Yara
Slowly, I unlocked the car door and stepped outside, raising my hands high enough to show I wasn't a threat. The last thing I needed was to spook the guards into unloading their weapons on me before I even had the chance to speak.
The beam of the flashlight remained fixed on my face as several sets of footsteps approached. The harsh light made it impossible to see them clearly, but when I closed my eyes and focused, my sharpened senses filled in the gaps. There were five of them moving toward me. More were hidden throughout the border, their scents and heartbeats scattered among the trees, watching and waiting.
"Keep your hands where I can see them. If you so much as twitch, I'll blow your brains out."
I forced myself to remain perfectly still as they drew closer, silently muttering a prayer under my breath that once they recognized me, they wouldn't kill me on sight.
If only I could cast a spell on them. Something simple that would make them lower their weapons, march me straight to Darius, and save me this nerve-racking encounter. But magic wouldn't work on them.
The warriors guarding the border of Bloodfang Pack were fortified against witches. Their bodies were marked with protective enchantments designed to resist spells, illusions, and mind manipulation. It was one of the many precautions Darius had put in place years ago to keep his territory secure.
Which meant I was completely at their mercy. I could take down the five guards heading toward me if it came down to a fight. But what about the others hidden beyond the trees?
They came to a stop a few feet away. One of them broke from the group and started toward me, his flashlight never leaving my face. The closer he got, the faster my heart pounded in my chest. The beam of his flashlight lingered on my face. Then, as recognition dawned, he sucked in a sharp breath.
"I'm Yara Luckett, but you already know that," I said quietly. "Take me to your Alpha."
"Daniel, are you okay? Who's that?" one of the men called out.
The guard seemed to snap out of whatever haze he had fallen into upon recognizing me.
He turned toward them. "It's Yara. The Alpha's former whore and the killer of those vampires in the Truce Lands. Guess what? She's demanding to see the Alpha."
"What?" one of them barked, scandalized. "Are you pulling our legs right now?"
"Bullshit," another scoffed. "That bitch is long dead."
"You're losing your mind, Daniel."
"Are you sleepwalking?" a third demanded. "What the fuck did you put in your cigar this time?"
"I'm serious," Daniel snapped. "Come here and look for yourselves."
The next second, four more men were surrounding me, eager to get a look at my face and confirm whether I was really Yara—the Alpha's former whore and the woman accused of murdering vampires on sacred ground.
I tried my best not to pay any attention to their words.
"You need to take me to your Alpha." I said in a firm tone, "There is something I'm holding onto that he needs to see."
"Something he needs to see?" one of them snorted. "What? Your pussy? Don't worry, he has a royal one warming his bed now. He doesn't need your common one anymore."
The others burst into laughter. The words hit me harder than they should have. For a second, I was no longer standing at the border of Bloodfang Pack. I was back in that tiny house, cradling a two-month-old Oliver while staring at the announcement of Darius' marriage.
Back to the crushing realization that the woman beside him was everything I wasn't. She was royal, respected and wanted. While I was the discarded mate he had cast aside without a second thought.
Heat rushed through me so fast it made my head spin.
I hated that his words hurt. Hated that after all these years, they could still find the wound and press directly into it.
My hands, which were still raised, curled into fists until my nails dug painfully into my palms. I reminded myself why I was here but some wounds never truly healed.
My fangs slid free before I could stop them, and a low growl rumbled from my chest. The laughter died instantly and every weapon around me lifted.
The guards tensed, their expressions hardening as they took a collective step forward. Then they were on me. All five at once.
The impact knocked the air from my lungs as they drove me to the ground with brutal efficiency. Two of them pinned my arms and shoulders while another planted a heavy knee between my shoulder blades, forcing my chest into the dirt. My cheek scraped against the rough ground as a hand shoved my face down harder.
Dust filled my mouth and nose. I coughed, struggling to breathe.
The remaining two moved quickly, grabbing my wrists and wrenching them behind my back. Pain exploded through my shoulders and I heard a sickening pop and then another. Agony shot through my arms as the joints partially dislocated under the strain.
"Stop fighting!" one of them barked.
I barely heard him. My wolf surged beneath my skin, furious at being restrained. I thrashed instinctively, but every movement only earned more weight pressing down on me.
"Got her!"
Cold metal snapped around my wrists and the handcuffs bit into my skin as they tightened them far beyond what was necessary. I hissed through clenched teeth, my entire body trembling with pain and rage.
Then I heard a faint click. The sound was so soft it should have been swallowed by the shouting around me, by the pounding of blood in my ears, by the growls clawing their way up my throat, but I heard it.
And I knew exactly what it was, the car door. Every muscle in my body went rigid.
No. My heart lurched violently against my ribs. No. No. No.
Stay in the car, Oliver.
For the first time since I stepped onto Bloodfang territory, real fear sliced through me. Not fear for myself but fear for him, because Oliver didn't understand how dangerous this was. He didn't understand that one wrong word, one flash of magic, one glimpse of what he truly was could turn every weapon here in his direction.
I twisted against the men holding me down. Trying desperately to break free. If only the Moon Goddess would take me back in time, I would never have disobeyed Onyx and brought Oliver here.
The car door slammed shut. The sound cracked through the night like a gunshot.
"Stop that! Leave my mother alone!" Oliver screamed, his tiny voice sharp with fury and panic.
My blood turned to ice.