Chapter 176
Cole
Sienna's shock when she saw him told me everything. This man knew something.
Sienna crossed to Viktor's corner booth with a tray, settling beside him with practiced ease. "Viktor, what happened?" Her voice dropped low, but my wolf caught every word. "You weren't supposed to be back yet. They said—"
"Don't." Viktor's rasp cut her off. "Don't ask."
"But your face, your arms—" Her hand reached toward the scratches.
He jerked away like she'd burned him. "I said don't."
Sienna's eyes glistened with unshed tears. She pulled back, professional mask sliding into place, but her scent betrayed her—worry and helplessness and something deeper. Grief, maybe. For what he'd become.
Viktor stared at the menu clutched in white-knuckled hands. Six items listed: sandwiches, soup, pizza, fries, hot dogs, wings. Nothing that needed actual cooking.
This isn't a restaurant, I sent through the link to my brothers. It's a waystation. A place for Court wolves to meet without drawing attention.
Those celebrity photos on the wall, Blake's gunpowder sharpened with suspicion. Either fake endorsements, or everyone in them is connected to Court.
If it's the latter, Asher's thoughts came cold, their network is far more extensive than we thought. They've infiltrated entertainment, business, possibly government.
The implications made my mint surge with protective fury. If Court had that kind of reach, that kind of power, what chance did one pregnant Luna have against them?
No, I told myself fiercely. We don't think like that. We find her. We bring her home.
"Please, Viktor." Sienna tried again, softer this time. "Let me help you. Let me at least get you something—"
"Beer," he rasped. "Just beer. Whatever you have."
His eyes were wrong—deep black instead of gold. Not angry. Terrified. His wolf had retreated so far back that only fragile human consciousness remained to face whatever horror he'd escaped.
He knows something, I confirmed through the link. Look at him. He's been wherever they take people. Wherever they...
I couldn't finish the thought. Couldn't let myself imagine Kara in a place that could break an Alpha this thoroughly.
Then we make him talk, Blake's rage simmered barely contained. Whatever it takes.
No, I countered quickly. He's scared into silence. We push too hard, we lose him completely. Let me try something else.
Then do it fast, Asher's ebony scent carried command and desperation in equal measure. Every minute we waste is another minute they have her.
At the next table, Asher and Blake were supposed to be discussing strategy with Ethan through the earpiece. I should have been listening, contributing, planning. Instead, every ounce of my attention fixed on Viktor and Sienna, cataloguing each tremor, each unconscious tell, each word that might lead us to Kara.
"Cole." Asher's voice through the link carried gentle command. "Where should we start? The pharmaceutical plant or the shipping district?"
"Mm-hmm." The sound came automatic, meaningless.
Viktor's fingers shook so badly as Sienna opened his beer that liquid sloshed over the rim, splashing onto the scarred wood table. He flinched like he'd been struck.
"Cole!" Blake's mental roar cracked like thunder through our bond. Damn it, brother, focus! We're discussing how to find Kara and you're not even listening!
I am listening, I shot back, even as my eyes never left Viktor. Just not to you. Look at him, Blake. Really look.
Sienna reached to steady Viktor's shaking hand, her touch gentle, careful. Tears finally spilled down her cheeks—silent, helpless. Whatever had happened to him, she cared. Cared enough that his terror became hers.
Something's wrong, I insisted through the link. Something more than just fear. He's not just running from Court—he's running from something specific. Someone specific. And Sienna knows what it is.
Through the bond, I felt Asher's analytical mind engage, his attention shifting to follow mine. Blake's gunpowder settled slightly as he forced himself to observe rather than react.
Viktor lifted the beer with both hands, movements jerky and uncoordinated. Took a long pull, then another, like he was trying to drown something. When he set the bottle down, his black eyes were wet.
"I'm sorry," he whispered to Sienna. "I'm so sorry. I tried to—" His voice cracked. "I couldn't stop her. Couldn't protect any of them."
Sienna's hand covered his. "I know. I know you tried."
"They're still there." Viktor's whole body shook now. "Still in those rooms. Still waiting for someone to..." He couldn't finish.
He's talking about prisoners, Asher's realization came sharp and certain. People being held somewhere. Possibly including Scarlett. Possibly including—
Kara's parents, I finished. Connor and Celeste. If they're alive, if they're being held...
Then Kara needs to know, Blake's thoughts carried anguish beneath the rage. She needs to know we're not just finding her—we're finding them too.
But first we had to get Viktor to talk. And that meant I needed to approach this carefully, strategically. Not as an Alpha demanding answers, but as someone he might actually trust.
He's not just scared, Asher assessed, his ebony scent sharpening with cold calculation. He's broken. Recently. Thoroughly. Whatever Court did to him, it was designed to destroy him from the inside out.
Which means what he knows is valuable enough to torture him over, Blake added, and I felt his rage building like a storm barely leashed. And if they did this to him, if they're capable of this...
He didn't finish. Didn't need to. We all knew what Court was capable of. What they might be doing to Kara right now while we sat here strategizing instead of tearing the world apart to find her.
The mate bond pulsed with her distant fear, and I had to lock my jaw against the urge to shift right here, right now, and hunt until I found her.
Easy, Asher's command wrapped around both Blake and me. We need information first. Cole's right—we approach this smart.
Asher drew a measured breath, forcing his own panic down through sheer will. "If Dmitri's information about Scarlett Reeves being a replacement is correct—that the real Scarlett has been imprisoned by Eclipse Court somewhere—then she's our next critical lead."
Ethan's voice crackled through my earpiece, steady despite everything. "I recommend we eventually go to Los Angeles, confront Scarlett's replacement face-to-face. If we can capture the double, blood magic might let us trace back to the original's location. It's a long shot, but—"