His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 43

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Chapter 43

Soaue

I had stopped trying to count the hours.

Or days.

There was no window in the cell. No sunrise. No sunset. Just the same weak light beneath the door and the sound of footsteps passing outside when someone remembered I existed.

My body hurt everywhere. My wrists were raw beneath the silver cuffs. One side of my ribs throbbed every time I breathed too deeply. My neck still burned where his claws had scratched me.”

Cressida had treated that. Of course she had. Apparently they wanted me damaged, not dead. At least not yet.

I lay curled on my side on the narrow cot, staring at the wall. Rhea barely moved inside me. The silver kept her distant. But not completely gone.

Sometimes I felt her pacing somewhere far beneath my skin. Sometimes I felt nothing. And sometimes-

Him.

A presence I hated knowing was there.

The silver dulled it, but it didn’t erase it.

My mate.

I shut my eyes. I refused to think about that.

The lock turned. I opened my eyes but didn’t move. If it was another guard with food, they could leave it. If it was Cressida, she could check whatever she wanted and go. If it was him-

The door opened. Jax walked in. Of all people. He closed the door behind him.

“You look terrible.”

I turned my face back toward the wall. “Go away.”

He came farther inside. “That’s not very friendly.”

He dragged the small stool away from the wall and sat down backward on it, arms folded over the backrest.

I ignored him.

For a while, he let me.

Then he said, “You know, this whole silent treatment thing would work better if anyone here cared.”

I turned my head enough to look at him. “Did you come here for a reason?”

1:58 pm

He smiled. I hated that smile.

“You should be grateful,” he said.

I laughed once. It hurt my ribs.”Grateful.”-

“I got you out.”

“You handed me to him.”

“You were already locked in your room waiting for Kade to decide what to do with you.”

“So naturally kidnapping me was the kind thing.”

“I never said kind.”

He looked me over. His gaze paused briefly on the bruising visible above the neckline of the black shift they had

given me. Then back to my face.

“You keep refusing to talk.”

I said nothing.

He leaned back slightly. “You know what I don’t understand?”

“I don’t care.”

“Why you keep protecting them. Moonhaven. They locked you up. Your Alpha set a trap for you. You ran.”

I looked away.

Jax continued. “And now you’re lying in a cell getting yourself beaten bloody because you don’t want to tell us anything about people who probably think you’re a traitor.”

Of course they did.

I had escaped through the window. Knocked out a guard. Masked my scent. Gone straight to the western border.

What else were they supposed to think?

Jax watched me. “No one is looking for you.”

I hated how easily that landed.

“You don’t know that.”

Jax leaned forward again. “You wanted the girl gone badly enough to hire me.”

My stomach turned. “Don’t.”

“Oh, now we have limits?”

A

1:58 pm

“Shut up.

I hated Abby.

Or I had.

I didn’t know anymore.

I had wanted her gone. Wanted Kade back. Wanted my life back.

But Moonhaven-

That was different.

Cassandra. Liam. The people I had trained beside. The packhouse. The forests I knew better than anywhere else.

Home.

What I had done to Abby had been selfish and ugly. That didn’t mean I wanted the Rogue King’s people walking through Moonhaven. It didn’t mean I wanted anyone dead.

“I wanted her gone,” I said. “I didn’t want this.”

He studied me. “So you hate her enough to have her dragged out of Moonhaven, but not enough to help us find

her.”

“That’s complicated.”

He laughed. “You know what happens if you keep refusing. And eventually, Boss is going to decide Cressida was wrong and keeping you alive isn’t worth the trouble.”

A cold feeling moved through me.

Jax watched me for several seconds. Then asked quietly, “So you’d rather die than help us?”

I pressed my lips together.

I didn’t want to die.

For days-or however long I had been here-I had acted as though refusing them mattered more than anything

else.

As though if I stayed silent long enough, someone would come.

Kade. Liam. Someone.

But Jax was right about one thing.

They didn’t know. They had no reason to know. To them, I had run. And if I died in this cell, Moonhaven might

never even find out what happened.

1:58 pm

Footsteps stopped outside.

Jax glanced toward the door.

The lock turned. Two guards entered.

The first one stopped when he saw Jax. “What the hell are you doing in here?”

Jax lifted both hands. “Having a conversation.”

“You’re not supposed to be in here.”

The second guard looked at me. “Get up.”

Jax stepped aside with exaggerated obedience. “Wouldn’t want to interfere.”

I glared at him.