Chapter 14 Race to the City
LISA'S POV
Emma wasn't fully human. The words on that page destroyed everything I thought I knew about my best friend, the girl who had held me while I cried over Ryan's rejection, who had made me laugh when exile felt like drowning. She was a half-blood who had never shifted, living her entire life unaware that wolf blood ran through her veins. And now she was on a kill list because of me.
My hands shook as I pulled out my phone and dialed her number. It rang once, twice, three times before going to voicemail. "Emma, it's me. Call me back immediately. Don't go anywhere alone. Please." I hung up and tried again. Nothing. Again. Straight to voicemail this time, like her phone had been turned off.
"We have to go to the city," I said, my voice breaking with panic. "Right now. She's in danger and she doesn't even know."
Ryan was already moving, his Alpha instincts kicking in as he organized the mission with military precision. "Nathan, you're with us. We need someone who knows the city layout." He looked at Daniel, uncertainty crossing his face. "Can we trust you?"
"She was my mother too," Daniel said quietly. "And Viktor's tactics—I know how he thinks, how he hunts. You need me." The honesty in his voice was raw, painful. He had lost just as much as I had, maybe more.
Elder Catherine appeared at the top of the basement stairs, her face drawn with disapproval. "Alpha Lisa, you cannot leave the pack lands now. You must formally accept the Alpha position before the full council, you have to complete the ritual ceremonies. The pack needs stability."
"The pack needs their Alpha to protect family," I shot back, climbing the stairs to face her. "Emma is my family. She's been more loyal to me than most of this pack ever was. I won't leave her to die because of some ceremony."
"This is reckless—"
"This is what an Alpha does." My voice carried the authority my father had just given me, the power I was still learning to wield. "We protect our own. Even the ones who don't know they're ours yet."
The council had assembled in the main hall by the time we emerged from the basement, Sophia standing in the center surrounded by guards. She looked defiant, her chin raised, eyes flashing with anger that almost seemed genuine. Almost.
"These accusations are insane," she declared as we entered. "The photographs are obviously doctored. Marcus is delusional from his injuries and grief. You're all being manipulated by a girl who was exiled for weakness."
Several elders nodded, wanting to believe her. It was easier than accepting their temporary Alpha was a traitor, easier than admitting they had been deceived. Viktor had vanished from pack lands along with his rogues, taking with him the most damning evidence of Sophia's involvement. Without him here to testify, her innocence seemed plausible to those who didn't want to see the truth.
I stepped forward, every eye in the hall turning to me. "As Alpha of Moonstone Pack, I'm making my first official decree. Sophia will be confined to pack lands under house arrest until we return with additional proof. If she's truly innocent, she'll accept this reasonable precaution. If she's guilty, she won't be able to flee before justice is served."
The council erupted in arguments, half supporting my decision, half protesting. Sophia raised her hand for silence, and something about the gesture made my skin crawl. She agreed too quickly, too calmly.
"Of course, Alpha Lisa," she said, her voice sweet as poisoned honey. "I have nothing to hide. I'll remain here and prove my innocence while you chase shadows in the human city." Her smile didn't reach her eyes. "I hope your friend is safe."
We left within the hour, Ryan driving his truck with me sandwiched between him and Daniel in the front seat while Nathan rode in the back with emergency supplies and weapons. The three-hour drive felt like torture, every mile stretching longer than the last as I tried Emma's phone again and again with no answer.
Ryan's hand found mine in the darkness, his thumb tracing circles on my palm. "We'll find her," he promised. "I won't let you lose anyone else."
Daniel stared out the window, his jaw tight with the kind of anger that came from years of suppressed grief finally finding a target. "Viktor took everything from us," he said quietly. "Our mother, our childhood, our family. He won't take your friend too."
I leaned against Ryan's shoulder, drawing strength from his warmth. The mate bond between us hummed stronger now, no longer suppressed by political manipulation. I could feel his determination, his fierce protectiveness, his love that had survived rejection and separation. My wolf recognized him completely, the way she should have from the beginning.
"When this is over," Ryan whispered against my hair, "we're completing the mate bond properly. No interference, no politics. Just us."
"Promise?"
"I swear it."
The city lights appeared on the horizon just after midnight, skyscrapers glittering against the dark sky like false stars. Nathan directed us through streets I barely remembered from my exile, my heart pounding harder with each turn. Emma's apartment building stood in a quiet neighborhood, the kind of place where people minded their own business and didn't ask questions.
We took the stairs two at a time, Ryan leading with Nathan close behind. Daniel and I followed, my wolf senses screaming warnings I couldn't understand. Something was wrong. The air smelled wrong, the silence was too complete.
Emma's apartment door hung open, splintered wood scattered across the hallway like evidence of violence. Ryan pushed inside first, his body blocking mine protectively even though I was Alpha now. The apartment had been ransacked, furniture overturned, pictures torn from the walls. Signs of a struggle marked every surface—scratches on the floor, a broken lamp, blood smeared on the doorframe.
I found Emma's phone crushed on the kitchen floor, the screen shattered into a spider web of broken glass. Beside it lay a single note written in handwriting I didn't recognize but somehow knew belonged to Viktor.
"Exchange: the half-blood for your mate bond completion. You have 24 hours. - V"