Alpha's STOLEN Mate (by Abigail Hayes) novel Chapter 181

Chapter 181

“Frost!” Kaius’s voice was sharp with panic. “Frost was here! He was recovering, under Lysandra’s care-if she’s gone, if something

happened to him-”

“Frost is fine,” 1 interrupted quickly, remembering Scarlett’s excited mindlink from this morning. “He’s with Scarlett right now. They

restored their mate bond.”

Relief flooded Kaius’s expression.

“But I’m worried about Lysandra,” I continued, looking back at the cave. “She was clearly attacked in force. I don’t know if the survived.”

A grim smile crossed Kaius’s face. “Well, if she did die, she took a hell of a lot of Morgath’s pets with her. That witch must be absolutely furious right now.” He paused. “Though I have no idea what kind of grudge would make Morgath target Lysandra specifically.”

I shook my head. “That’s not our concern right now.” Frustration welled up inside me. “But fuck-we’re screwed. The most critical ingredient for the antidote is gone. We’re back to square one.”

“Wait.” Kaius frowned, thinking. “Those red wolves-they were searching for something. Tearing through Lysandra’s belongings, checking every corner. What if what we need is still here? Hidden somewhere they couldn’t find it?”

“They’ve already ransacked the entire place,” I said bitterly. “Unless the moonpetal essence can sprout legs and walk out to us-

My frustration boiled over and I kicked the rock face hard.

Too hard.

The impact sent a tremor through the cave entrance. Other rocks and stones began shifting, destabilized by the force-

A beam of light suddenly pierced through a crack in the wall.

We both froze.

“That’s not from inside,” Kaius said slowly.

He was right. The light wasn’t coming from the cave’s interior. It was emanating from the cave wall itself-specifically from a shadowed corner near the entrance that we’d walked past a dozen times.

We approached cautiously.

Tucked into a small crevice, barely visible unless you knew to look, was a flower.

But not just any flower.

It was translucent, like it had been carved from ice and moonlight. The petals were closed in a tight bud, but even dormant, it radiated a soft luminescence. And around it, faint but unmistakable, was the signature of Lysandra’s magic-protective wards woven so subtly they

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19:47 Wed, Jan 14

Alpha’s STOLEN Mate