Chapter 3 #3
“You’re not just part of this,” Aeolus murmured. “You’re the reason we’re going to win.”
His fingers tightened at her waist, his tone rough with promise. “And when I find him, Candy… I’m not letting you see the body.”
She smirked, wicked and warm all at once. “That’s fine. As long as you let me take the first shot.”
His grin was all teeth. All wolf. All hers.
The tension in the room shifted. It no longer crackled with fear or dread.
It thrummed with purpose.
The hunt had begun.
And for the first time in her life?
Candy wasn’t the prey.
She was the storm coming to destroy him.
* * *
The Stavros compound was alive with motion.
The tension in the air was electric—thick with war magic and the promise of violence. Wolves moved like a machine of muscle and instinct, securing gear, checking weapons, speaking in clipped, deadly tones. Plans had been finalized. Orders dispatched.
The hunt had officially begun.
Candy stood just inside the great hall, her arms folded, heart thudding slow and even as she watched Adonis finish gearing up.
He buckled a strap across his chest with calm, almost lazy precision—but she wasn’t fooled.
Every motion was intentional. Efficient.
He looked like he was preparing for a battlefield, not a babysitting mission.
Then again, with Betsy involved, those two things might be the same.
Aeolus stood beside her, unmoving and carved from shadow and fury. His hands were loose at his sides, but Candy could feel the power coiled inside him, barely held in check. His wolf was on a razor-thin leash.
And no one asked if he was coming.
Not a single enforcer looked at him expectantly. Not one dared to suggest he should lead the team.
Because they all knew: he wasn’t going anywhere without his mate.
Adonis adjusted his harness and let out a sharp breath, already half turned toward the exit. “So. Looks like I’m the lucky one heading out to collect your sister.”
Candy raised a brow. “The enforcers couldn’t catch her?”
Adonis gave her a slow, unimpressed look. “They tried. She outran two wolves on foot and spell-blinded the third.”
Candy didn’t even try to hide her grin. “Sounds about right.”
Aeolus glanced between them, his expression unreadable—but the arm he slid around Candy’s waist spoke volumes. His claim was silent, instinctive. Protective. But also amused.
Adonis rolled his shoulders with a casual shrug. “I figured I’d have better luck with her.”
Candy snorted. “You won’t.”
That made him pause. “Oh?”
“She’ll only come if she wants to,” Candy said. “You could be ten feet of muscle and magic, and it wouldn’t make a damn difference. Betsy doesn’t bend for anyone.”
Adonis’s golden eyes sparked with interest. “Not even for her big sister?”
“Oh, I called her,” Candy said with a grin. “Gave her a heads-up. Told her wolves were coming.”
Adonis blinked. “You warned her?”
“I’m not going to ambush her,” Candy replied, unapologetic. “She’s had enough of that in life.”
A low chuckle slipped from Adonis. “So you’re sending me in cold?”
“I’m sending you in informed,” she said sweetly. “Good luck, by the way. You’re gonna need it.”
Aeolus huffed a laugh under his breath—low and dark—but said nothing. His grip on her hip tightened, warm and firm.
Adonis just shook his head, grinning like a wolf who couldn’t decide whether to be annoyed or impressed. “You know,” he said, stepping toward the door, “this might be my first mission that ends with me begging a siren to get in the damn car.”
“She might make you sing for it,” Candy muttered.
He pointed at her with two fingers. “If I come back with bruises, I’m telling everyone you betrayed me.”
“Make it a good story,” she said.
Adonis’s smirk faded into something quieter. “Keep your phone on. If anything changes, you call me first.”
Aeolus finally spoke, voice like cracked stone. “She won’t need to.”
Adonis didn’t argue. He just nodded once, turned on his heel, and strode for the exit. His wolves—six of them now, lean and lethal—fell into place behind him.
And then they were gone, vanishing into the cool night with barely a whisper of sound.
The compound was still again. But the energy remained—tighter now, focused. Waiting.
Candy sighed, pressing a hand to the place where Adonis had just stood. “You sure we shouldn’t have given him a tracking beacon or something?”
Aeolus pulled her close, turning her toward him with hands that trembled only slightly from restraint. “Adonis can handle himself.”
Her brows lifted. “And Betsy?”
He gave her a long, slow look. “That’s the real threat.”
Candy laughed, but it faded quickly as the reality settled in. The hunt had started. Her stalker—the same man who had haunted her since she was sixteen—was no longer in the shadows. He’d crossed a line.
And now?
He’d drawn the attention of wolves.
Aeolus pressed a kiss to her temple. “You’re not alone in this anymore.”
Candy leaned into him, her voice steady. “I know.”
Because this time, she didn’t have to run.
She didn’t have to hide.
This time, she had a pack.
And the monster who hunted her?
He had no idea what was coming.