froze, inhaling again, trying to find it.
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“Elena?” Derek’s voice was cautious behind me. I could feel him watching me, could hear the faint shift of his weight in the needles.
I didn’t answer right away. My head turned slightly, following where I thought the scent had drifted. I took a step, then another.
“Elena,” he said again, more certain this time. “What is it?”
“I smelled something,” I murmured. “I’m not sure. It was faint. But I think I know it.”
I took a few more steps, slow and deliberate.
“I need to follow it.”
There was a pause. A rustle behind me. Then Derek’s voice came again–quieter this time, more grounded
“Then I’m coming with you.”
I glanced back and saw Brock standing near the horses, watching us closely. Derek gave him a silent signal, and Brock nodded.
I turned and began to walk.
The forest grew denser the farther we went. The path narrowed until there wasn’t one at all–just brush and undergrowth and a trail only my instincts could follow.
Derek didn’t speak. He didn’t press. He just walked behind me, his steps steady and quiet, like he knew I needed this. Like he trusted me to find whatever was waiting.
And I did.
I didn’t know how long we walked–twenty minutes, maybe more but I eventually broke through a thicket of brambles and found myself at the edge of a cliff.
The trees opened into open sky, the forest rolling beneath us in a sea of green and gold.
I stopped.
Something about this place…
I closed my eyes.
And then I was there.
It crashed over me like a wave.
Two wolves–no, men in wolfskin cloaks–held me by the arms. My wrists were bound with coarse rope. My mouth was gagged, rough cloth pressing against my teeth.
I was shaking. Frightened. My heart pounded so hard I thought it would crack my ribs.
Pierce stepped into view.
His eyes were hollow. His voice was smooth, cold. He held a knife in one hand, the blade long and wicked.
“She’s the Moonstone girl,” one of the wolves holding me said. “You sure about this?”
Pierce smiled. “She’s more than that. She’s the beginning of the end.”
He stepped closer. I struggled, but the bonds were too tight. He reached forward and grabbed my face.
“Moonstone dies with you,” he hissed.
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Chapter 185
Then another figure stepped out of the shadows.
Maggie. I recognized her now, but I didn’t know her then.
Younger. Thinner. She didn’t meet Pierce’s eyes.
He shoved me toward her. “Keep her here. I’ll return when it’s time.”
The others left. Maggie watched them go.
Then, without a word, she knelt and began loosening my ropes.
My eyes widened.
She didn’t speak until the gag slipped loose.
“I’ll create a distraction,” she whispered. “You run.”
“Who are you—”
She shook her head. “Don’t ask. Just go.”
Then she straightened and screamed, “Who’s that?! Someone’s coming!”
The men turned.
Iran.
I ran as fast as I could, lungs burning, feet slipping on wet leaves.
But just as I reached the trees, a hand grabbed my hair and yanked me backward.
Pierce’s voice was in my ear. “Not yet.”
“Help!” I screamed.
“Father, NO!” she shouted, and-
I gasped, stumbling back into the present.
Derek caught me instinctively, hands on my arms. “What is it?”
I blinked, breath ragged. The sky was still blue. The trees were still green. But everything felt different now.
I turned to him, heart pounding.
“The woman who was out here…”
Derek narrowed his eyes. “The woman that was out here? The she–wolf?”
I nodded slowly. “I think I know who it was.”
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