The Tribrid Heir's Orphaned Mate

Escape Plan

Elizabeth's P.O.V.

I pace back and forth in the room, glancing at the door every few seconds, as Delilah sobs in the corner while sitting on the bed. Something doesn't feel right. We haven't been let out of this room in six days, then suddenly, Zeke gets escorted out by that lying asshole, Carter, with silver shackles around his wrists and ankles. Carter wouldn't tell me where he was taking him, but that doesn't surprise me after the lies that he told our entire pack. Seriously, I will never comprehend what I ever saw in him. Then again, he wasn't like this before Warrick showed up. It's like he's all of a sudden unhinged, like his brain broke the second I found my fated mate. I mean, I did promise that we'd be each other's chosen mates, but he's acting like he's lost his fated mate. Maybe this side of him that I'm seeing now is the true Carter, and he's just been good at acting like the perfect gentleman all of these years.

"Lizzie, I'm so worried about Zeke. I can't feel the mate-bond. What if they kill him?" Delilah whimpers out from the corner of the room, pulling me away from my thoughts.

I let out a soft sigh as I look at the door one more time, before turning towards her, "I'm sure everything is fine, Delilah. Carter told a bunch of lies about us. Surely someone will catch on sooner or later. Besides, the only reason you can't feel the mate-bond right now is because of the silver shackles on him." I reassure her as I turn back towards the door and cross my arms over my chest, before letting out another soft sight, "They'll bring him back soon. They probably just needed him for the computer system or something, since he's so tech-savvy."

Everything I'm telling her right now is just to calm her down and hopefully make her worry a little less. Truthfully, I'm just as scared as she is that they might do something to Zeke. Carter has always been very manipulative and able to easily sway our pack to do what he wants. That's why I chose him as my Beta, because I'm the strategic one, but not good with interacting with others, while Carter is able to persuade people with his charms and somehow make them see things his way. If I ever had pack members disagree with me, I would always send Carter to talk to them and make them understand my side of things. However, that little characteristic of his that I always used to my advantage, seems to be biting me in the ass at the moment.

Delilah gasps from the corner of the room, and I turn to look at her with furrowed brows. She grabs at her chest for a moment, before a small smile stretches across her face. Then, she looks up at me with a wide grin, and I swear even her eyes are twinkling with happiness.

"I can feel the mate-bond again. Zeke's...happy? More than happy actually. He seems downright joyful at the moment, like he's laughing about something." Delilah explains to me, before letting out a relieved sigh.

I walk over to her and sit on the bed beside her, "You can feel all of that from the mate-bond?"

Delilah nods her head at me as she smiles again, before clasping my hands into hers, "You can feel everything through the mate-bond, Liz. Our mates are the other half of our soul, perfectly made for us. You can feel their emotions, their pain, and unfortunately, even their death. That's why werewolves go insane once they lose their mates and die not long after. The higher in rank that mates are, the stronger the connection. That's why I wish you'd give Warrick a chance. With him being the first tribrid heir, I can't even imagine how deeply he'd love you. If I had to guess, that's why The Moon Goddess blessed you with him as a mate. It makes sense, since you've had so much heartache and pain throughout your life, that you'd be blessed with such a strong and unconditional love."

I shake my head, not wanting to hear it. I will definitely admit that our mate-bond is strong, and that I feel something for Warrick, but I won't agree to giving him a chance just yet. I don't trust easily, and I have plenty of reasons why. Hell, one of the reasons why has had me held captive in this room for six days. The man I thought I could trust over anyone, turned his back on me within seconds, all because I wasn't rejecting my fated mate right away.

"Something's happening. I feel nauseous." Delilah says from beside me, before grabbing onto her stomach and doubling over.

I turn to look at her, but as soon as I do, a bright light flashes in the room and Zeke and Warrick stumble out of it. I sit and stare at them, while racking my brain to try and figure out what just happened. Warrick is smiling at me, a small dimple tugging at the corner of his cheek, before he crosses his arms over his chest. Zeke, however, doesn't look so good, as he holds onto his stomach while doubling over, looking just as pale as Delilah did only seconds ago.

Whatever was happening to Delilah just a moment ago seems to suddenly vanish, as she quickly jumps up from the bed and runs to Zeke, almost toppling him over as she collides into him and wraps her arms around his neck. Zeke starts to chuckle at her as she peppers small kisses all over his face, and I can't help but smile at the sweet interaction between the two.

Warrick slowly struts towards me, and my body suddenly warms at his closeness as he leans down and whispers in my ear, "I was kind of hoping for you to have the same type of reaction as Delilah did with Zeke, once you saw me."

I scrunch up my nose at his sudden flirty behavior, before I turn to look at him, but the moment I do, my breath catches in my throat. Our noses brush against each other so softly you can barely feel it, but the small tingles of the mate-bond are there. His hot breath fans against my face and my lips, becoming increasingly unsteady and heavy as he stares down at me. The smirk that he had on his face earlier is now gone, and replaced with nothing but a look of adoration, of lust. I feel it, and I know that he feels it too. Every inch of my body is craving for his touch, begging for me to just give in already, but my brain is fighting against my body and telling me to run from him, to run far, far away. The internal battle I'm having is pulling me in two completely different directions, making me more confused than I've ever been.

