I narrowed my eyes. "Find her, as in find her body?"

Katrina looked me in my eyes, carefully choosing her words. "The thing is, I'm not entirely sure she's dead."

Snarling at her, I grabbed her neck with my hand and shoved her into the nearest wall, pinning her against it. She was incredibly fragile, and I remembered that not all she wolves are as strong as my Ares.

"Don't fucking joke about that ever again. She is dead. I felt the bond break. That can only be done through death." I growled at her, my eyes flashing dangerously.

Katrina gasped for air, clawing at my hands. I could only see red. How dare this female come into my home and disrespect my mate like this?

Suddenly, I heard Gwen gasp in the door way. "Fucking, hell, Cain, put her down!" Gwen yelled at me, snapping me out of my bloodlust.

"She is a lying charlatan! She says Ares is alive. It is impossible. I felt our bond break. You felt Jax's bond break," I released my grip from Katrina's neck, sending her crumpling to the ground.

Gwen's eyes widened. "But.. He wouldn't..."

"Tell him, Gwen," Katrina ordered her, standing up and rubbing her neck. I could see the mark from my hand.

"Jax, he can break bonds as his Gift. He's never used it before, and doesn't like talking about it. He wouldn't have..." She winced and her voice trailed off.

I turned to Katrina. "He wouldn't have broken my

mate bond and his. It makes no sense."

Katrina pensively rubbed her chin. "He would have if it meant throwing you off of his trail. You never would have suspected him if his bond was broken with his mate, and neither would she."

"He wouldn't do that!" Gwen defended her mate. "He wouldn't break our bond out of his own free will..."

Katrina looked at her in pity. "I only saw Ares in the cell. Not Jax. If he was forced to break their bonds, then he's either being held in another location, or..." Her voice trailed off, and we all knew the alternative.

"You said you might be able to find her. How?" I demanded, ready to spring into action.

Gwen smiled wisely. "Intuition."

"What the fuck does that mean, witch?" I growled at her.

"It means, we more or less venture into the woods, and I follow my gut on where to go," She explained, as if she didn't sound fucking crazy.

"I'm not crazy, Alpha. It's my Gift. You put so much faith in the Moon Goddess, but you don't trust in the abilities she has granted me?" She questioned, daring me to oppose her.

I sighed. "You are crazy, but you are also right. I will gather my men and we will begin our journey. I have faith in the Moon Goddess."

Katrina rolled her eyes. "Does it look like the Moon Goddess is here? No, but I am. Your faith needs to be in me, Blood Alpha."

"If we find my mate, I will give you anything you want," I promised her.

She shrugged. "I want for nothing. Your mate has done a great favor for many people by killing so

many rogues. Iron Claw has always been cursed with a rogue problem until her. I am doing this for her alone."

I nodded in understanding. "Regardless of your motives, thank you." I told her genuinely, extending my neck to her in submission. She was giving me the greatest gift.

Katrina looked at me appreciatively, nodding at me to release my submission. "Don't take too many men. Only one or two. We can't attract too much attention. The less people we have in our party, the easier it will be to travel through the woods, and I will be able to focus on my Gift better."

I nodded. "I will take Gamma Axel." I turned to Gwen. "You, stay here. As much as I feel like I'm going to regret this, you're in charge for now. Don't tell anyone that I'm gone, we don't want to incite fear and panic."

Gwen nodded, her eyes pleading. "Please bring my

mate back to me." I nodded stiffly, knowing that the odds were not good. He was either a traitor or dead, I was positive.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

After informing Axel of the recent developments, we had begun trekking into the woods. Katrina still wore Ares' cloak and clutched the daggers, saying that it made her intuition stronger. She sounded absolutely bonkers to me, but I was already in too deep to go back.

Katrina led Axel and I, often turning at random points in the woods, sometimes mumbling random

words to herself.

Axel occasionally looked over at me and would mindlink me: Where did you find this nutcase? I just sighed and shrugged. A nutcase she is, but she also may save my mate.

