Chapter 470: Leave tonight!

ANABEL.

I paced back and forth across the rug in my locked bedroom, my chest tight with a restless, burning panic.

Every few seconds, I glanced over at Valerie, who sat on the edge of the plush armchair, her hands clasped tightly in her lap as she watched me with wide, nervous eyes.

The heavy wooden door was bolted tight from the outside, guarded by two bulky pack warriors my brothers had stationed there. Outside, distant shouting and running footsteps echoed down the grand corridors of the estate, but right in here, the air felt suffocatingly thick.

"Lady Anabel, please, stop pacing," Valerie whispered, her voice trembling slightly. "You’re going to exhaust yourself."

"I can’t just sit here, Valerie!" I snapped softly, running a hand through my hair as I paused near the heavy velvet curtains. "They have us locked up like prisoners while everything falls apart out there! I don’t care about their pack wars, and I don’t care about their territorial drama anymore!"

"What are we going to do my lady?" Valerie asked, looking up at me with sheer helplessness. "The guards aren’t going to just open that door... the Alphas gave strict instructions."

I pressed my palm flat against my stomach, feeling the subtle, warm flutter deep inside me. My heart softened, replaced by a fierce, protective instinct that burned away every drop of hesitation in my blood.

"We are breaking out of here," I said, turning to face her with total conviction. "The moment there’s a gap in their rotation, we’re gone. I am not letting my baby grow up in the middle of this nightmare. I need to focus on my own life, get far away from this place, and raise my child in peace."

Valerie swallowed hard, nodding slowly. "If that’s what you want my lady ... I’m with youl."

I took a deep breath, stepping toward the window to inspect the ledge, frantically calculating how we could drop down to the garden wall without making a sound.

Suddenly, a violent, blinding surge of spiritual energy slammed straight into my head.

I gasped aloud, stumbling sideways and clutching my temples as an unfamiliar, heavy mind-link channel tried to force its way into my mind. The shock of it made my vision flicker. It felt dark, heavy, and intensely suffocating, vibrating against my mental defenses like a pounding fist.

"My lady? What’s wrong?!" Valerie cried out, rushing over to catch my arm.

’Someone... someone is trying to link me, I wheezed out, my pulse hammering against my throat.

It wasn’t the quadruplets. It wasn’t Noah, and it certainly wasn’t any guard from the pack. The signature felt strange, cold, and dark.

Curiosity and sheer instinct pushed me to drop my guard for a fraction of a second. I reached into my mind and accepted the link.

"Anabel."

The voice echoed deep within my skull, smooth, dangerous, and dripping with an unsettling confidence.

My eyes widened in absolute, paralyzing shock. My breath caught in my chest, my blood turning to pure ice in an instant.

Vincent.

My mind reeled. ’How is he linking me?! How does he even have my frequency?!’

Panic spiked through my chest, and I immediately reached inward to sever the mental connection, desperate to shut his intrusive, terrifying presence out of my head.

"Don’t you dare break it, Anabel," Vincent’s voice cut in instantly, darker and firmer this time, vibrating through my consciousness before I could sever the link. "I know you’re listening. Don’t you dare close this channel."

I froze, standing motionless in the middle of the room, my teeth grinding together so hard my jaw hurt. I refused to open my mouth, refusing to project a single word or thought back to him through the link. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of a response.

"I know where you are," Vincent continued, his voice dropping into a low, persuasive hum that sent an uncomfortable shudder down my spine. "I know you’re locked away in that pack, trapped in the middle of their chaotic little mess. It’s pathetic, Anabel, as you don’t belong in a cage." he paused. "My mate does not deserve to be locked and treated like a slave."

I kept my mental walls up, staring blankly at the wall, my hand clutching Valerie’s shoulder so tight my knuckles turned white. Valerie looked at me with pure terror, sensing the dark energy radiating off me.

"So, I am giving you a choice now Anabel, Come back to me!" Vincent murmured, his tone shifting into something terrifyingly gentle, almost coaxing. "Stop fighting this bond, as I am sure you are also missing it." He paused briefly. "Come back to me, and you can live peacefully. I will give you everything you need. Safety, comfort, protection... a quiet life with me, away from all of this noise."

A bitter wave of disgust washed over me. I clamped my jaws tight, holding back the furious scream threatening to burst from my throat. I hated him. I hated the sound of his voice, hated the possessive way he spoke to me, and hated the fact that he thought he could just offer me a ’peaceful life’ after everything he had done.

"Silence won’t change anything, sweetheart," Vincent chuckled softly into my mind, a dark, chilling sound that made the hairs on my arms stand straight up. "You don’t have to say a word right now. But mark my words... one way or the other, we are going to remain together. You cannot run from me forever."

My heart hammered a frantic, terrified rhythm against my ribs.

"And if you have any sense left in you," Vincent added, his tone suddenly turning icy, serious, and sharp as a razor blade, "you will leave that pack immediately...get out of there tonight... do not wait for tomorrow, and do not stay in that house a second longer."

Before I could force the link shut, the connection suddenly snapped from his end, leaving behind a cold, hollow ringing in my ears.

The pressure in my head vanished instantly. I reeled back, clutching my chest as I gasped for air, my knees buckling beneath me.

"My lady!" Valerie caught me, lowering me gently onto the edge of the bed. Her face was pale with worry. "Who was that?! Who were you talking to? What happened?!"

I sat on the soft mattress, my body trembling uncontrollably as cold sweat broke out across my forehead. Vincent’s words echoed over and over in my mind, heavy with a terrifying, hidden threat.

’Leave the pack immediately.’

Why would he want me to?

What exactly was Vincent up to?