Chapter 184

Carol’s POV

Weakness. That was all I could feel. I was becoming delusional. I’m not sure how long I’ve been here for. It felt like days though. Days without food and water; days without fresh air. Days without sunlight; days without my mate. My heart was breaking inside of me and whatever powers I had left, were slowly shriveling away. He drugged me again, keeping my powers away. He stabbed me with a syringe, and I passed out.

I’m not sure how long I had been asleep, but when I woke up, I felt incredibly hungover. I just wished there was some kind of window, so I knew what time of day it was. My entire body was aching as I lifted my body off the ground, struggling on my wobbly hands and knees. I gasped out for breath; my mouth was dry, and it seemed to only get worse.

My memory from the previous night was a bit foggy; I heard him speaking on the phone with Katrina. It was clear to me that they were an item, but I couldn’t quite remember what they were talking about or what happened afterward.

I winced as I touched my head; it ached painfully.

“Yeah, the stuff can leave a nasty hangover,” Allen said from the darkness. “Sorry about that.”

“Please… let me out of here. I need to make sure my baby is okay,” I whispered.

“Awe don’t worry. Actually, today is your lucky day. We are getting out of here.”

My brows furrowed together.

“What are you talking about?” I managed to ask.

“There’s another pack, far from here. We are already a day's drive away from the Capitol, but we need to go even further north to truly get away,” he explained.

I shook my head as tears filled my eyes.

“P…please…” I begged.

“In that pack, there’s a doctor who will be able to take care of you. You just need to hold on a little bit longer,” he said with a wide smile on his face.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as he opened the small door and slid a tray of food through the opening.

“Please, eat something, Carol. We will be on the road for a while and you’ll need your strength,” he told me, shutting the small door.

“I won’t eat anything you give me,” I said through my teeth.

“Not even for the life of our child?” He asked.

“My child is not your child,” I spat. “Stop saying otherwise. We will never be yours!”

He smirked and turned away.

“Suit yourself,” he murmured as he started to walk out of the room. I screamed at him to let me out, I banged on the metal bars, but to no prevail.

He walked up the basement steps and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving me alone in my dark prison. I let out a sob and pressed my knees to my chest, burying my face in my lap. Today's meal seemed to be a curry dish. My stomach tightened at the sight of it; I was so hungry, and I would kill for some water, but I didn’t trust Allen enough to consume anything. I worried he would try to do something to hurt my baby and then he would try to get me pregnant with his own baby.

I couldn’t let that happen. I wrapped my arms around my body like I was desperately trying to hold myself together. I hated the feeling of being weak and vulnerable. My life was literally in the hands of a monster.

“Aiden, I need you…” I whispered. “We need you.” I put my hands on my belly, my entire body wracked with trembles.

I lay on the cold concrete ground and squeezed my eyes shut, trying my hardest to channel Aiden through our mate bond, but whatever drugs Allen gave me made it impossible.

I’m not sure how long I had stayed like that, but at some point, I must have fallen asleep. I heard the cage doors opening and I slowly opened my eyes. My head was spinning, and I felt sick to my stomach. My legs and arms didn’t want to seem to work.

I felt a pair of hands on me, already knowing who they belonged to. I nearly wretched on the right there and then. I felt a sting in my neck, and I winced as the warm liquid entered my skin. I felt the familiar burning sensation of the same drug given to me last night. It was the same medication that completely knocked me out and made me lose my sense of time; the same drugs that gave me a hangover this very morning.

My eyes fluttered open for a moment and my eyes adjusted slightly at Allen who was smiling down at me.

“We are leaving now. In a couple of days, we will be in a new pack. We will finally be free and start our family,” he whispered. “Just rest, my love.”

He wrapped his arms around me, and he lifted me off the ground. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move… I couldn’t even think straight. My eyes fluttered shut and I lost all train of thought.

…..

