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Home / Werewolf / WICKED PROVIDENCE Book 2 / Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

All Chapters of WICKED PROVIDENCE Book 2: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

70 Chapters

31

Sadie’s voice was like a winter wind through the pines. “Lower your hackles. I never said I’d let the scent of your blood hit the snow. I simply wish to amend the terms of our hunt.”Avery’s heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. “What riddle are you spinning now?”Sadie fixed her gaze on Avery’s midsection. She was poised like a pit viper, sending a primal chill down Avery’s spine. Avery fought to keep her scent neutral, but her fingers twitched. She had hoped the moon would keep her secret. How had this scavenger scented the new life within her?Sadie’s next words tore through that hope like a silver blade. “So, let us see the strength of your maternal instinct. Your life-thread, or the pup you carry? Choose which one the Great Mother claims.”Avery’s jaw tightened. “How did you detect the pregnancy? My wolf has been silent.”Sadie smirked, a spark of triumph in her eyes. “I was a healer’s apprentice before I was a rogue. You thought you were masking your scent, but an

32

Avery Monroe felt an undeniable tug toward the young girl. Amidst the cold stone and predatory scents of the Silver Ridge, she perceived a flicker of untainted soul.She scanned the corridor, ensuring the Enforcers weren't patrolling nearby, and then gave a discrete sign for the girl to step closer. “Come here for a second,” she whispered into the stillness.The girl paused, her amber eyes darting around with the frantic energy of a hunted animal. After a tense moment, she stepped forward, her gaze locking onto Avery’s with a mixture of terror and bewilderment. She remained utterly mute, seemingly bound by a terrifying pack law.Avery looked around once more before pressing several silver marks into the girl's palm. It was a massive gamble. She was a captive of the Montgomery Pack, her links to the outside world severed, but she had managed to hide some currency within her tunics.“Listen, little one,” Avery said softly, dropping to her knees to reach the girl's height. “Don’t be afra

33

“Enough of this.” Removing his mate-ring, Hudson gripped it in his fist, his eyes burning with a predatory fire. “I must recover. That is my only mission. Once I have my strength, I will tear Avery back from whoever dared to steal my mate.”Avery had been in the Silver Ridge for a month. In truth, she hadn't faced physical torment. It seemed she was being given the space to rest and prepare for the pup's arrival. The days were quiet.However, every night brought a soul-chilling dread. Despite deep sleep, she woke up bathed in cold sweat and anxiety. It felt like she was fighting a nightmare she could never remember.One night, Avery purposely didn't drink the warmed milk brought by the servants.The servant noticed the full glass. She gave Avery a brief, cold look but said nothing.Avery suspected the milk was drugged to ensure she stayed asleep. The Montgomerys didn't care if she suspected their secrets; they only cared that she couldn't witness them.Avery's curiosity grew, alongsid

34

Avery Monroe was already burning with a supernatural fever, prone against the furs of her bed, enduring a nauseating blur of adrenaline and vertigo. Every rustle of the wind against the stone and every distant howl from the peaks seemed magnified, clawing at her eardrums with an agonizing intensity.Through the haze, Avery caught the low rumble of Harrison Montgomery’s voice addressing Bennett. “If your goal is to shatter her spirit, why did you command me to drag her to the Silver Ridge? Can your hunger not wait for the whelping? That pup is your final spark of redemption.”In her delirium, Avery could scarcely process the words. A cold dread settled in her gut at the implication—that her unborn child was considered Bennett’s last tether to a soul.The realization struck her like a silver blade: their obsession with her pregnancy went far beyond mere lineage. They harbored intentions more macabre than she could fathom. She understood then that she had to break free from this fortress

35

One afternoon, while Avery was at the edge of the Silver Ridge’s jagged cliffs with the High Alpha, Bennett strolled up, his expression a mask of feigned curiosity. “Avery, you and the new breed, White, seem to be growing quite familiar.”Avery dropped her gaze to the churning mist below. “Familiar with that low-caste mutt? Hardly! I suspect he is a fraud. The physical conditioning he forces upon me is agonizing and serves no purpose. When I questioned his methods, he snarled like a feral cur, claiming I would see the strength in my bloodline only if I submitted more. And his 'embryonic learning'? He spends hours whispering to my womb about the dominance protocols of some pack-front called Blue Ray! He is unfit for this sanctum. Exile him and find a true healer.”Avery’s voice shook with a perfectly orchestrated fury.Bennett’s amber eyes narrowed, a knowing glint flickering within.Harrison spoke up, his gravelly voice startling Avery. “He spoke of Blue Ray? It is early for the whelp

