Chapter 405

I struggled to wrap my mind around all of this. I was apparently one of the missing Bear princesses. We were in the North. No one was coming to rescue us.

Nicholas was far away, maybe still standing in that ballroom, staring at the place I had been. Or, worse, he was still fighting with the bear warriors Jane had snuck in.

I had no idea how much time had passed, and no way to check it. The room Joyce and I was in was very bare bones outside of our cages. It looked like an old wine cellar, but no bottles had been left behind. The shelves had begun rotting.

“How do you know we’re in the North?” I asked. The room had no windows.

“Can’t you feel it? The chill? The hint of pine permeating the air?” Joyce said.

How easy it was to forget that Joyce was also an alpha wolf, since he rarely showed his alpha qualities. But an alpha, with their more enhanced senses, would be able to detect those subtle differences.

“Also, every guard I have seen so far is a bear,” Joyce said. “That’s not as much as a giveaway. They could have sneaked into our country, but given the other reasons, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“Oh,” I said, a sinking feeling rising within me. I had no reason to doubt him… unless he was still in league with the underground organization. But given the tattered state of his clothes and darkened bags under his eyes, he didn’t seem like he had returned to their fold.

“I see you looking at me like that,” Joyce said. “With suspicion.” He hung his head. “Make no mistake, their capture of me was no great rescue. They don’t care about me at all. They stole me away only to use me for their own nefarious purpose.”

“What purpose is that?” If I could uncover this plan, maybe I could do something to escape on my own. With all of my friends so very far away, it was left to me and Joyce to rescue ourselves.

I didn’t much like our chances, especially with my wolf not talking to me. But the only other option was to give up.

I would never give up.

“His purpose,” Jane said from the doorway as she sauntered into the room, “is to be my husband.”

Jane was wearing a tight black tracksuit with her hair tied back. Hawk entered right behind her, still donning his bird-mask. It was very unnerving, not being able to see his face.

I pushed down my increasingly agitated nerves and tried to focus on the matter at hand.

To plot my escape, I needed as much information as I could gain.

“Why would you need to marry Joyce?” I asked.

“To bring the wolf and bear nations together under one ruler,” Jane said. “Me.”

“Just because you are a lost bear princess – if that’s even true – does not mean both nations will give up everything to follow you.”

“They will when they see my power,” Jane said.

“What power?”

Jane had never had her own wolf. The only ability she ever had, she had stolen from me. But now I had it back, and I wasn’t going to give it back – ever. She would have to kill me first.

Although, maybe killing me is part of her plan.

“Two babies were kidnapped when the rebels attempt to disrupt the bear nation,” Jane said. “Only one had been tested and proven to have shifter abilities. The other was raised to ever be a decoy. A spare to toss away in case the true princess were in danger.” She spat out the word true, like it disgusted her.

“Can you imagine the life of that poor second child? Ever to live in her sisters shadow? So invisible that the kingdom doesn’t even know she exists?” Jane continued. “Well – no longer. Too long have you been given everything you want, Piper.”

“You’re going to try to steal my wolf again,” I said, realizing.

“Not try. We are going to take your wolf and your bear, and then I’m going to kill you,” Jane said. “My greatest error in the past was letting you live. I will not be making that same mistake again.”

I swallowed thickly. “I don’t have a bear.”

Jane smiled a little, the edges of her mouth lifting up, even as her brow lowered. “You’re lying. You can feel it inside of you, can’t you? Maybe your wolf hasn’t told you, but you feel the presence of… another. You can’t lie. Even when I harbored your wolf, I could feel something else, even if it was dormant at the time.”

Miracle had been silent for a while. This would explain that, as well as the other presence I felt inside of me. Yes, I knew deep in my heart that her words were true.

I didn’t understand how it could be, but I knew that it was.

Jane and I were the missing bear princesses, and deep inside of me, a bear lay sleeping.

Not wanting to give Jane the satisfaction of an answer, I slid my gaze to Hawk instead.

“And what is his role in all this?” I asked. “Surely the underground organization doesn’t want to help you because it’s the right thing to do.”

“No,” Hawk said. His voice was low and deep, sinister in its smooth coldness. The simple word sent a shiver up my spine.

“Hawk and the others will be my advisors,” Jane said.

“Ah. So they will be the ones actually running both of the kingdoms,” I said. “You’ll be just a pawn.”

“I will be Queen,” Jane said, more forcefully.

“Don’t lie to yourself, Jane. You know he’s only lifting you so that he can gain his own power. He’s supporting you to use you.

Jane narrowed her eyes at me. She slid her gaze to Hawk for just a moment, before looking back to me. Hawk didn’t acknowledge her glance at all.

“Hawk and I have an understanding,” Jane said.

“Well, you have no such understanding with me,” Joyce said. “I never agreed to any of this.”

“You will make the correct choice when the time comes,” Jane told him.

“You can’t make me.”

“Oh, can’t I?” Jane said, lifting her brow. “Perhaps you’d like to be tortured again. We can make it worse, you know. We can get into your head and play around. You always scream so sweetly when we do that.”

Joyce immediately coiled into himself.

“Jane,” I snapped.

“Stay quiet, Piper,” Jane snarled at me next. “Or you’ll be in the torture chair right after him. We were planning on just killing you after taking your wolf and bear, but we could always have our fun first.”

I closed my mouth, but I glared as hard as I could.

She wasn’t intimidated by me. Behind bars as I was, I doubted I made for a threatening figure.

“We must prepare,” Hawk said.

Jane nodded and turned to follow him toward the exit. “Don’t get too comfortable, Piper. You’ll be leaving soon enough.”

She laughed all the way to the door, then slammed it closed behind her, leaving Joyce and I in sudden eerie silence.

In his cell, Joyce began to softly cry.

I pretended not to hear it. Nothing I could say would provide him any comfort now.

Slumping down in my own cell, I wallowed in my own self-pity, the direness of the situation sinking in.

God, I missed Nicholas. My heart ached for him, longing in a way that physically hurt.

He was so far away, I knew that with certainty. As if a string separated that distance and tugged at my heart.

A sting that bond me and Nicholas together?

That sounded like… a mating bond.