Chapter 103

Kayla

The day that Grace was to be rescued came far quicker than I expected, and yet the day itself dragged on like an eternity. While Nicholas and Marcus discussed the plan on repeat, I spent the entire afternoon pacing the living room. Jade and Emma tried to distract all of us, but it was no use.

There was too much on the line here. Not only Grace’s freedom, but all of ours. Not to mention the things we would never have the chance to learn about the guild, Nicholas’s mother’s death, and that cryptic legend of Luporath that Grace had mentioned if we weren’t able to successfully free her.

Meanwhile, Noah was working in the guild hall all day. It was strange, knowing that he was crunching numbers and earning a wage at his desk just like any other normal work day, all while we were plotting the escape of a political prisoner.

Finally, the time came. The sun went down, the car was packed with necessities—I made sure to bring the basket of supplies I’d prepared for Grace, even though Nicholas said there was plenty for her at the safe house—and Nicholas and I slipped out of the estate grounds through the back entrance while the others remained at home.

By the time the moon was high in the sky, Nicholas and I were parked along the side of a quiet road, towering trees surrounding us. Nicholas had pulled the car slightly out of view, hiding it amongst a copse of shrubs, and we were both dressed in all black.

It didn’t feel like enough, of course. It never would.

Neither of us spoke as we waited. Nicholas had his expression firmly set in a mask of determination, but I could see the way he was tapping his foot.

He was nervous. And so was I.

Something stirred in me then. Without entirely meaning to, I found myself moving toward him, leaning against the hood of the car beside him. My fingers brushed against his, although whether I intended to or not was lost even to me.

But his foot-tapping stopped right away, and my heart returned to its steady rhythm.

I told myself that it was just because we hadn’t touched in weeks now, but part of me knew there was more to it than that. The stirring inside of me felt… alive. Electric. So much so that I could feel the faintest thrum through our mate bond, like a spark igniting briefly before being snuffed out by the wind.

Suddenly, the sound of twigs crunching in the forest caught our attention. We both jolted upright and turned, and I felt a rush of air escape me as I saw Noah and Grace emerge from the shadows.

Before I knew it, we were on the road again. We didn’t even have time for greetings before Nicholas was ushering us into the car and speeding away, trying to put as much distance between us and the guild as quickly as possible.

On the way to the safehouse, Noah explained how he helped Grace escape. They staged her cell with a handmade lockpick fashioned from a plastic fork and left all of her belongings behind so that it would look like she simply escaped on her own.

Hopefully, come morning, the guild would believe that Grace had slipped out of her own accord. They would follow a false trail that we planted, heading toward the docks to make it seem like she’d left the territories altogether.

And hopefully they wouldn’t find our actual trail.

Nicholas had situated the safehouse in a cabin far in the woods, in the unclaimed, rugged territory between packs. We parked at the base of the hill to the cabin and then shifted—well, the rest of them did, but I had to swallow my pride and ride on Nicholas’s back—and made our way up the narrow, winding path.

After nearly an hour’s hike through an untamed and snowy forest, we came upon the safehouse. It was small but well-appointed, with a cozy bedroom and a living room-kitchen combo. The wood stove was crackling soon after we settled in.

I was… surprised by how nice the place was. It seemed Nicholas was right when he said that I didn’t need to pack extra stuff, although I left the basket for Grace on the coffee table anyway.

“Wow,” I said, glancing in the kitchen cupboards at the stacks of nonperishable food. There was even hot cocoa, popcorn, and alcohol. “You really stocked up.”

Nicholas shot me a look. “Don’t act so surprised. I’m nothing if not a gracious host.”

I simply rolled my eyes, although I couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at my mouth.

Noah and Nicholas got to work securing the perimeter with some sort of charm that Jade had insisted they hang from the surrounding trees—some strange bundles of sticks and herbs that she said would keep intruders away, although I wasn’t so sure about that.

Meanwhile, I began to pull out pots and pans, and gathered the ingredients for a hearty pasta dish.

“What are you doing?” Grace asked as she came out of the bathroom, having just taken a shower. She looked better already, her hair clean and her ratty clothes changed out for a warm sweater, leggings, and thick wool socks.

I offered her a small smile. “I heard your stomach growling earlier. Figured we could all use a nice dinner.”

Grace nodded and began to help me, but I made her sit down and sip some tea while I cooked. She needed to rest. And honestly, I needed to keep my hands busy, because we would all be staying here tonight and I was more than a little nervous—for various reasons.

“This place is really nice,” Grace said as I stirred the sauce on the wood stove. “Thank you for setting this up for me.”

“Don’t thank me. Thank Nicholas.”

Grace raised her eyebrows. “He’s a good man, then. You’re a lucky woman.”

My face warmed, but I quickly turned my back under the guise of adding more spices to the pasta.

Just before dinner was finished, Noah and Nicholas returned, shaking the snow from their jackets. “Perimeter’s secured,” Nicholas explained. “Two of my most trusted Nightshade warriors will come and take over for us in the morning. You’ll be safe with them, Grace.”

Grace nodded and muttered another thank-you. I turned, holding two bowls of pasta with meaty sauce on top, and set them down on the table before grabbing two more.

“Eat up,” I said, gesturing to the bowls. Noah beamed and sat down immediately, already digging in.

But Nicholas hesitated. “I’m not that hungry,” he said abruptly. “And besides, I have to go back out in a bit and—”

“Eat,” I commanded.

Nicholas’s mouth hung open. I simply stared at him, one hand on my hip while the other pointed at the empty chair at the table.

He hesitated once more, clearly struggling with what to do. We hadn’t eaten a meal together in… well, in a while. But I wasn’t about to back down. Not over pasta.

Finally, with a huff, he plopped down and began shoveling the food into his mouth with indignant gusto.

Grace was the first to laugh—a tinkling, bright sound, the sort of sound I never expected to hear from her. Soon, her head was thrown back, her hand pressed into her belly. Noah glanced at her, then me, then Nicholas, and then he was chuckling too.

I couldn’t help it. My mouth tugged upward as I twirled my fork in my spaghetti, and I shook my head incredulously. It was sort of funny, wasn’t it? Commanding an Alpha to eat like a petulant child, and him actually obliging.

Soon enough, I was laughing, too. Nicholas was quiet, though.

But when I glanced up from my bowl, his amber eyes were fixed on mine for the briefest of moments before we both quickly looked away. And I could tell he was trying not to laugh.