Chapter 109

Darren

Charles leaned back in his seat and looked up at us. Slowly, too slowly, he set his glass of whiskey down on the table in front of him and folded his arms across his chest.

“And what exactly am I under arrest for?” he asked as calmly as ever.

“I have reason to believe that you’re responsible not only for Aria’s coma but also for my sister’s husband’s death,” I said, pulling my shoulders back. “You’re commanded to return to the pack lands to undergo questioning.”

“No.”

I narrowed my eyes. “It wasn’t a request, Charles,” I retorted. “It was a command. You are coming with us to the pack lands.”

And with that, I let my Alpha Voice settle into the air around us. It was a command that he had to heed, a pull that no member of the pack should have been able to resist. I expected him to rise from his seat, his smugness faltering. I expected him to submit, just like everyone did.

But Charles didn’t even flinch.

Rather, he tilted his head slightly, his expression shifting into something that looked more like mild curiosity than anything else. “No, I won’t,” he said simply.

I frowned and exchanged another incredulous glance with Liam. That wasn’t possible. The Alpha Voice should have compelled Charles, or any member of Moonglow pack for that matter, to obey. Charles should have practically leapt to his feet and followed us. But he was still sitting there, smug as ever.

“You’re refusing a direct command from your Alpha?” My voice sharpened, my disbelief quickly turning into anger. “How dare you?”

Charles stood slowly, deliberately. “Like I said,” he began, his voice low and dangerous, “I will not go with you. And nothing you say or do will make me.”

“Don’t take another step.” Liam stepped into his path.

But Charles’s lips twisted into a faint smirk. “Liam, freeze.”

Liam’s body locked up instantly. His arms fell to his sides, his legs stiffened, and his eyes widened in panic as he began to struggle. It was as if an invisible force was suddenly holding him in place, keeping him from moving, speaking, or even drawing in a full breath of air.

“What the hell?” I reached for Liam’s shoulder, but Charles was already moving, slipping past me with unnatural speed.

Only once Charles was out of sight did Liam’s body relax. His knees buckled, and he crumpled to the floor.

“Liam!” I shouted, crouching beside him. He was clutching his chest, heaving in deep lungfuls of air.

I stared at him, confused. How had Charles done that? It didn’t make any sense—it was almost as if he himself had used the Alpha Voice, or some bastardized version of it. But Charles wasn’t an Alpha.

Liam suddenly grabbed my arm, pulling me back to the present.

“We have to catch him,” he rasped out. “Hurry!”

Nodding, I grasped my Beta’s forearm and hauled him to his feet, and then we both bolted out of the booth and into the corridor. I could see Charles up ahead, shoving through a group of humans so hard that one woman went slamming against the wall.

“Stop him!” I called out mentally as I ran, my voice echoing through the Mindlink.

Doors slammed open ahead of me as the Lunar Labs employees leapt into action. Lily and Melissa blocked the narrow passage of one car, but Charles ducked low, sweeping Melissa’s legs out from under her before shoving past Lily without breaking stride. Brandon tried to grab him from behind, but Charles twisted sharply, throwing Brandon into the side of the car with a bone-jarring thud.

I was gaining on him, but so was my frustration. Every attempt to corner him was met with calculated precision, like he had anticipated our every move. But it wasn’t just that.

It was the way he commanded the others.

“Lily, kneel!” he barked, resulting in Lily immediately dropping to her knees in the middle of one corridor as if she had sandbags dropped onto her shoulders.

“Brandon, turn and flee!”

“Melissa, stop!”

Each time, they obeyed. I watched as my pack was reduced to following Charles’s every command as if he were their Alpha, running around in circles like obedient dogs. I wasn’t sure how he did it, but somehow, he did. If these strange commands would have worked on me, though, he didn’t use them. Why?

But there was no time to think. By now, the human passengers were coming out of their booths, train officers shouting after us. We wove through the narrow cars, just barely avoiding confused families and toppling racks of luggage, Charles’s fleeing form barely visible up ahead.

The train rocked beneath my feet as I burst into the next car, my chest heaving. I spotted Charles up ahead just as he climbed a narrow ladder leading to the roof of the train.

