His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 40

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Chapter 40

Stoaue

The night before

Pain woke me first.

My shoulders. My ribs. My head most of all.

I tried to move. Metal pulled tight around my wrists.

Memory came back at once. The western border. Masked men. A needle in my thigh. Jax.

You wanted out. I got you out.

My eyes opened.

Darkness.

I was lying on a narrow cot against a stone wall, my hands cuffed behind my back. A thin line of light showed beneath the door. No window. No idea how long I had been here.

I reached for Rhea.

Rhea.

Silence.

Panic came fast.

Rhea.

Something shifted faintly inside me. Relief hit so hard I closed my eyes.

There you are.

A weak pressure answered. No words. That frightened me more than I wanted to admit. Rhea was never quiet.

I forced myself upright. The room tilted. Whatever they had injected me with was still in my system.

I tested the cuffs. Silver. Of course.

I leaned against the wall and tried to think.

Kade probably believed I had run. I had knocked out a Moonhaven guard, crossed the territory willingly, and gone to the border on Jax’s word. No one would be looking for a captive. They would be looking for a traitor.

Brilliant.

Footsteps sounded outside.

1:57 pm

I went still.

The lock turned. Light flooded the room. I squinted against it.

Then a familiar voice said, Steep well?”

Jax stood in the doorway.

Rage cut through the fog in my head. “You.”

He smiled. “Good to see you too.”

I tried to push myself to my feet, but my legs gave out.

“I’m going to kill you.”

Jax watched with obvious amusement. “There she is.”.

“You set me up.”

“You were already in trouble.”

“You said you’d help me.”

“I did.” His grin widened. “You’re out of Moonhaven.”

“Go to hell.”

“I’ve been.”

Then his expression changed. He stepped aside.

A man entered. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Dressed almost entirely in black. The corridor light fell behind him, leaving most of his face in shadow.

He didn’t speak. Just looked at me. The room suddenly felt much smaller.

Rhea stirred weakly. Something strange moved through my chest. Not recognition. Something else.

The man came closer. Two masked wolves followed him into the cell. They grabbed my arms and hauled me

upright.

“Get off me.” I tried to pull free. The silver made it useless.

The man stopped in front of me. Up close, I could make out more of him. Dark hair, sharp features, and cold gray

eyes that gave nothing away.

He lifted one hand. I jerked back. His fingers caught my chin.

“Don’t touch me.”

T

He ignored me and turned my face toward the light.

The instant his skin touched mine, something pulled beneath my ribs. Faint. Wrong. Buried beneath the wolfsbane and the silver weakening Rhea, but there.

My breath caught.

His fingers went still against my skin. For one heartbeat, the blankness in his face cracked. Then it was gone.

Rhea stirred weakly.

Rhea?

The man studied my face as if something about me had stopped making sense.

Behind him, Jax said, “Told you she was worth bringing.”

The man released me. His gaze lingered on me for a second longer than necessary before he stepped back.

Limmediately turned my face away.

Jax leaned against the doorway. “Her name’s Sloane.”

The man looked at him. “That’s all you know?”

“She didn’t exactly give me her life story.”

The man looked at me again.

I lifted my chin. “Who are you?”

No answer.

I looked around. Masked guards. Men who moved like they had orders instead of instincts. This wasn’t a handful of rogues hiding in the woods.

My stomach dropped. “You’re him. The Rogue King.”

Something close to amusement touched his mouth. “Is that what they call me?”

Cold moved down my spine.

So this was him.

The man Kade had turned Moonhaven inside out trying to protect us from.

Jax pushed away from the doorway. “She knows Moonhaven. Routes. Security. Probably half the hidden

entrances. She lived there. Close to the Alpha too.”

The Rogue King barely glanced at him. “And?”

1:57 pm

“She knows the girl.”

That got his attention.

“She’s important to Alpha Rade. Important enough that he came after me himself.” Jax smiled. “Sloane was the one who paid me to take her.”

I glared at him. “You talk too much.”

The Rogue King’s gaze shifted between us. “You took three of my men across the border for this?”

Jax shrugged. “I needed help getting her here.”

“And you decided that without asking me.”

Jax’s smile faded.

Then the Rogue King turned toward the door. “I still don’t understand why you brought her here.”

“She can be useful.”

“She looks half-dead.” The Rogue King kept walking. “You’re wasting my time.”

“Wait.”

A woman stood in the corridor. Older. Thin. Gray threaded through dark hair. Her eyes moved over me once. Then

stopped.

The Rogue King glanced at her. “What?”

“We should test her.”

He looked back at me. “For what?”

“We already have her.” The woman entered the cell. “Why waste the opportunity?”

The Rogue King gave me another dismissive glance. “She’s too old.”

“Too old for what?” I demanded.

No one answered.

“She isn’t newly shifted,” he said. “She’s at least twenty-five.”

“The signs haven’t been exact before.”

His expression hardened. “She isn’t what we’re looking for.”

“Then the test will take five minutes and prove you right.”

He looked at the woman for another moment, then made an impatient gesture. “Fine.”

She turned to the guards. “Bring her.”

“No.”

One grabbed my arm. I twisted away. The second caught me around the waist. I kicked hard enough to make him curse. Then the first yanked the chain between my-cuffs. Silver burned through my wrists. My knees nearly buckled.-

They dragged me into the corridor. I forced myself to stay alert.

Right turn.

Stairs.

Left.

Another corridor.

I tried to memorize it all, but my thoughts kept slipping.

Eventually they took me through a wide doorway. The room beyond was circular. Stone walls. A high opening in the ceiling let moonlight spill across the floor. Symbols had been carved into the stone beneath it.

The woman entered behind us. Two others followed.

The Rogue King stood near the wall. Watching.

The guards pulled me toward the center. The woman unlocked one cuff. Then the other. The silver fell away.

Relief hit immediately. My knees struck the floor. Rhea surged closer. Still weak. But there.