Death trap

While Sophia and Miller held down the fort at the pack, Henry and Ethan led a team of skilled warriors to the location Mia had disclosed. As they got closer, Henry tried to establish a mind link with Eleanor, but he could not reach her. Instead, he felt a surge of strange energy blocking their communication, like a barrier that was keeping him from getting to her. As they got deep into the forest, they came to a marshy area that made navigation tricky. No werewolf dared to enter the area, it was too dangerous. If they came across any attackers, it would be near impossible to fight back. “Did she send us into a trap?” Ethan asked, suspecting Mia’s directions. If this was not a trick, she should have mentioned the marshland. Henry knew there was a huge possibility that Mia had tricked them. She was not the kind of person to be entirely honest even when her life was in the balance. But he was willing to take the risk, because there was only one way to find out whether she was telling the truth or lying. “I’ll take half of the warriors,” he told Ethan. “Wait here and wait for my signal.” “Are you sure?” Ethan asked, his worried gaze scrutinising the marshy area ahead of them. “Maybe we should regroup and figure out another way.” Henry shook his head. “We don’t have the time for that. We’ll be fine. Just wait for my signal.” After that, he chose some of the warriors and entered the marshy area with them. *** Eleanor looked down at the man lying in her arms. His face was covered in blood, and so was his body. She could not see his face clearly enough to recognise him, but a sense of foreboding filled her. He was heavily injured and groaning in pain, but there was nothing she could do for him. She could only sit there and watch while he suffered. She woke up with a scream, the tortured sound ripping from her throat and filling the room. Her body was drenched in sweat, the nightmare feeling very real as she adjusted to her surroundings. Her mind instantly went to Henry, and her heart thrummed painfully inside her chest. Given what was happening, she could not brush off the nightmare as just that. It felt like a foreboding, a warning of what was to come. She was certain the man in her arms had been Henry. Even without seeing his face, she had known. The despair that had choked her could only be from knowing he was dying and she could not do anything to help him. She got up from the bed and paced. After the incident in Livi’s room, guards had escorted her to her room, and she had been forbidden from leaving. Being stuck within those four walls while Henry faced unimaginable danger was unbearable. She could not fight off the feeling that time was running out for them. That if she did not get out of here soon, or somehow overcome Jonathan, it would be too late. She whirled around as the door opened. Jonathan walked into the room and closed the door behind him. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for a possible weapon. Why was he back? A smug smile took up the lower half of his face as he walked closer to her. “You don’t look too good,” he said, his eyes scrutinising her face. “Did I come at a bad time?” “What do you want?” she seethed, hating that she was so rattled that she could not put up an unshakeable facade in front of him. She was tired of playing his little mind games. Besides, she was no longer pretending to be giving his proposition a thought. The battle lines had been drawn, and the animosity between them was as clear as day. “I just thought I should give you a heads up,” he said, smirking. He was enjoying every second of it. “All of this will be over soon. As we speak, your mate, Darkfall’s Alpha, is walking right into my trap. He cannot get out of this one.” Eleanor swallowed hard. “You are bluffing. Henry is not stupid enough to fall for one of your amateur traps.” Jonathan quirked an eyebrow at her. “Oh, really? Then why would he be heading right into the marshland stinking in champignon if he didn’t think you were there and he was going to rescue you?” The marshland? Champignon? Eleanor had heard about that plant. Its scent could weaken werewolves, making them unable to fight. If Jonathan was not lying and Henry had really walked into a marshy area filled with champignon smell… It would be like walking into a death trap. Jonathan smiled, as if he could see in her eyes that she realised he was not bluffing. “I have to applaud you for your intelligence. You are smart, and it’s been a pleasure going up against you. You were so full of surprises, and that just made everything so much more interesting. But now…” His smile turned maniacal. “Just wait here while I get rid of him once and for all, and then I’ll mark you as my mate and Luna. It’ll be just the two of us, and I promise you, I’ll give you everything he never could.” “He’ll kill you,” Eleanor told him, her voice cold. Jonathan laughed ridiculously. “Don’t worry, you’ll get over him quickly. I have a few things around here I can use to help you forget all about him.” Eleanor’s hands formed into fists. “I have to go,” he said, backing towards the door. “I don’t want to keep him waiting. I’ll be back soon, darling. Wait for me.” He blew her a kiss as he walked through the door, and then a guard slammed it shut. Eleanor rushed to it and pulled, but it was locked. She slammed her body against it, trying to draw strength from her wolf. But she could barely feel Harper. But she did not give up. She kept slamming her body against the door and yelled until she was too weak to even stand up. She barely managed to get back to bed. Before she lay down, she put out the candles burning on top of her dresser. If Jonathan was also using champignon here, she suspected it had to be the candles that had also been burning in Livi’s room earlier. She hoped she was right and she would be able to regain her strength soon enough. *** Mia was pacing inside the interrogation room when the door suddenly opened. She had not expected another visitor so soon. They should be busy following her directions to where she had claimed Eleanor was. She could hardly sit still as she waited to get wind of any developments. “What do you want?” she asked the man who walked into the room. “I told them everything I know. I’m not hiding anything!” “The east gate is open,” the man said. “The guards have been removed.” Her eyes widened with surprise. She could barely believe what he was saying! “What?” “Get there quickly before anyone else finds out,” he instructed. “Wait a minute after I leave. This is your only chance to get away. Don’t waste it.” The man turned and walked out of the room. Mia shook her head. Now was not the time to wonder why he was giving her a way out. He was not one of the allies she had made, but he must work for Jonathan! Whatever the case, she now had a way out, and she was not going to waste it. A smile flitted across her lips as she touched her belly. “We are going home, baby. Daddy did not abandon us. I’ll get you back to him, don’t you worry.”