Aiden’s POV

We drove for the entire night; I wanted to shift into my wolf, but Luca was right before we left when he said that we were going to need a vehicle in case Carol did end up being okay and we needed to get her back to the pack safely. Having her ride on a wolf could be dangerous depending on the state of her body. Luca sent along with me the best of the best trackers and fighters who were in wolf form, trying to get her scent once we got close to the location.

When their ears perked up and they started dashing in a specific direction, the driver pressed on the gas and sped after them.

My heart was racing as I fought the urge to burst out of the car and shift into my wolf form. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hold back my wolf once we got close enough. As soon as he got a whiff of Carol’s scent, I was practically lethal. I was snarling and growling all over the place, desperate to keep my wolf at bay.

But it was no prevail, I couldn’t hold him back once her scent hit us and the smell of her blood became evident. My wolf tore through me and I shifted in the car, breaking open the door as I lunged forward. I could hear one of the warriors yelling my name, but they were far in the distance now. I was running in the direction of my mate's scent; no one was going to keep me from getting to her. There was no better tracker than me when it came to my mate.

As I ran past the trackers, everything around me became blurry. I didn’t know my wolf could run as fast as he was, but he was on a mission, and he knew exactly where he was going.

A rundown house was seen in the distance; it was in the middle of rogue territory, bordering another pack. We were about a day's drive away from the Capitol and the entire area just smelled off in general. But I could smell Carol as clear as day.

I snarled as I continued to run towards the house and then I started to skid to a halt when the doorway flew open. I could hear the warriors running up behind me, also spotting that the front door was opening.

Allen walked out of the house and in his arms was a sleeping… or unconscious Carol. She had a gash on her head as if she had been hit, and thanks to my wolf’s eyesight, we could see the movements of her chest.

She was alive.

This asshole was holding and bringing her to a car.

I growled loudly, not caring if he could hear me. In fact, I wanted him to hear me.

Allen’s eyes whipped in my direction, and they widened.

“How…” he started to ask while taking a step away from me.

I let out a howl and then another loud growl as I lunged towards him, my warriors doing the same. There were too many of us and too few of him. There was no chance he would be able to escape from us, at least not with Carol.

I snapped my canines in his direction; I didn’t want to hurt Carol, but I wanted to tear his head from his throat.

“What’s the plan, Alpha?” One of the warriors asked in a mindlink.

“Make sure that Car can’t get anywhere,” I replied in the mindlink. “Keep him in your sights. I need to get Carol out of here.”

As much as my wolf wanted to tear Allen apart, he also wanted to keep his mate safe. We needed to get her out of here above anything else in this world.

Allen snarled at me.

“You can’t have her!” He hissed. “She’s mine. This is my baby. They are both mine!”

He tried to run with her, but I was too fast, I lunged at him, grabbing his ankle between my teeth and crunching down on it; I heard his bone snap and tasted his blood spurting into my mouth. He howled in pain and fell to the ground, taking Carol with him. His hold on her was tight and he refused to release her.

Thankfully, he wasn’t going to be able to use his leg.

I snapped my canines at her again and took hold of his elbow; I crunched down on it, once again tasting his blood and hearing an ear-piercing snap.

This time, his grip around Carol loosened and he released her. Her limp body rolled to the ground. I growled and snapped my canines at him again, pouncing on him, my claws digging into his chest. I could see the fear in his eyes, and it pleased my wolf; I could practically see the life-draining from him.

“Alpha!” One of the warriors said as he ran up behind me. “Get her out of here. We don’t know if there are others. You need to protect our Luna!”

He was right. I released Allen and went straight to Carol who was still lying on the ground, lifeless, but breathing. Relief flooded through me; my wolf nudged her with his nose, whimpering at the sight of her.

I shifted back into my human.

“There are clothes for you in the car. Go ahead without us. We will deal with this asshole,” one of the warriors said through the mindlink, growling in his wolf form at a shivering and bleeding Allen.

I nodded at him as I scooped Carol into my arms. She rested her head on my chest, and I held her as close as I could.

“Let’s get out of here…”