“It’s not surrender. It’s strategy,” she explained, her voice crisp and efficient. “Bracken wants me afraid so he can control me. He doesn’t want me dead. He wants to watch me lose everything I thought I could have. And he wants to watch you lose your mate to him. He wants towin.”
She leaned forward, intensity radiating from her like heat.
“If I offer myself up, but demand my family be released first, I play right into what he wants and it buys us time—time you and the clan can use to position, isolate, and strike.”
The logic was sound. Korrak hated that it was sound. His polar bear paced, snarling at the very thought of allowing his mate within reach of another Alpha. Bracken didn’t play fair. Didn’t bargain honestly. Didn’t deserve even the illusion of trust.
“Absolutely not,” Korrak said, his refusal carved from ice and blood. “I will not offer my mate as bait.”
Winslet’s eyes flashed, and through the bond he felt her own surge of determination.
“This is my family,” she said, her voice cutting through his protests. “My past. My choice. I know Bracken better than anyone. I understand how to manipulate his ego, his possessiveness, his need to feel superior.”
She reached across the space between them, her fingers finding his clenched fist.
“I’m not helpless, Korrak. I’m not asking permission. I’m asking you to trust me.”
The bond hummed painfully between them—her fear braided tightly with devotion, his protective fury warring with grudging respect for her courage. She was right. The plan had teeth. And the only way to save her family without triggering immediate bloodshed might be to let her walk willingly into Bracken’s grasp.
“If you do this,” he said finally, his voice rough with suppressed violence, “I need constant surveillance through our telepathic link.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Telepathic link?”
“Try it now,” he replied. “Communicate to me without speaking.”
Winslet closed her eyes. A moment later, her voice whispered through his mind like silk:Can you hear me?
Perfectly,he responded, relief flooding through him.Again, but don’t close your eyes this time.
This is incredible,her mental voice carried wonder and determination in equal measure.I can feel your emotions too. Your fear for me.
Then you understand what you’re asking of me.
Her physical hand squeezed his fist.I understand. But it’s the only way.
Korrak exhaled slowly, accepting the inevitable. “You give the signal when your family is freed. I’ll coordinate with Kol for positioning. The clan spreads out to prevent all-out war.”
“Agreed,” she said without hesitation.
That willingness—that complete absence of fear at walking into mortal danger—scared him more than anything.
TWENTY-ONE
WINSLET
Winslet’s fingers lingered against Korrak’s hand for one final moment, memorizing the warmth of his skin and the barely contained tension radiating through his frame. His ice-blue eyes burned with the kind of fury that could level mountains, every line of his powerful body screaming against letting her walk into danger. She felt his Alpha instincts clawing at him through the mate bond—the primal need to handle this himself, to tear Bracken apart with his bare hands rather than trust strategy over strength.
“Trust me,” she whispered, squeezing his fingers one last time before releasing them.
The loss of contact felt like severing a lifeline, but she made herself turn away before his protective instincts could override her plan. Behind her, she felt the way his entire being fought to follow her.
The quarter-mile walk across the frozen wasteland stretched endlessly. But sooner than she was ready for, the warehouse loomed ahead like a predator’s maw, industrial and menacing against the Arctic sky. She steeled herself with each breath, pushing down the terror that threatened to overwhelm her rational mind.
Control first. Emotion later.
When she finally arrived at the main entrance, she knocked once and a thick-set man with calculating eyes opened the door. His gaze swept the landscape behind her with practiced efficiency before stepping aside to let her pass.
“He’s been expecting you,” the guard muttered, his voice carrying the rough edge of someone accustomed to violence.
