Bought by the Beast King (Katerina and hunter) novel Chapter 145

Chapter 145

KAT

“Turn the car around, Mr Rivers.”

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I yanked at the door handle, panic clawing at my throat, but it didn’t budge. He’d locked me in. Dust rose behind us as Nathan accelerated instead, the engine roaring under us. One Bureau SUV rode our bumper while the other boxed us in from the front. We were trapped.

“We have to do what he says, Miss Munroe.”

Nathan didn’t slow down as he took the bend too fast, and the backend fishtailed, almost spinning into the trees. The force slammed me into the door hard enough to knock the air out of my lungs.

“Seatbelt,” he said sharply.

“We can’t leave him out there!” I snapped, scrambling upright. “What if…”

What if Zachary and Randall were telling the truth? What if we’d just abandoned him to die?

“If you go back, you’ll make things worse,” Nathan growled. “You’ll distract him.

I twisted in my seat and looked through the rear windscreen. Red lit up the sky. Even from this distance, it felt wrong. It was chaotic and violent, burning through the night like an inferno. But it wasn’t the magic that touched me before. It was a completely different energy. Something else entirely.

“Turn back, Nathan,” I said, my voice dropping to a growl. “I won’t let him fight alone.”

Nathan snorted, one hand lifting briefly from the wheel and placing it on the window.

“You think that Lycan needs saving?”

By the time I realised what he’d done, it was too late. I felt his magic, the same spell he’d woven into Hunter’s house. It sealed us in, wrapping its warmth around me, humming softly even with the chaos around us.

My wolf surged, furious. I slammed my shoulder into the door, uncaring of the damage or the pain. Hunter needed me.

I knew it was irrational. Hunter was an apex predator; Nathan was right that he didn’t need us. But the bond twisted sharply, pain lancing through my chest the further Nathan drove from Hunter.

“I need to get to him,” I whispered. “Please.”

“You’ll get killed,” he snarled. “That thing isn’t the only danger out there, Kathrine. The Blackmores will drag you back to Kostas the second they get the chance. They’re already following us.”

I went still. I stretched my senses, pushing past my panic and the pain in my chest. Sure enough, familiar auras were right behind us. My wolf stopped fighting the magic around us and stood alert, ears up and teeth bared. Six people–the five we’d met in the cabin and the one who’d waited outside. They were travelling at speed, catching up too quickly, their combined strength more formidable than when we’d met in the cabin.

I sensed their intent instantly. Plucking their emotions from the air was as easy as reading a book.

They wanted to hurt us. But didn’t they need me alive to break this curse? Or they didn’t need me in one piece? Had my father become that desperate that he was willing to hurt me to get me back to the castle?

“I’m taking you somewhere safe,” Nathan said. “Hunter will find you.”

14:35 Wed, Jan 7 G

Chapter 145

ས༣༡༧

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The red glow in the distance was more chaotic now, but through the bond, Hunter was unnervingly calm. I clung to that. How could anything hurt him?

‘Please come back to me, Hunter,‘ I whispered through the link, hoping the thought reached only him.

I forced myself to breathe. Fear would get me killed faster than anything. Mal had taught me that in my first lesson. I straightened, pulled on my seatbelt, and met Nathan’s eyes in the mirror.

“Talk,” I said evenly. “Why did they bow to you?”

I may not have understood much at the meeting, but I understood that Nathan knew more than he was telling me.

“Long story,” Nathan said, turning sharply again. “Now’s really not the time.”

The coven drew closer. I glanced back and didn’t see another car behind the agents, but the golden wisps in the trees flared brighter, threading through the forest like guiding lines. Was their magic getting stronger?

Anxiety bubbled up inside me again, but I pushed it down. I had to focus.

“Can you see that??‘

“What?” Nathan asked, glancing in the mirror.

“The golden threads,” I said. “They’re following us.”

Maybe we were driving into another trap. What had fascinated me about them before now brought dread. It twisted in my gut as I looked closer at the wisps of magic.

Nathan didn’t answer. When I looked up, his gaze was locked on me in the mirror.

“Keep that to yourself,” he said.

The wheels hit something hard, and the car became airborne for a few seconds before slamming down onto the path again. Nathan handled it like he’d done this a hundred times. Any questions I was about to ask died in my throat when I looked back again. The coven was persistent.

“If we stopped and fought, could we win?”

“No,” Nathan said flatly. “Ancient covens don’t play fair. I wouldn’t be surprised if they separated us on purpose.”

Cold dread settled in my gut.

Had we fallen into a trap? Then how much of what they said could I trust? How much of it was their lies, designed to make me do as my family wanted?

“Hold on,” he said.

Moments later, the SUV behind us spun violently, as if struck by something unseen. There was still nothingbehind them. An invisibility spell? Was there such a thing?

The agent recovered quickly, but the gap between us widened. A/shadow streaked across the path so quickly that I’d have

missed it if I blinked.

My gaze sharpened in the trees, and my breath hitched.

“They’re moving through the shadows,” I whispered.

Were they still human? Their intent was sharper now, slicing through the air like blades. Nathan swore under his breath, and I understood that this meant this was very bad for us.

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wed, Jal

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Chapter 145

“Won’t your magic protect us?” I asked.

I could still feel it all around me, even with the coven bearing down on us.

“They can still flip the car,” he replied. “I’d rather not be trapped.”

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