Chapter 89
“Exin that again.” I deadpanned, the tears that burned in my eyes turned to acid.
“It’s exactly what it sounds like.” Tori swallowed heavily, taking another chug from her second ss of
water.
Other than severe dehydration and low blood sugar, Tori was virtually unharmed. Her biggest injury
was the bump on her forehead, and that was from her tumble when the gas had spewed into the room.
She was incredibly lucky, especially considering the sudden influx of white wolf kidnappings over the
last fifteen years. The High Table had been hiding it for quite some time, but it was surprising what
Kade could find out when motivated by the kidnapping of his twin.
While I was beyond ted that she was alive, there were a few things I was struggling toe to
terms with.
She had little to no information about where her and Alec had been taken. They had both passed out
from the gas, and by the time Tori had awoken, Alec was gone.
C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org.
A wave of disappointment surged through me at that, so strong that the floor shifted beneath my feet. I
tried and failed to cloak my emotions from Kade, and weed him when he came to stand behind
me. His arms wound around my waist and anchored me here, keeping me from floating away to where
Alec might be.
She stayed in a room with rough walls and d***y floors, with the constant stench of mold and mildew in
the air. Tori was able to narrow her location down to a basement, but that didn’t help her much. The
room had been fortified with silver, embedded in the walls and floor so that it might cause her the
utmost pain. The only relief she had was from a shabby cot that sat a foot from the ground.
Before she had a chance to learn anything new, Zayne Novak showed up to her rescue.
“Trust me, he didn’t n to be there.” Tori scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. I could tell from
the way she scrunched her nose that Zayne Novak was fairly low on her list. “The stuck-up p***k made
that very clear. He only let me go because he knew Alec would be enough to string you along.
Speaking of which, he wants a meeting with the two of you.”
“A meeting with us?” I hissed, my eyes shing murderously at the thought of getting him in a room
with Kade and I.
“Don’t even think about it, he was specific about the requirements.” Tori grunted and rolled her eyes.
She was still flushed red, but that had happened more than often when she faced someone she
absolutely loathed, and it was not hard to loathe Zayne Novak. “He made sure to let me know he had a
few white wolves that were helping him, they’d know if you told anyone else or came with back-up.”
“F*cking great.” Kade snarled under his breath. I could feel the tension in his jaw and shoulders as if it
were my own, which some of it truly was. “He most likely wants to demand terms for Alec. Those terms
might include you, sweetheart. Which means, war might being sooner rather thanter.”
His body was smooth stone when I ran my fingertips along the underside of his wrist. Itforted me
that my touch made him soften, and made some of that fury seep from his bones.
I was still afraid, but that fear reminded me of what I had to lose. I haven’t had this strange family for
long, but I had grown more attached than I ever thought possible and there was no way I would go
down without a fight.
“I know, and I’m ready for whateveres.” I told him, letting him feel the sincerity behind my words
and the ruthlessness that woulde when I faced our enemies.
“I’m not trying to interrupt this moment or anything—but, there is something else.” Tori swallowed
heavily, her eyes averted and glued to some speck of dust on the wall. After a few moments, she
looked at the two of us. I couldn’t make anything out though the haze of emotions she was feeling right
now, none out of ce for what she had been through. “I want to be at this meeting. The a*****e thinks
he can’t trust me because I’m not close enough to you two. I want to prove him wrong.”
Who was I to question Tori’s hatred towards Zayne Novak when I was building up an unhealthy amount
for his father. Nearly an hourter, the three of us were dressed and silently inching our way down the
hall towards where we nned to meet Zayne Novak.
It was incredibly risky, and could even be cataloged as a very stupid move. We were meeting in a
foreign territory,pletely under his whim and terms. We were walking in absolutely blind. Kade was
more than confident Zayne wouldn’t try anything.
“His father isn’t confrontational, at least—not around certain people.” Kade exined, “He’d be pissed if
Zayne F*cked with either one of us, especially something this serious. Clearly, he doesn’t want his
father to know about this meeting, so he’s going to want it to stay under the radar.”
I had decided to remain in my te grey dress, despite the attendants request to help me change into
another. Kade wore a pair of ck cks and a ck dress shirt. Under any other circumstances, I’d
bepletely enamored with his attire. He looked absolutely drool-worthy, with the sleeves of his shirt
rolled up, exposing hardened arms with a spattering of onyx hair. Tori had showered and changed as
well, and was looking a million times better.
