Chapter 176

Nicholas

I straightened my tie one final time as I approached the podium. The guild hall was packed with members from various packs, all eager to hear what the candidates for chairman had to say. The position William had left vacant in the wake of his timely escape—from which he had still not returned—was coveted, and I knew my competitors were formidable.

But I had prepared for this. For days, I’d been crafting my speech, refining each word until it was utterly perfect. This was my opportunity to finally become a chairman. To figure out what exactly had happened to my mother, take down the bastards responsible, and root out the rest of the evil that had taken over the guild.

And then it happened.

Just as I stepped up to the podium, my wolf suddenly roiled within me. The sensation was violent, urgent, unlike anything I’d experienced before. A single thought—not mine, but his—crashed through my consciousness with such force that I physically staggered.

She’s in danger. Our mate is in danger.

The words I’d just been about to speak died in my throat. The room around me blurred, faces becoming indistinct as a cold dread flooded my veins.

Kayla. In danger.

How? Why? I didn’t know. I couldn’t explain the certainty that gripped me, but every instinct, every fiber of my being screamed that she needed me. My mate needed me.

“Guildsman Reynolds?” The moderator’s voice seemed to come from miles away. “Alpha Reynolds, is everything alright?”

Without a word, I stepped back. The speech I’d prepared suddenly lay forgotten on the podium as I turned and strode toward the exit.

“Alpha Reynolds!” Kieran called after me, shooting up from his seat. “The proceedings are not finished! You cannot simply—”

I pushed through the double doors without looking back, ignoring the ripple of confused murmurs that followed me. In the back of my mind, I knew what this meant for my candidacy. Abandoning my speech was political suicide. The other candidates would waste no time capitalizing on my perceived instability, my lack of commitment.

But none of that mattered. Not now. Not when Kayla might be in danger.

I broke into a run, not caring who saw the Alpha of Nightshade sprinting through the streets like a madman. My car seemed miles away in the parking lot. Every second felt too long, every moment away from Kayla stretching into an eternity.

My hands shook as I jammed the key into the ignition. The engine roared to life, and I peeled out of the lot, tires screeching against the pavement.

By the time I reached the Sterling estate, my heart hammered against my ribs so hard I thought it might burst right out of me. I didn’t bother parking properly, just skidded to a halt and leapt from the car, racing up the front steps.

The door was unlocked, as usual. I burst inside, slamming it behind me with enough force to rattle the hinges.

A crash from the kitchen made me whirl around. Ava stood frozen in shock, a baking sheet at her feet, cookies scattered across the floor.

“Nicholas,” she gasped, pressing a hand to her chest. “You scared the life out of me. What are you doing here? I thought you had a speech today!”

I didn’t have time for explanations. “Where is she?” I demanded.

Ava’s brow furrowed. “Who? Kayla?”

I nodded impatiently, already moving toward the staircase. My wolf was frantic now, pacing and growling, urging me to find her, to protect her.

“I’m not sure,” Ava called after me, but I was already taking the stairs two at a time, racing toward Kayla’s childhood bedroom.

The door was ajar. I pushed it open, scanning the empty room. The bed was made, pristine, clearly unoccupied. No sign of a struggle, no indication that she’d been there recently at all.

I stood in the doorway, momentarily at a loss. Where could she be? Had someone taken her? Was her father involved somehow? The suspicion that had been nagging at me since we’d woken him for reasons I couldn’t explain resurfaced, but I pushed it aside. Right now, finding Kayla was all that mattered.

And then, inexplicably, I caught it. A scent. Faint but distinct—vanilla and something earthy, like rain-soaked soil in the forest. It shouldn’t have been possible. Kayla had no wolf, and thus no distinct scent that I should be able to track, especially not from a distance.

And yet, somehow, I knew… It was hers.

I followed the scent down the hallway, down the grand staircase, through the foyer. The scent grew stronger as I approached a door I hadn’t noticed before, partially hidden in the shadow of the stairwell.

The basement.

I wrenched the door open and descended the stairs. The scent led me through a maze of old furniture and storage boxes to the far corner of the vast basement.

And there she was.

Kayla lay motionless on the cold concrete floor, a thin trail of blood trickling from a small wound on her temple.

Terror seized me, freezing the breath in my lungs. In an instant, I was across the room, gathering her limp body into my arms and cradling her against my chest.

“Kayla,” I choked out, brushing the red hair from her face with trembling fingers. “Kayla, wake up. Please, wake up.”

Her eyelids fluttered, and a soft groan escaped her lips. Relief crashed through me with such force I nearly threw up on the spot.

“Nicholas…?” Her voice was weak and confused. She blinked up at me, disoriented. Then, as awareness returned, fear flooded her eyes. She jerked in my arms, shoving against my chest with her shaking hands.

“You hit me,” she accused, her voice shaking. “You hit me in the head. Let go of me!”

I frowned, confused beyond all belief, but refused to let go of her.

“Hit you?” My voice broke on the words. Of course I would never hit her. I would never even dream of hurting her. “I just got here. I found you like this. I swear to you, I would never raise a hand to you.”

She stared at me, searching my face as her palms pressed into my chest. Doubt and uncertainty seemed to war in her eyes as the blood slowly trickled in one thin line down her temple.

“Kayla,” I whispered. “You know I would never hurt you. Never.”

Something in my expression or my voice must have finally reached her, because the fear in her eyes slowly gave way to confusion.

“If you didn’t…” she began, then her gaze darted to a spot on the floor beside us. Her eyes widened in alarm. “Where is it?” She struggled to sit up, pushing against my chest once more. “My mother’s journal… What did you do with it?”

I frowned, following her gaze to the empty patch of concrete. “Journal? Kayla, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just got here. I found you unconscious on the floor.”

“But how…?” She looked around wildly. “How did you know I was in danger? How did you find me?”

I hesitated, unsure how to explain something I didn’t fully understand myself. “My wolf,” I finally said. “He sensed you were in danger. I was about to give my speech at the guild when he just… knew. I followed your scent here.”

“My scent?” Kayla’s brow furrowed. “But I don’t have a wolf. I don’t have a scent.”

“I know,” I said softly. “I can’t explain it. I just know it was you I was tracking.”

She studied me for a long moment, a confused expression crossing her face. But then she shook her head, seeming to refocus. “You didn’t take it?” she asked. “The journal?”

“No. I have no idea what journal you’re talking about. I just knew you needed me, and I came.” I wiped the blood from her temple with my thumb, wincing at the small cut there. Thankfully, it wasn’t deep.

I wondered how long she had been unconscious—couldn’t have been long. But when I looked around, I didn’t see any objects laying on the floor, nor any spots where something could have fallen on top of her head from a shelf or something. Had someone actually hit her?

Kayla’s eyes searched mine, and I saw the moment she decided to believe me. Something in her posture softened then, although it was quickly blotted out by something else when her eyes darted up and over my shoulder. Something far darker and more alarming.

Fear.

Real, genuine, bone-deep fear.

She glanced around the basement, as if expecting to see someone lurking in the shadows. Then, with a deep breath, she turned back to me.

“We need to talk,” she whispered, her hand gripping my arm. “In private.”