Rose's POV
I smashed my alarm clock against the wall when it wouldn't stop ringing.
The plastic pieces spread across my bedroom floor, but I didn't care. I'd been awake all night thinking about Dante's words: "I'm already dead without her."
He was going after Maya. I knew it as surely as I knew my own name.
I threw on clothes and ran downstairs to stop him, but the kitchen was empty except for cold coffee and a plate of untouched eggs.
"Dante?" I called out. "DANTE!"
No answer.
I ran outside and saw his car was gone. My heart sank. He'd already left to find Maya and probably get himself killed in the process.
That's when I heard voices coming from the yard behind the house.
I followed the sound and found Dante sitting on a bench with little Lily. They were talking quietly while Lily weaved flowers into a chain.
Relief rushed through me so fast I almost fell over.
"Thank goodness you're still here," I said, running toward them.
Dante looked up at me with tired eyes. "Where else would I be?"
"Going after Maya like some kind of crazy person."
Lily looked between us with curious eyes. "Maya's in trouble, isn't she?"
"Big trouble," I said, sitting down next to her. "And your sister thinks she can handle it alone."
"Maya always thinks she can handle everything alone," Lily said sadly. "Even when we were little, she tried to protect everyone by herself."
Dante leaned forward. "What do you remember about that day by the river?"
"Everything now," Lily said. "Maya told me not to go near the water, but I wanted to pick the pretty flowers that grew on the other side. When I fell in, Maya jumped right after me even though she was scared of deep water."
"She was scared?" I asked.
Lily nodded. "Maya couldn't swim very well back then. But she jumped in anyway because I was her little sister and she loved me."
Dante's hands curled into fists. "She's still doing the same thing. Risking herself for people she loves."
"Which is why we have to stop her," I said strongly.
"How?" Dante asked. "She's probably already married to Derek Kane by now."
Lily shook her head. "No, she's not."
We both stared at her. "How do you know?" I asked.
"Because Shadow Pack weddings always happen at midnight under the full moon," Lily explained. "And tonight isn't a full moon. It's two days away."
Hope sparked in Dante's eyes. "So we still have time."
"Time for what?" I asked. "Marcus will still challenge you to a death fight if you interfere."
"Then I'll fight him."
"Dante, no!" I grabbed his arm. "He'll kill you!"
"Maybe. But I can't just let Maya throw her life away."
Lily suddenly stood up, her flower chain falling to the ground. "There might be another way."
"What way?" Dante asked.
"The old laws," Lily said excitedly. "Maya told me about them once. If a mate bond is finished before a political marriage, the political marriage becomes invalid."
My stomach dropped. "So you're saying Dante needs to mate with Maya?"
"Before midnight two days from now," Lily revealed.
Dante was quiet for a long moment. "Even if that would work, Maya would have to agree to it. And she made it pretty clear she doesn't want to be mated just to escape her father."
"She doesn't want YOU to be mated just to escape her father," I amended. "There's a difference."
Before Dante could answer, Victor came running out of the house.
"We have a problem," he called out. "A big one."
We all followed him back inside to his office, where a young man I didn't recognize was waiting. He looked scared and tired, like he'd been running for hours.
"This is Tommy from the Shadow Pack," Victor stated. "He has news about Maya."
Tommy looked at Dante nervously. "Alpha Storm? Maya asked me to give you a message."
"What message?" Dante demanded.
Tommy pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. "She said to tell you that Derek Kane isn't just cruel - he's crazy. He's been experimenting on caught wolves, trying to make them stronger with some kind of drug."
My blood went cold. "What kind of experiments?"
"Torture, mostly," Tommy said quietly. "He injects them with something that makes them lose their minds. Then he watches them tear each other apart for pleasure."
Dante's face went deadly pale. "And Maya is there with him?"
Tommy nodded. "She's locked in the cells with the other test subjects. Derek plans to use her as his first experiment after they're married."
"Oh my god," I whispered.
"There's more," Tommy continued. "Derek isn't going to wait for the full moon. He's going to force the marriage tonight and start the trials tomorrow."
Lily grabbed my hand. "We have to save her."
"How?" I asked desperately. "The Shadow Pack territory is ringed by guards. We'd never get close."
