Chapter 5: Wait For Me

Ethan’s POV： "Not yet." The words cost me everything. "We don't know the situation. Don't know if she—" 'She's IMPRISONED, Ethan! What more do you need to know?' He's right. The barred windows. The guards posted at the door. The way her scent is contained to that one building. Lucian is keeping her prisoner. My brother—my own f*****g brother—has somehow acquired my mate and locked her in a cage. The urge to march over there, break down that door, and slaughter everyone between me and her is overwhelming. But I force it down. Force myself to think. 'Twelve years of training. Twelve years of learning control. Use it now.' I need information first. Need to understand what's happening before I act. I'm turning toward the building when alarm bells shatter the night. "STOP THEM!" "RUNAWAYS!" Guards scramble. Lucian appears from somewhere, bow in hand, purple eyes blazing. "Find them!" he roars. "Don't let them reach the forest!" Them. Multiple prisoners escaping. Including— Her scent moves. Fast. Heading toward the forest edge. 'She's running. Our mate is running—' "I know." I'm already moving. I follow at a distance, using magic to mask my presence. Watch Lucian and his guards chase down the fleeing women with brutal efficiency. Bodies fall. Arrows through backs. Swords opening throats. And through it all—her scent. Still moving. Still alive. 'Please. Please let her make it—' She breaks through the tree line. I'm right behind her, hidden in shadows. Then— She stops. Cliff edge. Sheer drop into darkness. 'No. No, not like this—' Lucian approaches, bow lowered. Says something I can't hear from this distance. She steps backward. Into nothing. My heart stops. 'MATE!' Theron's scream is anguish incarnate. 'SAVE HER—' I'm already moving. Magic explodes from me—the forbidden technique they taught us in fourth year. The one that costs overdrafting lifespan every time you use it. Teleportation. Reality bends. Space folds. I'm there—in the air beside her falling form—arms wrapping around her before she's dropped twenty feet. Got her. Relief so intense it's painful floods through me. She's alive. Safe. In my arms where she belongs. I fly us across the ravine. Land on solid ground. Hold her while she trembles and processes what just happened. And up close—Moon Goddess, up close she's perfect. Dark hair. Blue eyes wide with shock. Delicate features marked with too much pain for someone so young. Bruises on her wrists. Finger-shaped marks on her throat. Evidence of what Lucian's done to her. 'Kill him.' Theron's voice is deadly quiet now. 'Slowly. Make him suffer for every mark on her skin.' "Soon," I promise. But first—get her safe. I offer to take her home. She doesn't believe me at first. Thinks guards will catch her. I use the teleportation technique again. Push through the pain as it tears another piece from me. Worth it. All of it worth it to see her face when she realizes where we are. Silver Moon territory. Home. "Who are you?" she asks. I want to tell her. Want to explain everything—that she's my mate, that I'll protect her, that I'll tear apart anyone who ever hurts her again. But I can't. She pulls away when I move to leave. Grabs my hand. The contact sends electricity through my entire body. Mate bond singing with recognition and desperate need. 'Tell her.' Theron pleads. 'Tell her what she is to us. Claim her properly—' "Go home, Emma," I force out instead. "Your family is waiting." Then I teleport away before I can do something stupid. Like fall to my knees and beg her to accept a bond with someone whose family has destroyed her. I reappear in the forest near Red Claw, breathing hard. The teleportation cost is catching up—my nose is bleeding, vision swimming. 'Why didn't you tell her?' Theron demands. 'Why didn't you claim our mate?' "Because she just escaped from my brother's prison." My voice is raw. "The last thing she wants is another Hale claiming ownership of her." 'We're not Lucian—' "She doesn't know that. All she knows is that someone with my family's blood hurt her. Imprisoned her. Used her." I wipe blood from my nose with shaking hands. "I won't force a bond on her after what she's been through." 'So what—we just let her go? Abandon our mate?' "No." The word comes out fierce. "But what I need to do—what I came back here to do—it's dangerous. Possibly fatal." I close my eyes, seeing my mother's face. Beautiful and kind and dead before her time. 'Do you remember how Mother died?' I ask Theron quietly. He goes silent. Then—a soft whimper. We both remember. Father brought them home when I turned eight. Maria. Beautiful, charming Maria with her honey-sweet voice and viper's smile. And Lucian—five years old, golden-haired, already spoiled rotten. Mother stood in the grand hall. I remember how still she went. How the color drained from her face. "Daniel." Her voice barely carried. "What is this?" Father wouldn't meet her eyes. "Maria is... She and the boy will be staying here." "Staying?" Mother's laugh was sharp. Brittle. "Your mistress and your bastard? In my home?" "Our home," Father corrected. Cold. Final. "Lucian is my son. He deserves to be raised properly." Mother looked at me. Then at Lucian. Then back at Father. Something died in her eyes. She lasted six months. Six months of watching Maria take her place. Six months of servants whispering. Six months of Father choosing them over us. The official story was illness. Sudden. Tragic. I knew better. She didn't eat. Didn't sleep. She became a ghost long before she stopped breathing. The day after her funeral, Father sent me away. "You need proper training," he said. "The Spartan Academy will make you strong." Translation: Get you out of the way so Lucian can inherit everything. Twelve years. Twelve years of brutal combat training. Twelve years of being forged into a weapon. Twelve years of planning my return. "Mother didn't just die," I say quietly. "She was murdered. Not with poison or blade—with betrayal. With neglect. With Father's weakness." Theron whimpers again. "Maria did this. She orchestrated everything. And Father let her." 'And now she's raising Lucian to take what's rightfully yours.' "Not just mine." My voice hardens. "Mother's legacy. Her bloodline. Everything she built—Maria wants to erase it. Replace it with her bastard son." The elk slows as we reach Red Claw's borders. Guards patrol in the distance. I dismount, touching the creature's neck in thanks. It vanishes into darkness. 'What will you do?' Theron asks. "Find the truth. Prove what Maria did. Take back what belongs to us, everything." 'And Emma?' Her name sends heat through my veins. The mate bond pulls, even from this distance. Wanting. Needing. "Twelve years I've waited. I can wait a little longer." 'For what?' "To be worthy of her." I turn toward the fortress. Toward the viper's nest I call home. "When I find her again—and I will find her—I'll have destroyed everyone who hurt her. Starting with Lucian." 'You promise?' "On Mother's grave.." My hand closes around the memory of Emma's frightened face. Her hollow eyes. The way she jumped off a cliff rather than return to my brother. "I'll make them all pay. And then I'll find her. I'll tell her everything. I'll give her the choice Mother never had." Theron settles. Satisfied for now. I slip past the guards, back into the fortress. Back into the role I've played for twelve years—the obedient first son, trained and controlled. Emma Reid, Wait for me. Once you are no longer afraid of the name Hall, I will beg you to accept me.