His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 53

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12:06 Sat, Oct 31 MO

Kade

Chapter 53

The first scream came from the center of the square.

I turned before the sound had finished carrying.

A chair went over. People scattered near the drinks table, and through the sudden break in the crowd I saw a man drop to the ground.

Then his body changed.

“Rogue!”

Ryan was already moving.

Another scream rose from the opposite side of the square.

Then another.

Three.

At least three attackers inside the celebration.

“Get the families back!” I shouted.

Moonhaven warriors reacted immediately. Men stationed around the square moved inward while others blocked the streets leading toward the residential side of town.

Liam reached me from the platform.

“What the hell-”

A wolf burst between two tables.

Liam stopped.

“Four.”

Ryan pointed toward the southern edge of the square. “Another one there.”

Tiernan was already pulling off his jacket.

His Beta appeared beside him from somewhere in the crowd.

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I searched the square, trying to understand how many we were dealing with and where they were

moving.

They weren’t attacking randomly.

One had gone for the east side.

Two were drawing warriors toward the platform.

Another-

Chloe.

My stomach dropped.

The rogue lunged.

I started toward her.

Then Abby moved.

Her scent changed.

I stopped.

No.

The dusty blue dress tore apart as her body shifted.

Diana came out running.

Moonlight struck her.

For one second, the entire square disappeared.

Yesterday, beneath the training hall windows, I had seen silver catch through Diana’s pearl-gray

coat.

This was nothing like yesterday.

Under the open moon, Diana was silver.

Not gray with a metallic sheen.

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Beautiful.

Impossible to miss.

And far too visible.

Knox slammed against me.

Mate.

Diana struck the rogue attacking Chloe.

Hard.

The wolf went down.

My blood went cold.

“Fuck.”

“Kade!”

Ryan’s voice snapped me back.

I looked toward him.

He was staring beyond the square.

“They’re pulling out.”

“What?”

“West side too,” Liam said.

That made no sense.

The attack had barely begun.

One of the rogues twisted free of a Moonhaven warrior and ran toward the trees. Another followed.

Then the wolf Diana had fought broke away from her.

Diana chased.

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Good.

reached for my mother through the pack-link.

Mom.

Her answer came immediately.

I’m here.

Stay with Abby. Get her inside as soon as she shifts back.

A pause.

Then, I have her.

Don’t leave her.

Kade, go. I’ll take care of her.

I looked across the square.

My mother was already moving toward Abby and Chloe with a blanket in her hands.

I trusted her.

I had to.

I tore off my jacket.

“Ryan, west. Liam with me.”

Ryan was already stripping off his shirt.

Tiernan looked at me.

“They’re retreating?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s find out where.”

I shifted.

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The last rogue disappeared into the trees.

We followed.

Ryan?

Two ahead of me. Heading northwest.

Don’t overtake them. Keep them in sight.

Got it.

I pushed harder.

Knox tore through the undergrowth, following what little scent the rogues had left behind.

Scent suppressant.

Of course.

It was weak now that they had shifted and fought, but still enough to muddy the trail.

Ahead, branches snapped.

Jasper moved closer to my right.

They’re splitting.

Don’t follow the split. Stay together.

The last thing I wanted was half my men scattered through dark woods chasing rogues who had clearly planned their exit.

Ryan linked again.

Three ahead. Maybe four.

That was more than we had seen leave the square in this direction.

I registered it but couldn’t make sense of it yet.

There could have been more waiting outside town.

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We broke through a line of trees and crossed an old service road.

Something moved ahead.

Human.

For an instant, Knox focused on the wrong shape..

Then Liam’s voice hit my mind.

Kade.

He sounded different.

What?

Sloane.

Knox nearly broke stride.

Where?

Ahead. Left.

I saw her.

Barely.

A pale face between dark shapes.

She was clinging to the back of a large rogue wolf as he ran, both hands buried in his fur. Another wolf ran close beside them.

Sloane was still human.

Why the hell was she human?

Jasper surged forward.

Liam, stay with us.

They have her.

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Even at this distance, I saw the instant she recognized Jasper.

Her whole body changed.

She twisted farther around on the wolf’s back.

The movement exposed her throat.

Something dark circled her neck.

A collar.

There’s something on her neck, Liam linked.

I saw it too.

Jasper accelerated.

Liam.

She’s not with them.

I didn’t answer.

I couldn’t.

Sloane had escaped Moonhaven deliberately.

She had gone to the western border.

She had hired Jax to take Abby.

None of that disappeared because she was with the rogues now.

But the woman being carried through the forest wasn’t moving like someone free.

And she couldn’t shift.

Stay in formation, I ordered.

Liam didn’t like it.

I felt that through the link.

MAT

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06 Sat

The rogues were fast, but several of them had already fought inside the square.

Knox wasn’t tired.

Neither were Ryan’s men.

The distance narrowed.

Sloane looked back again.

Then something flashed between the trees ahead.

A figure.

Human.

Not one of the wolves we had been chasing.

My instincts screamed.

Stop-

The explosion came before I finished the command.

A sharp crack ripped through the forest.

Light flashed between the trees.

The ground jumped beneath Knox’s paws.

Then smoke poured across the trail.

Not a thin cloud.

A wall.

Dense gray-black smoke rolled through the trees faster than ordinary fire could have produced it, swallowing the rogues ahead of us.

Knox skidded to a stop.

Jasper nearly passed me.

Back.

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12:06 Sat, Oct 31 ML

Tiernan emerged through the trees several yards away and halted when he saw the smoke.

It kept spreading.

My nose burned before it even reached us.

Knox sneezed and backed away.

I couldn’t identify the smell.

There was something chemical beneath the smoke, but scent suppressant and churned earth made

everything worse.

Nobody enters it.

Liam paced at the edge.

Sloane’s in there.

I know.

They’re getting away.

I know.

His frustration struck through the link.

I felt the same thing.

Every second we waited gave them more distance.

But I had no idea what was inside that smoke.

Wolfsbane.

Silver dust.

Something from a witch.

Something designed to knock wolves unconscious the moment they breathed it.

I wasn’t sending my men into it blind.

Ryan moved closer to the edge and immediately backed off.

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Tiernan shifted back first.

One of his men tossed him clothing from a bag they had brought after us. He pulled on trousers quickly and covered his mouth with his arm as he approached.

I shifted too..

Cold air hit bare skin, but I barely noticed.

Someone handed me a pair of pants.

Tiernan stared into the smoke.

“That’s deliberate.”

“Obviously.”

“No.” He pointed toward where it had erupted. “I mean somebody was waiting for them.”

I looked at the forest.

Maybe.

Or one of the retreating rogues could have triggered something planted beforehand.

We had no way of knowing.

Ryan shifted back beside us.

“They had more wolves out here than we saw inside.”

“How many?”

“At least three additional scents before this killed the trail. Maybe more.”

I swore under my breath.

Tiernan looked toward the smoke again.

“Could be ordinary cover.”

“Could be wolfsbane.”

“Could be magic.”

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