One Night
One Night 234

Chapter 234

Audrey

I slid down off of Edwin’s back, my legs quivering as they hit the ground.

Axel and Fiona stood in front of us, their expressions unreadable, but I could feel their gazes burning into us, waiting for our

next move.

My heart thudded violently in my chest-not from fear, but from anticipation. I was more prepared than they would ever know, but I needed to be careful. So I did exactly what we had practiced: I forced my face into a mask of terror, letting my wide eyes tremble, my lower lip quivering as if I were on the verge of breaking.

From the porch, Peter’s voice tore through the air like a wounded animal’s cry.

“Audrey, run! Get out of here!” His voice was raw, cracked from screaming. “Edwin, how could you? How could you bring her here?!” he shrieked, struggling against his bonds.

I turned slightly, stealing another glance at him. He looked even worse up close. His skin was pale, almost translucent, his veins close to bursting beneath his skin.

I’d seen this before-when my mother had almost died in the hospital.

Silver poisoning.

His eyes, though, burned with a fury so intense it was as if he were clinging to life solely through sheer willpower.

“You f****g m***on, Edwin!” he cried, each word more frantic than the last. “You’re a fool! A b***dy fool! Take! Her! Home!”

Beside me, Edwin shifted back into his human form. His eyes were full of barely contained fury, his hands balled up into tight white fists at his sides, the lines of his shoulders taut and hard.

“How could you do this, Axel?” His voice was hardly more than a low growl. “We’re family. You’re betraying your own blood.”

Axel laughed-a cold, jagged sound that sent shivers skittering down my spine despite my preparations. It was the laugh of someone who no longer cared about right or wrong. Fiona had been one thing, a brainwashed pawn of Coldclaw, but Axel.

Axel was just evil. Cruel. Hateful.

“Family? Don’t insult me with that word, Edwin,” he spat out as if the words were venom on his tongue. “The Brooks were never a family. All we’ve ever been were enemies, clawing at one another to try to get on top.”

“Maybe you,” Edwin growled. “Maybe Mother and Father and Malakai. But not me. Not Eliza. Not-”

Axel merely waved him off with his hand before he could finish.

“Oh, spare me. You were always weak. I should have been Alpha, but because you were older, you got the position instead.” His eyes glittered with a dangerous light as he turned to look at me. “But I don’t want to be Alpha of Crescent anymore. I want to be the Rogue King of Coldclaw pack.”

A sick feeling coiled in the pit of my stomach as he said that word.

Pack.

Edwin’s lips curled in disgust. “Coldclaw will never be a pack, Axel,” Edwin practically laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. And even if it were possible to wrangle all of the rogues beneath some semblance of control, you’d be wiped off the board by every other pack in this land.”

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Axel’s smile only widerred. “Is that so?” His eyes didn’t leave mine. “Because I beg to differ. Once I have the Silver Wolf as my Luna, then no one will be able to stop me. I’ll have every wolf groveling at my feet, rogue or not.”

The chill in his voice was enough to make my blood run cold, but I didn’t flinch. Instead, I lifted my chin, silently daring him to try and take me as his bride.

As if on cue, the rogues who were waiting in the trees moved forward. Rogues in various states-mangy-looking wolves, half-dressed men and women with crazed looks in their eyes, haggard pawns who seemed caught somewhere between detached amusement and hungry fear.

“This is nothing,” I felt Edwin’s voice ripple down the bond, bringing with it a sense of calm. “But we can’t let them know that.”

I resisted the urge to nod. Edwin and I had talked about this-about making me appear terrified, weak, defenseless. Desperate. All of which were lies.

“I-I’ll go with you,” I said, my voice trembling in just the right way. I pulled my shoulders inward, as if curling myself away from the oh-so-terrifying rogues. “Just let Peter go. Please.”

Peter’s voice cracked through the air as I took a step forward, “Audrey, no! Don’t do this! Not for me!”

But Axel’s grin just grew, stretching further across his face. “Ah. Smart girl,” he purred. “You heard her, Edwin. You get your

brother back.”

Behind him, Fiona strode up to a writhing Peter, her expression cold as she untied his restraints and shoved him roughly toward us. Peter stumbled across the clearing, his legs barely supporting him, but Edwin was quick, catching him before he hit the snowy ground.

“A-Audrey,” Peter rasped, his voice a mere whisper as he reached for me with hands. “Don’t… don’t do this…”

I swallowed the knot in my throat, forcing myself to look away, blinking back the tears that threatened to blur my vision. “It’s going to be okay, Peter. I promise.”

“No-Edwin, you have to stop her-”

Axel’s hand clamped around my arm, his fingers biting into my flesh. He yanked me closer, his breath hot and rancid against my ear. “Don’t worry, little thing,” he murmured, his voice low and possessive. “You’ll be treated like royalty here. The Rogue Queen, the Silver Wolf.”

For a brief moment, my control faltered, and I couldn’t suppress the snarl that ripped through my throat. My fangs bared, and I felt the familiar burn behind my eyes as they flared with the heat of my wolf’s anger.

“I’m not a thing.”

Axel only chuckled, amused. “Oh, she’s feisty. I like that. She’ll make a good queen.”

Turning to Edwin, he continued, “You have Peter back. Good luck replaceing an antidote for the silver in his veins.”

Edwin’s face fell. My stomach dropped. Was he…?

“You b****d-” Edwin snarled, but Axel wasn’t listening anymore. He was already dragging me away, pulling me toward the dark outline of the cabin. My heart pounded faster now, panic finally setting in.

This wasn’t going how it was supposed to. We were supposed to get the antidote, give it to Peter, and fight off Axel, Fiona, and the rogues together. Peter was on the verge of death. We couldn’t spare any more time.

I yanked against Axel’s grip, my heels digging into the snow. “Wait! You promised to give us the antidote!” I shrieked.

Axel paused, his head tilting slightly as he looked down at me, his lips twisting into a cruel smile. “Oh, my dear,” he cooed,

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his cold voice dripping with mock pity, “you are the only antidote. Are you really st***id enough to think that I would let you go now that I’ve finally gotten what I wanted?”

The realization hit me like a knife twisting in my gut. “No,” I breathed, horror creeping into my chest. “No, you can’t-”

But Axel was already moving again, dragging me with him as I fought desperately, my heels scraping against the earth. “Edwin!” I screamed, twisting in his grip to catch one last glimpse of him.

It was then that time seemed to slow.

The rogues were advancing on a snarling Charles, still in his wolf form, as he protected a kneeling Edwin. Peter was limp in Edwin’s arms, barely conscious. Edwin’s face was pale with shock, his panic rippling down the bond as he stared not at me,

but at…

Fiona.

She had armed herself with a bow, her hands steady as she nocked a silver-tipped arrow. Her face was placid, calm, as she drew back the string and aimed the arrow directly at Edwin’s heart.

“We could have had it all, Edwin,” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the chill wind.

Fiona didn’t hesitate before she loosed the arrow.

I watched the arrow soar through the air, the world around me narrowing to that dangerous silver tip.

“NO!”

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