Tommy cleared his throat. "Actually, there might be a way. There's a group of us inside the pack who want Derek gone. We've been planning a revolt."
"Why?" Dante asked.
"Because Derek killed his own father last week to take over as Alpha early," Tommy stated. "He's completely out of control."
Victor leaned forward. "What kind of rebellion?"
"We're going to drug the guards during tonight's wedding feast," Tommy said. "When they're unconscious, we'll open the dungeon doors and let all the prisoners escape."
"Including Maya?" Dante asked.
"Including Maya. But we need help. Derek has too many loyal fans for us to handle alone."
Dante stood up, his face determined. "What do you need?"
"About twenty warriors who aren't afraid to fight dirty," Tommy said. "And someone who can keep Derek distracted during the feast."
"I'll distract him," Dante said instantly.
"No!" I protested. "If Derek sees you, he'll know something's wrong."
"Rose is right," Victor agreed. "Derek knows you're Maya's mate. You'd be walking into a trap."
Tommy looked around the room nervously. "Actually, there might be someone else who could do it."
"Who?" we all asked at the same time.
Tommy's eyes settled on me. "You."
"Me?" I squeaked.
"Derek has never seen you before," Tommy explained. "And you're beautiful enough to catch his attention. If you claimed to be interested in joining his pack, he might be distracted long enough for us to free the prisoners."
I felt sick. "You want me to flirt with a psychopath?"
"Just long enough for the plan to work," Tommy said.
Dante shook his head firmly. "Absolutely not. It's too dangerous."
"More dangerous than letting Maya get tortured?" I shot back.
"Rose, you could be killed."
"So could Maya!" I stood up and faced him. "Dante, I know you don't love me the way you love her. But that doesn't mean I don't care about her too. Maya is my sister in every way that counts, and I'm not going to let her suffer because it might be dangerous for me."
Dante stared at me for a long moment. "You're sure about this?"
I thought about Maya jumping in front of that bullet to save me. About how she'd sacrificed herself to protect Dante from her father's threat.
"I'm sure," I said strongly.
Victor cleared his throat. "There's just one problem with this plan."
"What?" Tommy asked.
"If we attack the Shadow Pack to rescue Maya, Marcus Blackwood will still have the right to challenge Dante for interfering with his daughter's marriage."
"Unless," Lily said quietly, "Maya isn't his daughter anymore when we rescue her."
Everyone looked at her in confusion.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
Lily smiled. "If Maya and Dante finish their mate bond tonight, before the rescue, then she'll belong to the Storm Pack, not the Blackwood Pack. Marcus won't have any formal right to challenge Dante."
Tommy nodded happily. "That could work. Shadow Pack dungeons are underground, but there are old tunnels that link to the surface. If Alpha Storm could get inside through the tubes..."
"I could mate with Maya and then help with the rescue from inside," Dante finished.
It was a crazy plan. Dangerous and complicated and possibly impossible.
But it was also the only chance Maya had.
"Alright," Victor said. "Let's do it."
That's when Tommy dropped his final bomb.
"There's just one more thing you should know," he said uncomfortably. "Derek isn't going to experiment on Maya right away. He wants to break her spirit first."
"What does that mean?" Dante asked, though I could tell he was afraid of the answer.
Tommy swallowed hard. "It means he's going to force her to watch him hurt and kill everyone she loves. Starting with a little girl he caught this morning."
"What little girl?" I whispered.
Tommy pulled out a photograph and gave it to us.
The picture showed a small blonde child locked in a cage, crying for her daddy.
It was the real Aria Nightwood.
"Derek found out Victor isn't her real father," Tommy stated. "He took her as leverage to make sure Maya cooperates with the wedding."
Lily gasped. "But if the real Aria dies, then Maya will blame herself forever."
"Which is exactly what Derek wants," Tommy said sadly. "A broken mate is easier to control."
Dante's eyes were blazing with anger. "How long do we have?"
"Six hours until the wedding starts," Tommy responded. "And Derek plans to kill the little girl right after the wedding, while Maya watches. " I felt like I was going to throw up. But I also felt something else.
Determination.
"Then we'd better get started," I said.
Because Maya had saved my life once.
Now it was my turn to save hers.