One Night

Chapter 231

Audrey

I jolted awake, the scream barely stifled in my throat as my body shot upright in bed, a cold sweat coating my skin.

The lingering images of that awful nightmare haunted me.

Peter. Bleeding. His body crumpled on the floor of that small cabin.

And standing over him was not just Fiona, but…

Axel. His brother.

Axel had betrayed him. Had betrayed all of us-his Alpha, his pack, his family.

The image was so clear, so seared into my mind, I could almost smell the iron täng of blood on my tongue. In the dream, I had been Peter, had felt the pain in his side when the knife plunged in and the terror when he’d realized that Fiona wasn’t alone in that cabin after all.

That was how I knew that it was more than just a dream.

“Edwin. Edwin!” I reached over and shook my mate, the ring on my finger catching the moonlight like a crystallized droplet of blood.

“Audrey…?” Edwin’s voice was thick with sleep. “What’s wrong?”

“I… I had a nightmare.” My voice sounded strange in the stillness of the room, small and distant. “About Peter.”

The change in Edwin was immediate. His eyes snapped open and he sat up, his posture alert, concern etching deep lines across his brow. “What kind of nightmare?”

I took a deep breath, feeling the tremor in my hands as I reached up to push back the damp strands of hair clinging to my forehead. “It… It wasn’t just a nightmare,” I whispered, the certainty growing in me as I spoke. “It was more than that. It felt real, like I was there… Like it was happening to me.”

brush aside my instincts,

I could see the doubt flash across Edwin’s face, but he didn’t dismiss it. He knew better than to brush aside especially when they came with this much clarity.

“Tell me everything,” he urged quietly.

“I think it’s better if I show you.”

Edwin nodded, allowing me into his mind without hesitation.

In a rush, I showed Edwin everything: the cabin, Peter’s crumpled form, the silver knife, Axel’s cold, calculating gaze. As I flooded the details into his mind, his face grew more grave, more pale in the light of the moon.

When I was finally finished, a heavy silence settled between us.

Edwin swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly. “And you’re sure it wasn’t just a dream,” he said. More of a statement than a question.

“Did that look like ‘just a dream’ to you?” I bit out, more harshly than I intended.

Edwin paused, jaw clenching so tight that a muscle ticked beneath his skin. Seeing his little brother like that, the one he’d fought so hard to protect as kids… And Axel, too…

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“I think it was a vision,” I said softly, my voice quavering. “Just like… Just like when I saw Fiona push me over the balcony. was inside her niind then, too,”

Edwin’s eyes softened as they met mine, but the worry in them deepened. He reached up, brushing his thumb along my cheek. His touch was gentle, but his gaze was intense, searching my face for some kind of hint that I might have been mistaken.

But there was none. And he knew that.

“Your eyes….” he murmured, his hand dropping back to his side. They’re glowing again. Silver.”

The warmth behind my eyes became apparent to me then, a familiar sensation that I hadn’t even noticed in my panic. A telltale sign that my powers, in some capacity, had just reared their head.

“Then it had to have been a vision,” I said, pulling back slightly. “You know it as well as I do, Edwin.”

For a long moment, Edwin didn’t say anything. He simply looked into my eyes, fear and disbelief and terror warring in his own. Then, with a heavy exhale, he nodded and threw the covers off of himself.

“Okay. If you think it was a vision, then I believe you.”

His words sent a surge of relief through me, but it was short-lived. I wished it wasn’t a vision, that it really was just a nightmare and that Peter would be home soon. Safe. Not… in a cabin somewhere in the middle of Coldclaw territory with two traitors holding him hostage.

Or possibly…

No. I refused to believe that Peter was dead.

Without wasting another moment, Edwin reached for his phone on the nightstand and tapped on the screen a few times before lifting the phone to his ear.

“Charles,” he said without preamble when the call finally connected. “Have you heard from Peter recently?”

I strained to hear the voice on the other end, but all I caught was a garbled response, too faint to make out. Whatever Charles had said, it clearly wasn’t what Edwin wanted to hear. His frown deepened, his eyes narrowing as he listened.

“No sign of him at all?” Edwin huffed and ran a hand through his dark hair, pacing the room. “Alright. Listen-something’s wrong. I need you to gather a team and head to Peter’s last known location immediately. Don’t wait.”

As he continued giving Charles instructions, I slipped out of bed, my bare feet meeting the cold floor with a shiver that up my spine. My hands pressed against the window as I stared out into the darkness, the moon hanging low in the sky.

Somewhere out there, Peter-Edwin’s brother, my brother-was fighting for his life. And all I could do was sit here and wait.

The Silver Wolf… Useless. Unshifted. Powerless.

“They did this because of us,” I thought to my wolf. “They’re hurting Peter because of me. I should go to him.”

“And do what?” my wolf retorted uneasily. “We are powerless, against two shifted wolves, even with our own abilities.”

My stomach twisted because I knew she was right. And besides, we didn’t even know where Peter was right now-not his exact location, at least.

“Charles is heading out now.”

The sound of Edwin’s voice broke into my thoughts as he came up behind me, his arms sliding around my waist. I leaned into his warmth, my body instinctively seeking the comfort of his presence.

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Chapter 231

“We’ll find him, Audrey,” he said, although I think he was trying to reassure himself more than me. “Before it’s too late.”

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But his words didn’t settle the gnawing fear in my gut. “I should go with them,” I murmured, my voice barely audible. “What if I can help? What if I have another vision and they need me?”

Edwin tensed, his grip on me tightening slightly. “No,” he said. “It’s too dangerous. You’re staying here. With me.”

I turned in his arms, frustration sparking behind my eyes. “But Edwin-”

“I can’t lose you,” he interrupted, his voice breaking through the darkness. “I need you safe, Audrey. You’re not just another part of this fight-you’re everything to me. And if something happens to you-”

He stopped himself from whatever it was he’d been about to say, the words catching in his throat, but I saw the fear in his eyes. Felt it ripple through the bond we shared, thick and suffocating.

I swallowed back my protests, the argument fading as the reality of his words settled into my chest. He wasn’t just trying to protect me he was terrified. And I couldn’t add to that. Not now.

“Okay,” I

wered, modding “I won’t try anything. But promise me, Edwin-promise mening will happen to him.”

He pressed a kiss to my forehead, lingering for just a second longer than usual. “I promise,” he said

But neither of us really believed it.

The hours that followed were filled with an agonizing silence. Edwin paced the room, phone in hand, as if willing it to ring. I stayed by the window, my eyes scanning the horizon as if I could see all the way to wherever Peter was. The sky gradually lightened, the first blush of dawn creeping over the edge of the world, and neither of us slept for another minute.

Then, finally, the phone buzzed.

Edwin practically lunged for the phone. “Charles.”

I held my

breath as he listened to whatever it was that Charles was saying, every fiber of my being straining to catch some hint of the news on the other end. Edwin’s expression gave nothing away as he listened in silence.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he lowered the phone, his face pale as a ghost.

“What is it?” I asked, dread coiling like a loaded spring in the pit of my stomach. “What did Charles say?”

Edwin’s eyes met mine, his voice hollow.

“They reached Coldclaw’s border… and received a message.”

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