His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 58

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Sloane

Chapter 58

couldn’t stop thinking about Moonhaven.

Whenever I closed my eyes, I saw the festival square lit with lanterns and Abby’s wolf standing beneath the open sky, her coat shining silver in the moonlight.

Then I saw Liam.

Even from a distance, I had known the exact moment Jasper recognized me. Liam had looked straight at me while I sat on the back of a rogue wolf with a collar around my throat, and for one foolish second I had almost called out to him.

Then we were gone.

They blindfolded me before bringing me back.

I understood why.

It didn’t matter that I had followed their orders or that I had been moved out of the cell afterward. They could dress me in silk, feed me properly, and give me a room with a real bed, but they still made sure I never saw the road leading here.

I was still a prisoner.

The room only made that easier to forget. The same two women came each morning with clean clothes and towels, and returned throughout the day with meals. There was hot water and a stack of books I hadn’t asked for. If I ignored the windowless walls and the locked door, I could almost pretend

I was a guest.

No one questioned me.

No one told me anything either.

I didn’t know how badly Moonhaven had been hurt. I didn’t know what Kade had done after the attack or whether Liam had followed us. I didn’t know what the Rogue King planned now that he had confirmation that Diana was the wolf they had been searching for.

Mostly, I sat alone.

For the first day, I had been grateful. By the second, the quiet had become unbearable.

The collar was the worst part.

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Even the mate pull had faded. Sometimes, when the Rogue King passed nearby, I felt a faint warmth beneath my ribs before it disappeared again.

Nhated that I noticed.

So I focused on what I could learn.

The guards changed sometime after midnight. Jax moved-freely through this floor. Cressida marely

came near my room.

It wasn’t enough. I needed access to more than a bedroom.

I had already learned that open defiance only made Malachi tighten his grip. The few times I gave him something willingly, he relaxed it.

He wanted more than obedience. He wanted me to choose it.

That was something I could use.

I stood in front of the mirror and touched the collar. My bruises were fading, although the marks

around my throat remained.

If I wanted information, more freedom, or any chance of getting out of this place, he needed to believe I had stopped looking for the door.

I crossed the room and knocked. One of the guards opened the door.

“I want to see him.”

“The Boss didn’t ask for you.”

“Tell him I asked.”

The guard studied me. “What for?”

“That’s between me and him.”

Something about my answer amused him, but he eventually shut the door.

I waited nearly an hour before he returned with another guard.

“Come on.”

My stomach tightened when I realized where they were taking me.

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One guard opened the door and waited until I stepped inside. The door closed behind me.

The Rogue King sat beside the old stone hearth, a low fire burning behind him. He had a drinkin one hand and wore dark trousers and a black shirt left open at the throat. He looked comfortable enough to make me angry simply by existing.

His eyes moved slowly over me. “You asked to see me. That’s unusual.”

I walked farther into the room. “I’ve had time to think.”

His mouth curved faintly. “That has rarely worked in my favor.”

“You told me I needed to understand my situation.”

“And have you?”

I chose my words carefully. “I’ve spent days fighting everyone around me. All it got me was locked up and collared.” I paused. “There are probably better ways to make myself useful here.”

He leaned back slightly. “You think being useful will buy your freedom?”

“I think being difficult clearly hasn’t.”

A quiet laugh escaped him. “That may be the first sensible thing you’ve said since arriving.”

I let the insult pass.

That was part of the game now.

He took a slow drink, watching me over the rim of the glass. “You’re behaving differently.”

“I told you. I had time to think.”

“I don’t trust sudden changes.”

“I didn’t ask you to.”

That interested him more than reassurance would have.

I stepped closer and took the glass from his hand. He let me set it on the table beside his chair.

Then I moved between his knees.

“Sloane.” There was warning in my name.

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12:08 Sat, Oct 31 MO

numbness.

A faint warmth.

pull that might have been the bond or simply my body remembering what Rhea had known before

Cressida silenced her.

His hand settled against my waist, but he didn’t pull ine closer,

He waited.

So I slid one hand into his hair and kissed him.

For one heartbeat, he stayed still. Then his fingers tightened at my waist, and he kissed me back. Whatever restraint he had been holding onto disappeared quickly.

For a few moments, I let myself forget the room, the guards outside, and the metal around my

throat.

Then I remembered why I was there.

I wanted him relaxed.

I wanted him careless.

Most of all, I wanted him to believe I was beginning to choose him.

When I pulled back, his hand moved beneath my chin, keeping my face turned toward his.

“Obedience suits you.”

The words should have sent me off his lap.

Instead, I lowered my eyes. “I decided fighting you every minute of the day was exhausting.”

His thumb moved once along my jaw. “That isn’t the same as obedience.”

“No.” I looked at him again. “But it’s a start.”

Something in his expression shifted.

Satisfaction, perhaps.

Good.

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when his hand slid along my thigh, the reaction that went through me was far too real to dismiss as part of the plan.

That annoyed me almost as much as he did.

I pulled him closer anyway.

Later, I lay beneath the sheets with my back partly turned toward him.

His hand moved absently along my side, almost as if he had forgotten he was doing it.

My body was still warm from him, which was irritating enough without the fact that I didn’t entirely

want him to stop.

After a while, he said, “So you didn’t save yourself for your mate.”

I rolled onto my side to face him. “So it bothers you.”

His eyes narrowed slightly. “I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

His hand settled at my waist.

I should have stopped. Instead, I said, “It took you a long time to find me.”

That earned a low chuckle. “Is that your defense?”

“I didn’t know you existed.”

“You knew you had a mate somewhere.”

“So did you.”

His amusement faded.