As the three of us walked down the hall, I kept her sandwiched between Kade and I. As much as I
needed the reassurance of my mate, Tori needed it more. Her rescue had been mere chance, and she
was lucky to be standing here right now. I briefly wondered if she had the chance to talk to her parents,
but decided not to mention anything.
Zayne had given Tori a specific floor, room, and time. It wasn’t too difficult sneaking away from the
guards that attended us. Most of the men were Alec and Kade’s—which meant, they wouldn’t disobey
an order from one of their Alpha’s. Kade simply told them to give him some privacy for half an hour.
Most would assume Kade and I wanted some alone time in between the stressful moments we
endured, which was exactly what we wanted.
Most of the heavy traffic in the hotel was on the first and second floors. The three of us saw little to no
one on the upper floors of the hotel, which only served to make things more ominous. We turned
corners and walked past end tables with blooming vases of flowers before finding the room we
searched for.
I could hear the individual breaths of each one of us as Kade knocked on the door. The sound was
near silent, the sound of a heartbeat and yet someone on the other side must’ve heard it. We all
stepped back as the door opened and Zayne Novak appeared on the other end.
“Well? Once you’re finished gawking, I’d appreciate it if you came inside.” He said smoothly, his voice
laced with just enough venom to suit his expensive clothes and perfect hairstyle.
This made Tori snort and Kade bristle. Despite the desperate desire to tear his head off, I made it
through the door with my sanity intact. The hotel room was simr to the others, though theyout was
entirely different. The furniture was still plush and modern, but held someforting elements.
Zayne glided across the room in his grey suit. The white tie he wore around his neck reminded me of
his icy personality. He looked like a male-model in a suit, all pretty and smooth. The only thing off-
putting was the sour look etched onto his face. It seemed vastly out of ce for someone with his
looks.
Tori bristled, and I anticipated the words that came from Zayne’s mouth.
“Don’t act surprised to see me here.” Tori snorted, waving him away with a hand. Even though she
radiated pure malice towards Zayne, she refused to meet his eyes. If Kade noticed the same, he let
nothing on. “You’re just a puppet for your cruel dad. Get on with what you needed to say and lets be
done with it.”
“Since you’re under the impression you know everything, I’m beginning to live for moments to prove
you wrong.” Zayne sneered, looking both handsome and ignorant.
“Oh, I’m under the impression I know everything?” Tori snarled, cing her hands on her hips as she
stared down Zayne Novak.
Zayne’s crystal clear eyes darkened, and his handsome persona looked just a tad more murderous.
Tori matched his anger, and judging from the growl building in his chest, she had won.
“You stubborn, insufferable—”
“Enough. You’re wasting our time if this is why you’ve called us here. My mate is missing and you
yed a part in it.” I snapped, feeling thest of my collective patience fracture.
Zayne’s attention was pulled from Tori, and I was surprised to see some of that anger vanish. It was
reced with unwavering suspicion. I wanted tough for a moment. He was acting as though we were
the bad guys.
“I assume she fed you what I told her.” Zayne spoke quiet yet firm, content onpletely ignoring Tori
all together. She seemed happy doing the same. “I didn’t trust her, so I fed her what I figured she’d
expect.”
“You lied?” Tori snorted, breaking their silent battle in record timing. Her voice turned sickly sweet,
“B******t, Novak. You told me you only let me go because I was useless. Alec was all they needed, why
would they need a tag-along friend?”
“I lied, but not entirely.” He shrugged, not even turning to meet her eyes. That made her fume, her pale
skin erupting in me. She was holding back, I could feel it in the way she attempted to reign her
emotions in. “It would’ve drawn too much attention to let Alec go. You were the least noticeable option.”
“Least noticeable—”
“What part did you y in Alec being taken?” Kade’s serrated voice cut through Tori’s soprano as
though it were tissue paper.
Zayne met Kade’s eyes without flinching, but gave him an assessing stare that made me feel much too
exposed.
“Not as big a part as some others.” Zayne replied smoothly, his face a passive mask as he said the
words that would stun me for time toe. “It doesn’t matter at this point, because you’re going to help
me. In return, I’ll get you your mate back.”