Chapter 263 263
Maurice POV
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
The grounds surrounding the lake house felt watched like the land itself had eyes. The trees, the still water, the thick shadows clinging to the perimeter… all of it carried an eerie awareness, as though nature itself was holding its breath.
Bee had finally come downstairs.
Florence had coaxed her, gently, patiently and I knew she wouldn’t have moved at all if Damien hadn’t already left. Even now, she wasn’t speaking to me or to Aurélie. She sat curled in on herself on the sofa, knees drawn close, her body instinctively protective as she watched Dominique, Delphine, Aurélie, and Florence play a card game.
My warriors were outside, sweeping the grounds for anything out of place. I could see them through the wide glass windows, dark shapes moving through the rain-dampened land. The glow of their wolves’ eyes only deepened the haunted feeling creeping along the treeline.
“Alpha,” Hugo’s voice presses through the mind-link, sharp and alert. “The battle has begun. The rogues have arrived.”
I’d positioned him far enough from the fighting to keep him safe, but close enough to observe and report. If things turned sour though I didn’t believe they would his warning would give me time. Enough time to evacuate Dominique and the women.
I glance back inside to find Aurélie already locked in a mind-link, her expression tightening as she receives the same message.
She should block the pack link. She’ll feel everything otherwise the pain, the deaths, Damien’s emotions bleeding through the bond. But she won’t. Being an alpha means shouldering the worst as well as the best.
My gaze drifts back outside.
The sky is darkening earlier tonight. The moon is there, but muted trapped behind thick clouds, her usual brilliance dulled to a faint, half-hidden glow.
“Mummy, you’re not concentrating.”
Delphine’s small complaint pulls me from the window as Aurélie forgets to lay her card.
“Sorry, baby,” Aurélie says softly, placing the first card she sees. “I was just making sure both Daddies are okay.”
Her focus isn’t really on the game but she’s good at pretending.
I move toward the group, drawn without thought to Bee. She still refuses to look at me, her eyes fixed stubbornly on the cards in Dominique’s hands.
Dominique keeps glancing at her, hovering closer than usual. He senses her quiet, her withdrawal just as I do.
The mate bond stirs, stronger now, tugging insistently at me. I can feel it reaching for her, trying to weave itself tighter, trying to wake something she’s still hiding from.
Damien was wrong.
She can feel it.
Her heartbeat stutters as I step closer, quickening when I stand behind the sofa. My hand rests only inches from the exposed curve of her neck bare, vulnerable, perfect. A place meant to bear my mark.
Her scent wraps around me. Vanilla rich and familiar but beneath it lies something elusive, a hidden note I still can’t name. I know it will reveal itself once she shifts. I have no doubt it will.
“Alpha,” one of my warriors growls through the link. “We’ve picked up two unfamiliar scents.”
My attention snaps to the window, my body already turning toward the door.
“Where?”
“Five miles from the lake house.”
“I’m coming,” I command without hesitation. “Don’t engage until I arrive.”
Whoever they are, they could be aiming for the weapon delivery. If they interfere, they could change the course of this entire battle. I won’t allow that.
I move toward the door, careful not to draw attention.
“Florence,” I say quietly, timing it while Aurélie is lost in another mind-link.
Her head snaps up instantly.
“Lock the door behind me,” I murmur. “I won’t be long.”
I glance back at Bee and for a brief moment, she looks at me.
Really looks at me.
The first time all evening.
The hope that flickers in my chest is sharp and fragile.
Hopefully… when I come back, we’ll finally talk.