Lucio’s expression hardened. “No, you didn’t. But she likes her friend Mary. And if Mary is suffering, Mira is suffering. And I do not fucking like that.”
“Let my daughter go.” I kept my voice calm, reasonable, even though everything inside me was screaming. “She’s just a baby. She hasn’t done anything wrong. She doesn’t deserve to be part of this.”
For a moment, I thought I saw something flicker in Lucio’s eyes. Hesitation, maybe. Or doubt.
Then it was gone.
“Mira wants a baby,” he said simply. “So I’m going to give her one.”
What the fuck.
The words hit me like a physical blow. My vision went red. The handcuffs bit into my wrists as I strained against them, a growl ripping from my throat.
“You fucking touch my daughter-”
“Shut up,” Lucio said coldly. “Or I’ll make sure you can’t talk for the rest of the drive.”
He meant it. I could see it in his eyes. He would drug me, knock me out, leave me helpless and unconscious while he drove off with my baby.
I forced myself to calm down. Forced my wolf back under control. Blake needed me awake. Alert. Ready to act if an opportunity presented itself.
I would bide my time. I would wait. And when the moment came, I would kill Lucio with my bare hands.
The drive continued.
Three hours. Maybe more. Time blurred together, marked only by the changing landscape outside the window. We were deep into rogue territory now, far from any pack’s protection. The roads grew narrower, the forests thicker, civilization falling away behind us.
Then Lucio turned off the road entirely.
There was no path where we were going, no trail, just dense forest and underbrush that the SUV pushed through with grinding determination. Lucio seemed to know the way, navigating around fallen trees and rocky outcroppings with the confidence of someone who had made this trip many times before.
Twenty minutes of off-road driving later, a cabin came into view.
Big. Fancy. Well maintained despite its remote location. It had a wraparound porch and large windows and looked like the kind of place wealthy humans rented for ski vacations.
So this was where they’d been hiding. This was the base of operations for the people who had been terrorizing my mate, threatening my family, trying to destroy everything I loved.
Lucio parked the SUV and got out, taking Blake with him. He didn’t even look at me as he walked toward the cabin, leaving me handcuffed in the back seat.
“Hey!” I yelled. “HEY!”
He ignored me, climbing the porch steps and disappearing through the front door.
I was alone.
I strained against the handcuffs again, pulling and twisting, trying to find any weakness in the restraints. The metal bit into my skin, drawing blood, but I didn’t care. I had to get free. I had to get to Blake.
The sound of voices drifted from the cabin, muffled at first, then growing louder as an argument erupted inside. I strained to hear, catching fragments of angry words and accusations. Then a baby started crying, the wails piercing through the walls, and my heart clenched at the sound of Blake’s distress. A moment later, another cry joined hers, different in pitch and tone.
Thomas. Cole’s son was here. Both babies were in that cabin.
I sagged against the seat, relief mixing with the fear and rage churning in my gut. Thomas was alive. If we could just find a way to rescue them both-
The front door of the cabin burst open.
Mary stormed out, her face twisted with fury. Even from here, I could see the rage radiating off her, could hear the venom in her voice.
“That’s not what I asked!” she screamed back at the cabin, presumably at Lucio. “I wanted the whore Luna, not him!”
