Chapter 20 The Man in Black
Liam's POV
I don’t think I have ever slept so well before. I open my eyes slowly, looking at the little angel sleeping beside me.
Her dark raven curls fall over her face as she curled against my chest, her breathing light and soft.
Her hands were wrapped around my body and she fit so perfectly.
She looked otherworldly, too beautiful to be true.
We are so lucky to have such a mate. Connor purred, moving about in my mind.
I couldn’t agree more. I smiled, pushing her hair away from her face.
She frowned but drew closer like she longed for my touch. I kept my hand on her face, just so I could feel her. The tingles rushing through my body.
Connor. My wolf poked his head up.
Yes.
Can you feel anything from Elena, does she have a wolf spirit in her?
I don’t know, I can only feel the mate bond, but that night when the rogue had attacked, I felt something. No I heard someone call out to us, asking us to save them, to save Elena. I know you heard it to.
Yeah I did but if that was her wolf, then why can’t we sense her now.
I don’t know.I frowned.
Everything surrounding Elena wasn’t adding up.
First the rogue targeting only her, then the weird lady at the scene and now the guard.
What did they want with Elena?
Elena stirred in her sleep.
“It’s okay, I said brushing through her hair. “I’m here.”
We stayed like that for some minutes.
I knew if I stayed any longer I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed.I kissed her forehead and moved her hands away from me slowly as I got up.
Before she could wake up, I put a pillow in my place and she relaxed again.
I smiled.
She was cute even when she was sleeping.
I hated that I had to leave her alone.“I will be back,” I promised silently.
I took a pen and paper from her desk and wrote down a message for when she woke up.
I looked back at her, she was sleeping so peacefully.
I turned and left the room.
Everyone in the pack house was already awake.
The guards stood taller as I walked past them, I could feel the tension in the air and I knew that different rumors of last night were already spreading through packs.
“Liam,” Josh said as he walked towards me.
“The guard is awake.”
I had told Elder rowan yesterday to let me take charge of the dealing with the guard since he tried to kill my mate and I planned on getting my answers out of him one way or another.
“Good,” I said, heading towards the basement.
We went down into the lower holding chambers, the air growing damp and heavy the deeper we went.
Iron doors lined the stone corridor, each one reinforced with silver bindings.
The guard who had attacked Elena sat chained to the wall inside the farthest cell.
I was happy he looked worse than last night.
Dried blood stained his nose and mouth, one eye swollen shut, his breathing shallow and uneven.
But he was alive.
Barely.
I stepped inside, the door slamming shut behind me.
He lifted his head slowly, recognition flashing in his remaining eye.
“You,” he glared at me.
“Yes,” I said calmly. “Me.”
I removed my jacket, folding it neatly before setting it on a chair.
Josh stayed near the door, with his arms crossed, expression blank.
“You should’ve killed me,” the guard muttered.
I smiled.
“That would’ve been mercy.”
I approached him slowly, letting my aura press down on him like a physical weight.
His heart skipped, I could hear it.
“Who sent you?” I asked.
He was silent.
I punched him hard across the face, snapping his head to the side.
“Wrong answer.”
He coughed, blood splattering the floor.
“Try again.”
“You think I’m afraid of you?” he sneered.
I leaned down until I was looking into his eyes.
“No,” I said quietly. “You’re afraid of whoever sent you.”
That got his attention.
His breath hitched.
“You followed orders,” I continued. “You went after my mate. You didn’t act alone.”
His jaw clenched. “Your mate isn't supposed to be alive, she will be the death of us all.”
I straightened and nodded once.
Josh moved forward, delivering a punch to the guard’s ribs.
The sound of cracking bone echoed through the chamber.
The guard screamed.
“Who sent you?” I roared.
“He’ll kill me,” the guard gasped.
“So will I,” I replied. “The difference is how long it’ll take.”
I grabbed him by the throat, lifting him just enough that his toes barely touched the ground.
“You tried to kill my mate,” I growled, Connor surging forward.“There is no outcome where you walk out of here alive. The only choice you have left is how useful you are before you die.”
His resolve cracked.
“A man,” he choked. “A man in black—”
My grip tightened.
“He gives orders,” the guard rushed out, panic flooding his voice. “We don’t see his face. He speaks through shadows. Through others.”
Josh stiffened.
“Go on,” I ordered.
“He said the girl was important,” the guard continued, eyes wide now. “That everything depends on her. He said she had to die before she awakened, or she would kill everyone.”
“What does that mean?” I demanded.
The guard opened his mouth to talk, but then he screamed.
Blood poured from his nose, his eyes, his ears.
His body convulsed violently, chains shaking against the stone.
“What the hell—” Josh stepped back.
The guard’s eyes rolled back, foam coming out of his lips as he coughed violently, choking on his own blood.
“No,” I snarled, shaking him. “Stay with me! Who is he?!”
The guard’s body stopped shaking.
Dead.
I dropped him in disgust, stepping back as silence swallowed the chamber.
Josh stared at the corpse, face pale. “That wasn’t natural.”
“No,” I agreed. “That was a kill switch.”
Someone had silenced him.
Someone powerful.
Someone watching.
I closed my eyes briefly, forcing my breathing to steady.
A man in black.
Orders from the shadows.
Elena targeted before she awakened.
Every instinct I had screamed danger.
“She’s the center of this,” Josh said quietly. “Whatever this is—it’s about her.”
“I know,” I replied.
And I was terrified.
Not because I didn’t think I could protect her.
But because I didn’t yet understand what I was protecting her from.
I turned toward the door, already moving.
“Double the guards around her,” I ordered.
“No one gets near Elena without my permission. Not elders. Not council members.”
Josh nodded. “And you?”
“I’m going back to her,” I said without hesitation.
Because whatever storm was coming,
It was already circling my mate.
And I would burn the world to ash before I let it take her.