Rise of the Warrior Queen (Kaia and Silver) novel Chapter 20

HAPTER TWENTY

KAIAS POV

We were both qui

for a moment before I decided to drop the investigation for now and maybe try Sguag

up the conversation a little bit

I mean, that’s not a bad idea, is it?

It had been a while since I had a calm moment like this–no urgent tasks, no pack duties. Just a peaceful walk with a friend. Well, sort of. I guess.

I

Silver wasn’t exactly a friend. Not yet anyway. But yeah, I guess he’s heading there. And then there’s part about the day being peaceful, which wasn’t quite the case either. No way I could call this day peaceful while Mia was still nowhere to be found.

Right now, I should probably just use this so–called walk with a friend to search the woods for her without raising too much attention or alerting the entire pack about what was going on. Or what I think might be going on, anyway.

Then again, maybe I should tell them. Maybe I should go to her Mom and inform her about what was going on. But right now, I didn’t even know what to tell her, since I wasn’t even sure what was happening myself. figured I’d at least wait until I was sure there was indeed a cause for alarm.

“So, this is probably coming a little late but,” I started again, turning my head slightly to look at Silver. “How was your night? How are you settling in at Dr. Grayson’s so far?”

Silver gave a small chuckle before nodding. “It’s okay. Dr. Grayson and Dawn are quite a nice couple, actually.

He smiled a little, but I could tell there was something else. His shoulders were tense, and his voice didn’t sound relaxed. It was the kind of answer people gave when they were trying to sound fine–but weren’t really

sure if they were

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Silver, are you sure everything’s okay? You look like you’re hiding something.”

He hesitated, his eyes shifting away from me for a moment. Then he mumbled, “Everything’s fine, Kaia. It’s

just… their daughter… she’s kind of a headache. Like a big headache, the kind that makes you want to pull

your hair out and be done with it. Makes me kind of uncomfortable.”

I blinked in confusion, stopping in my tracks. “Wait. What? Their who? Their daughter?”

Silver looked at me with mild confusion. “Yeah. I mean, there was no formal introduction but… she was at the house yesterday when I arrived, and she seemed really at home, so I figured she must be their kid

I stared at him, my eyebrows furrowed. “Silver Dr. Grayson and Dawn don’t have any children.”

He stopped walking too, a deep frown forming on his face. “They don’t?”

“No.” I shook my head slowly. “Are you sure you didn’t get confused? Who did you see?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, clearly trying to remember. “Uh. I think her name was Stephanie? Yeah, Stephanie… I mean, no. Not Stephanie. I think… Dahlia?”

I laughed softly as the realization clicked into place. “You mean Daphnie?” I asked, raising a brow at him in

CHAPTER TWENTY

question.

Silver blinked, then gave me a sheepish smile. “Yeah. That’s it. Daphnie. Thanks for the help.”

I couldn’t help it–I burst out laughing. The serious look on his face mixed with the name mix–up made the

whole thing even funnier.

“Silver,” I said between chuckles, “Daphnie isn’t their daughter. She’s Dawn’s relative. From another pack. She

comes around sometimes to visit.”

His eyes widened slightly, and he nodded. “Oh. I thought she was… well, you know…”

I shook my head. “Nope. She’s kind of like a free spirit.” And a VERY annoying one at that. But Silver didn’t

need to hear that. Not from me, anyway. “She visits, disappears for a while, and comes back again. You never

really know when she’ll show up.”

He nodded slowly, processing the information. But I noticed he still looked uneasy.

“You really thought she was their daughter? I teased, nudging him with my elbow.

He rolled his eyes. “She looked like she belonged there, okay? It wasn’t totally my fault.”

I laughed again but then grew more serious when I saw the look still on his face. “You don’t like Daphnie?”

Silver let out a slow sigh, shaking his head. “No. It’s not that I don’t even know her well enough to like or

dislike her”

“Then what’s the problem?” I asked.

He stayed quiet for a moment, like he was trying to find the right words. His lips parted like he was about to speak, but before he could, a voice rang out from deeper in the woods.

“Kalal

Silver and I both turned our heads sharply in that direction.

“Did you hear that?” I asked, my heart already beginning to race

“Yeah,” Silver said, already stepping slightly in front of me, alert–like he was trying to shield me from danger.

I frowned at the action but said nothing about it. This so wasn’t the time to be having that kind of discussion.

Then the voice came again, louder and more desperate this time. “Kaial”

We scanned the trees, eyes darting from side to side, trying to find where the voice was coming from. Leaves

rustled nearby, and then a figure stumbled out from between the trees.

My breath caught

“Mia?” I said, barely above a whisper as my wide eyes took in her state.

She was a mess. Her clothes were torn, one side of her face bruised and bleeding, and she looked

could barely stay on her feet.

“Holy I gasped, rushing toward her. “Mia!”

She collapsed into my arms the moment I reached her.

she

“Mial Oh goddess–are you okay? What happened? You’re bleeding!” My hands shook as I checked her body.

There was a cut on her shoulder. Bruises on her legs.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Tm okay,” she whispered. I’m okay.. now”

Silver knelt beside us, eyeing her with concern.

Mia looked at me with tired. glassy eyes. “Kala… they were in the woods… watching us,”

My stomach twisted. “Who? Who was watching?”

1-“Mia coughed, struggling to speak. They… they came out of nowhere. I tried to fight them off, but-”

“Who? You tried to off who, exactly, Mia?” I asked urgently. “Who attacked you?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I didn’t recognize any of them. But they were strong… like rogues… almost

feral, but not completely.”

She groaned and tried to sit up. “This morning, I went running–same path I always take. Just past the east ridge… I felt like someone was following me. At first, I thought I was imagining it. Then… I heard whispers.

And laughing.”

I frowned. “How many people?”

“I don’t know,” Mia said. “Maybe three or four. I couldn’t see their faces. They wore masks. They moved fast. I tried to run, but they were already ahead of me. I tried to shift–but… my wolf wouldn’t come.”

My

frown deepened in confusion. “You couldn’t shift?”

Mia nodded slowly. “It was like my wolf was… gone. She was completely quiet. Like someone had shut her out. I don’t know how to explain it. It was like… like she was being subdued by some kind of power.”

She looked at the ground. “They circled me. One of them spoke. He said they were just ‘testing how weak our borders are.” Then…. I think they did something to me. Something terrible. I don’t know. I don’t remember much after that. I woke up in an old shack. Tied up. But no one was there. It felt like they wanted me to escape. Like they wanted to scare me.”

Silver and I looked at each other, and my thoughts went back to what Gareth told my father–that someone was watching the pack.

“Can you walk?” I asked Mia gently, brushing her hair back from her face.

Mia winced but nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

Okay,” I said, wrapping an arm around her for support. “Let’s get you to the hospital. You need help. We’ll figure the rest out later”

Silver silently moved to her other side, helping her stand upright. Together, we carefully guided her through the trees, back toward safety.

My heart pounded the whole way. I had no idea who had attacked Mia or why, but something told me this

wasn’t random.

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