claimd and

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With Elise’s plans in order, they spend the whole day strategizing with Abby, who becomes the Elder Regent at Elise’s request, just until they get back.

Elise takes one last look at her son, who is sleeping soundly, as she kisses his head

for long” goodbye before she turns to Abby. “Thank you so much; we won’t be gone

“Do what you must, my dear; that monster cannot keep on winning,” Abby tells her. And with one last look to her son Ethan promising their return, before she heads to

prepare.

By dawn, they are dressed in tailored dark clothes, with cloaks to cover their faces; her betas all wore black Shadow Wolf leather, ready for combat if needed under their cloaks.

“Afraid, pretty boy?” Michale snickers at Brady, who shoves him as his eyes roll.

“You wish, Hale,” he called with a smile while Jax shook his head at his friends’ antics, covering his head with the cloaks as they reached the gates. With Jax’s signal, they then Teft the walls undetected.

They settled with the woods instead of transportation to draw less attention to themselves. “Rygan is more familiar with the land since we’ll be using the Blackmoon territory to cross borders to the night packs, so we will follow him,” Elise instructs.

“Yes, Luna,” The males bow with a grunt; their gazes were still cold and uncertain about the alpha king’s intentions with their Luna; call it weariness, but they’ve all heard stories of Rygan’s raw and brutal alpha strength that set the betas on edge.

And all the more, he was Hayden’s competition, and even in death, they still wanted to be loyal to their friend’s tragic love even though he was no more.

They blended into the shadows, making sure to stay out of sight and off the road at all times. It was normally a half-day’s journey to the night territories if they took the main bridge, but they were being stealthy not to be found out. They found a small backroad inn at dusk, motioning to stay together and not bring attention to themselves.

The air grew cold as winter was a few weeks away, so Elise and Rygan huddled together as they waited for Jax to go inquire about the place. He comes back out, his eyes calm as he turns to Elise, “I’ve acquired two rooms for you and Alpha Rygan.”

“No, we will be staying together in one,” Elise noted. The betas kept quiet and bowed to her orders.

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“Very well,” he muttered as they all entered the inn. The place was scarcely empty due to it being inhabited by the territories accustomed to visitors, but with the need Kyren had made, there was no movement.

Brady gets the tab for their food, as warm beef stew were served to them for dinner as an old man dropped a jug of water and a plate of roasted duck.

“It’s very rare to see folks visit these parts, especially with what’s going on in the night territories,” the old man with an eye patch notes, “Where ya headed?” His thick accent echoed.

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“Nowhere that concerns you,” Rygan grunts; the man tries to be sneaky and looks under their cloaks to see their faces, but Michale snarls.

“I suggest you run along to serve other waiting customers,” he warned with a friendly smile, though his tone was threatening. The old man whispered an apology before they all dug into their food; its taste was mild, but the heat from the meal did the work to warm their cold bodies.

They eat fast and head up to their rooms. *Be careful and alert because we are in night territories already,* Rygan sends to them, and the betas’ gaze turns to the alpha as they all nod in accordance.

“Well, leave in a few hours,” Elise mutters as she and Rygan depart to the room opposite the betas. Rygan quickly reaches for the fireplace, lighting a match and warming the place up.

*Your betas look at me like I’d eat you alive… I mean, I would, but…* he muttered with a shrug.

Elise blushed to notice the flirtatious undertone beneath his annoyance as she took off her cold cloak. “They just need some time to adjust to the idea that I’m with you, that’s all,” she mutters as Rygan swoops in and kisses her lips.

“Whether they do or not, it doesn’t change how I feel for you; I am yours and you are mine,” he calls, pulling her to the small twin bed and kissing atop her button nose.

“But for now, we need rest before the real deal begins,” he mutters as they then lay on the bed, legs wrapped around each other like vines. His hand pats her back as their eyes grow heavy, and they fall into a light sleep.

The night was short, as they were up before first light; they needed no attention to themselves since they were entering dangerous territory.

C

They stop to re-map their path as they decide to finally head to the main roads. They figured since dusk was about to set, no one would use the bridge because the backroads. would add another day’s journey.

“Why don’t we rest, Luna?”

“Can you drop the formality for a second? And no, I’m not tired; we are almost at the bridg…,” she muttered, but her words die down when they hear footsteps approaching.

*Blend in,* she muttered to them. They fall back into the shadow of the dark woods, quickly masking their faces with their dark cloaks to cover their bodies.

They spot a carriage approaching—a big carriage but with a built-in cage. Elsie’s eyes widen when she sees the familiar cage and Dark Knight insignia; it is the same type that was used to transport her to Kyren.

*Dark Knight Wolves,* Rygan sends down the bond as he recognizes the uniform; his gaze darkens, and so does Elise; all the memories of the taunts and how she was caged and paraded like an animal come rushing back.

And now young women and men were chained up and being transported to Kyren, their g**es and wounds on their bodies wounded from whips the soldiers carried.

Elise’s nose flared as she watched one of the guards reach into the cage, trying to touch under a young girl’s skirt, and when she skittered back, he grabbed her hair and banged her head against the metal frame of the cage. “Little b**h!” He called as the Dark Knight soldiers snickered.

“Don’t worry, we’ll show her what true c**k tastes like on the next stop, and we will take turns!” Elise could watch no longer as she came out of the shadows with one word to her males: *kill them,* she instructed.

The carriage stops when they see someone has blocked their paths as one spits out in irritation.

“Who the f**k are you? Do you know whose package you’re stopping-agh?” One of the guards groaned as a silver dagger was pierced through his heart from Brady’s blade. Her betas were in attack mode, with Rygan leading the small cavalry.

They rushed to the scene with Rygan’s mighty claws ripped another male’s throat. The 12 other guards watched in shock before they all attacked, but they were no match for Elise and the four males as they broke through the force’s attack.

Laying waste to the enemy, she rushed to the cage. The captives stared wide-eyed in shock and fear as Elise raised the dark cover around them; her body slightly sagged

09

with relief that she arrived in time.

Q

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With her cloak covering her face and four large men towering over her, she must seem like a threat to them, as she shows a kind, assuring smile to their panicked faces. It immediately calmed them down as a tear escaped her face.

“Don’t worry, we’re here to help, and you’re safe now.” Cries of relief spread as she watched their once fearful faces grow into tears and ease. Her eyes scan the marks and wounds even on a young child no more than the age of ten. Elise’s wrath grows by the seconds as she sets their chains free.