Chapter 28

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

Evelyn

R owan charged forward, abandoning all pretense of following the plan. Without thinking, I raced after him, my heart in my throat. Nathan pivoted to face us, not a hint of surprise on his cruel features. As if he'd been expecting us all along.

I stumbled as a wave of alpha energy crashed over me like a tsunami. I'd felt alphas before. Nathan had used his power to command, and while Rowan had never forced me into compliance, I sensed his energy the moment I passed him at that Tim Hortons. It was like standing out in the cool night air and then moving under a heat lamp.

This was nothing like that. My knees buckled at the weight of it. Nathan's dominance was overwhelming, oppressive, threatening to crush me under its weight.

"What the hell?" I gasped.

Rowan staggered slightly before regaining his footing. His eyes widened when he saw me, and he sidestepped to stand between me and Nathan. He shook his head, jaw clenched. My gaze fell on the body sprawled before Nathan's feet. No , I silently pleaded. Please don't let it be her.

I squinted, trying to make out any identifying features in the dim moonlight filtering through the trees. Desperate to prove it wasn't Callie lying there broken and lifeless.

My wolf knew before I did. The smell was off. Hair color, too. Then I spotted her—Callista. Bound to a tree several yards away, her head lolling to the side. Relief flooded me, followed swiftly by fresh panic.

"Callie!" I lunged forward, but Rowan's arm shot out, holding me back.

Nathan's cruel chuckle sliced through the tense silence. "Well, well. The prodigal daughter returns." His hazel eyes glinted with malice as they fixed on me. "Did you miss me, Evelyn?"

I could barely hear him over the frantic pounding of my own heart. The sickening dread knotting in my stomach. All I knew was that I had to get to her. I had to save my friend from this monster wearing a man's skin.

Rowan stepped fully in front of me, eclipsing me from Nathan's predatory gaze. "Leave her out of this."

"Oh, but she's already so deeply involved, isn't she?" Nathan crooned. He began to circle us slowly, each deliberate step sending my pulse racing. "In fact, I'd say she's the guest of honor at tonight's little celebration."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Rowan snarled.

Nathan's thin lips curled into a spine-chilling smile. "While you two were busy playing house, I've been rather productive." He nudged the prone figure with his boot.

My blood turned to ice in my veins.

"You're a sick bastard if you call that an accomplishment," Rowan bit out, every word trembling with barely leashed fury.

Nathan's eyes flicked between the two of us, and his expression darkened. "One more accomplishment than you've had, it seems." His eyes bore into me. "But she-wolves always love alphas to prove their strength, right Evelyn?"

Rowan's fists clenched so tight his knuckles turned white. I grabbed onto his arm to steady myself. No. No, no, no. This couldn't be happening. The world seemed to tilt and spin around me. I thought I might be sick. Because I knew with brutal, terrifying clarity what Nathan had done.

Lyra told us how the dagger worked. Bonds. Blood. "You forced a mating bond." I hadn't meant to say the words out loud, but they feathered past my lips. Nathan's mouth curled into a cruel smile, and my stomach lurched.

The memories I'd tried so hard to lock away came crashing back, playing out in vivid flashes. Nathan looming over me, his expression twisted with lust and rage. His hands brutal and punishing on my skin. The overwhelming pain and helplessness as he took what he wanted over and over again. The sheer terror when I'd tried to leave the first time, and he'd caught me with my bag at the back door.

A wounded sound worked its way out of my throat. My knees buckled, and I sank to the ground, fighting to breathe past the panic clawing at my chest. Why did he still have a hold on me?

Dimly, I registered Rowan's answering roar of anguish and outrage. I'd never heard anything so primal, so agonized. In my peripheral vision, I saw his body shaking violently, saw the wolf within him begging to be unleashed.

But he didn't shift. With what looked like gargantuan effort, Rowan held his beast back and launched himself at Nathan in his human form. The two alphas collided with a sickening crunch.

Why wasn't he shifting? Rowan had felt Nathan's power just as I had, and he'd be stronger, faster as a wolf. Then again…so would Nathan.

"Rowan!" Finally, I forced his name out, but it was too late. Fabric ripped, bones cracked, and feral snarls rent the air. The sounds of a brutal, no-holds-barred fight to the death. That's what this was. That's what Nathan had wanted. I was sure of it.

"You'll stay there like a good bitch," Nathan growled, and his authority clammed my hands and knees to the ground. I couldn't move. Couldn't force more than my head up from the ground.

And all I could do was stare at Callista's limp form, my heart fracturing into countless razor-sharp shards. I'd failed her. Now I'd failed Rowan and his pack.

How many more people would become casualties of Nathan's obsession with me?

I gasped as Rowan managed to slam his fist into Nathan's face with a sickening crunch. Blood spurted from the other alpha's nose as his head snapped back.

But he recovered with preternatural speed, lips curling in a taunting smile even as crimson streamed down his face. "Feisty. But I don't know if she's worth all this." Nathan laughed, the sound as cold and sharp as the damn dagger. "Trust me. I speak from experience."

Nathan's retaliating blow shattered Rowan's kneecap. My heart seized as Rowan's leg buckled, and he barely caught himself before crumpling. A ragged cry tore from his throat, agony etched into every line of his face.

Still, he didn't shift. Why the hell wasn't he shifting? Desperation pumped through my veins as I watched the man I loved absorbing hit after devastating hit. I loved him. The realization hit as powerfully as the fear and disgust had slammed into me seconds before. He was nothing like Nathan Black—nothing like the alpha I thought him to be. He carried his strength and authority, never using it for his own gain. He was loyal. Kind. And he was fighting for me .

But Nathan held the dagger. He'd perverted the ways of the pack to gain the dark power that oozed from him like rot. Now Nathan was toying with him, a predator playing with its prey. Enjoying Rowan's pain and despair. Each carefully targeted strike left Rowan more broken, more debilitated.

I screamed for Rowan's pack, my voice snapping against the trees. Why weren't they stepping in? Tears streamed down my cheeks as I clawed my fingers into the dirt. "Stop! Nathan, stop!"

Even with our healing abilities, I'd never seen anyone withstand such catastrophic damage and remain standing. Rowan's body was a map of brutality—skin shredded, bones snapped, blood flowing in scarlet rivers.

But his eyes, those piercing blue eyes that had first captivated me, remained locked on Nathan. Blazing with unbreakable determination even as the light in them dimmed with each passing second.

I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to hold the broken pieces together. But it was too much. Too much…

I wanted to shift. To fight. But Nathan's power held me rooted to the spot. "Rowan," I whispered brokenly, my wolf howling in anguish deep inside me. I couldn't lose him. Not like this. Not when we'd only just found each other.

As if he'd heard my silent plea, Rowan met my gaze across the blood-soaked ground. In that infinite moment, a thousand unspoken words passed between us.

"I always loved it when you begged, Evs." Nathan watched my face as he wrapped a hand around Rowan's throat and squeezed.