Chapter 29
Nadia leaned down to finish lacing her boots as Caidrik drove the icy roads far faster than was prudent.
The tires skidded just enough to make her brace her feet, the car shuddering as wind-driven snow slapped the sides.
Her fingers ached from the cold, but she finished and reached for her pack in the backseat.
There had to be something in the grimoire.
He glanced down for half a second. “You really think it was a good idea to take the grimoire?”
She gulped. “I don’t know.” She leaned back and forced several deep breaths, slow and deliberate.
This was unbelievable. They’d been caught.
She honestly hadn’t taken the chastity rule seriously, not in the slightest, but Bussy had been insistent.
Snow streamed sideways past the windows.
The world outside had been reduced to white motion and darkness.
Caidrik took a corner fast and kept driving. “I’ll get you to safety and then I’ll take care of any threats.”
Her temples ached. “You can’t take on the whole pack.”
“I will if I need to.” His jaw clenched harder, and his hands remained steady on the wheel despite the billowing storm outside.
His determination warmed her, even as she feared for the pack. She pulled the grimoire free and flicked on the overhead light. The weak yellow glow barely cut through the dark. Snow beat mercilessly against the vehicle. The storm made everything feel closer and more dangerous.
“Didn’t Solomon say if we broke the rules, the pack had to come after us?” She frowned, searching her memory. “I thought he said something like that at the beginning, but I’m not sure.”
“I wasn’t paying that close of attention,” Caidrik admitted.
Yeah, they hadn’t taken the chastity issue seriously.
She flipped pages toward the back third and then yanked out the several translated notebooks.
“I don’t even know what word is chastity.
” She started flipping through the most complete notebook.
Some of the translated words were in Alphabetical order, and many weren’t, like the person went back and translated words as they could.
She wasn’t even sure whose handwriting it was.
She flipped again. “Here it is. Chastity. Okay.”
She memorized the word and then returned to the grimoire, tracing each line as she read. “Okay. Here’s something.” Her chest tightened.
Caidrik took another turn and checked the rearview mirror, his gaze scanning the empty, snow-choked road behind them.
“I don’t think anybody will come after us until tomorrow, at least until light.
A lot of the enforcers are still out dealing with the Ravencalls and Ghostwind,” he murmured, sounding like he was creating battle scenarios in his head.
She glanced at him. “We’re not going to fight the whole pack, Caidrik.” Tension wound through her, sharp and exhausting. “That’s no way to live. Even if we did survive it.”
“You’re not fighting anybody,” he retorted, hands sure on the wheel as the car pushed deeper into the storm. “How’s the silver in your system?”
“It’s still there.” She could feel the metal slugging through her veins. “I thought maybe us mating would help it dissipate.”
He chuckled without the sound of humor. “You might need to give it more than one day.”
Fair enough. “Let me take it word by word,” she muttered, already knowing she was totally screwing all the rules.
The car jolted again, suspension groaning, and she braced her elbow against the door as she copied down the passage she thought dealt with chastity.
Her handwriting wobbled with every bump.
When she finished, she stuffed the grimoire back into the pack and returned to the notebook.
She found the word chastity. Good. All right.
She could do this. She slowed herself down and started translating the words one word at a time, forcing her mind to stay on the page instead of spiraling ahead.
Finally, her eyes needed a break, so she looked out at the trees blanketing them. “Where are we going?”
“I have a cabin,” Caidrik said. “Nobody knows about it, including Bulwark. We can hole up there for the night and then figure out our best move.”
She looked up and over at him, really looked. His shoulders were tense, posture forward, like he was already braced for impact. “Do you think Bulwark actually has a chance of becoming the Alpha?”
Caidrik shook his head. “I don’t know, but Bussy sure seemed to think so. The asshole has a point. It’s our word against his.”
Her throat tightened. “About what happened on the cliff? He tried to kill me.”
“Yeah. I’ll take him out. Regardless.” Caidrik glanced down at the grimoire before returning his focus to the road. “Does the book say what happens to the pack if there isn’t a challenger left standing?”
“I don’t know,” she said grimly. “There’s got to be a way out of this. I just don’t know what it is.” She reached across the console and took his hand, threading her cold fingers through his heated one. “We’ll figure it out. How far is this cabin?”
“About an hour. I’d say we should just shift and run in wolf form, but we can’t just leave the grimoire here. It’s too important to the pack, at least until those laws are changed. However, if I do order you to shift, you do it. I’ll consider it life or death.”
“I know,” she muttered. She wished she were at full strength. She wasn’t even close.
Her thoughts kept circling back to the pack.
Bulwark was selfish and cruel. He’d burn everything if it meant winning.
There had to be a way to stop this. She dropped her gaze and forced herself back to the notebook.
Finally, she leaned back and read the words again, slower this time.
“I found the passage.” Taking a deep breath, she read:
Chaste they stand till trial be done,
‘Til Alpha’s breath is duly won.
Spill seed or touch ere judgment’s made,
And pack shall hunt the oath-betrayed.
He winced. “Spill seed? Are you fucking serious?”
Her eyes even hurt. “At least it rhymes?”
He grunted. “I’m not sure what it means.”
“I think it means we’re supposed to be killed,” Nadia said as she kept reading “But wait. There’s more.” Dang it. She didn’t know these words yet..
“Oh, great,” he muttered. “It probably explains how they’re supposed to kill us.”
She shook her head. None of this was believable, but ancient laws were ancient laws. Why hadn’t her father bothered to change these?
They reached the cabin not long after. Caidrik turned off the road onto a barely-there trail, branches scraping the side of the car hard enough to make her flinch.
Emily would be furious. So much for the paint job.
