Mace: Tell her we'll get it for her.
Me: I don't think she wants anything bought, asshole.
Aiden: We have to keep trying. She's not going back to the center for another pack.
I leaned against the railing outside the room and waited. Now that she knew I was out here, there was no point in hiding. So, I tortured myself by standing there and listening to her cry until she fell asleep.
***
Sheer panic shot through the bond and I could almost hear Liora screaming.
Jerking upright in bed, I stared into the darkness, waiting for some sign that she was okay. I'd come home after Aiden replaced me hours ago, but now I was feeling the terror coming directly from Liora. She was so scared. I'd never felt her this terrified before, not even in the bits and pieces we caught while she was with her other pack.
"What's happening?" I heard Mace shouting. He must be on the phone with Aiden.
Leaping out of bed, I threw open my door in time to see Mace running toward the front door in his pajama pants. I followed, acutely aware that the panic was barely subsiding. What was going on?
Chapter 16
Nightmare
Liora
Icried myself to sleep after Finn left me. Then I dreamed of faceless alphas attacking me, of crying out for them to stop. And then, Finn, Aiden, and Mace appeared, their faces stony, eyes cold.
"You're a burden. Time to get rid of you," Mace said, lifting a huge knife. He plunged it into my abdomen and I screamed. Then Finn was pummeling me with his fists and Aiden pulled off his belt to whip me.
"Stop, please stop! I won't be a burden, just stop!" I begged, trying to shield my face from their blows. Pain radiated from my stabbed belly and I sobbed as Mace kept coming at me.
"Liora!"
"No, please, just stop," I whimpered, the pain increasing.
"Liora, I'm here. It's okay, no one is hurting you." Aiden's voice sounded soothing, but his face above me was twisted with hate as he kicked me in the side.
"Liora, wake up!"
I dragged my eyes open, confused. I was in someone's arms. Blinking, I finally focused on Aiden, who was cradling me to his chest, his eyes wide and terrified.
"Aiden?"
"It's just me. You were having a nightmare."
My eyes adjusted to the dim lamp light and I realized the door was hanging off its hinges, clearly broken. Bits of painted wood were scattered through the remnants of my salad on the blue carpet.
"What happened to the door . . . why are you . . . what?" I tried to make sense of what was going on, but it was too hard to focus.
"You had a nightmare. You were screaming bloody murder and I couldn't wake you up, so I broke down the door and came in." Aiden winced. "I don't think this room is habitable anymore."
I scrambled out of his arms and onto the bed, looking around in confusion. "Why are you here? Where's Finn?"
"He's at home. It's my shift."
"Shift?" A heavy stone plummeted into my stomach. "No, no, no. How do you even know where I am? What did Dr. Nova tell you?"
"Nothing. She kept your secret." He held up his hands and stood up. "We're tracking you. You have a tracker, remember?"
The vague memory of Mace insisting I get a tracker so they could find me if I was ever taken hostage flickered in my head. They'd used it to track me. It suddenly made sense that they'd just appeared when I was in the woods. How had I not questioned that before?
