Chapter 136 Hundred and thirty six

Chapter 136 Hundred and thirty six
Rowan's POV

Elowen had left two days earlier for Ashgrove, carrying formal alliance documents that needed her diplomatic touch more than a warrior escort's blunt authority, and when she failed to return on schedule, unease settled cold and immediate in my chest.

"She's likely just delayed," Julian said, though I could hear the same tension in his voice that I felt building in my own.

"Elowen doesn't miss deadlines," I said. "Not since she started taking this role seriously. If she's late, something's wrong."

Aldren arrived within the hour, his expression grim enough that I knew, before he even spoke, exactly how right my instinct had been.

"A messenger arrived from Ashgrove," he said. "Elowen never reached them. Her escort was found along the eastern road. Two warriors dead, the rest scattered or wounded."

The room seemed to tilt. "And Elowen?"

"Gone," Aldren said quietly. "No sign of her body among the fallen. Which likely means—"

"Taken," Marcus finished, his voice hard.

"There was this, left at the scene." Aldren held out a folded piece of parchment, and I took it with trembling hands, unfolding it to find familiar, arrogant handwriting.

Your sister for a formal audience, Luna Rowan. Come alone to the old mill at Ashfall's border, three days from now, and we'll discuss terms for her return. Bring your Alphas, and she dies before you're close enough to see her face.

Renfield.

"He's escalated," Julian said, reading over my shoulder, his jaw tight with barely controlled fury.

"He's taken my sister," I said, the words coming out flat, disbelieving, fury and terror tangling together so completely I could barely separate one from the other. "After everything, after we tried to build something better than fear and coercion, he's taken Elowen."

"We're not letting you go alone," Marcus said immediately.

"I know," I said. "I have no intention of going alone. But we need to be careful. If he suspects we're not following his terms exactly, if he thinks we're bringing warriors in disguise—"

"Then we don't disguise anything," Julian said. "We go in with full force, and we make clear that threatening Elowen means facing the full weight of Crescent Moon's response."

"That could get her killed," I said. "If he panics, if he feels cornered—"

"Then we need a plan smarter than either full force or blind compliance," Marcus said, already pacing, his mind clearly working through possibilities. "Aldren, what do we know about the old mill?"

"Abandoned for years," Aldren said. "Ashfall's territory, close to their border with Ironwood. Isolated enough for privacy, but accessible enough that reinforcement could reach it relatively quickly if needed."

"Send word to Garrick," I said. "Immediately. If Renfield's operating this close to his border, Ironwood needs to know, and we need every ally we can gather."

"On it," Aldren said, already moving toward the door.

I sank into the nearest chair, the parchment still clutched in my trembling hands, fury and fear warring violently in my chest. "This is my fault."

"It's not," Julian said immediately, crouching in front of me.

"I insisted on sending her to Ashgrove alone. I wanted her to have her own place, her own accomplishments, and instead I sent her directly into danger."

"You gave her the opportunity she asked for," Marcus said gently. "None of us could have predicted Renfield would target her specifically."

"Couldn't we?" My voice cracked. "She's my sister. My twin. If he wanted maximum leverage against me specifically, who better to take than the one person tied to me by blood and bond both?"

The room fell silent, the weight of that realization settling heavy over all of us.

"We get her back," Julian said finally, fierce determination replacing the earlier shock in his voice. "Whatever it takes."
"Whatever it takes," Marcus echoed.

We spent the following two days in intense preparation, Garrick's response arriving swiftly, pledging Ironwood's full support, warriors already mobilizing toward Ashfall's border in coordinated readiness.

Maria arrived unbidden, having heard word through pack channels, immediately offering her skills toward whatever plan we developed.

"I want to be part of the rescue directly," she said, finding me in the training yard where I'd been channeling anxious energy into desperate practice. "Not just support from a distance."

"Thank you," I said, grateful beyond words for her presence. "I'll need every advantage we can gather."

The night before we were meant to depart, I found myself unable to sleep, standing at the window watching moonlight spill across the grounds, when Julian's arms wrapped around me from behind.

"You should be resting," he murmured.

"I can't stop thinking about her," I admitted. "About what she might be experiencing right now, frightened, alone, believing this is somehow her fault for trusting the wrong assignment."

"She'll know it's not her fault," Julian said. "The same way you know this isn't your fault, even though grief is making it hard to fully believe that right now."

Marcus joined us a moment later, wrapping around my other side, and I let myself lean into both of them, drawing strength from their steady presence even amid the terror still churning in my chest.

"Tomorrow, we get her back," Marcus said firmly. "And Renfield finally faces real consequences for every reckless, coercive choice he's made since claiming Ashfall's leadership."

"I keep thinking about the bond," I said quietly. "Elowen and I. If I can sense anything from her, any indication she's still safe."

I closed my eyes, reaching for the familiar warmth of the twin bond we'd spent months carefully cultivating, and felt, faintly but unmistakably, something reaching back. Fear. Exhaustion.

But beneath it, unmistakable determination.
I'm still here, the sensation seemed to say, distant but present. Still fighting.

"She's alive," I said, tears spilling free despite my effort to stay composed. "I can feel her. She's frightened, but she's alive, and she's not giving up."

"Then neither are we," Julian said, pressing a fierce kiss to my temple.

We departed at dawn, a carefully coordinated force moving toward the old mill, Ironwood's warriors joining us at the border exactly as Garrick had promised. I felt something steady beneath the fear as our combined forces moved forward, genuine alliance finally proving its worth exactly when it mattered most.

"Remember the plan," Julian said, as we approached the mill's outskirts, warriors spreading carefully into position around the perimeter. "I go in first, alone, exactly as Renfield demanded. You and Marcus stay hidden until my signal."

"I don't like it," I said, though I understood the necessity.

"Neither do I," Julian admitted. "But if he sees all of us approaching together, he might panic before we're close enough to actually protect Elowen."

I nodded, forcing down every instinct screaming at me to charge forward regardless, and watched Julian approach the mill alone, his posture carefully calm despite the tension I knew was coiled tight beneath his composed exterior.

Renfield emerged from the mill's shadowed entrance, a rough-looking man with calculating eyes exactly matching the reports we'd gathered, Elowen visible behind him, bound but alive, her expression carrying fierce, unbroken defiance despite everything.

"Alpha Julian," Renfield said, something mocking in his voice. "I confess, I expected more resistance to my terms."

"I'm here as requested," Julian said evenly. "Alone, exactly as you demanded. Now release her."

"Not quite yet," Renfield said. "First, we discuss the actual terms of her release. Crescent Moon's formal withdrawal from alliance with Ironwood, for a start."

"That wasn't part of your original message," Julian said, tension sharpening his voice.

"Terms evolve," Renfield said, something dangerous entering his tone. "Especially once I've secured genuine leverage."

I felt fury building hot and immediate in my chest, watching from concealed distance, and beside me, Marcus's hand found mine, steadying despite his own visible tension.

"Not yet," he murmured. "Wait for the signal."

Julian's jaw tightened visibly, even from this distance. "Crescent Moon doesn't negotiate under threat to innocent lives."

"Then perhaps this negotiation needs additional motivation," Renfield said, and gestured sharply toward one of his warriors standing near Elowen.

The warrior raised a blade toward her throat, and every ounce of restraint I'd been holding shattered entirely.