His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 16

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1:06 pm

Chapter 16

Rade

The tracker’s voice came through the mind-link in brokerr bursts.

Alpha, we still have him.

Branches struck Knox’s face as we ran.

Location?

Northwest ravine. He keeps stopping. I think he knows someone is behind him.

Liam ran beside me. Tiernan followed with four of his warriors.

Sloane remained farther back between two Moonhaven wolves.

She had insisted on coming.

Thad allowed it because I wanted her where I could see her.

Nothing more.

The trees thinned as we approached the ravine.

One of the trackers appeared through the brush ahead and shifted.

“He disappeared.”

Liam shifted almost immediately.

“What do you mean, disappeared?”

“We had eyes on him. He reached the rocks and then he was gone.

“Show us.”

We followed him down the slope.

The ravine looked ordinary.

Broken stone. Moss. Fallen branches caught between the rocks.

No cave.

No path.

No man.

Sloane came closer.

1:06 pm

“This is where I lost him.”

Liam looked at her sharply.

I stepped between them.

“Search.”

The wolves spread out.

Knox paced beneath my skin.

Abby.

We don’t know she’s here.

He didn’t answer.

A few minutes later, one of Tiernan’s trackers called out.

“Alpha.”

He crouched beneath a wide shelf of rock.

At first, I saw nothing.

Then he brushed away a layer of dead leaves.

A rope loop.

He pulled.

Part of the ground lifted.

Wooden boards had been covered with dirt, moss, and branches until they disappeared into the ravine floor.

Cold air rose from the opening.

Damp stone.

And beneath it-

Honey and vanilla.

Faint.

Almost gone.

But unmistakable.

Abby.

1:06 pm

Knox stammed against my control.

Liam made a broken sound beside me.

“She’s here.”

He moved toward the opening.

I caught his arm.

“Wait.”

“She’s down there.”

“I know.”

“Then move.”

“If he has her, we don’t give him warning.”

Liam’s eyes darkened.

“I’m going to kill him.”

“After we get Abby.”

Tiernan examined the opening.

“We don’t know if there’s another exit.”

I looked at the warriors,

“Two circle the ravine. Four with us. The rest hold this entrance?

Sloane stepped forward.

“I’m coming.”

“No.”

“Kade-”

“You stay here.”

“I led you to him.”

“And you’ve done enough.”

Her face tightened.

1

1:06 pm

I looked at the two Moonhaven-warriors beside her.

“She stays with you.”

Sloane stared at me

“For my protection?”

I held her gaze.

“Stay here.”

Then I lowered myself into the opening.

The drop was short. My boots struck stone.

Liam landed behind me, followed by Tiernan and the others.

The passage was narrow and almost completely dark.

We moved quietly.

Abby’s scent grew a little stronger.

So did the smell of blood.

Knox pushed forward.

I let him.

For once, I wanted his anger.

I needed it.

A weak glow appeared around the next bend.

Then a man’s irritated voice.

“You were supposed to be an easy job.”

Every muscle in my body locked.

No answer came.

He spoke again.

“Grab the girl. Keep her quiet. Get paid. That was the deal.”

Liam moved.

I caught him for half a second.

1:06 pm

Then a low growl escaped Knox.

The man went silent.

There was no point pretending anymore.

We ran.

The passage opened into a small chamber lit by one lantern.

The rogue had one hand on Abby’s shoulder.

A syringe was still in the other

Abby lay on her side against the stone.

Silver cuffs bound her wrists behind her back. Her ankles were tied. Tape covered her mouth.

Bruises darkened her face.

Blood marked both wrists.

Her eyes were closed.

She didn’t move.

Everything inside me broke.

Liam hit the rogue before he could react.

They crashed into the opposite wall.

The syringe flew from his hand and shattered.

Tiernan and two warriors were on him before he could recover.

I barely saw it.

I dropped beside Abby.

“Abby.”

Nothing.

I peeled the tape carefully from her mouth.

Her lips were dry and cracked.

“Abby. Open your eyes.”

Nothing.

My fingers found the pulse beneath her jaw.

There.

Weak.

But there.

“She’s alive.”

Liam was beside me a second later.

“Abby?”

He touched her cheek.

No response.

One of the warriors approached with a set of keys.

“I can remove the cuffs.”

Knox surged.

I forced him back.

“Do it.”

The warrior opened the first cuff.

Abby jerked faintly when the silver lifted from her skin.

The flesh beneath it was raw and bloody.

Liam swore under his breath.

The second cuff came away.

He cut the rope around her ankles while I slid one arm beneath her shoulders.

Her head fell against my chest.

Too limp.

Too cold.

“We need Daphne,” Liam said..

I lifted Abby into my arms.

