Chapter ten

The taste of Adara's lips lingers in my mouth for the rest of the morning while we're preparing to leave. The spell is locked in successfully, and I'm grateful when Chloe leaves and Maddie goes to take Jaz home, knowing they're safe.

"Home? No way. I'm coming," Jaz says to me, as Maddie tries to guide her out the front door.

"No, Jazelle. This isn't a game."

She stomps her foot at me, eyes narrowed. "I'm coming. Maddie is the one who knows the spell, and if she's going, then so am I."

"I'm not going," Maddie says, reaching for her hand. "I'm no longer needed now that the spell is in effect."

Jaz looks between us, her mouth hanging open. "But… but I want to help."

Maddie smiles softly. "Oh, sweet girl, you've already helped so much by bringing me here when Gideon was too stubborn to call me himself." Winking at me when I scoff, she wraps one arm around Jaz's shoulders and guides her to the front door. "Why don't you wait in the car for me? I'll be right there. We can even get pizza for dinner tonight." She waits for her to start down the front path before glancing over to me. "You remember how the spell works? You're the pack alpha. Aramin is lost to you, Gideon. You'll be able to sense the thread and follow it straight to her."

"Yes, I'm aware." Propping against the wall with one shoulder, I take in her tense posture, the rigid line of her spine. "Is there something else that I don't know, Madrona?"

She breathes out a laugh. "I think I'm supposed to be the one using your full name." She shakes her head before looking at me over her shoulder, still facing the open front door, amusement quickly falling from her face. "There is one more thing. The spell is literal. It'll lead you straight to her. You, Gideon. If anyone is with you, they'll lose their own tasks to find her. The spell will break once you see her."

I sigh and nod. "I'll be sure to remember that. Thank you, Maddie."

She pats my cheek, her eyes glistening. "You're a good man and an incredible wolf—alpha and mate. Go save your family, and never let them make you second guess yourself again."

Closing the door behind her, I make my way to the kitchen. Adara leans against the counter next to Mila, whose head rests against hers as they talk back and forth. Relief washes over me at the sight of the two best friends having made up.

Approaching them, Adara finds my eyes immediately, a smile breaking over her face. She reaches beside her and holds out a cup, steam swirling in the air above it and carrying the earthy scent of coffee.

I accept the mug from her hands, brushing my lips over her temple and whispering in her ear. "Darling, if you're trying to bribe me back upstairs, just say the word." Taking a sip of the hot caffeinated liquid, I hold eye contact with her and smirk, noting the pink in her cheeks. "Frank," I call, not taking my eyes off her.

"Everyone is in the back yard and ready to go," he says from behind me. He walks up to Mila and wraps an arm around her waist, tucking her into his side. "We're ready to leave when you are, boss."

I down the rest of my coffee and set the cup in the sink. "Perfect, and the raven?"

"Kaylus?" Adara asks. "He shouldn't be—"

"He's out there as well," Frank answers.

Adara glances between us, silver speckling her eyes. "And why is he out there waiting for you? He shouldn't be coming at all."

"He ran an errand for me," I say, grabbing her hand. Walking toward the back door, I pull it open and scan the trees for the bird, seeing him settle himself on the back of a lounge chair. "Has she found anything?"

He caws, his head shaking sharply from side to side.

"He said ‘no, nothing,'" Adara answers.

I chuckle. "Yes, darling, I got that."

She huffs, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at the bird. "You are not."

"Hm?" I ask, looking from Kaylus to her. "Coming with us? Yes. He will be."

Smacking both palms against my chest, she shoves me. "He is not. He's staying. It's not safe!"

"Monique is less likely to see him or catch him when he can fly off and hide in the shadows," I say, covering her hands with mine and erasing the space between us. "He'll stay outside the castle. I know he's your life source as your familiar, but he's also a source of worry. If he stays behind, you'll feel the loss of connection and you won't be able to focus like I need you to."

She shakes her head. "I won't be able to focus if I'm worried about him getting hurt."

"Trust me, Adara. It'll only serve as a distraction, and I need you at full strength with this, or I can't fight alongside you." Cupping her jaw, I brush my thumb over her cheek. "I won't be able to focus on saving Jules if I have to focus on protecting you."

Pulling away from me, she mumbles, "Fine," and goes to stand beside Mila.

I glance at Kaylus, who cocks his head to the side and ruffles his feathers, almost as if shrugging. With a sigh, I whirl around. "Let's go. I have a feeling this'll be a long trek."

Two hours into our trip, the sun is starting to slowly sink behind the trees. We've been running into the wind, but something feels off.

She isn't talking to you.

Growling under my breath, I glance at Adara, running a few paces behind me, like she has this entire time. Wordlessly. "I know that," I snap at him.

If you know that, why haven't you done anything to fix it? Or are you planning to go into battle with a wedge between the two of you? You just lectured her on distractions, and here you are. Hypocrite.

I take a deep breath, trying to shove my wolf's voice to the back of my mind for some peace, but then I catch a glimpse of her black fur, the slouch of her shoulders. My heart aches for the sound of her voice. "I'm only trying to protect you, Adara."

She stays silent, and I fight the annoyance brewing inside me. She's always so stubborn.

"I want to save Juliana too. Successfully. Without losing you in the process." I glance over at her, sadness and worry brimming in her eyes. "This is the only way I know how to do that."

