His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 55

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Chapter 55

Sloane

Nbarely heard Jax talking.

We were back in the Rogue King’s study. I knew that because I could see the dark shelves, the fire burning low behind him, the heavy desk near the windows. But everything felt far away.

Jax didn’t seem to have that problem.

“You should’ve seen her.” He was still running on whatever excitement the attack had given him “Silver. Not gray. Not white. Silver.”

My stomach twisted. I stared at the floor.

Abby.

Little Abby Hayes.

The girl who used to follow Liam through the packhouse because she hated being left behind. The girl who had spent years looking at Kade like he had hung the moon and hoping no one noticed.

I had known her almost her entire life. And I had led them straight to her.

Jax kept going. “She shifted the second we went for her friend. Didn’t even think about it.”

Of course she hadn’t.

That was Abby.

Too soft.

Too willing to throw herself into something if someone else was in danger.

I had hated that about her too.

Or told myself I did.

“She was stronger than she should’ve been,” Jax said. “Threw Derren halfway across the grass.”

The Rogue King stood behind his desk, listening.

Jax leaned forward. “We should move soon. Before they get smart and move the girl somewhere else. Kade’ll lock Moonhaven down after tonight.” He started toward the desk. “We hit them before they’re

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“I said enough.”

The excitement disappeared from his face.

The Rogue King glanced toward the door. “Leave us.”

Cressida pushed away from the shelf first. Jax hesitated. Then followed her. The door closed behind

them.

I stayed where I was. For the first time since we returned, the room felt too quiet.

The Rogue King looked at me. Then he smiled. Not warmly. Almost approvingly.

He crossed the room. I forced myself not to move. The collar sat cold against my throat.

He stopped beside me and rested one hand on my shoulder.

“You did well.”

I looked at him. “Did I?”

His hand squeezed once. “Impressive, actually.”

A laugh almost came out of me. There was nothing funny about it.

“You didn’t leave me much choice.”

His smile widened. “How else was I supposed to make you cooperate?”

I said nothing.

His fingers moved from my shoulder to my cheek. Instinct made me turn away. The collar warmed immediately. Pain pricked beneath my skin. I stopped.

His thumb brushed once across my cheek. “There.” His voice was quiet. “You’re learning.”

I hated the satisfaction in his face.

I hated myself even more for standing still.

He leaned down and pressed a brief kiss to my temple. “Good girl.”

My stomach turned. I looked away the second he stepped back.

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Sat, Oct 31 MU

The doors opened before I could push further. Two women in plain dark dresses entered.

stepped back. “What is this?”

The Rogue King looked almost amused. “Consequences. You behave well, you get rewarded

I glanced at the women. Then back at him. “Reward. Right.”

His hand closed around my upper arm. Not hard enough to hurt. Hard enough to make the warning

clear.

“Don’t test my patience, girl.” His voice dropped. “I can put you back in that cell just as easy as I

took you out of it.”

My mouth went dry. For one second, I wanted to tell him to do it. Then I remembered the dark. The cot. The silver. The hours that blurred into questions and pain. Rhea’s faint voice pressed somewhere

deep inside me.

Live.

I lowered my eyes. “Sorry.” The word tasted bitter.

His grip loosened. “Better.”

He looked toward the women. “Take her.” Then back to me. “Go.”

I waited for someone to grab my arm. No one did. That somehow unsettled me more.

The women simply turned toward the door. After a moment, I followed. No guards touched me on the way. No one dragged me.

The collar was enough now.

They led me through another corridor and into a bedroom I had never seen before. Not the Rogue King’s. Smaller. Still larger than any room I had expected to see again while I was his prisoner.

There was a bed. A wardrobe. A dressing table. An adjoining bathroom.

I stopped in the doorway.

One of the women glanced back. “This way.”

I followed her into the bathroom. Steam already curled above a deep tub. For a moment, I just stared at it. Hot water. Soap. Clean towels.

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12:07 Sat, Oct 31 MO

The women helped me remove the filthy clothes without speaking much. I almost told them I could do it myself. Then I looked at my hands. They were still shaking. So I let them help.

The water stung every scrape and bruise when I stepped in. Then the heat sank into me.

I closed my eyes. For the first time in days, I felt warm all the way through. That should have felt

good.

Instead, I thought about Moonhaven. The lanterns. The music. Abby standing beneath the moon,

Silver.

I had wanted her gone.

That was the truth.

I had wanted Kade to stop looking at her.

Wanted her out of the packhouse.

Out of his thoughts.

Out of the place I had spent years believing would eventually be mine.

I had hired Jax because jealousy had felt unbearable.

Because losing Kade had felt unbearable.

I had told myself Abby would be hidden somewhere until things settled.

That she would come back eventually.

That nobody had to die.

I knew now how stupid that had been.

One of the women rinsed shampoo from my hair.

I stared at the tiled wall.

What had happened tonight was not jealousy.

It wasn’t about Kade.

It wasn’t even about me.

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By the time they helped me from the bath, I felt cleaner and somehow worse.

They dried my hair, treated the healing marks on my wrists, and brought me a long silk nightdress.

Dark green.

Soft.

Expensive.

I stared at it.

“Put it on,” one of the women said gently.

I did.

Then they sat me in front of the dressing table.

One of the women stood behind me and began working a brush carefully through my damp hair.

The other moved quietly around the room, turning down the bed, smoothing the sheets, and placing fresh clothes across the chair for morning.

I watched all of it in the mirror.

For the first time since my capture, I almost looked like Sloane Sinclair again.

Clean skin.