TOR POVI had stopped dead in my tracks the second that I felt Selene's presence through our bond. I stood there in my wolf form feeling for the direction that she was coming from, but it had disappeared. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me because this was the first time I had been away from her for so long since our mating bond had been consummated. But as we continued our journey, I continued to feel the same nagging sensation in my gut. Like she was so close, but just out of my reach so that I could barely feel her. On the third night, I stopped the pack for a night of rest. While we could have gone another night of travel without stopping, I needed to find out if I was going insane or if I was truly picking up on my mate's bond. After we found a secure place to hunker down for the night, Cassius approached me with a curious look on his face. "Kind of an odd place to stop for the night," he commented with his eyebrow raised. "What's on your mind, Tor?" I shrugged. "
SELENE POV Tor and I had retired to sleep without another word to one another, but he held me tightly in his arms as we slept by the dying embers of the small fire. It was dawn when I opened my eyes again and Tor was still sleeping with his arms wrapped around me. I watched him sleep for a moment. The regret I felt for my betrayal was potent, but I couldn't deny the calming peace of being in his presence. Softly, I ran my fingers down his chest and when I looked into his eyes again, he was awake and watching me quietly. "Hi," I said quietly. With an indescribable look in his eyes, he ran a gentle knuckle down my cheek. Without a word, he slowly unwrapped himself from my limbs and stood. I watched as he dressed and when it was apparent that he wouldn't be speaking to me anytime soon, I went about gathering my clothes. I took a moment to mend the shirt Tor had ripped off me last night with my magic before getting dressed. I had just finished tying off my boots when Tor finally sp
TOR POVI approached the group and heard Selene's words. "Thanks to Tor, I was able to find my true self." That is when she saw me standing there and swallowed in surprise. It had been ripping me up inside being so cold to her throughout the day, but I was still so angry with her for endangering herself once again. I wanted to tell her that the only thing I wanted was her safety and that it wasn't all about disobeying my commands. But my inner wolf had not let go of the fact that she was being a stubborn insubordinate creature. She watched me with weary eyes. "Selene, I need to talk to you," I said shortly. Slowly she stood and followed me far enough away so that we wouldn't be overheard. When I turned to face her again, all I could do was stare at her as my mind ran through all of the things that I wanted to say to her. Selene waited patiently, keeping whatever was going through that head of hers to herself. But instead of speaking the words I'd rerun through my head o
SELENE POV "You can stop this now if you would just give yourself up to Damion," the Sorcerer said angrily. "Yet, you would selfishly save yourself when you could save the lives of thousands. You disgust me." The sorcerer's words haunted me as I mended the wounds of those who were injured during the conflict only hours ago. How was it that Damion had twisted the sorcerer's perspective to the point where he would join Damion's side? I understood the desperate need to stop the witch trials and burnings, but how could he trust Damion to that degree? After the sorcerers had disappeared, we made a quick change in trajectory and had run through the night to find somewhere to regroup. Thankfully, no one had been killed during the conflict, only a few sustained minor injuries. Then, after we found somewhere secluded to make camp for the night, I insisted on healing those who were injured. And so I did, with Arlo and Sage at my side. Aiding those within the party was also helping me fee
TOR POVThe next morning, I was still raging inside over Ira's disrespect to my mate. Magnus had assured me he had punished Ira, but there was no suitable punishment except me beating the living h*ll out of him. But I had to put those emotions aside for now as we were growing closer to Damion's location. If all went as planned, we would be arriving at his compound by nightfall. The tension grew amongst our packs as we neared our destination. The wolves were restless as everyone mentally prepared for the battle to come. I was still trying to figure out what to do with my stubborn mate before we arrived at our destination. Since dawn had broken, we were moving in our wolf forms through the marshy wetlands. By the time the noon sun was shining its golden rays down on top of us, the terrain had blissfully dried out. We were now galloping hard and fast through grassy plains. There was little to no cover around us, with hardly any trees and little foliage. Only wildflowers and sageb
SELENE POV "Spare him and I am yours," I said unwaveringly, as I looked up at Damion who was a hairsbreadth away from murdering Tor. Tor's face had crumpled into despair when he saw me. "Selene," he said with pure heartbreaking misery. "Don't you f*cking dare." The battle around us had died off as everyone had stopped fighting to watch with bated breath what would happen next. I saw Cassius from the corner of my eye, watching and waiting to make a move. Damion's cruel laugh echoed off of the walls of the compound. "Isn't this just a treat?" Damion's voice filled with mock delight. "And why shouldn't I just kill them all right now?" he asked with a sneer, his hand flexing on the lever of the crossbow. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Because like he said," I started, gesturing to Tor, "there are hundreds more wolves outside ready to rip your guts out. So either we all die, or you get to live and you get me." Damion's jaw flexed as he stared between Tor and me before finally
TOR POV The second the doors had closed between Selene and me, I ripped myself out of Grayson and Cassius' arms. I was about to charge the door when Cassius grabbed my shoulder again. "Alpha!" he said, I turned on him with murder in my eyes. He took a step back but still gave me an imploring expression. "That weapon, it can destroy us all." I glared at him for a moment before my eyes scanned the packs behind him and somewhere in the haze of my murderous fury, I knew he was right. With a snarl of anger, I clenched my fists. "Move out!" I shouted, before shifting into my wolf form and galloping away from the door. Every step that took me farther from Selene sent bolts of devastation through my body. We were mere hours from sunrise when the packs had made their retreat back to our temporary base. It was a small gorge about an hour's run away from Damion's compound. I'd spent that long hour re-running what had just happened over in my head. By the time we had reached the sa
TOR POV Cassius and I raced back to the gorge and the entire way there, my mind reeled with a plan to break Selene from Damion's grasp. Dawn was breaking when we returned to our base as we slipped down the sides of the canyon walls. We shifted to humans and I walked determinedly through the warriors who had spent their time resting and sparring over the last couple of days. They were biding their time well before the battle begins.As I made my way through the pack, I spotted Kian and Nasir talking with Grayson, Sage, and Arlo. "They're back," I said with elation. Cassius and I hurried over to the group and were soon joined by Ares and Magnus. "What did you find out?" I asked the twins, trying to manage my composure. I had been on a razor's edge for the last couple of days, waiting for the twins to return with word from the witch settlement. I had to believe that they would come to our aid, but I couldn't help but have my reservations. While helping us would rid the threat