Bought by the Beast King (Katerina and hunter) novel Chapter 168

Chapter 168

KAT

The silence was deafening.

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One second, I felt everything; the next, nothing at all. The bond was gone. Just snuffed out. While my wolf howled inside me, and Hunter dropped to his knees, I felt nothing of his pain. Not even a whisper.

I stumbled back, my eyes wide, locked on the man I’d chosen as my mate, and my heart hammering so hard it hurt.

“It’s gone.” I whispered.

I clutched my chest, bracing for the same pain I’d felt before. Wanting it. But I was just hollow. Just empty.

Nathan rushed forward and stood over Hunter before he turned to me, a frown creasing his face.

“What’s gone?”

“The bond. I don’t feel it,” I whispered, panic clawing up my throat.

I dropped to my knees beside Hunter. His teeth were clenched, and sweat slicked his skin as he pressed a shaking hand to the wound on his chest. Beneath his familiar scent was the distinct smell of decay and death. The same smell that clung to

the castle.

“No,” I breathed.

My voice was shaky as I traced the darkened veins spreading across his torso and creeping up his face. Nathan hadn’t looked

half this bad.

“I have to do something.”

I stood, already turning to the door, towards the Blackmores and Kostas, but Nathan caught my wrist and yanked me back.

“Wait,” he said. “The moment you go to them, they’ll force you to take Kostas as your mate. There is nothing stopping them

now.”

I stopped struggling as the full horror of it hit me. To complete the ceremony, Kostas and I would have to consummate and mark each other. Even without the bond, nausea rolled through me. Cold dread settled in my bones.

I didn’t want anyone else.

“Don’t go out there,” Hunter rasped, reaching for me. “I’m fine. I just need a minute.”

A lie. To go from knowing everything to knowing nothing was a pain I couldn’t even describe. In just a short time, I’d become used to his quiet presence in the bond. To the certainty that he was there. I’d gone from resenting the bond, resenting the way it had forced feelings into me without consent, to needing it.

I took Hunter’s hand, tears already burning behind my eyes. Grief and fury twisted together in my chest. With every laboured breath, the veins spread farther, and his body shuddered under the strain. I wasn’t going to take this lying down.

Fuck the prophecy,

If I couldn’t save Hunter, then the whole world could burn with me.

I stepped back, wiping my face, and met Nathan’s gaze. His frustration was written all over him.

“Is there another way out of here?” I asked.

Chapter 168

I was surprised that my voice was steady.

“You have other options, Katerina,” Nathan said, his voice quiet.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Hunter snarled.

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But his snarl didn’t sound the same. It wasn’t threatening. It wasn’t dangerous. Why? Was this affecting his beast, too? My heart cracked even more. As much as I’d feared his beast before, he was mine.

“Look at you,” Nathan snapped. “You just had to prove how big your dick is, and now you’re going to die in the cold depths of the Lordswood walls.”

The words cut me deep, and I staggered back, horrified at Nathan’s attitude. Did he think this was his chance? Did he think I’d pick him now? I’d pledged myself to Hunter willingly; that meant for better or worse. I wasn’t going to betray him now,

bond or no bond.

Hunter movedbefore I could react. Even in pain, he surged forward, gripping Nathan by the throat and lifting him clear off the floor.

“Say that again,” Hunter growled.

A weak growl. But still, something stirred in my chest. Not the bond, but those threads that had woven in between them and rooted in my flesh. Rooted in my very soul.

I touched his hand gently, and Hunter turned to me, his gaze still burning with anger.

“I will never bond with anyone else,” I whispered. “If we’re going down, we’re going down together.”

*

If we somehow survived this, we would still meet the Lycan King’s wrath. We were dying, either way. But I would try my

hardest to save us.

The fury drained from Hunter’s gaze, and he slowly lowered Nathan, who hadn’t lashed out during the whole confrontation.

I met the rogue’s gaze. “I told you already. I’ve chosen him, come what may.”

Nathan’s jaw tightened. His emotions thickened in the air, and I was almost floored by how strong they were. I couldn’t reciprocate, but I’d owe him for the rest of my life for taking care of me when Hunter and I were separated.

“If you can get out, please go somewhere safe,” I urged. “Not back to Hunter’s. April isn’t trustworthy.”

Even if they’d fucked, he had to know she was the Lycan King’s person.

I squeezed Hunter’s hand one last time and tightened Nathan’s jacket around me before I turned from both of them. I’d find my father first, not just to lead Kostas away from Hunter, but because he was now the strongest wolf in the castle. I didn’t need Nathan to show me where my parents were. I could smell them.

“Where are you going?” Hunter said.

“To see my mother,” I said. “She might know how to treat this. Stay here.”

“You can’t treat it,” Nathan said. “He has no magic. You’d need spells and ancient herbs. There isn’t enough time for that.”

He was telling me that Hunter would be dead before I came back. My chest squeezed again, but I didn’t turn back. I was going to get that bastard Zachary down here to save Hunter, no matter the cost.

“Kitty.”

I still didn’t turn back. Hunter coughed and wheezed, and I heard him drop back to the floor.

Chapter 168

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But, with tears down my face again, I followed my parents’ scent, turning into cold, unlit corridors, and going up hidden stairs. My wolf was still howling inside me, and both our hearts were breaking.

When I finally found them, I saw a thick wooden panel in the stone wall, similar to the one Nathan had taken us through. On the other side would be the smooth stones that matched the rest of the castle, hiding the secret passage.

My heart was too heavy to appreciate the castle’s architecture and history.

I waited for a moment, listening to the other side. I heard heavy breathing, and I heard some whimpers. I heard wheezing

similar to Hunter’s.

My heart stuttered as I stepped back. Was that how the coven had taken over? By weakening my father, too?

I felt around the panel until something clicked, and then it slid open slightly. My senses were on high alert when I pushed it open. I’d guessed it would open into their bedroom, and when the velvet walls came into view, relief filled me.

There were only two people in the room, but I remembered how those guards had appeared out of nowhere outside my room. They had to have a way to hide themselves.

I stepped into the room carefully, keeping my steps light. It had been a long time since I’d visited my parents’ quarters, but nothing had changed in years. Except that my mother’s scent was the heaviest. As if my father didn’t sleep in the same room

anymore.

As I walked towards the large bed, I almost missed the hunched figure in the chair beside it. My father was in his pyjamas, rail thin, and a sickly paleness on his face.

He smelled like Hunter.

His eyes snapped open, and he looked directly at me. His face paled even more, and his mouth dropped open. When he tried to stand, his legs buckled, and he fell to the floor.

Child, why did you come?’ he said in the mindlink. ‘Kostas won’t let you go.

The shock of seeing him like that kept me frozen until his words penetrated.

‘Isn’t that what you wanted?’

I was wrong. I was so wrong,’ he whispered. “That monster will kill us all.’

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