"You didn't even ask me."Her voice is just above a whisper, hurt resonating in every syllable. "Am I your mate or someone in your pack, Gideon? Because being told what's happening without you even asking me for my opinion feels nothing like being your mate. Being your mate means being your equal."

I slow to a stop, coming to face her.

She's right, you stupid bastard. You've been alone so long that you don't know how to be someone's partner,my wolf says, annoyed.

Sighing, I close the distance between us and set my snout atop hers. "I will do better, mia fiamma. Even in situations where your safety is my biggest concern, I… I will not command you."

"You swear?" she asks.

"I swear it. You are my mate, and you should never feel like anything less than that."

"Good because I can't promise I'll continue to listen," she says, licking my snout, a hint of mischief dancing in her eyes.

I laugh, the tension in my chest loosening. "We're okay now?"

"Yes, we're okay now." She nuzzles into the side of my neck, and I inhale deeply, breathing her scent into every part of my soul. My wolf was right—the silence was weighing on me heavier than I realized, my mind clearing now.

I scan the area around us. The rest of the wolves are laying on the forest floor, resting while we've stopped, but there's that nagging feeling that something isn't right, and that floral scent I swear I just caught…

"Gideon?" Adara says, confused as she follows my gaze.

"Ask Kaylus to sweep the path behind us." Looking back toward her, I try asking again. "Could you ask him to do that? Something smells wrong."

She nods, glancing into the trees above where the raven sits perched. After a moment, he soars into the air, circling once before landing on Adara's back. She closes her eyes, and my stomach sinks at her words. "It's Jaz."

"Jazelle!" I roar after shifting, putting more alpha power into my voice than I probably need.

The small brown wolf comes sulking from the forest, head lowered and ears pinned back.

"I'm struggling to pick a question to ask first," I growl, throwing my arms in the air. "What were you thinking? How did you get away from Madrona? When did you learn to mask your scent?"

"And sound,"she adds meekly.

"And sound?" I ask, surprised, but still enraged. "I want answers. Immediately."

"I wanted to help. What if there's a small space, and you can't fit? But Kaylus can't crawl because he's a bird, so I could fit. Maddie let me go to bed early, so I used the window to get out. And, um… I eavesdropped on a few training sessions that I wasn't supposed to be a part of. It was really easy to pick up on masking once I got the gist of it." She paws at the ground, avoiding eye contact.

"Go home, Jazelle," I say, making sure to inflict alpha power into the command. "No arguing. You return home. Right now."

"Someone should go with her," Adara says, having shifted and moved to stand beside me.

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Yes, I agree."

"Kaylus," she says, "you go."

"Adara—" I stop when she raises her brow at me and swallow the rest of my argument.

"We need every wolf here, don't we?" She gestures to the rest of the group—Darrold, Brent, Frank, Mila, Parker, and Victor. "We need them to fight and win. We don't know what we're up against, but according to Ruya, there's at least both councilmen, Monique, and Aramin there."

I rub the back of my neck. "Yes, that's what she mentioned."

"And Kaylus is supposed to sit outside the castle. So, now he's being useful. Decreasing the stress and distractions—no offense, Jaz," she adds, smiling down at the small brown wolf.

I blow out a breath. "Fine. Kaylus, follow Jazelle home. Make sure she returns through the front door so Maddie knows what's happened." I quirk a brow at Jazelle. "That's an order, pup."

She huffs, keeping her head bowed as she turns around and makes her way back in the direction we came.

Adara stretches onto her toes and kisses my cheek. "Thank you."

I catch her face in my hands, kissing her lips. "For what?"

She smiles. "Keeping your word." Then, she shifts back into her wolf, shaking out her fur. "Nothing will distract me from saving Jules and protecting both of us. Together."

The rest of the journey is quiet, but the tension brewing between us this time is nothing I can fix. None of us are sure of what we're walking into, and walking in blind is my least favorite method—but it was the only option left after using Ruya's visions the best we could.

The farther north we get, the colder the air becomes, and just as the sun dips below the horizon, snow begins to fall. Reaching the base of the White Mountains, deja vu settles over me. The snow-capped peaks sit before us as we weave our way through the forest. Ruya's vision is eerily prominent in my mind the more we travel.

The spells tugs at my mind, guiding me in which way to go like an instinct. Maddie's warning not forgotten, I call out orders to the rest. "Darrold and Brent, enter from the front. Parker and Victor, from the back. Frank and Mila can go through the left entrance. Adara and I will take the right."

It's not long after that when a sudden, strange mist comes, blanketing us within the forest. Black spires are seen just ahead, larger than how they appeared in the vision, bigger than any skyscraper I've ever come across. Black, shining obsidian pierces the sky, dark storm clouds its ominous backdrop, as if the fates themselves commanded the weather.

Apprehension makes my hackles stand on edge, and as we close in on the castle, magic shimmers in the air.

"That's how she's hiding it,"Frank says, gesturing toward the shimmer.

"It's a repellent, but only for humans," Adara says, stepping up close to study it. "She probably doesn't want to waste magic repelling the rest of us when it's already such a wide area. It'd take a lot of energy to construct and maintain."

Or she didn't want to keep you all out,my wolf suggests.

My jaw clenches, feeling that he's right. Monique wouldn't want to deal with humans discovering her hideout, but the rest of us? Adara specifically is what she's after, so she wouldn't be able to block witches or wolves, when Adara is both.

Shaking out my fur and gathering my senses, I listen to the sounds of the forest, hearing nothing out of place. "Let's go then. We've got a witch to hunt."