The trees thinned, revealing a dark shape pressed against the rock, half-swallowed by shadow and snow.
“It looks like it goes into the rock,” she said.
“Yeah. It’s hidden.” He cut the engine and kicked open the door. “Wait for me. I’ll make a trail for you. The snow’s up to my chest out here.” He jumped down, circled the rig, and opened her door. “Forget it. I’ll just carry you.”
She scrambled to grab her notebooks and the pack.
He lifted her, keeping her away from the powder. “I’ll get our bags in a second.”
Bussy had already packed them. Had the female suspected what was coming?
Nadia held on to Caidrik as he carried her, tucking her nose into the warmth of his neck. Snow melted into her hair and down the collar of her coat. “I don’t want to live on the run for our whole lives,” she said, the words muffled against his skin.
“We won’t be.” He shouldered the door open and carried her inside, setting her carefully on her feet.
The cabin smelled like wood and old smoke, the kind that lingered even when no one had been there for a while.
The place was an A-frame with a bed up in a loft.
“I’m not joking. I’ll take out every member of that pack if I have to. ”
She shivered, and not just from the cold that still clung to her clothes. “But I love the pack.”
“Then we’ll have to reach some sort of agreement,” he said reasonably, already moving toward the stone fireplace. Kindling was stacked neatly inside, just waiting for a flame. He struck a match and the fire caught instantly. Light bloomed and threw shadows across the walls.
She took a slow look around. A small kitchenette sat against one wall that had a narrow counter, dented sink, and a hot plate.
A cupboard above the sink most likely held canned goods.
A battered table with two chairs was pushed near the hearth.
A plain door led to a compact bathroom. “I take it this is a bachelor pad.”
He snorted. “It’s a safe house.” He dusted off his hands.
“The exits are front door, back door, side windows both up in the loft and down here,” he continued, practical as ever.
“If you need one, follow me. But we should be okay. I don’t think anyone’s going to find us out here for now.
As long as Bussy managed to keep anyone from following us tonight, the storm should erase our scent.
” He paused. “By the time they come looking—”
Her phone dinged. She pulled it from her pocket.
He jolted. “You brought your phone?”
She gave him a look. “My pack doesn’t have GPS. There’s no way to trace us. You know that.”
“Oh.” He exhaled, visibly mollified. “That’s a good point.” He looked down at his snow-covered jeans. “I’ll get our bags,” he said, stepping back outside. The door shut behind him with a dull thud.
She lifted the phone to her ear. “Hi, Em.”
“Oh my God,” Emily said. “I just heard. Are you safe?”
“I am.”
“Did you really steal the grimoire?”
Nadia grimaced. “Yeah. I mean, I didn’t steal it. I borrowed it.”
“Oh my God. You know they have to come after you, right? You can’t have the grimoire.”
“I’m not done translating it,” Nadia burst out. “There’s got to be a way to fix this, and I will find it.”
Emily breathed heavily. “You and Caidrik need to get to our territory. We’ll protect you.”
“Hold on,” Nadia said. “Let me see if there’s any way out of this by using our laws.
I mean, before we have two packs go to war over this, which would blow the entire Stope Pack coalition apart.
We can’t afford that right now. The Ravencalls and the Ghostwinds made a move last night, and Caidrik set them back.
They’ll be coming again.” She looked toward the door as Caidrik came back inside, snow falling from his shoulders.
“We’re safe. Let me translate this thing before I have to give it back. ”
“All right,” Emily said. “I’ll see if I can run some interference.”
Nadia had to keep her pregnant sister safe. “Thank you. But do it from where you are.”
“Of course,” Emily said thoughtfully. “Maybe I can call Solomon and see if there’s any way you can just borrow the grimoire.”
“Yeah, right. Not in a million years,” Nadia said. “But I will get it back to him. Tell him.”
Emily huffed. “Okay. Thanks. I love you.”
“I love you too, Em. Don’t worry.”
Her sister clicked off.
Nadia’s phone buzzed again. She lifted it to her ear. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Bussy. Did you get to safety?”
“Yes, we did. Thank you for having bags packed.” Nadia hesitated. “Did you know this would happen?”
Bussy coughed. “No, but it’s good to be prepared, and I am the lupine aunt, which means this sort of thing falls on me now.” She cleared her throat. “I think we should meet. Okay?”
“Absolutely.”
Bussy’s tone warmed. “I’ll bring Solomon. You bring the grimoire.”
“I’m not done translating it.”
“You have all night, and then you have to give it back. It’s the only thing that’s going to keep the pack from coming after you.”
Hope stirred in Nadia. “You mean they won’t hunt us down if I give the grimoire back?”
Bussy sighed loudly. “No, that’s not true. But there’ll be less of a fiery demand if you return it. You know you can’t keep it.”
Nadia’s heart sank. “I know. Okay. We’ll meet you tomorrow.”
Caidrik shook his head slightly.
“Excellent. Let’s keep this between us,” Bussy said. “Where should we meet?”
Nadia kept her gaze on Caidrik. “I’ll call you in the morning with a location.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you then. Bye,” Bussy said.
The call ended. Dread slithered through Nadia. She dumped the notebooks onto the small round table. “We’ve only got a few hours.”
Caidrik looked at her and then at the now roaring fire before glancing up at the bed in the loft. “Well then, let’s make use of it.” He crossed the space in two strides and picked her up.
“Hey. You’re all wet,” she said, struggling half-heartedly.
“You’re right.” He tossed her right up into the loft, where she bounced on the bed.
She settled herself and peered down to see him tearing off his shirt, his hands already going to his pants. Her body went all warm and loose. “Caidrik, we don’t have time for this.”
He kicked the jeans away. “We always have time for this.” Naked, he bounded up into the loft.