Chapter 209

Ava

Chris’s fist left a small dent in the cabin wall, causing me to flinch back—not out of fear, but rather surprise. I could practically feel the anger radiating off of him as he turned to face me, his eyes blazing. This wasn’t the Chris I knew. This wasn’t the soft, gentle man I had grown to love.

“This is exactly why we shouldn’t have been so soft on him,” he growled, gesturing at the empty bunk where Patrick had been sleeping soundly the night before. “If we had been tougher, if we had scared the truth out of him, then maybe we would have gotten some real information out of him before he managed to escape.”

“Are you claiming this is my fault?” I blurted out, incredulous.

Chris threw his hands up in exasperation. “I’m not blaming either of us, Ava. I’m the one who fell asleep on watch. But you also could have just let me handle things last night instead of trying to be the ‘nice cop’ all the time.”

I felt my own anger rising to match his. “Oh, please. Like trying to shove his face in the fire accomplished anything except prove that you’re not as unlike your sister as you think.”

Chris’s eyes flashed at that. I, too, was a bit taken aback by my words.

“I didn’t mean—”

“I know what you meant.” Chris stalked over to the table, rifling through his backpack. “And maybe you’re not wrong. Maybe my sister and I both have a bit of darkness in us. But it doesn’t mean that I was actually going to put his face in the fire, Ava. You know I wouldn’t go that far.”

I was silent, because I knew he was right. Still, I folded my arms and pursed my lips as I watched him dress.

“At least he wouldn’t have been able to run away if we had kept him tied up properly,” he hissed as he got dressed. “But you wanted to keep his bonds loose so he could be ‘comfortable’.”

I took a deep breath, trying to keep my cool. “Well, can you blame me? We got more information out of him by being kind than we did by threatening him. I was trying to earn his trust.”

Chris’s jaw clenched. “We could have gotten more if we had pushed harder. But no, you insisted on being nice to this random guy who flirted with you once. And look where that got us.”

“What exactly are you implying?” I asked, my voice dangerously low.

Chris tugged his clean shirt over his head, his eyes narrowed. “I saw the way you looked at him at the bachelorette ball. Maybe you still have a soft spot for him. I don’t know.”

The accusation hit me like a slap in the face. I couldn’t bring myself to believe he would even think that, let alone say it out loud. “Are you serious right now? You know that’s not true.”

“Do I?” Chris challenged.

Scoffing, I turned, grabbing my sweater and tugging it on. “I’m not even going to entertain that,” I hissed. “Look, I know you’re stressed about what you learned about Olivia, and I get it. But don’t you dare take it out on me.”

Chris opened his mouth to retort, but I held up a hand to stop him. “No. I’m done with this conversation. When you’re ready to act like an adult and not push blame, then we can talk. But for now, we have a hike to finish.”

With that, I turned away from him and started packing up our things. I could feel Chris’s eyes on me, but I refused to look at him. After a few moments, I heard him sigh.

“I’m going to check the surrounding area for any signs of Patrick or anyone else,” he muttered.

I didn’t respond, just continued packing in stony silence. As Chris stepped outside, I heard the telltale sound of his transformation. Through the window, I caught a glimpse of his white wolf form loping off into the trees.

I paused in my packing, watching him disappear into the forest. I couldn’t help but notice how often he seemed to want to be in his wolf form lately. Perhaps it was some kind of coping mechanism for feeling like he was a weak Alpha with his pack in trouble.

Or maybe he just felt more in control as a wolf. Either way, it was becoming a pattern.

Shaking off these thoughts, I finished packing and got dressed in silence. The cabin felt oppressively quiet without Chris’s presence, but I welcomed the solitude. It gave me time to calm down and gather my thoughts.

Eventually, Chris returned, shifting back to his human form as he approached the cabin.

“Nothing,” he reported tersely. “No sign of Patrick or anyone else.”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak yet for fear of saying something cruel. We gathered our belongings in silence and set off, continuing our hike to Crescent Moon.

The tension between us was palpable as we walked. The beautiful mountain scenery that had captivated us yesterday now seemed dull and lifeless, and the dropping temperature and light snowfall the closer we got to the peak didn’t help any. Every so often, I would catch Chris glancing at me out of my periphery, but I kept my eyes firmly on the path ahead, rubbing my cold fingers together to keep them from going numb.

Hours passed in this uncomfortable silence. The trail grew steeper and more challenging, the snow going from the occasional flake here and there to small mounds dotting the landscape, but neither of us complained. In a way, the physical exertion was a welcome distraction from our argument.

The sun was beginning to set when we finally caught sight of Crescent Castle in the distance, our breaths coming out in white puffs in the cold air.

The castle’s imposing silhouette and jagged parapets stood out starkly against the darkening sky, the tall watchtowers dark and ominous. The craggy land around the castle was thick with snow, but there were no puffs of smoke billowing out of the many chimneys. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought it was abandoned. I shuddered a bit just at the sight of the place, every bit as cold as its Alpha.

“We’re almost there,” Chris said, the first to break the hours-long silence between us.

I nodded, too tired to maintain my cold demeanor. “Good. I’m exhausted.” I puffed some warm air into my hands and rubbed them together, shoving them into my armpits to keep warm.

Chris opened his mouth as if to say something more, then closed it again. Instead, he pulled his scarf off and handed it to me. I blinked at him for a moment before taking it and wrapping it around my hands. We continued our trek in silence.

As we approached the castle, however, I noticed the slightest movement in the surrounding outcrops of rocks. Shadows flitted between the gaps, barely visible in the fading light. My neck prickled, and I quickened my pace ever so slightly to match Chris’s, although I pretended I hadn’t seen the figures watching us from the darkness.

“Chris,” I whispered, “I think we’re being watched.”

He nodded subtly, but didn’t slow his pace. “I know. Pretend you don’t notice.”

We had barely taken another step when several figures emerged from the rocks, surrounding us in a tight circle. Silent as the shadows, they moved with a predator’s grace. They were dressed in dark gray clothing that blended seamlessly with the boulders, and each held a long, wicked-looking spear.

Before we could react, the spears were at our throats. I froze, my heart pounding in my chest. Beside me, Chris raised his hands slowly, his face calm.

“State your purpose,” a gruff voice barked from behind a solid gray mask that shockingly resembled the color and texture of the large rocks and boulders scattered across the austere landscape. Only two small slots, barely visible in the dim light, existed where the eyes belonged.

“We mean you no harm,” Chris said, his voice steady.

The guard growled and thrust his spear a little closer, causing both Chris and me to stumble back a bit. I winced at the sensation of another sharp tip prodding at my lower back. I had nowhere to go.

“I said, state your purpose!”

Chris cleared his throat, unflinchingly taking his time with his response. I looked over at him, expecting him to be sweating just as much as I was, but I was instead met with a cold mask of indifference.

“I am the Alpha of Moonstone pack, and I demand an audience with Alpha Winston.”