Chapter 544

Olivia

The wind caught my hair as I leaned over the side of the boat, causing it to whip around me in a small torrent. A slight rain had started to drizzle down—not quite enough to cause me to seek refuge inside the cabin, but enough to make me squint my eyes against the horizon.

We had been on the water for some time now; the ride was typically about six hours, but it had been longer than that. I had lost track of exactly how much time it had been, but if the setting sun was any indication, it had to have been at least eight hours by now.

“Can’t be much further now, can it?” I asked, turning toward Eleanor, the gray-haired captain.

Eleanor shook her head. “Rain’s slowing us down,” she said. “But we should arrive in another hour or so.”

I furrowed my brow at her statement. The rain? It had only just begun, and it was barely anything. There was no wind, either, aside from the occasional breeze. Aside from the few fat droplets of water that had begun to plop down onto the deck, the weather was honestly perfect.

Deciding not to say anything just yet, I pushed away from the railing and wandered over to the bow. With a little more privacy now that I was out of sight of Eleanor, I quickly slipped my phone out of my pocket to check to see if I had any cell signal.

And, lo and behold, I did. Just two bars, barely, but it was something after eight hours of nothing.

For a moment, I considered calling Nathan; but then I realized that he would likely be arriving at the ball by now, and maybe a call wasn’t so wise. So, instead, I bit my lip and dialed Levi’s number.

Levi had been left in charge of the pack while we were gone, seeing as how he was Nathan’s Beta. I kept worrying about what ‘emergency’ was going on at the pack, so I figured it would be helpful to call and let him know we were running behind.

The phone rang once, twice, three times before he finally picked up.

“Hello?”

The sound of his voice was nothing if not calm. I knitted my brows together as I answered. “Levi, it’s Olivia. I’m on my way, but I’m running behind. Is everything alright?”

There was a long pause. Then: “Olivia? Why are you coming back so soon?”

At Levi’s words, I felt my stomach flip. He sounded more confused than anything—a far cry from the supposed ‘emergency’ that was forcing me to return home so quickly.

“Nathan said there was an emergency,” I said quietly, glancing over my shoulder to ensure my privacy. “He said I had to come home immediately.”

There was another pause before Levi answered, this time letting out a slight chuckle. “An emergency?” he asked. “I’m not sure what that ‘emergency’ could be. Everything’s running smooth as can be over here.”

“But Nathan said—”

“Wait.” Levi cleared his throat. “Did he tell you himself, or…?”

All at once, it felt as if the perfectly-calm sea was tilting and swirling beneath me. I felt my stomach drop and twist, and before I could even process why I was doing it, I whirled around to see the direction that the boat was taking.

But it was impossible. All around me, there was nothing but the broad expanse of ocean. And with the slight drizzle, the clouds were concealing the stars, blocking out my one ability to navigate.

“Olivia?” Levi’s voice crackled through the phone. “Olivia, where are you right now?”

“I’m…” I swallowed, channeling my Ancient Wolf training to steady myself with a few deep breaths. “I’m in the middle of the ocean. On a boat I don’t recognize, with a captain I’ve never met.”

“How long have you been out there?”

“Eight hours, at least.”

“Shit.” Levi huffed on the other end of the phone, and I heard the sound of papers shuffling and footsteps. “Alright, um, stay calm—and—you—”

As Levi spoke, his voice began to break up and stutter. I felt my hand begin to shake, my heart pounding a mile a minute. “Levi?” I hissed, gripping the phone tighter than ever. “Levi, are you—”

The line went dead.

I had lost service.

Taking another deep breath to steady my nerves, I slipped my phone back into my pocket and nodded to myself. “Okay,” I whispered, running my fingers through my hair in a self-soothing manner. “Okay, I’m sure it’s all just a misunderstanding…”

As I muttered to myself, I pulled my shoulders back to give myself some semblance of confidence before I circled around the cabin and made my way back to the wheel, where Eleanor was still steering the boat.

The soft sounds of her whistling caught my attention as I approached, her easygoing manner giving me a small boost of hope.

“Hey there, skipper,” she said in an almost teasing tone as I walked up to her. “Went on a little walk, eh?”

I nodded, forcing a smile despite the pounding in my chest. “Hey,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant, “it sure is cloudy, isn’t it?”

“Sure is.” She looked up at the overcast sky, which was becoming even more overcast by the minute. “Storm’s brewing.”

“But we’ll be back on shore momentarily, right? Before the storm hits?”

“Oh, certainly.”

As Eleanor spoke, I watched her intently; and there it was. A flicker of something behind her weathered eyes, a moment of hesitation.

We weren’t getting back to shore anytime soon.

Swiftly, I stepped behind the old captain—and with a flash, a gleam of silver seemed to materialize in my hand, then at her throat. My knife, the one I had learned to always keep in my boot since my training with Freya.

“Tell me where we’re really going,” I said, gently pressing the blade to her throat with no real intention of harming her. “I don’t know who paid you to take me out to the middle of nowhere, but I’ll pay you double to get me home. Now.”

Eleanor swallowed, her throat bobbing against my blade.

“I’m not sure if I know what you’re talking about, Miss,” she said softly and haltingly. “We’re heading north. Toward your pack.”

“Is that so?” I leaned over her shoulder and looked down at her control panel. “Your compass says we’re going eastward.”

The captain let out a raspy breath. “Yes, uh… We’re going around the storm.”

“No. We’re heading into it.” I narrowed my eyes, pressing my blade a little more firmly against her neck. “You’ve got backup waiting for you out there, haven’t you? Someone to whisk you away while you leave me alone on a boat headed straight for the eye of the storm?”

For a few long moments, Eleanor said nothing. And in those moments, I knew that I was right. I had to act quickly.

With a deep breath, I channeled my Ancient Wolf and began to speak, to use the power of Suggestion. “You want to turn the boat—” I began.

But before I could get the command out, there was a sudden crack, a flash of blinding pain, and then…

Darkness.