Bonds

Chapter Izo -Maya's POV- My head felt like a hollow shell, devoid of any thoughts or memories. The very concept of death, something I'd always pushed to the back of my mind, was now a terrifying reality I couldn't escape.

Would it be like this? My soul leaving my body, a helpless observer as my physical form grew cold and lifeless? The inside of my skull was a vast emptiness, yet a searing pain pulsed through my body, so intense it threatened to consme whole.

Was this it? Was this what death felt like? Had I finally received the answer to a question I hadn't dared to ask myself before? Then, a noxious stench, sharp and acrid, invaded my senses, snappingback to a semblance of awareness. It filled the void in my mind, forcing reality back into focus. The hospital. The drive to the airport. The sickening crunch of metal as our car collided with another. The concrete wall looming impossibly close... and then, darkness.

My eyes flew open, a scream tearing from my throat. "Ivy! Nate! Panic surged throughas I tried to sit up, but my body wouldn't obey. I was strapped tightly to a rickety wooden chair, my arms and legs secured with rough rope that bit into my skin. Fear, cold and primal, clawed at my throat.

Where was I? What was happening? I renewed my struggles, desperate to break free. But with each strained movement, a wave of weakness washed over me. My breath hitched in my throat, and I screamed again, my voice hoarse and raw. "Ivy! Nate! Someone please! Who's there? Where are my children? Letgo!" My surroundings slowly cinto focus, the source of the putrid smell becoming horrifyingly clear. I was in a cramped, dimly lit room, the air thick with the stench of sewage and decay. Rough, damp stone formed the walls, and the floor was slick with a layer of grime. A single, flickering bulb cast an eerie orange glow, illuminating the scene like a forgotten nightmare.

Cobwebs hung like ghostly drapes from the low ceiling, and fat, moisture-laden spiders scuttled across them, their movements jerky and unsettling. Exposed pipes snaked along the walls, dripping with condensation that pattered onto the floor in a rhythmic counterpoint to the pounding of my heart.

Rusting chains hung from iron hooks embedded in the walls, sdangling ominously empty, others bearing the weight of heavy shackles. The room was an absolute nightmare, a place reeking of dampness, despair, and something far more sinister.

Panic clawed at my throat, constricting my airways. My mind raced, desperate for answers. Where was I? Who had taken me? Most importantly, where were the twins? The thought of them alone, lost and frightened, sent a fresh wave of terror through me.

In a desperate attempt to connect with my wolf to get out of here, I reached out with my mind. But the familiar presence was numb. She was there, trapped within my own head, unable to respond, just like she had been for the past four years.

I screamed again, my voice echoing off the stone walls, a pathetic sound swallowed by the oppressive silence that followed.

Chapter 128 There was no answer, no sound except for the dripping water and the frantic hammering of my own heart. Suddenly, a voice sliced through the oppressive silence, makingjump. "Will you please shut up? You're givinga headache.

My head snapped towards the sound, and in the flickering light and I saw Adrian standing in the shadows, his face contorted in a look of annoyance.

Fury surged through me, momentarily eclipsing the fear that hadparalyzed. "You fucking bastard! Letgo right now! Where are my children? I swear on the Moon Goddess, if you've laid a finger on them, I'll rip you apart myself!" He dismissed my threats with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Stop the shouting. You're getting on my nerves." "Letgo, Adrian! Whatever twisted gthis is to get back at Alex, leaveand my children out of it!" A slow, malicious smile spread across his face. "Ah, there it is. The good old Alex finally gets a mention. How's my dear old friend doing these days? Public enemy number one, I hear." A memory, long buried by fear and desperation, flickered to life in my mind. "It was you! You sent the footage! You told them about us! You targeted Alex!" "Sharp as ever, aren't we?" he mocked. "I told you I'd expose Alex to the world. You were too busy chasing after him to see anything else. Seems you lean more towards the 'stupid' side than the 'smart' one." Ignoring his jab, I pressed on, my voice trembling with a mixture of fear and fury. "Were you the one sending the messages? All of them?" Blackmailing me?" He let out a dark chuckle. "Don't flatter yourself, Amaya. You're not that important forto blackmail. Alex is the one I want to see suffer and you should've joinedwhen I offered." "Then why this? Why kidnap me? Where are the twins?" My mind raced, desperately searching for an escape plan, anything to get out of this nightmare.

He remained silent for a moment, his eyes fixed onas if he was studying sfascinating specimen. "I can't believe you still love him. After everything he did to you, to us. You're nothing but a fool." "Shut up and letgo! If you have ssick revenge plot with Alex, take it up with him!" A sly smile played on Adrian's lips as he took a step back. “I didn't bring you here, Amaya. I'm just here to enjoy the show," he added with a theatrical flourish, “Besides I always give credit where credit is due." "What the hell are you talking about?" I snapped, my voice raw with a mixture of terror and fury. "Screw you and screw whatever this is all about! Letgo right now! I'm supposed to be at the airport with my children! Taketo them!" Adrian's lips stretched into a smile that sent shivers down my spine. It wasn't a friendly smile, it was a smile filled with a chilling amusement, a promise of something dark and twisted. He held my gaze for a moment, a long, unsettling moment that stretched on and on until I felt like I was trapped in a predator's gaze.

Then, finally, he spoke. "When I was in prison," he began, his voice low and almost conversational, "those damn guards forced us to read.m Hated it at first, of course: But then, I cacross this story, this fascinating creature called a mind flayer. What a concept, right? A single powerful being, using its psionic abilities to control everything around it. It was pretty gruesat the end, though. All that brain-eating and stuff." He stopped, his eyes gleaming with a manic light. I stared back at him, a cold dread creeping into my gut. What was he talking about? Had he finally gone completely insane? "Letgo, Adrian!" I screamed again, my voice hoarse. "I won't ask again!" He threw his head back and let out a loud, echoing laugh. "Revenge. That's what I wanted when I got out. Make Alex pay for Chapter 128 everything he took from me, Every. Single. Thing."

He leaned closer, his voice dropping m to a conspiratorial whisper. And guess what?" A glint of madness flickered in his eyes" found the exin perfect way when I found one. A mind flayer. In real life. Controlling everyone around him while they all moved to his will like fools. Just like I said, you're not important. I'm just here for the show?

My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat against the backdrop of my rising terror. bm couldn't explain it, but a primal fear gripped me, a sense of impending doom that tightened around my throat like a vise. Something bad was about to happen. Something truly horrific.

I opened my mouth to scream again but the words died there, unspoken. Another figure stepped into the flickering light. emerging from the shadows like a phantom.

I stared at him. He stared back at me. He was the same. His face, his body, everything except his eyes. They were staring atwith so much blankness and coldness that I couldn't move.

It couldn't be. This couldn't be happening.

His lips twisted into a chilling smile, so different from all the charming grins he'd flashed my way. "Not quite as conducive as the airplane, I see," his cold tone broke the silence that had engulfed us.

No. No, no.

Whatever I'd thought was happening, it couldn't be what was actually unfolding before me. My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, but all I could manage was a single, desperate whisper.

"Ivan?"