Chapter 192
Cole
The frozen air outside the cold storage facility bit through my jacket, but I barely felt it. My wolf was too focused on the scent trail—Viktor's blood, the acrid chemical residue of whatever had killed him, and beneath it all, the faintest whisper of Kara's white musk and first snow.
She was still out there. Still alive. And we were running out of time.
"Jasper!" Blake's shout cut through the howling wind.
I turned to see a figure stumbling through the snowdrifts behind us, clutching what looked like a rolled-up bundle of papers to his chest. Jasper Rook, the conspiracy theorist journalist who'd been Connor's last friend, was gasping for breath as he caught up to our group.
"Wait," he wheezed, his thin frame shaking. "I drew these—mapped everything myself when I was investigating Court facilities three years ago." He thrust the papers toward Asher, his fingers trembling. "Connor confirmed the details before they took him. Said if anyone ever came looking, this was the only chance."
Through our bond, I felt Blake's surge of hope collide with Asher's immediate tactical assessment. My own medical training kicked in as I scanned the documents over Asher's shoulder—hand-drawn floor plans showing five underground levels, narrow corridors, what looked like modified laboratory spaces marked in Jasper's cramped handwriting.
"Fifth level," Jasper said, his finger trembling as he pointed to the lowest section. "I couldn't get down there myself—too many guards, too much blood magic. But Connor told me that's where Diana keeps her private chambers. The only entrance is from the eastern stairwell on the fourth level. Here—" He tapped a notation. "Hidden doors marked 'danger.' That's where the serpent tanks are. In her bedroom."
"Why would Connor tell you this?" Dmitri's voice was sharp with suspicion and desperate hope.
Jasper met his eyes, and I saw genuine grief there. " He made me promise that if anyone came asking about Kara—anyone who actually cared about her—I'd give them everything I knew." His voice cracked. "He knew what they'd do to him. Knew they'd put him in one of those serpents. But he still tried to leave a way for someone to find them."
The implications hit us all at once. Connor had walked into Diana's trap knowing he'd be tortured, knowing his consciousness would be trapped in a serpent's body, and his last act of free will had been to create a map for whoever might come to save his daughter.
"We go now," Blake growled, already turning toward the SUV.
"The fourth level," Jasper said, his voice steadier now as he studied his own drawings. "There's only one stairwell down to the fifth. Diana's chambers are marked 'extremely dangerous' in my notes—I saw people go down there and never come back. The serpent tanks—" He pointed to a careful sketch. "Connor said there were three. Gold, silver, and white."
White. Celeste had been a white wolf. Through our bond, I felt Dmitri's recognition and grief crash over all of us like a wave.
"We'll get them all out," Asher said, his voice carrying the weight of an Alpha's promise. "Kara, Connor, Celeste, and Scarlett. All of them."
---
The highway stretched before us, empty and ice-slicked in the pre-dawn darkness. Blake drove with a recklessness that would have terrified me if I hadn't been equally desperate. The speedometer climbed past ninety, then a hundred, the SUV's tires finding impossible traction on the frozen road.
"Normal drive time is forty-five minutes," Blake muttered, his knuckles white on the steering wheel. "I'll make it in ten."
Behind us, Ethan followed in a second vehicle with Dmitri and Jasper. Through the rearview mirror, I could see Jasper gesturing animatedly, probably explaining more details from his hand-drawn maps.
"The fifth level only has one entrance," Jasper had said before we split up. "From the fourth floor's eastern staircase. But I mapped multiple hidden passages—old servant corridors from when it was a functioning pharmaceutical plant. If we can access those—"
A violent tremor ran through the bond, and I gasped. Asher's hand shot out to grip my shoulder from the back seat.
"What is it?" His voice was tight with controlled fear.
"Kara," I managed. "She's—" I closed my eyes, trying to focus on the thread of connection that Diana's collar had nearly severed. "She's releasing her scent. Deliberately. Like she's trying to mark a trail."
Through our bond, I felt Blake's shock mirror my own. Our mate wasn't just surviving—she was fighting back. Even pregnant, even collared and imprisoned, she was doing everything she could to help us find her.
"She's moving," I said, my eyes still closed as I concentrated. "Fast. Like she's running or—"
"Or being moved," Asher finished grimly. "Diana's relocating her. She knows we're coming."
Blake's foot pressed harder on the accelerator. The engine roared in protest, but the speedometer climbed past one-twenty. Trees blurred past us in the darkness.
"There." Dmitri's voice crackled over the radio from Ethan's vehicle. "Up ahead. Do you see it?"
Through the windshield, I caught my first glimpse of the pharmaceutical plant. It rose from the snow-covered landscape like a malevolent monument—a massive concrete structure that had clearly been abandoned for decades, its windows dark and broken, its walls covered in frost and decay.
But beneath the decay, I could sense something else. A pulse of power that made my wolf's hackles rise. Blood magic, old and strong, woven into the very foundation of the building.
"Pull over," Asher commanded. "We shift here."
Blake brought the SUV to a screaming halt on the shoulder. Before I'd even unbuckled my seatbelt, he was out of the vehicle, yanking off his clothes with jerky, desperate movements.
"Ethan," Asher spoke into the radio, his voice deadly calm. "You drive Dmitri and Jasper. We'll meet you at the eastern loading dock. Do not enter the building until we've cleared the initial defenses."
"Understood, Alpha."
I stripped quickly, my fingers clumsy with cold and adrenaline. Dmitri had climbed out of Ethan's vehicle and was approaching us, his weathered face drawn with emotion.
"Bring them back," he said, his voice breaking as he gripped Blake's forearm. "Bring my girls back. Both of them. Please."
Blake's eyes had already begun to shift to wolf-gold, but he managed a jerky nod. "I promise."
"We all promise," I added softly, placing my hand over theirs. "Kara, Celeste, and Connor. They're all coming home."
Dmitri's eyes glistened with tears as he looked at each of us in turn. Then he stepped back, giving us room to shift.
The transformation took seconds. My bones cracked and reformed, my senses sharpening as my wolf surged forward. When it was done, I stood on four legs, my silver-gray fur already dusted with snow.
Beside me, Blake's massive black wolf shook itself, muscles rippling beneath dark fur. Asher's wolf was equally large, his coat a deep charcoal that seemed to absorb the pre-dawn light.
Together, Asher's voice resonated through our mental link. We run together. We fight together. We bring our mate home together.
And anyone who stands in our way dies, Blake added, his mental voice carrying the edge of barely controlled violence.
I didn't disagree. My wolf, usually the most controlled of the three of us, was ready to tear apart anyone who had touched our pregnant mate.
We ran.