A small cough from the other side of the room pulls me out of my trance, making me look back towards Zeke and Delilah.

"If you two are done with whatever this is..." Zeke says with a chuckle, as he motions his hand between me and Warrick, "Can we please get out of here?"

I furrow my brows at him, irritation suddenly building inside of me, "And go where, Zeke? We've lived here for years and have nowhere else to go."

"We can just teleport back to my pack. We would be there within seconds and be protected." Warrick says as he grabs my hand and pulls me up from the bed.

I look down at our intertwined hands as the warm tingles slowly move up my arm and into my chest, before quickly snatching my hand away from him. The mate-bond feels good, feels amazing in fact, but it's something I'm not used to, something that's out of my comfort zone. My body is begging to hold his hand again, but my brain wins this battle, reminding me that I know nothing about him.

I look up at Warrick, only to see a look of disappointment on his face, but I quickly push the guilt I'm feeling away and try to form a better plan, "We can't just leave all of our pack members here. Carter is obviously too far gone mentally, to be able to persuade. However, if we talk to the rest of them, maybe some of them will understand."

Zeke slowly shakes his head as he lets out a defeated sigh, before looking down at the ground, and I can already tell before he even says anything that he doesn't agree, "Lizzie, they've literally had us locked in a room for six days. Their Alpha, Gamma, and Gamma female. They turned their backs on us, no questions asked. There's no persuading them at this point. Besides, it would be better for us to get to a safer place and form a plan there, without having to worry about anyone walking in. Warrick bought us some time, but I doubt it'll last long. We have very smart witches within our pack, and it won't take long for them to find out that something isn't adding up with the distraction that Warrick made. We can go to Silver Crescent, figure out what to do from there, then come back here once we've eaten, rested and came up with a better plan."

I furrow my brows at Zeke, before turning to Warrick, "What distraction is he talking about?"

The corners of Warrick's lips tug into a mischievous smirk, but before he can explain, Zeke answers for him, "He made Carter look exactly like him and locked him in the cell. Then he ordered Carter not to speak to anyone." Zeke explains, before his face falls and he scratches the back of his neck nervously, "Actually, we probably need to move fast now that I think about it. We need to get out of here. Carter will pass for Warrick if someone doesn't look closely, but I noticed that his eyes are the same color as they usually are. That wouldn't normally be a problem, if it wasn't for the fact that Warrick has very distinguishable eyes."

"Shit." Warrick says from beside me, before blowing out a frustrated breath, "I completely forgot that I can't change a person's eyes, since the eyes show a person's soul."

"We need to leave Lizzie. We will figure everything out once we get to River Crescent. I promise we won't leave them behind, but we do need some time to prepare and get things in order." Zeke says to me as he gently grabs onto Delilah's hand.

I chew on the inside of my cheek as I think about the situation. I know that they won't do anything without me saying so, even Warrick, but there seems to be no other option at this point. My pack will come in fighting if they find out that Warrick is out of his cell, and if that happens, there's no telling how many people will get hurt, or worse, killed. I stand there staring at a blank space on the wall, begging my brain to give me another option, but my thoughts are cut short when I hear a commotion going on down the hallway, outside of the door. I hear yelling and screaming, then crashing, like furniture is being thrown. Footsteps are stomping down the hallway, getting closer and closer by the second.

A bright light suddenly flashes, before a blue and purple glowing circle opens up in the middle of the room. Before I can even comprehend what's happening, Delilah and Zeke are jumping through it, vanishing suddenly. Warrick grabs my hand and I look up at him, before my ears suddenly pick up on the sound of loud bangs against the door, like someone is trying to break through it.

"DAMN IT! SOMEONE GET THIS DOOR OPEN, NOW! STUPID BARRIER SPELL!" I hear Justin yell from the hallway, who happens to be Carter's best friend, his ride or die.

I look at the door as tears prick at the corners of my eyes, not wanting to leave my pack members behind, but Warrick gently tugs at my hand and pulls my attention towards him, "I won't leave without you, but we need to leave now if we're going to Elizabeth. I promise we will be back for them, for whoever wishes to join my pack. Right now, though, we need to get out of here, and you know that."

I nod my head at him in agreement, just as the door opens up and a furious looking Carter smashes through it, breaking the door off of its hinges. Warrick doesn't say anything, doesn't even try to fight him, but violently pulls me behind him towards the glowing circle. I run behind him, my hand firmly gripped into his, but the second he vanishes into the light and disappears, I'm yanked back into the room, my hand ripped out of his so quickly that I swear my wrist is dislocated now. I'm slammed down onto the hardwood floor with a furious Justin pinning me down, as I watch the glowing circle evaporate into thin air.

Now I'm here, alone, with no one on my side.