0

pm

Behind us, the rogue cried out as Tiernan forced his arm behind his back.

I looked at him.

Three scratches crossed one side of his face.

Abby’s work.

Even drugged, bound, and terrified, she had fought him.

The rogue spat blood onto the floor.

Tiernan looked at me. “I’ve got him.”

“Keep him alive. Take him to the cellars. No one questions him until I’m there.”

I looked down at Abby.

Then nothing else in that cave mattered.

***

Getting her through the opening was awkward, but I refused to put her down.

The moment we reached the surface, Sloane rushed toward us.

Her face changed when she saw Abby.

“Oh, Goddess.”

She reached for her.

Knox erupted.

“Don’t.”

Sloane froze.

“I was only trying to help.”

“Clear the path.”

Pain flashed across her face.

She stepped aside.

Liam shifted and ran ahead with two wolves to warn the clinic.

I stayed human.

1:06 pm

It was slower.

I didn’t care.

Abby’s head rested against my shoulder as carried her through the forest.

Once, I thought she made a sound.

“Abby?”

Nothing.

Her breathing was so shallow I had to keep looking down to make sure her chest still moved.

“Stay with me.”

The words came out rough.

“I know you don’t owe me anything.”

I tightened my hold.

“But stay.”

***

Daphne was waiting outside the clinic.

“Treatment room. Now.”

I carried Abby inside.

The moment I placed her on the bed, healers surrounded her,

Daphne examined the injuries around her wrists.

“Prolonged silver exposure.”

“There was a syringe,” I said. “The rogue had just injected her.”

Daphne’s expression sharpened.

“With what?”

“We don’t know.”

“We’ll test her blood.”

Liam appeared beside me.

Abby made a faint sound when Daphne examined the side of her neck.

1:06 pm

stepped forward.

A nurse immediately moved between us.

“Alpha.”

“She’s hurting.”

“We know.”

Daphne looked up.

“Kade, your aura is filling the room.”

“I can control it.”

“No, you can’t.”

Llooked around.

One of the younger healers was visibly trembling.

Knox was too close.

I forced myself back.

“I’m staying.”

“Outside.”

“No.”

Daphne’s expression hardened.

“Then I will waste time managing you instead of treating Abby.”

That did it.

Liam caught my arm.

“Come on.”

I let him pull me into the corridor.

The doors closed.

Knox howled inside me.

There was nothing I could do.

1:06 pm

I hated that most of all.

Tiernan arrived later.

“The rogue is secured.”

“Has he said anything?”

“Nothing useful.”

“He will.”

Tiernan glanced toward the treatment-room doors.

“She’s alive, Kade.”

I looked at the blood drying on my hands.

“For now.”

Footsteps approached.

Sloane.

She stopped several feet away.

“How is she?”

“They’re treating her.”

Her gaze dropped to my hands.

“Kade, can we talk?”

“Not now.”

“Please.”

Something in her voice made me look at her.

“This cannot keep waiting.”

I glanced at the treatment-room door.

Then led her into the empty consultation room across the corridor, leaving the door open.

Sloane noticed.

She said nothing about it.

For a moment, she simply looked at me.

1:06 pm

Then

“You carried her all the way here.”

“She was unconscious.”

“You wouldn’t let anyone touch her.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I want you to tell me where that leaves us.”

I went still.

There it was.

The conversation I had been postponing since the dinner.

Sloane swallowed.

“You introduced me as your intended mate. Then you followed Abby and kissed her.”

“I know.”

“And today you looked at me like I was a threat when I tried to help her.”

I closed my eyes briefly.

“Sloane.”

“No. I deserve an answer.”

She did.

Whatever else I suspected, she deserved that much.

I looked at her.

“I was wrong.”

Her expression changed.

“About what?”

“About us.”

She stared at me.

“I thought choosing you was the sensible thing to do. You knew the pack. You were experienced. You had already stood beside me for years.”

V

1:06 pm

“I still have”

“I know.”

“Then what changed?”

“Me.”

Silence.

Sloane shook her head.

“No. Abby changed.”

“No.”

“Yes. The moment you learned she was your mate, everything we built stopped mattering.”

“That isn’t true.”

“Isn’t it?”

Her voice cracked.

“I was there after Marcus died. I helped Cassandra. I helped you. I stood beside you while you learned how to be

Alpha.”

“I remember.”

“Then why am I suddenly not enough?”

The question hurt because there was no answer that would make it fair.

“This is not about you being enough.”

“Then what is it about?”

“I don’t love you the way I should.”

She went completely still.

I continued before I lost the nerve.

“I cared about you. I trusted you. I convinced myself that was enough to build a mating on.”

“And now?”

“Now I know it isn’t.”

Her eyes filled.

L