Liam is already in bed when I return to the room. He excused himself while I spent a couple of hours talking and catching up with Mom and George.

He looks up from his phone and smiles.

"Why aren't you asleep? You look exhausted."

"I was waiting for you," he responds, innocently.

I sit down next to him on the bed. "Well, that was dumb. If I'd known, I would've come back sooner."

"I didn't want to disturb you," he sets his phone down and gently strokes my hand.

"Okay, give me five minutes. I'm just gonna take a quick shower and I'll be back," I ask and he lets my hand go.

I rush to the bathroom and take the quickest shower. After brushing my teeth and changing into a pair of pajamas with a tank top, I head back into the room. I can't help but chuckle a little when I notice Liam's already passed out. He waited two hours but a few extra minutes were his undoing.

I settle into the bed and he wraps his arm around me, pulling me closer. I turn around to see if I might have woken him but he's still fast asleep. Snuggling closer into his chest, I inhale his deliciously toxic scent and within a few minutes, feel myself drifting off to sleep.

~~~

Most of the next morning goes by in a rush. From getting everything packed, to having breakfast with Mom and George, and saying our goodbyes, there is very little time for us to do anything else. So it isn't until we get in the car and set off to return back home that I can ask Liam how everything went at the Conference.

"Everything was surprisingly normal. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Daxton wasn't around for the most part and I was this close," he gestures bringing his thumb and index finger close together, "—to losing my shit when he showed up in front of me during the lunch break, but before I could do anything, he just started apologising," he shakes his head in disbelief.

"Obviously, no one said anything about the rogue attack we had when I brought it up and Alpha Price acted oblivious about it, just like he did on the phone."

"Didn't you ask him about Michael?" I wondered aloud.

"No. I didn't want to bring him up. Otherwise, he would find out that we knew about everything him and his son had been up to."

I hummed in agreement.

"Anyway, now that they've all chosen me as the Head Alpha, I can start talking to a few of them in private about the whole rogue situation and we can decide where to go from there. Because if there is going to be a war, we better make sure we have majority of the Alphas' support," he states, staring ahead at the road.

"There could be a war?" I squeak, horrified.

Liam takes his free hand and holds mine with it, bringing it to his lips and placing a soft, sweet kiss on the back. "It's all going to be fine. That is just the worst case scenario and the likelihood of that happening is very, very low," he emphasises.

"Besides, from what I witnessed at the pack yesterday, I think Alpha Price is really tired of his son's antics. He even told me himself that he had warned Daxton to get his shit together or he won't name him the Alpha and hand over the reins to his nephew instead."

Not having anything to add to the conversation, I just nod my head as I stare straight at the road ahead.

"Don't worry, baby. I've got you," he gives me his prettiest smile and winks, making me laugh.

Soon we are out of Blood Moon's territory and Liam pulls the top off the car, letting the wind enchant the both of us.

Jason and the warriors are closely following us in two separate cars. But as soon as we're away from Blood Moon, Liam decides to speed up, leaving them too far behind to even be visible to us. My hand is still in his and the strong wind now ruffles through my hair.

In a short while, we exit the highway onto the small road for our pack which should now only be an hour or so away, considering we've been travelling for almost three hours.

Jason and the other car seem to be nowhere in sight when a large brown wolf jumps out from the woods and halts right in the middle of the road, forcing Liam to pull hard on the brakes. The car screeches to a stop as we both stare at the wolf in front of us.

"Is it someone from the pack," I ask Liam, cautiously.

"No. Stay in the car, April," he orders, sternly, as he steps out of the vehicle and takes a step forward towards the large animal who bares its teeth at him.

The first thing I can think to do is to contact Jason so I open my mind-link with him.

"Uh, Jason," I call out.

"Liam has informed me of the situation, April. Just sit tight, we're almost there," he instantly responds.

I nod even though I know he can't see me. My eyes are still glued to Liam who is now stepping closer to the wolf that seems to look more and more hostile by the minute. All of a sudden, two men emerge from the woods on either side of the wolf.

"Well, well, well. Alpha Liam. You didn't really think we were going to let you off so easily, did you?" One of the men speaks.

