•Amara's POV
My mouth went dry.
I stilled, the knife in my hands almost dropping at the familiar voice.
"It is Rowan. I am here to help."
My heart nearly stopped.
Rowan?
Kade's beta, and the man who had stood beside us at the mating ceremony.
The same one who had watched as Kade had destroyed me five years ago?
Or do those monsters I had fought have powers to mimick voices?
"How do I know it is really you?" I called out without breaking my protective stance.
"You used to sneak into the kitchen at night to steal honey cakes," he said.
Despite everything, I almost smiled because that was definitely Rowan.
"I always pretended not to notice."
"What are you-"
The sound of a piercing scream stopped me short and I heard something lunge.
Rowan grunted and I realized he was the one who was being attacked outside.
I heard the sounds of the fight.
There were snarls and the sound of claws on flesh, also bodies hitting the ground.
Then there was silence.
"It is safe now, Amara," Rowan said with a breathless voice. "May I come in?"
I looked back at Milo.
He was staring between me and the door with those flickering gold eyes.
Then I slowly opened it.
Rowan stepped inside from the darkness and I had to bite back a gasp.
He looked like he had fought an army.
And behind him, I could see eleven other wolves cleaning blood off their claws.
"Hello, Amara," he said gently. "You look good."
I laughed.
"I look like hell and we both know it. What are you doing here, Rowan?"
His looked at Milo and I saw the recognition that instantly flickered across his face.
But, he said nothing.
"We have been tracking the rogues that attacked you back home," he said.
That explained his appearance.
"What are those rogues?" I asked, flipping my hair over my shoulders.
"Amara, those are not rogue wolves."
I had noticed that.
"They are being controlled by something and being used to hunt specific targets."
"What kind of targets?" I demanded with brows quirked in confusion.
"They hunt children."
"Children?"
"Yes, those with Alpha bloodlines."
My blood turned cold.
"They are hunting Alpha children?" I asked him with wide eyes.
He nodded.
"Seven packs in total have lost children from alpha families between the ages of four and eight in the past month."
I gaped, unsure wether to scream or collapse from the shock.
"Their trail led us to your apartment. But you attacked quickly. And then here."
His gaze moved back to Milo.
"I think we both know why they came for him," he said as he looked at me.
My heart began to pound in my chest.
It was obvious.
The palpable tension was unbearable and almost insurmountable at this point.
The silence was thick and suffocating and I knew that I needed to say something.
But before I could respond to Rowan, Milo suddenly began to convulse.
His small body shook violently.
His eyes rolled back, showing only white before he collapsed onto the cot.
"Milo!" I rushed to him. "What is happening to you?" I cried out in anguish.
Rowan knelt beside us and studied the rune that were shining on the child's skin.
"The same thing had happened to the other children before they disappeared."
Fear gripped me.
"Something was calling to them like this and vehemently trying to take control."
Milo's eyes suddenly snapped open, but they weren't gold this time.
They were a solid black just like the rogues who had attacked us earlier.
I gasped in astonishment.
"The children hear the call," he began to say in the old language.
The voice wasn't his own.
"Soon we will all be together."
"No," I whispered, shaking him gently. "Milo fight it please, stay with me."
I embraced him tightly, tears rushing down my cheeks and I held unto him.
"Mom?" he whispered weakly.
I instantly drew back to look at him.
He was normal again.
"Mom I feel strange."
"You'll be fine Milo. Mommy will protect you," I assured him softly.
Rowan placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Amara, you need to bring him home to Silvergrove. It is his only chance."
"No!" I spat out my disagreement in a sharp voice. "I will never go back there."
Roman sighed.
"You have to Amara."
"And face Kade?" I snapped. "The mate who rejected me and called me worthless?"
He shook his head.
"I know how you feel Amara. But only the pack healers know how to fight against this ancient kind of dark magic."
"I will not," I said as I hugged Milo tighter.
Rowan's expression softened. "Kade doesn't know about the boy, does he?"
I looked down at Milo and realized that he had fallen unconscious again.
"No, and I plan to keep it that way."
"Amara, look at me."
I did.
"The child is innocent in what happened between you and Kade. He needs the help that only the pack can provide."
His voice was gentle.
"Don't deny him that because his father decided to be a fool," he added.
I closed my eyes in a bid to stop the tears that threatened to spill over.
Going back to Silvergrove meant facing everything I had run away from.
It meant seeing Kade and explaining why I had hidden his son from him.
But one look at Milo's pale face and I knew that I didn't really have a choice.
I had to do this.
"Fine, for Milo," I whispered. "But if Kade tries to take him away from me-"
"He won't," Rowan assured me in a firm voice. "I will make sure of that."
