Chapter 83 BLOOD IN THE WOODS

Chapter 83 BLOOD IN THE WOODS
AVRIELLE’S POV

The tires of the SUV roared over the unpaved dirt track, throwing up clouds of gravel and dry soil. The engine screamed under Ryan’s aggressive driving, but the violent rattling of the vehicle was nothing compared to the deafening pulse hammering against my eardrums.

I turned around in my seat and stared through the reinforced back window. Three dark, unmarked SUVs were tailing us hard, cutting through the narrow turns of the forest road with reckless speed. They weren’t maintaining distance; they were closing in fast, their grilles pushing through the dirt as if they intended to ram us straight off the mountain ridge.

“They’re right on our tail!” Elena shrieked, clutching the leather door handle until her knuckles turned white.

“I see them!” Ryan shouted from the front seat.

Without warning, Ryan slammed his foot onto the brake and spun the steering wheel hard to the left. The vehicle skidded sideways, coming to a violent, jarring stop behind a dense thicket of tall pine trees near the edge of a deep ravine. The sudden halt threw me against the front seat, the seatbelt digging painfully into my shoulder.

“Abandon the car!” Ryan yelled, throwing his door open. “Move! Now!”

Elena and I scrambled out, the cold forest air hitting my face like a slap. Before I could even ask where we were running, Ryan grabbed my arm and dragged us toward a completely different vehicle—a faded, dusty green sedan hidden beneath a camo tarp pulled over low branches. He ripped the tarp away in one brutal motion, yanked open the rear door, and practically shoved us inside.

“Get in!”

We threw ourselves into the cramped back seat. Ryan leaped into the driver’s side, turned the key, and the engine roared to life with a sputtering cough. He slammed the car into gear and backed onto a narrow, hidden hunting trail just as the three dark SUVs rounded the bend, slamming their brakes to surround our abandoned armored vehicle.

“Did they see us?!” Elena gasped, leaning low over the floorboards.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A volley of gunfire answered her. Bullets punched through the rear glass of the sedan, spider-webbing the reinforced safety glass and sending sharp cracks echoing through the cabin.

“Keep your heads down!” Ryan growled, weaving the green sedan through the dense, twisted trees. He glanced at us through the rearview mirror, his eyes razor-sharp. “Pull the sun curtains over the side windows! There’s a brown shopping bag on the floor behind the driver’s seat. Grab it and change into what’s inside!”

I didn’t waste a second. I reached down, grabbed the thick handles of the paper shopping bag, and ripped it open. Inside were two sets of simple, dark-grey civilian clothes—heavy cotton hoodies, dark denim jeans, and basic leather boots.

“Elena, hurry!” I snapped, unzipping the velvet wedding dress I was wearing.

We scrambled in the cramped back seat as the car bounced violently over rocks and exposed roots. I stripped off the dress and tossed it onto the floorboard before pulling the coarse denim up my legs and sliding my arms into the oversized grey hoodie. Elena did the same beside me, her hands shaking so badly she could barely tie the laces of her boots.

We shoved our ceremonial garments back into the paper bag and zipped our hoodies up to our chins.

“We’re done!” I called toward the front, breathless as I pulled my hair into a tight bun at the nape of my neck.

“Good,” Ryan grunted, his eyes darting between the side mirrors and the treacherous track ahead.

He suddenly yanked the steering wheel hard to the right, plunging the car down a narrow, overgrown dirt path that looked like a dead end. The trees parted abruptly, and my breath caught in my throat.

Directly ahead was a sheer, dizzying drop—a jagged cliff overlooking a roaring river hundreds of feet below.

“Ryan, stop!” I yelled, my eyes widening in horror.

SCREEECH!

Ryan slammed his foot onto the brake. The tires locked up, spitting rocks over the edge of the precipice before the sedan ground to a shuddering halt mere inches from the drop-off.

“Get out! Fast!” Ryan barked, throwing his door open.

We scrambled onto the dirt while Ryan lunged into the back seat, snatched the paper shopping bag containing our ceremonial clothes, and spun around. Two men dressed in plain tactical gear stepped out from the shadows behind us, running straight toward the car.

Ryan tossed the bag to one of them.

“Now it’s up to you,” he said firmly. “Drive it hard and lead them south.”

“Understood, Commander,” the lead guard replied grimly.

The three men piled into the green sedan, slammed the doors, and reversed out of the tight clearing, spinning the vehicle around to draw the pursuing SUVs away from the cliff edge.

“This way! Move!” Ryan commanded, turning toward the massive cliff face.

Elena and I ran after him, our simple leather boots digging into the loose earth. When we reached the flat face of the rock, Ryan planted his boots firmly against the ground, pushed his shoulder against a massive moss-covered boulder, and heaved. With a heavy scrape of stone against stone, the rock shifted inward, revealing a pitch-black passage leading into the heart of the mountain.

“Go in first! Hurry!” Ryan ordered, standing guard at the opening.

Elena slipped through the narrow gap without hesitation. I ducked beneath the overhanging stone and climbed inside right behind her, with Ryan entering last. He placed both hands against the inner side of the stone door and shoved it back into place.

THUD.

