Chapter 142

Mia’s POV

“Then what is your plan, Lilia?” George insists, “Because I can’t understand how kidnapping the Alpha King’s daughter isn’t going to land us in more hot water.”

“Don’t you hate him too? And Cara?” Lilia asks.

“Of course I do, but I also have this thing called self-preservation, that you seem to be lacking.”

“You are a coward through and through,” Lilia snaps, anger in her eyes and the way she’s standing. She shouts at him, “This is why I will never love you!”

George reacts with his own anger. “Then maybe I should kill this kid right now? Do you think I won’t?”

“I don’t care about the child,” Lilia replies. “It’s her mother we want to hurt! If you used your head, you could see how we can use the brat to drag her mother out into the open, and then you can kill them both for all I care, so long as Cara dies.”

I have been listening quietly while they talk, trying to take in all the horrible things they are saying about me and my mother. I don’t want to die. That they both talk so easily about my death frightens me, but hearing their plans against my mother makes everything worse. More urgent. More clear.

It’s like a knee-jerk reaction. Despite my own fear, I will not let them use me against my own mother. It’s like my own little lightning bolt of anger flashes through me

So I hop to my feet. “Leave my mother alone!” I shout, and take a step forward.

Before I can take one more, a pair of arms grab me and hold me back. I’m surprised, because the person who grabbed me is Nanny.

“If you can’t keep that brat quiet,” Lilia shouts.

“You will not hurt my daughter,” Nanny tells her. Her voice is as serious and sure as the arms she holds around my waist.

Lilia gives her a disbelieving look. “Which of us are you talking to, Nanny? Because it sure seems like you mean that little brat, and not your actual daughter.”

“She’s insane,” George snaps. “I’ve been telling you that for years. Forget what she says, and what she wants. She’s lost in a fantasy dream world of her own making.”

That doesn’t seem to make Lilia very happy. As she looks from Nanny to me, there’s something new that sparks in her eyes.

Before, only when she spoke of my mother, did her eyes fill with such hatred. Yet now, looking at me, I see that same hatred for the first time.

She hates me. And while I’m scared what that means, and what she will do to me, I also feel a strange sort of pride. If she hates my mom, let her hate me too.

“You won’t hurt my daughter,” Nanny says, muttering now. She tugs me back and then pushes me behind her, shielding me with her own body.

The way she is acting is scary and confusing, but right now, I’m glad to have anyone on my side.

“We won’t kill the brat,” Lilia says after a moment. “Not yet. We still have a use for her.”

Alaric’s POV

I take a car from the elders’ headquarters back to my estate. Knowing I will need my full strength for what’s about to come, I close my eyes and try to catch some sleep along the way.

My mind is sharp and my wolf determined, but I still find some peace as I close my eyes. Sheer exhaustion drags me down into sleep. With my entire body so tense, however, it’s not a restful slumber. I feel ever like I’m on the edge of being away, my senses remaining alert.

When the car pulls up to the estate, I’m almost relieved that I can stop trying now.

Now, I can take action again.

The elders, after some coercion, finally decided to tell me what little they actually knew about where Lilia and George took residence.

They claimed that Lilia just wanted a small piece of land for her own, and promised to keep herself secluded and away from others. She told them that she didn’t want to create problems for me or anyone else in the pack by being seen regularly.

Those old fools actually bought her story. How they couldn’t see that she wanted a hideout more than anything else was beyond me.

Lilia could be convincing though, I suppose. After all, for a long time, she had us all convinced that she was the lost Auburn heiress, even though in truth, the heiress was always Cara.

The elders told me that they had granted her residence somewhere within the large forest where I detected her and George’s scent earlier in the day. I had followed that scent to the river before losing it, but I was adamant it still had to be there somewhere. If I could follow that trail, it would lead me straight to Lilia and George.

And hopefully Mia.

They’ve had five years to do nothing but sit around and plan for their revenge of their exile. So I have no real idea what I could be walking into when I finally find them.

As such, the smartest course of action is to bring backup with me.

Fortunately, there are several strong and capable wolves lingering at my house.

The Auburn brothers and Noel have all been hovering around Cara for too long, bound with inaction due to there being no leads. Well, we had a good lead now.

The car gets through security, and then I immediately hop out. Rushing into the house, I call out, “Cara! Colin! Aidan! Ryan!”

I don’t call for Noel but he joins the rest as they greet me down in the foyer.

“We have our lead,” I tell them, mostly keeping my eyes on Cara.

I’ve already passed along word that George is our man, so most of what I explain to them doesn’t come as a shock. The elders’ actions do, though.

“How could they allow her back, after everything she did?” Aidan demands.

I wish I had some kind of answer to give. “They will be dealt with after Mia is safe,” I assure him. “For now, we at least have a location where we can search. The forest is huge though, and I lost their scent near the river. I will need help in this search.”

“Well, you can count on us,” Ryan says.

“Me, too,” Noel chimes in.

“And me,” Cara adds.

We all pause a moment, and then look at her.

In reality, I would love nothing more than to have Cara join me at my side in this search. There’s no one in the world more determined to find Mia than her mother.

But, Cara, as she is now, would only be one more liability. As much as it pains me, she needs to hear why before she endangers herself.

“I want you there, Cara, truly,” I tell her gently. “But without a wolf, you will not be able to help.”

“I can’t just stay here!” she says.

“Please,” I tell her. “I’d feel better knowing you are protecting Ethan.”

Her face starts to crumple. I can see her frustration. Feeling helpless is the worst feeling in the world. Yet, in this case, it cannot be helped.

Before I can say anything else, offer any words of comfort to her, Noel steps forward and hugs her.