Chapter 135 A DISTRESSING STATE
DEREK’S POV
The doors to the palace slammed open so hard they echoed through the hall. I looked up from the table before anyone said a word. I already knew something was wrong. The air shifted as my chest tightened like a hand had closed around my heart.
Amber’s mother stood there, breathing hard. Her hair was half undone, her dress wrinkled like she’d pulled it on in a rush. Her eyes were wide, wet, and wild. Panic clung to her like smoke.
“Derek,” she said, and my name came out broken. “Amber is missing and so are the children too.”
The room went still as every voice died. I stood up slowly, my chair scraping against the floor. My focus locked on her face. She was scared, that much was clear, real fear. The kind that makes your hands shake and your voice crack.
“They never arrived,” she went on, rushing her words. “She said she was on her way, hours ago. I waited. I sent a mind link, still nothing.”
Her hand pressed to her chest like she couldn’t breathe right. “Something is wrong.”
I took a step toward her. With every word she spoke, the bond inside me screamed louder. It wasn’t death. I knew what that felt like, this was worse in a different way. Pain, fear and suffering stretched thin but alive. Amber was alive and the kids too but they were hurting.
My knees nearly buckled under the weight of it.
“When did you last speak to her?” I asked.
“This morning,” she said. Too quick and then she swallowed and added, “Before she left.”
Her eyes dropped for half a second. Just a flicker. If I hadn’t been watching her closely, I would’ve missed it. There was something else there. Not fear, not fully. Something heavy, something like regret but there was no time to pull at that thread.
I turned to the guards. “Get everyone ready. Scouts, trackers, all of…”
A sharp sound cut me off. A runner burst into the room, breathless, holding a sealed message. His face was pale. He didn’t look at anyone else, just me.
“This arrived through the old channel,” he said quietly. “Marked by dark craft.”
The words settled over the room like a curse.
I took the message from his hand. The seal was cold against my skin. I didn’t need to open it to know who it was from. The bond twisted tighter, like it was bracing itself.
I broke the seal. The message was short, neat and calm. Like whoever wrote it wasn’t in a hurry at all.
Amber and the children are safe. With me.
If you want them back alive, you will come alone.
—Soul
The name burned. The room erupted in noise. Shouts and questions and then anger. Threats, I didn’t hear most of it. All I could feel was the bond pulling me hard in one direction, like a hook lodged deep in my chest.
Amber’s mother let out a sharp sob. She covered her mouth, turning away, shoulders shaking. When she looked back at me, her eyes were full of tears, real ones. Still, that shadow lingered beneath them.
“Please,” she whispered. “Bring my daughter home.”
I nodded once as my jaw was locked tight.
I folded the message and slipped it into my pocket. “He wants me,” I said. “And he knows I’ll come.”
“No.”
The word came from every direction at once.
“You can’t go alone,” one of the elders snapped. “That’s exactly what he wants.”
“It’s a trap,” another said. “Let us send a team.”
“Let us come with you,” someone else pleaded.
I listened. I heard them. But none of it mattered.
“He already has them,” I said, my voice low and steady. “If I don’t go, he wins time. If I bring an army, he will hurt them.”
The bond flared, sharp and sudden. I sucked in a breath through my teeth. Pain flashed behind my eyes. Amber was scared, not screaming or even broken but scared enough that it made my hands tremble.
“She’s alive,” I said, more to myself than anyone else. “All of them are, I can feel it.”
“That doesn’t mean they’re safe,” a guard said.
I turned to him. “It means they’re breathing and that’s all that matters right now.”
Amber’s mother stepped closer. Her hands were clenched at her sides. “Soul is dangerous,” she said softly. “He doesn’t do anything without a reason.”
“I know,” I said.
Her gaze flickered again. Just for a second. Guilt flashed across her face before she hid it behind fear. My eyes narrowed, but again, there was no time.
“Where?” I asked her.
She hesitated, too long.
“The old crossing,” she said at last. “Beyond the dead woods.”
Of course it was. I grabbed my coat from the back of the chair. The room filled with angry voices again, louder this time. People moved to block my path.
“Move,” I said.
They didn’t.
“Derek,” one of my closest men said, stepping forward. “You don’t have to do this alone.”
“Yes,” I said quietly. “I do.”
I met each of their eyes in turn. “If I don’t come back,” I added, “you wait one hour. Then you follow everything I leave behind, no sooner.”
“That’s not…”
“I said one hour.”
Silence fell. I walked past them before anyone could stop me. Each step away from the hall felt heavier than the last. The bond pulled harder with every second, guiding me like a compass soaked in blood.
At the doors, I paused. My hand rested on the handle for just a moment, doubt crept in. Not fear for myself. Never that, fear that I would be too late.
I pushed it down. Nothing mattered more than getting them back alive. I opened the doors and stepped into the night, already moving toward him.
The night air hit me hard as soon as I stepped outside. Cold and harp. It cut through my skin like it knew exactly where to hurt. I didn’t slow down because I couldn’t afford to. Every second felt stolen.
The palace guards followed me as far as the outer gate before stopping. I didn’t look back. If I did, I might hesitate and hesitation was a luxury I didn’t have.
“I hate this.” I mummured.
I took the path that led away from the lights, away from safety. The land beyond the palace was quiet, too quiet. No insects and no wind. Just my boots against the dirt and the sound of my own breathing. The bond pulled at me again, harder this time, and I staggered for a moment before catching myself.
“Hold on,” I muttered under my breath. I didn’t know if Amber could hear me through it, but I needed her to know I was coming. “Just hold on.”
Images flickered at the edge of my mind. Not clear enough to see, but enough to feel. Fear pressed tight. The kids were close to her. I could sense that much and she was holding them together, keeping herself steady for them, the way she always did. That thought burned through me and gave me strength at the same time.
The farther I went, the darker the land became. Trees crowded in, their branches tangled overhead. This used to be Spirit pack land., I remembered it from before. Before it fell apart and before Soul turned it into something twisted and quiet.
My foot brushed against something soft. I stopped and looked down.
A strip of fabric lay half-buried in the dirt. I recognized it instantly. Amber’s. My chest tightened so hard it hurt to breathe. I crouched and picked it up, my fingers shaking. It was torn, like it had been ripped in a struggle.
Rage surged through me, hot and blinding.
“I’m coming for you,” I said out loud now. “You hear me? Whatever game you think you’re playing ends tonight.”
The woods didn’t answer. I moved faster after that, pushing through brush and low branches, not caring when thorns tore at my skin. Pain meant nothing. Every step brought the bond into sharper focus, pulling me toward one single point like a blade aimed straight at my heart.
Then I felt it, a presence but it was not close, not yet but watching.
My pace slowed even as my senses stretched outward, searching the dark. The air felt thick and charged. This was where he wanted me, I could feel it in my bones.
I stepped into a small clearing and stopped. The silence deepened, heavy and waiting.
“Show yourself,” I said.
Nothing moved but I knew I wasn’t alone.
Somewhere ahead, beyond the trees and the dark, Amber and my children were being held by a man who knew exactly how to hurt without killing. A man who wanted me right where I was.
I took one more step forward anyway because fear didn’t matter, only getting them back alive did.
BLOOD AND SILENCE