"What do you want," Liam asks, gruffly.

"That will be answered soon enough," the other man answers. His eyes land on me for a second and Liam is quick to notice.

Luckily, Jason arrives with three of the warriors at that moment and I find myself sighing in relief until the first man speaks up again.

"Oh, look. How cute. You called for backup," he spits, getting ready to attack.

"Deal with them Jason. I need to get April out of here," I hear Liam order through the mind-link.

In a second, Jason and the warriors shift and lunge for the three attackers. The other two men also shift as all the wolves tear at each other. Liam quickly rushes towards me and I feel my heart thumping in my chest.

My eyes widen in horror and before I can speak up, a number of new wolves emerge from the forest with one of them lunging at Liam and throwing him to the ground. My heart jumps into my throat as I stare in shock. My first instinct is to step out and go to Liam and I think he senses it too.

"Don't, April!" he shouts through the mind-link. "Just get the car and leave as fast as you can." He commands.

Meanwhile the rest of the wolves have clearly outnumbered Jason and the warriors and there is flesh and blood flying around in the most gruesome scene.

I pause for a second unable to process the thought of leaving Liam behind as he tries to fight off the wolf in his human form, not getting the chance to shift.

"Go!" He yells, making me snap back into reality.

Quickly, I shift my weight and move over to the driver's seat. But before I can step onto the accelerator, I feel cold metal against the skin on my temple, making me stiffen.

"Going somewhere?" an all-too-familiar voice enters my ears that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Turning my head around slowly, I come face to face with the barrel of a gun held by none other than the vile, disgusting, Daxton.

He looks over towards Liam who is still too busy fighting with the wolf to notice him.

"Tell your warriors to stop, Liam, before I shoot your pretty little Luna with one of my precious silver bullets," he says so calmly, it makes my blood boil.

The wolf that had been on top of Liam steps away, leaving behind Liam to finally look at me. His eyes are filled with fear, something I have never seen in them before.

He orders everyone to stop via the mind-link and suddenly, everything comes to a stand still. Everyone's eyes are now on me as Daxton grabs my arm and forcefully pulls me out of the car and onto my knees. He stands behind me with the gun still rested squarely on my head.

"I did what you asked. Now let her go and you and I can fight like men," Liam shouts.

Daxton lets out a loud, evil, laugh. "You think I came here to fight you?" He chuckles.

"This hybrid bitch is the one I want," he pushes my head to the side with the gun.

"You have no idea what she's capable of. You don't deserve her. I will make her my Luna and together we would rule all the werewolves," he announces making bile rise up in my throat just at the thought of being with him.

"I would never be with you," I spit and struggle to get out of his grasp but he wraps an arm around my throat, making me stop.

Upon hearing his words, Liam lunges forward, about to shift when suddenly two men who appeared out of nowhere throw a silver chain around his neck. He grunts in pain as the silver burns his skin when they pull him back with it. Jason and the warriors urgently get into attack mode when Liam orders them to stop.

"Now you can either watch your Luna die or let me take her with me. I promise to take very good care of her. Your choice," Daxton smirks at Liam who seems to be at a fight with himself and the painful chain around his neck.

"I'd rather die, you motherfucker," I yell as I elbow him on his leg and attempt to push him away.

"She's a feisty one, isn't she," Daxton chuckles as he easily overpowers me.

"April, please stop fighting. I promise I'll get you back before this fucker can even lay a finger on you," Liam says through our link.

"No, Liam," I whisper as tears fill my eyes.

"There's no point of fighting if you're dead," he pleads.

My body stills, not knowing what else to do.

"Alright, now that that's settled, you're coming with me," Daxton grins at me as I shoot daggers at him with my tear filled gaze.

Before he can move me from place, he pauses. "Except there is one little problem," he claims. "You're already mated."  

The only thing in the air the next second, is the sound of my earth-shattering scream as he lifts the gun from my temple, points it at Liam, and pulls the trigger.

Don't kill me, you guys 🤭

The book got so many reads in just one day that I decided to post another chapter. Thank you so much for all the support ♥️
I hope you guys are enjoying.

But that's enough of the surprise updates 🥲
Next chapter will be posted on Monday. Stay tuned 😘