The stony silence enveloped the car painfully as Luca drove south, far, far south. Alissa and Michael were both sporting crossed arms glaring daggers at each other. The darkness of the night was starting to give way to day, their features lit up by the yellow street lamps at regular intervals and the sun not quite at the horizon. Luca rubbed his face, stretching his fingers from gripping the steering wheel for so long.  “Have you two finished yet?” Luca snapped at the thick atmosphere.“No.” Alissa sulked, clenching her jaw. “You could have told me,” Michael pouted. “And you could have kept your trap shut!” Alissa retorted, twisting in her seat. 

An arm went around Alissa and she was suddenly pulled back and slammed into the intricately painted wall. A large hand went around her throat and tightened before she was lifted, her legs dangling helplessly below her. Panic exploded in her chest, memories filtered into her mind of all the times she was in the same position. She was back in the office. She was back being a slave. She was alone, back being the whipping pole. She struggled desperately, her fingernails digging into the hand pinning her in place but then as quickly as it happened the hand disappeared from her neck.  Alissa landed but didn't manage to regain her footing, falling heavily to the floor in a heap. She looked up to see her attacker being wrestled by two large burly men, similar build and height to Malachi. Cain between them, a sick twisted smile on his face. “I'm sorry, miss” one of the burly men mutte

A few moments later a phone was handed to Rufus, he dialled and everyone waited “Hello, it's High Lykos Rufus… No no problem I was wondering if Kristen was around… yes, yes I'll wait.” Rufus looked around the room “See what she had to say shall we?” he focused back on the phone, pressing it so everyone could hear “Not a word Cain, Miss Howthorne” Alissa nodded, Cain just stared seriously. They heard a rustle then “Hello?” her voice crackling through the phone“Hello is that Kristen?”“Yes, Blake said you wanted to speak to me High Lykos? Is my brother OK?”“Yes dear he's fine I just need to ask-”“Darling it's daddy just tell… them… that-” every cou

The darkness wrapped around the woodland when they finally drove up their road. Alissa was about ready to drop and Michael was snoring the back. Luca rubbed his eye as he reversed into the car shed, squeezing beside the other car. Turning off the engine, he just had to sit for a minute. He’d been ignoring what had just happened.Or maybe he was just not processing it properly. He wouldn’t talk about it though or let Alissa know. No way. He needed to be strong for her and she was already stressed with the ceremony preparations. He didn’t need to add to anything she was feeling. His issues were his own, they always had been. They always would be. “We home?” Alissa asked sleepily. 

Ice shot down her back as more growls were added to the first. Grabbing Luca’s hand she looked around, as did everyone in the clearing. A rumble of disquiet filtered through the crowd, the unease as everyone craned to look where the growls had come from. Every Alpha in the clearing began growling and coming forward, their backs tense, a pose of protection mimicked by every Alpha. Despite their growls, it hadn't been them to growl initially.  A flash of fur had Alissa turning to spot a dark wolf slipping from between the trees before others came into view, teeth flashing in the moonlight.  Luca reacted instantly, pulling his arm from Alissa and pushing her behind him, away from the wolves who were surrounding the gathering. She instinctively grabbed onto his jacket, she was more shocked than scared, her mind not compre