After hours of this, we suddenly came upon an abandoned house. There were no lights on, nor any indication that anyone was around.

Katrina held up her hand, stopping Axel and I in our tracks. "They're here," She whispered.

I frowned. "There is nobody in that house, Katrina. It looks like it's been abandoned for decades."

"There's a cellar underneath. I can sense it. I can feel Ares' aura radiating from underneath the house. Can't you?" She asked, confused.

"No, because we aren't clinically insane," Axel rolled his eyes at the eccentric female.

Katrina ignored his comment and continued walking to the house.

"Wait," I hissed at her quietly. "We need a game plan. We should sneak in or something so they can't hear us coming."

Katrina gave me a weak, empty smile. "They already know."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

After dropping the pregnancy bomb on me, Wilson began kicking the absolute shit out of me. He had broken all of my bones, and sliced me up with a knife all over my skin, but for whatever reason, left my stomach alone. I was positive he would have cut the baby right out of me.

I didn't react to any of his methods of torture. He should have known that I had become extremely skilled at disconnecting physical pain from my

emotions.

I didn't know what to do to get myself out of here. Wilson knew me too well to make any of the mistakes that Cain had made all of the times he tried imprisoning me. Suddenly, Cain definitely seemed like the lesser of two evils.

Cain.

If I ever got out of here, surely he would be ecstatic to know about the pup. He had been incessantly vying for one as soon as he met me. Even though I had been convinced I didn't want one, now that I knew I was having one, I couldn't imagine ever parting from it.

For the first time in forever, I felt humanized again. Not like the monster I had always thought of myself as. Is this what being a parent is? All of those times Carter had told me that he felt like his life had just begun, could this have been what he meant?

Carter.

The man who gave his life for mine, though I am undeserving. The man who I shot with an arrow. The man who relented to Gwen whenever she would beg him to let us get into trouble. The man who's eyes shone every time he spoke of his pup, or of his mate.

I had to get out of here. Carter didn't give his life for mine, only for me to die in some psycho Alpha's cellar.

As much as I hated to admit it, I needed Cain. He was the only person capable of rescuing me, and as much as it pained my pride to admit, I needed to be saved desperately.

Perhaps Jax was right. My pride surely has been my Hamartia.

I wish I could go back in time. Back to when I first met Cain. I had been so stubborn and unrelenting, fighting the urge to be with him. Memories of us flashed before my eyes as I ignored the brutal beatings from Wilson. I could tell that I was on the verge of death. My mind was hazy and my body weak as my life flashed before my eyes. More specifically, my life once I met Cain.

Visions swirled through my mind, fuzzy at times, and strikingly clear at others.

Cain and I's first kiss at Blood Lake, where I turned a romantic picnic deadly.

Throwing knives at him when we first met.

Him catching me when I fell out of the tree trying to escape him.

Him lashing at me with the whips.

Him stroking my half ear gently, always so careful when he touched my scars.

I could hear Jax's voice yelling something at Wilson, but my mind was too far gone to register anything he was saying.

Shooting arrows at him.

Us making out in our bedroom before I beheaded Jen.

All of the times he so easily swooped me off of my feet and carried me, so tender.

Him brutally marking me.

The night we passionately made our pup.

The memories of the past soon turned into visions of the future, visions that would never come to fruition because I would never make it out of this cellar alive.

Me laying in the hospital bed after giving birth to a healthy baby boy that had my grey eyes and his father's dark, curly hair. Babies shouldn't have that much hair should they? The thought made me giggle.

Cain chasing the curly headed toddler around the front yard, the little pup giggling when Cain would swoop him into his arms and toss him into the air before catching him.

Cain and the pup, now a few years older, both putting their hands on my rounded stomach, feeling the unborn baby kicking aggressively. "It's definitely your baby," I hear him say, which makes me laugh.

Cain.

Cain.

Cain.