The boulder sealed shut with a heavy click, plunging us into absolute darkness. The distant gunshots and roaring engines vanished instantly, replaced by the cool, quiet air of the underground tunnel.

Ryan struck a match and lit a small handheld torch mounted on the stone wall.

“Follow me,” he whispered, his voice echoing softly against the cold stone. “Keep your steps light.”

We walked in single file down the narrow, winding tunnel for several minutes, descending slightly before ascending a steep flight of carved stone stairs. At the top, Ryan stopped in front of a flat, seamlessly carved wooden wall that looked like the back of a large piece of furniture. He reached up, pressed his thumb into a hidden groove, and pushed.

The panel swung smoothly outward like a hidden door, revealing bright, soft light and the familiar scent of dark sandalwood and crushed pine.

We stepped out into the center of my bedchamber inside the main keep. The hidden panel clicked shut behind us, blending back into the heavy mahogany wardrobe built into the wall. I took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar air of the room, though my heart was still beating wildly against my ribs.

Ryan turned to face me, adjusting his tactical belt.

“The Alpha said you know what to do from here, Luna. The lower panic room is accessed through the cellar trapdoor.”

I took a breath and turned toward him. “Hmm… I’ll handle everything here, Ryan. Go join Xavier and keep him safe.”

Ryan frowned, his brows pulling together in immediate resistance. “The Alpha ordered that you be safe before I leave your side, My Lady. My duty is here.”

“And I am safe!” I replied firmly, stepping closer to him. “Leave. I’ll head into the safe house myself with Elena.”

Ryan’s jaw tightened. He opened his mouth to object.

“Luna, I cannot in good conscience—”

A low, vibrating growl tore from the back of my throat, a sudden spike of my wolf’s dominant aura flaring through the room.

“That was an order, Ryan! Leave!”

My voice carried absolute authority, making the air in the bedchamber freeze. Ryan’s eyes widened slightly at the sheer weight of the command. He swallowed hard, looked into my blazing eyes, and finally lowered his head in a deep, respectful bow.

“Understood, Luna,” he said quietly. “May the Moon protect you.”

Without another word, he stepped back into the hidden wardrobe passage, and the wooden panel slid shut behind him with a soft click.

The second he was gone, I released a massive, trembling sigh of relief. My shoulders sagged as I leaned heavily against the wooden frame of the wardrobe, closing my eyes for three long seconds to regain my breath.

Elena let out a long breath of her own and stepped toward me, her eyes wide with anxiety. “Oh, praise the Moon… we made it back to the keep. Luna, we should hide in the panic room already! Come on, let’s open the trapdoor before anyone comes up here!”

I opened my eyes. Instead of heading toward the hidden cellar entrance, I turned and walked straight back to the main wardrobe.

“Luna?” Elena asked, confusion rising in her voice. “What are you doing?”

I yanked open the lower wooden drawers, pushing aside heavy cloaks and linens. Deep in the bottom drawer lay a heavy leather pouch I had hidden weeks ago. I grabbed it, pulled it out, and untied the leather drawstrings.

Inside were several small glass vials of concentrated Wolfsbane and two velvet pouches filled with fine silver powder—supplies I had secretly purchased and kept off the records as weapons of last resort in case Xavier’s rogue instincts ever completely shattered.

I set the vials and silver powder on the wooden table. Then I reached beneath the frame of the vanity mirror and pulled out two sleek black semi-automatic handguns I had stolen from the guards’ auxiliary armory during the early weeks of my stay.

Elena’s jaw dropped. She backed up two full steps, staring at the weapons lying on the polished wood.

“What… what are you doing?!” she stammered, her hands flying to her mouth.

I checked the magazines of both handguns, slamming one back into the grip with a sharp, lethal CLACK. Then I looked up at her, my dark eyes burning with unyielding resolve.

“I’m going to join them in the fight,” I said flatly. “I’m not leaving my mate to die out there.”

“No!” Elena cried, rushing forward with a pale, desperate face. “No, Mistress—Luna! The Alpha specifically said we should wait here! He planned all of this so you would be safe! It wouldn’t be safe down there… Malphas brought an entire army of mercenaries! If you go out there, you’re walking straight into a slaughterhouse!”

I turned to face her, strapping the tactical leather thigh holsters around my jeans and sliding the handguns securely into place. I picked up the small pouches of silver powder and Wolfsbane, tucking them firmly into the inner pockets of my grey hoodie. I looked into Elena’s trembling eyes, my expression softening slightly, but my jaw remained set like stone.

“Don’t try to stop me, Elena,” I said softly, stepping toward the main bedchamber door. “I just want to know if you’re in… and if you’re not, hide in the panic room right now.”

I turned my back on her and reached for the brass door handle, ready to step into the hallway and fight for the man I loved.

Before I could turn the handle, a hand reached from behind and grabbed my wrist in a tight, desperate grip.

I paused and looked over my shoulder.

Elena stood behind me, her face still pale as paper, her brown eyes filling with terrified tears, but her shoulders were squared and her jaw was set with a stubborn determination I had never seen in her before. She took a deep breath, squeezing my wrist tightly.

“What’s the plan?” Elena whispered, wiping a stray tear from her cheek with her sleeve. “I’m in.”