The Unwanted Wolf

ADIRA

Mark, I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’m going to find a way out of here. I will return to you. There are things I need to tell you, and I’m not ready for this to be the end of our journey. I don’t know how I will get out of here yet, but I will figure it out. If, by some miracle, you can hear me, I love you. I love you so much, and it hurts not knowing when I’ll see you again.

I sat on the floor, concentrating on my link with Mark. He hadn’t responded to me, and I couldn’t feel him, but it made me feel better at least trying. Part of me thought of it as writing a letter. He may not get it right away, but I have put my words out there. I hoped he would come across them and know I was fighting to get back to him.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway, and I sat up straight, suddenly on high alert. The door unclicked, and my heart raced in anticipation for who walked through the door. I wasn’t sure who I would be more upset seeing: Jori or Cain. It didn’t matter in the end. I despised both of them for doing this to me. It was the biggest betrayal I had ever experienced.

Cain opened the door slowly, holding a plastic tray in his hand. His nose was swollen and taped up from where I had hit him. At least I was able to cause some lingering damage. He shut the door behind him, but he looked at me cautiously, probably wondering if I was going to attack him again.

The thought had crossed my mind, but I decided it wasn’t worth my energy. I didn’t move from my sitting position. Cain didn’t deserve the courtesy, and I knew this was not going to be my opportunity to escape.

He looked down at me, waiting for me to make a move. When I didn’t, he proceeded to set the tray down in front of me. “You should eat something. You haven’t eaten all day.”

I looked at the tray. There was a piece of bread, something that looked like meatloaf, green beans, and some tea. I didn’t touch it, even though my stomach was growling. “How do I know the food isn’t poisoned?”

Cain let out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t understand why you look at me like this big bad guy. I’m not going to poison you. I’m trying to save your life. The Council of Magic is not someone to bat your eyes at. They said they will kill you if you didn’t come with me, and no one has ever escaped their sentences before. You refused to come with me, so you left me no other options.”

Cain was starting to sound like a broken record. He had a one-track mind and wasn’t about to listen to me about this, and I wasn’t sure if there was a reason to argue with him.

I decided to approach him about something else. “Why did you have to get Jori involved? You wanted me to give up my life with my mate, because I have to give up my life as a werewolf for the council to be happy, right? FYI, Jori is a werewolf.”

“Our goals helped each other get what we wanted. It only made sense. He wanted to get revenge on your mate, and by taking you away, that accomplished that. It also got me what I wanted,” Cain tried to explain.

“He wants me for himself,” I said firmly.

“No, he just wants revenge. He can’t have you. He knows that,” Cain said. This conversation was clearly getting him flustered.

I finally stood up to face Cain at eye level. “You don’t know him. He said to me that I was going to be his. How do you know he’s not going to just betray you and take me for myself? Can’t you sense the dark magic in him?”

Cain hesitated. I must have struck a nerve with him. “It doesn’t matter what he wants. His part is done, so I told him to leave. I don’t need him anymore.”

“He’s not just going to leave!” I snapped. “How naive are you? Can’t you see that he’s the Son of B***d and Magic? He’s the reason you abandoned me as a child. Who cares what the Council of Magic thinks, because when they find out you practically handed me to the Son of B***d and Magic, do you think they will let you go, no questions asked?”

Cain’s jaw clenched. “You’re just trying to get into my head to get me to let you go. It’s not going to work. I understand this situation isn’t easy for you, and you miss your mate, but don’t worry. I’ll make that ache go away. You’ll see this is the safest place for you to be. I can teach you how to improve your magic skills, and we can be father and daughter.”

Cain was clearly delusional. I looked around the room, and I don’t know why I didn’t see it sooner. The room was decorated just like a young child’s room. He didn’t listen to what I said, because he thought of me as a little girl. Maybe it was because his son, Theron, was killed, or maybe it was the regret of abandoning me as a child, but Cain was desperate to act like a father again, and his mind was clouded with that desire. There was no reasoning with him.

I swallowed hard at the thought. “What do you mean you’ll make that ache go away? Are you going to do something to Mark?” I felt queasy again.

“Of course not. Killing your mate will only put you in more pain,” Cain said simply.

“Then what are you going to do?” A deep fear settled into my stomach.

“I’m going to remove your mate mark and sever the bond between you and your mate. You won’t miss him so much, and then you’ll realize that you can be happy here with me,” Cain said. There was a small twinkle in his eye, and Cain looked beyond crazy.

