ELENA
The phone rang at 6:23 a.m.
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At first, I didn’t register the sound. I was curled under the covers, sill caught in that foggy place between dream and waking, where everything is quiet and soft and nothing bad has happened yet.
But the ring didn’t stop. It cut through the peace with sharp, repetitive urgency,
I rolled over and reached blindly for my phone, already knowing who it would be.
Derek.
My heart kicked once–hard. Aiden.
I sat up in bed, wide awake now, the sheets tangled around my legs The sun hadn’t fully risen. A ribbon of early light filtered through the curtains, soft and harmless. But dread bloomed in my chest like a bruise.
Why would Derek be calling me this early unless something had gone wrong?
“Hello?” I answered, sitting up straight, covers falling around my waist.
“Elena.” His voice was low, steady, but with an edge I’d never heard before. “Aiden’s okay. He’s okay. But something happened last night.”
I was already up, heart pounding, grabbing jeans off the floor and pulling them on with one hand. “What do you mean something happened? What happened?”
“There was an attempted abduction. Rogues. Two of them. They cut the tent. Took him. He wasn’t gone long. I shifted. Got him back. He’s fine. I swear. Just shaken.”
I couldn’t breathe. For a second the world tilted, black crept into the edges of my vision. “You what?!”
“I got him back. He’s safe. He’s at Silverclaw now. We just got in–he’s having a second breakfast. I wanted to tell you myself. Come here. Please.”
“I’m on my way.”
I didn’t even bother tying my shoes. I shoved my arms through the sleeves of a jacket as I flew out the door, my mind racing ahead of me the whole drive.
The Silverclaw gates hadn’t changed, but it felt like a different planet than the last time I’d come here.
Back then, I was the outcast. The rogue. The scandal. Now I was pulling up as a mother whose son had been taken.
The guard at the gate recognized me immediately and opened it without hesitation. He even gave me a respectful nod, but I didn’t acknowledge it. I couldn’t. I was already out of the car before it had fully stopped.
The front door of the estate opened just as I reached the steps.
And there he was.
“Aiden!”
He launched out the door like a cannonball, barreling into me, arms wrapping tight around my waist.
“Mom!”
I dropped to my knees and pulled him into my arms, hands skimming over him–shoulders, arms, face–searching for any sign that he wasn’t okay.
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Chapter 182
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“I’m fine,” he said between hugs. “They didn’t hurt me. Dad saved me!”
My breath caught.
“We were in the tent and I went to pee and then they were there and they grabbed me and I screamed but then this woman yelled at them—she was so mad!—and then they dropped me and bad was there like barn! and then this morning we had pancakes! Dad made them over the fire!”
I blinked.
“You what?”
He beamed up at me, completely unbothered, like the kidnapping had been a minor inconvenience sandwiched between s’mores and syrup.
I looked up. Derek was standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest like he was holding something in–his temper, maybe. Or the guilt. His expression was unreadable, but I could feel his eyes on me, on us. Watching.
I turned back to Aiden and gently cupped his face in my hands, brushing back the hair that had flopped over his forehead. “Are you okay?” asked softly, trying to keep the tremor out of my voice. “Are you scared? Did anything happen after?”
“I’m okay,” he said again, voice smaller now. “Really. It was just… kinda scary. But not for long.”
I didn’t know whether to weep or scream. My heart was still racing. I could feel the beat of it in my throat.
Behind us, Derek cleared his throat.
“Aiden,” he said.
Chapter 183
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Chapter 183
