Rogue Spirits

Twenty-Five

"What's Tatia doing outside?" Elli points to a figure with her back against the wall, knees nestled in her chest as she lays her head on top of it.

Adrianna doesn't have the time to make a stop at her, going straight inside the clinic where Chris has been brought to.

"Hey Tatia, why're you crying?" Heloise asks rather accusingly in pure curiosity.

"You have a funny way of voicing your question," is all the raspy-voiced girl has to say.

"Seriously, what happened?" Elli inquires, feeling down herself.

"I... I let him."

"Who?" Heloise asks quickly.

"My mate... Landon."

Heloise freezes up, her eyes losing the bright light inside them. A second later, she releases a humorless chuckle as light as a whisper.

She starts to smile. "The one in the clutches of your ex-alpha? A Dark Silver Pack member? What, did he come to check up on you? Deliver a love letter or... a message for us?"

Jared observes as Heloise's saccharine smile falls and her hands twitch.

"I shouldn't have let my guard down. If I hadn't unlinked myself from the barrier, then..."

"If we had kept ourselves linked to the barrier, we'd have run out of energy faster and that could give them the upper hand should they decide to ambush us." Elli affirms. "The traps should've at least–"

"He kept walking." Tatia whispers beneath her breath, so low they almost didn't hear the crack in her trembling voice.

"It was a message. He knew there were traps and he walked into each on his orders..." her voice wavers.

"How come he's still alive?" Jared furrows his brows.

"The method is to torture but not kill. He has to deliver the message and make the statement. Chris."

Zoe nods. "Just like how the traps work. They immobilize the enemies, enough to ward them off, but not kill them."

"Deliver the poison and turn Chris into a statement." Heloise mutters. "I should've upped the traps–"

"I think... that won't make it better." Elli shuffles on her feet, eyes glancing at Tatia once in a while. "For all we know, most of them might want to escape from his clutches too, and our purpose was to push them away, not kill them on the spot."

Tatia huffs harshly, looking up to meet Elli's eyes in an empty stare. "Landon? Escape?"

Her lips crack open in a foreign smile. "He went through the process willingly. He wanted the power, why would he give it up now? And for his mate, too..."

Her mouth clamps shut.

Heloise runs a hand through her hair, her eyes wryly darting around randomly. "So? We can just force him and the mate bond will do the rest."

"You can't depend on the bond solely. At first, he didn't even accept me–" Tatia pauses, eyes open in realization, "and that's why I joined Dark Silver. To get power in order to achieve him. He was impressed, but now that I've betrayed his beloved alpha..."

"Hold it. Something doesn't make sense." Jared's darkening eyes narrow in confusion. "How did he get past the guards? Surely he couldn't just waltz in or ghost in, either."

"Not unless it's his ability." Heloise turns to Tatia who shrugs.

"He's a shapeshifter."

"Well, sheepo." Heloise mumbles.