36

Hudson signaled to Avery that the Montgomerys, along with the Alphas of several corrupt neighboring packs, were involved in a massive illegal silver trade. These dark dealings were usually hidden, but there was an annual Great Hunt where the wealthy benefactors gathered to celebrate their power. The event was a week away. Escaping during the chaos of the Hunt was their best chance. Hudson’s workload doubled as he was forced to prepare the grounds.With exhaustion etched into his features, he worked tirelessly, weaving a plan to steal Avery away.Avery realized she could not leave him to bleed for them both. She made a desperate effort to embed herself further with Harrison, acting as the perfect, submissive guest to drown any lingering suspicion.They even staged a dangerous theater. They orchestrated a mock infiltration—a "traitor" attempting to snatch Avery from the Ridge. The chaos pulled the Enforcers' focus away from the inner sanctum. Avery played her part to perfection, refusin

37

The double doors of the inner sanctum swung open, and Bennett Montgomery stepped into the chamber. His amber eyes flared with a predatory curiosity at the sight of Avery’s gasping, pained expression.Bennett did not rush to intervene or pull Hudson away. Instead, he strolled to the side of the ironwood bed with a casual grace, as if he were a spectator at a blood-sport. He watched the "struggle" with a faint, twisted smirk etching across his lips, his nostrils flaring to scent the pheromones of fear and aggression.Avery appeared to be clawing at Hudson’s hands, but beneath the shroud of the furs, she was actually anchoring his wrists to her, forcing him to maintain the illusion of a chokehold. They were dancing on the edge of a silver blade; the risk was absolute.Hudson’s pulse hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird, but he held the mask of a commoner pushed to his limit. He bared his teeth, a low, guttural vibration of feigned fury rattling in his chest.Avery’s complexion t

38

Bennett scoffed. “Drop the performance. I interrogated the warriors who escorted you into the territory. They said Miranda took 'special care' of your comfort and even threatened to gut anyone who looked at you sideways. She has a temper like a forest fire; why the sudden protectiveness for a Monroe?”Avery’s mock anxiety mounted, her scent turning sour. “I... I don't know,” she stammered.Bennett’s grip remained firm, forcing Avery to say, “If my word is so worthless, let us settle this before the High Alpha’s throne.”“Do not mistake my father’s amusement for protection. Once those pups are whelped, you are expendable biomass. Do you understand?”Avery’s eyes welled with tears, her face contorting in simulated agony.Harrison’s personal Enforcers were still within earshot. Wary of causing a scene that would get back to the High Alpha, Bennett released her wrist with a final, disgusted snort.Avery collapsed onto the stone floor, looking utterly defeated and broken. Bennett huffed an

39

Victoria’s eyes widened, a flicker of something sharp behind her mask. "You have ascended through the ranks of the pack so swiftly," she noted. "The last time I saw your likeness in the ancestral scrolls, you were but a pup with a dormant wolf. All these solar cycles, you were the only one standing at our High Alpha’s right hand. Hudson and I... we never had to bleed for his approval. But..."Victoria’s features twisted into a mask of mourning as she spoke of Hudson.Harrison’s predatory smile vanished. "If the cur wishes to remain an exile, let the wasteland have him," he spat, the bitterness of a rejected Alpha rolling off him. "He never honored the blood-bond. What use is a son who refuses to submit to the hierarchy?"Bennett, his voice vibrating with a dark, hopeful energy, asked, "So, his claim to the Silver Ridge is severed for good?"Victoria’s eyes glimmered with unshed moisture, her scent turning acrid with the memory of loss. Harrison’s expression turned to stone, casting a

40

Victoria’s sobbing continued, but her eyes snapped to Avery with a sharp, searching intensity.Avery continued her performance. "This falls on Bennett’s shoulders. If he weren't so desperate for approval, he wouldn't have brought a feral wolf into the heart of the manor. White was a nobody. Victoria is the High Alpha's blood. How could he think he would survive such a reach?"Bennett exploded. "Are you implying I sanctioned this? Why would I sabotage my own sister's return?"Avery feigned a flinch, her face going pale. She looked at the floor, whispering, "I only wondered how a commoner found such boldness. I meant no accusation against the Young Alpha.""Enough!" Harrison barked. His eyes, usually clouded with age, sharpened like obsidian. He went quiet, calculating."The girl has a point. A man of White’s calculated nature does not simply lose his mind to lust. He has been a paragon of restraint until now. Victoria, did you truly scent no oddity in his behavior before he struck?"Vi

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