I held my hand over my mouth, trying not to throw up. I couldn’t let Cain go through with that plan. I didn’t know how that would affect Mark’s and my relationship, and I had no idea what that would do to my body. I had never heard of a mate’s mark being removed before. I didn’t even think it was possible.

“How can you do that? You know what it’s like to lose a mate. Just remember how it felt when my mother and you separated.” My voice was filled with desperation now. Deep down, I knew there was no reasoning with this man, but it wasn’t going to stop me from trying.

“Losing your mother made me realize that mate bonds are bullshit. She should’ve chosen me. She should have chosen our family, but instead she ran off and got married to that mutt,” Cain said through clenched teeth.

“You agreed it was best to hide me so the Son of B***d and Magic couldn’t find me. Freya loved you. She loved you so much that she resented me for it. She wasn’t a true mother to me. And that mut you are referring to? He was more of a father than you’ll ever be.”

Cain hit me with the back of his hand suddenly. “Such a stubborn girl. You’ll learn your place. I’ll make sure of it.”

He turned around and left the room, locking it behind him. I stood there alone, holding my stinging cheek. Tears started dripping out of my eyes, and I still felt sick to my stomach. I still had no idea how Cain could remove a mate mark, but I couldn’t let that happen. If my bond with Mark was severed, I had no idea how he would find me. I would have to stop it in any way I could.

I started frantically searching around the room for any way to escape or anything to use as a weapon. Everything was sealed, and there was nothing in here heavy enough to use as a weapon. After a few minutes of searching, I felt even more helpless than before. This room was carefully planned out for this situation. Cain must have anticipated me trying to escape. He had thought of everything in this situation, except for the one person he chose to help him.

If I was right and Jori was somehow the Son of B***d and Magic, I was in a worse position than I realized. I felt helpless without my magic.

Shadow, are you there? I asked. I couldn’t feel Moon’s presence in the slightest still, but if Shadow was there, maybe there was a way for her to help me.

Adira, what’s going on? Something doesn’t feel right, Shadow responded.

We’re in trouble. We have to find a way out of here and fast, or we might lose Mark. We might lose even more than that.

–

MARK

“Of course. I will inform Darian and Mason of the situation so they can inform the rest of the warriors.” Reyland stood up and gave me a nod before leaving the room.

Once he was gone, I made my way up to Zayla, curious about what she had to talk to me about. When I entered her office, she was looking at her computer at something that had a bunch of numbers on it.

“Hey Zay,” I said, shutting the door behind me. “What’s up?”

She turned in her chair, her facial expression staying the same. “I’ve been examining the b***d samples I took first thing this morning. I know that old woman said it was a spell or whatever it was that caused all of us to sleep through the night, but I still wanted to look at the science of it.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything else from you,” I said. “I take it you found something.”

“Yes.” Zayla pushed up her glasses. “The magic that was used on us left a marker in the b***d. I will not guarantee anything, but there’s a chance I can reverse engineer a serum out of it.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked. I wasn’t familiar with science. It had been my least favorite subject growing up.

“In layman’s terms, I might be able to create a vaccine to make us resistant to this type of magic moving forward. It will help give us an edge in any future fights against sorcerers,” Zayla explained.

“Are you serious?” I jumped up and wrapped Zayla in my arms. If she could actually pull this off, it would make a huge difference. There were too many magical forces that even when we get Adira back, I knew there would be other threats.

Zayla tensed and pulled back. “I said there’s a chance. Don’t get your hopes up.”

I smiled at Zayla. “A chance is still a chance. I needed to hear something positive right now.”

Zayla’s expression shifted, and she looked down at the ground. It was the first time I saw her look almost nervous. “Alpha, did you have a chance to talk to Adira before she was taken?”

I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to figure out why she had such a serious tone so suddenly. “We hadn’t had a chance to talk much recently, but we had moments here or there. What’s going on, Zay?”

Zay looked at me and took a deep breath. “I also took a look at Adira’s b***d that we found. She didn’t have the same evidence of that spell in her b***d, but I did see something else.” She paused.

I didn’t understand what was going on. Normally, Zayla was extremely blunt. “Just spit it out. What’s going on? Is she sick or something?”

“She’s expecting.”

“Expecting what?” I asked, still not understanding what she was saying.

Zayla raised her eyebrows. “Mark, Adira is pregnant.”