“Damn it!” I growled, following him without hesitation. The cold wind bit into my skin as I hauled myself onto the roof, the sound of the train’s wheels grinding against the tracks below a deafening roar in my ears.

Charles was waiting for me.

He was standing at the edge of the roof, his coat billowing in the wind, one hand clutching something around his neck. Something silver caught the light, but I couldn’t make out what it was.

“You should’ve listened to me, Darren,” Charles called out over the rushing wind. “But you just couldn’t let that human girl go. And now I have to take control.”

I stepped forward, curling my fingers into fists. “Just stand down, Charles. Whatever magic you’re using to command my people, it won’t work on me. I’m your Alpha.”

Charles smiled. “For now.”

My brow furrowed, but it was too late. Charles pulled what he was holding off of his neck and held it up, and a small, silver pendant caught the light.

“Charles, what is—”

“Hold still, Darren,” he said simply, and just like the others, my limbs locked, my body going rigid.

“You see,” Charles said, stepping closer, “this pendant doesn’t care about your precious Alpha status. It makes you mine.”

I grit my teeth and fought against it with everything I had, but it was like trying to move through quicksand.

“How—How did you—”

“Let him go, you bastard!” Liam’s voice cut through the noise as he scrambled onto the roof, but Charles turned to him with a cold smile.

“Jump, Liam,” Charles commanded.

Liam’s body jerked as if pulled by invisible strings, and he staggered toward the edge of the train. His eyes were wide with panic, his hands clawing at the air as though trying to grab hold of something, anything, to stop himself. But it was useless.

“No!” I managed to choke out, but my voice was weak, my body still frozen in place. I felt like I was stuck in a dream. No. A nightmare.

Charles’s smile widened. “Say goodbye to your Beta, Darren.”

And with that, Liam disappeared over the edge.

My heart stopped. For a moment, the world felt like it had slowed to a crawl, the sound of the train fading into a distant hum. I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe.

Charles turned back to me, his eyes gleaming. “And now, for you,” he said, raising the pendant once more. “Jump.”

Just like Liam, my body lurched toward the edge of the train. My wolf howled in protest, but I couldn’t stop myself. My feet moved on their own, the edge drawing closer and closer.

“I’ve spent too many years waiting for you to fuck up and let me take over,” Charles called, his voice nearly lost amongst the wind. “Your father was easy enough to wear down, but you’ve been too goddamn persistent. Too much like your mother.”

I groaned, straining against the urge to jump. My muscles buckled, my vision dancing with dark spots. Every fiber of my being was trying to lurch toward the edge of that train, the wind whistling through my hair, the pull so powerful I had to gnash my teeth against it.

“But of course, your mother was easily dispatched by a few well-paid rogues. I thought that was the last of you, too, until that damn little bitch found you as a pup.” Charles clicked his tongue. “It’s no matter, though. If she survives that coma, she’ll lose all of her strength without you. And all you have to do, Darren, is jump.”

That final word sent me lurching toward the edge of the train. I was so close now I could practically taste the treetops whizzing past, my feet teetering over the rim. In an instant, I’d be dashed across the ground below, my body torn to shreds by the impact.

I was powerless.

Useless.

Hopeless.

I’m sorry, Aria, I thought, shutting my eyes. I’m so, so sorry—

But then, out of nowhere, a scent hit me like a tidal wave.

My eyes shot open, and a blur of white streaked across my vision.

The impact was sudden and violent, Charles’s body tumbling backward as the white wolf collided with him and knocked him clean off the train. The pendant flew from his grasp, disappearing into the darkness below. Charles’s scream faded into the night, and just like that, he was gone.

The white wolf skidded to a stop and turned toward me, its golden eyes meeting mine for the briefest of moments before its body began to shift.

Aria.

Her form wavered, the white fur receding as her human form took shape. But she didn’t remain standing for long. Her knees buckled, her body collapsing.

“Aria!”

I was free. The invisible force holding me in place vanished the moment Charles was gone, and I rushed forward, catching her in my arms just as she started to fall.

But it was too late; I lost my footing, and we went toppling over the side of the train.