then the radio crackled.
Not standard static. A sharp, piercing tone—priority override. I'd only heard it once before, during a border skirmish.
Kaelen's hand snapped to his earpiece. "Report."
I watched the color drain from his face, replaced by cold fury.
"Understood, my Lord. Securing the package now."
He tapped the partition. "Turn around. Route Bravo."
"What?" Panic shattered my composure. "Captain, I have to—"
"Your father checked the safe this morning."
My blood turned to ice. He knows.
The SUV swerved violently. We were turning away from Whispering Pines. Away from Chase. Away from freedom.
No.
My wolf roared. I was an Alpha of Bloodrock. I would not be caged.
"Stop the car!" The Alpha command in my voice should have forced instant submission.
Kaelen's jaw clenched against the compulsion. "Sit down, girl."
I moved with Alpha speed. The crystal decanter shattered against his temple. Blood sprayed.
Any Beta should have dropped. Kaelen grunted, his hand moving with mechanical precision to his belt.
I lunged for the door. Before my fingers touched the latch, silver metal jammed into my ribs.
ZZZ-CRACK.
Agony exploded through me. Not electricity—a frequency designed to sever an Alpha's connection to their wolf. My blood turned to acid. My wolf howled and retreated, cowering.
I collapsed, gasping, limbs like lead.
"Alpha-suppressant baton," Kaelen said calmly, wiping blood from his eye. "Your father's gift this morning. He said, 'If she shows her teeth, pull them.'"
The betrayal hit harder than the shock. My own father had armed a servant to cripple me.
"Bastard," I wheezed.
"Duty, my Lady."
The paralysis was already fading—my metabolism fighting back. I couldn't beat him with strength, not while he had that baton. I had to be unpredictable.
I threw myself over the seat into the front cabin.
"Get back!" the driver shouted.
I grabbed the wheel. Kaelen lunged with the sparking baton. I took the hit to my shoulder—screaming as voltage seized my muscles—and used the spasm to yank the wheel hard right.
"Are you insane?"
"Yes!"
The SUV careened off the road, smashed through the guardrail, and plowed into Whispering Pines.
CRUNCH.
The impact was bone-shattering. The airbag deployed like a sledgehammer. Then silence—just the hiss of a ruptured radiator and groaning metal.
I gasped through white powder filling the air, my body sluggish from the suppressant. But I forced myself to move.
The ledger. Still there, strapped to my side.
"Secure her!" Kaelen's voice, furious. Metal buckling as he kicked the partition.
I shoved the door open and fell onto pine needles.
The forest was quiet for one heartbeat.
Then chaos erupted.
A massive silver blur exploded from the underbrush, hitting the SUV as Kaelen kicked the door off. The ground shook.
Chase. In full wolf form—magnificent, terrifying, twice the size of a normal wolf, silver fur gleaming like moonlight.
"Anne! Get down!" Wynter's voice.
I scrambled away as Kaelen emerged, blood masking half his face. He drew his gun, aimed at me.
"Traitorous bitch."
A grey blur tackled him—Jax, knife flashing. They went down hard.
Bang. The shot went wild.
"Get the book!" Jax roared.
The other convoy vehicles screeched to a halt above. Six guards poured down the embankment, shifting into wolves mid-stride.
"Anne! Here!" Wynter was sprinting toward me.
Chase intercepted the pack with devastating force, catching the first wolf mid-leap and hurling it into a tree. But there were too many—three more circled, trying to flank. He was holding the line, but he couldn't reach me without leaving Wynter exposed.
I ran toward Wynter, clutching the ledger. "I have it!"
Behind me, Kaelen threw Jax off. With impossible speed for a Beta, he lunged for me.
I spun, baring my teeth. "Back off!"
He pulled a canister from his vest and sprayed directly into my face.
Wolfsbane concentrate.
Liquid fire. It seared my eyes, filled my lungs with agony. My knees gave way.
He grabbed my coat hood while I retched, unable to breathe.
"You're going nowhere!"
I wrenched out of the sleeves, stumbling forward.
"Wynter!" I screamed, pulling the ledger free.
On the ridge, a sniper took aim. Not at me. At the book.
Bang.
The incendiary round hit with sledgehammer force, knocking me off my feet. Green chemical fire erupted from the spine.
"No!" Wynter screamed.
She dove, sliding across pine needles, grabbing the burning book and smothering it with her jacket. Chase threw himself between her and two attacking wolves, taking a vicious hit to protect her.
"I've got it!" Wynter yelled, coughing. "But it's damaged!"
"Go!" I screamed. "Get it out of here!"
Kaelen's hand clamped around my throat, lifting me off the ground. With the suppressant and wolfsbane, I had no strength. I clawed uselessly at his arm.
"Drop the book, Vaughn, or I snap her neck!"
Wynter froze. Chase stopped, bristling. Jax struggled to stand, bleeding.
The clearing fell silent except for my strangled gasps.
I locked eyes with Chase. His golden gaze held terrible understanding. He wasn't fast enough to save me.
"Chase," I choked out. "Take them. Go."
"Let her go," Wynter said, shaking.
"The ledger is damaged," Kaelen sneered, tightening his grip. "Give me the book, and she lives."
"Wynter, don't," I rasped. "He won't kill me—I'm his blood. He needs an heir." I forced conviction into my voice. "The book is the only way to stop him. If you give it back, Owen died for nothing. The children—everything—it's all for nothing. Run!"
Wynter hesitated, torn.
So I made the choice.
I reached into my boot, found the shock dart, and drove it into Kaelen's forearm.
ZZZ-CRACK.
Fifty thousand volts. Kaelen roared, muscles seizing. His grip loosened.
I dropped, gasping.
"RUN!"
Chase didn't hesitate. He slammed into Wynter, forcing her onto his back, snapping at Jax to move.
"Go! Leave me!" I yelled as Kaelen recovered. His boot slammed into my ribs.
Crack.
Agony exploded. I curled up, watching through tears as Chase grabbed Wynter and bolted into the trees. Jax hesitated one agonizing second, then followed.
They were gone. They had the book.
Kaelen stood over me, breathing hard.
"An Alpha Prime, brought low by a servant," he whispered. "Your father was right. You are weak."
He clicked a heavy silver collar around my neck—a dampener collar. The connection to my wolf severed completely. I was hollowed out, alone in my own mind for the first time.
He grabbed my hair and dragged me toward the convoy.
"You have no idea what you've just done to yourself."
As I was hauled across the ground, pine needles scraping my face, I watched the darkness of Whispering Pines swallow the only people who had ever tried to save me.
I did it, I thought as consciousness faded. I chose to be brave.