Chapter 149


    Elena POV


    Axton and I spent the night watching movies. Or I did because he fell asleep about twenty minutes in,


    and I have been listening to him snore quietly ever since. Flipping my pillow over, I try to getfy.


    However, my mind is on what Marco had said earlier about us being under suspicion for my parents’


    murder when in fact, it was a murder-suicide. One done out of my mother’s love for us, but I now


    wonder if it was also to put herself out of her own misery of living with a broken mate bond. I couldn’t


    imagine that torture.


    My mind didn’t want to switch off, conjuring up every scenario from the past couple of days, how rapidly


    our lives have changed. I can’t remember how we got here. How did our lives get to this point? It


    seems more like I am thinking of someone else’s memories, not mine. Or maybe I am still in shock and


    grief that is making me feel like an outsider in my own life. I wanted to find a way to make sense of the


    chaos, but it felt like I was grasping at straws. I felt like I had been living in a parallel universe with no


    control over my life. I just wanted to go back to the way things were. The way things were when our


    lives weren’t so broken. So once again, in the dead of night, sleep eludes me.


    My mind keeps churning, working in overdrive, and my body refuses to rest. I can’t shake the feeling of


    restlessness that has kept me awake, and I know I need to find something to upy myself.


    My mind fixates on the files Marco had left for me at the council chambers. It is almost as if they hold


    the answers to all of our problems, and I need to find a way to ess them. I know I won’t be able to


    rest until I have those files. As I sit up in bed, my eyes adjusting to the darkness, I know I need to go


    get them.


    So, I slipped out of bed, being extra mindful not to wake Axton, who always seemed to have a way of


    sensing when I was up to something.


    The only problem was they were sitting untouched in my filing box. at the council chambers. So, with a


    sense of guilt, I get dressed as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake Axton. He stirs but rolls over,


    blissfully unaware of my escape. I tiptoe to the closet and grab some clothes. I grab a pair of dark


    jeans, a ck sweater, and a pair of ck sneakers. ncing over my shoulder toward the bed, I


    quickly dress and grab my keys from the bedside table before heading out the door.


    Guilt washes over me as I snuck out of the house, but my need for answers outweighed everything


    else. The night air is cool and crisp as I step out of the house, the moon casting its pale light over the


    world around me, and I gently pull the door closed and rush to my car. Putting the car in neutral, I let


    the car roll down the driveway and onto the street. With onest parting nce at the house, I start the


    car. He won’t even realize I left, and it is like a ten-minute drive.


    I moved quietly through familiar streets. The city streets are eerily still and silent, the darkness only


    illuminated by the asional streetlight. I can feel the tension in the air, and I feel a chill run down my


    spine as I drive. The streets are coated in a thickyer of fog. I can barely see the white lines on the


    road and the outlines of the buildings around me.


    The quietness of the ce is unnerving, making my senses on high alert as I near my destination.


    “It’s the curfew, remember? The entire city has a curfew now. You’re freaking out for nothing,” Lexa


    reminds me, and I exhale, having forgotten all about the city being on lockdown during the night. A


    guilty feeling nags at me, knowing I am sneaking around


    at this hour, knowing I am viting my mate’s rules for the city, but my curiosity got the best of me.


    Pulling up at the council chambers, the gates are open. “Crap, Soyer must have forgotten to close


    them,” I curse, and Lexa grumbles in my head, but it saves me from unlocking them. Upon pulling into


    the parking lot, I find it deserted. No cars in sight. I switch the car off and reach into my handbag, which


    I left in the car. I rummage through it, looking for my keys and passcard for the security doors inside.


    Finding them, I shove my door open and climb out.


    The council chambers at night are hauntingly eerie. The only sound is the asional wind gust through


    the deserted parking lot. The darkness of the night is only broken by the pale moonlight. The fog seems


    to add to the sense of dread as I look up at the huge building cast in shadow by the skyscrapers


    surrounding it. As I approach the council chambers, the shadows in the windows seem toe alive. I


    know it is just my paranoia, and Lexa has a fun time making fun of me as I make my way to the huge


    doors.


    I ce my key in the panel, and the sliding doors open. I rush inside to the rms and flip open the box


    to turn the rms off; however, when I look at the panel, I notice they already are off.


    “Geez, I know Marco was in a rush, but damn, this is just in careless,” Lexa mutters to me.


    Closing the rm panel, I move to the next set of doors and unlock them with my card. I push through


    the turnstiles and head toward the filing room, turning lights on as I pass.


    Once again, I use my card to open the door and flick the lights on. They flicker and buzz before turning


    on and illuminating the ce. Rows of hardwired cabs line this room. Each pack has its own row.


    Mine is at the back by the far window, covered in steel bars I wander toward the back, where my filing


    cab and postal box are.


    I set my bag on the desk in the far corner near my filing cab. I slide my card through the swipe


    code, and it turns green and opens the door for me to slide out and rummage through. I find the


    envelope sitting at the top and grab it out. Shutting it with my hip, the cab bings telling me it’s


    locked, and I wander to the desk to check everything is here when suddenly the lights go out.


    The room is plunged into darkness, and I stare at the ceiling and instantly reach for themp on the


    desk. It doesn’t turn on. “Well, duh. The power is out!” Lexa tells me, and I groan at my stupidity.


    “Just grab it and let’s go,” Lexa tells me. My eyes adjust to the darkness, and I move back to my


    handbag, cramming the file into it. I pull the strap over my hip when I notice the parking lot lights are


    still on. “Aren’t the city lights on a different grid?” Lexa asks. “Maybe,” I offer when I notice two cars in


    the rear parking lot through the steel bars.


    “Wait, isn’t that Soyer’s and Cane’s car?” Lexa asks as I peer out into the eerie foggy parking lot. I lean


    closer, peering out the window. “Maybe they walked to the club across the road and caught a taxi


    home,” I mumble to myself. Shaking my head, I turn around, head down, rummaging at the bottom of


    my bag for my keys. However, I walk into a wall. I stagger back when a set of hands grip my arms. A


    growl tears out of me, and I lift my gaze finding Alpha Cane. I exhale a breath of relief.


    “Geez, Cane. I p his arm trying to catch my breath after the fright he just gave me. “You nearly gave


    me a heart attack.” Iughed aloud. He stares at me, and I wonder if he is drunk.


    “Did youe to collect your car? Is Soyer with you? Make sure you lock the gates on your way out,” I


    remind him about to step


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    past him when he steps in my path. I look up at the man. He watches me with cold eyes that seem


    vastly different. It takes me a second to figure out why, the whites of his eyes are red. I squint at him.


    “Cane, are you alright?” I ask him. While Lexa presses anxiously against my skin, a shiver runs down


    my spine, and dread pools in my stomach. His aura feels off. Different.


    “I actually liked you,” Cane tells me, speaking slowly.


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    “Pardon?” I ask, confused.


    “But you just had to snoop, couldn’t leave things be.” He snarls. The next minute I see his fist fly toward


    my face. Everything happens so fast that I didn’t expect it. His fist connects with the side of my head so


    hard I see literal stars. With more force than that of any werewolf, I’ve encountered.


    Darkness swallows me seconds before I hit the ground, my ears ring loudly, and my head seems to


    have developed its own heartbeat as it throbs violently. Footsteps barely reach my ears, and I try to


    remember what is going on. Am I dreaming?


    “It didn’t have to be this way; I never asked for this. But you forced my hand!” Comes an angry voice


    when suddenly I feel, hear, and see nothing.