Chapter 465: Taken me...

NOAH.

A blinding, white-hot explosion of pain shot straight through my skull the exact second my eyes flicked open.

I let out a sharp, ragged groan, my vision spinning violently in complete, disorienting darkness. Every single muscle in my body throbbed with a dull, sickening ache. My temple felt like it had been struck by a sledgehammer, pulsing with a sharp, rhythmic agony that made my stomach churn with nausea.

I instinctively reached up to touch my swollen face, but my limbs felt impossibly heavy, like lead weights dragging me down into the earth. I blinked frantically, trying to clear the thick haze from my eyes, expecting to see the cold stone walls of the pack house corridor or the dark ceiling of a guest room.

Instead, the ground beneath me violently lurched.

A heavy, wood-on-wood rattle echoed in my ears, accompanied by the loud, rhythmic thud of galloping hooves slamming against loose gravel. The uneven surface beneath me bounced, sending a sharp, agonizing shockwave straight up my bruised spine.

I wasn’t in the pack house, I was on a moving carriage.

Panic instantly surged through my chest, cold and terrifying, cutting straight through the heavy haze of my concussion. I forced myself to sit up, my bruised ribs screaming in protest as I pressed my back against the hard, wooden interior wall of the cab. The air smelled stale, thick with the scent of old leather, damp wood, and dry dust.

I whipped my head toward the small front window, desperate to catch a glimpse of whoever was holding the reins.

"Hey!" I called out, my voice coming out raspy, dry, and painfully weak. "Who’s driving this thing?!"

The front window was completely covered, blindfolded with a thick, heavy black cloth that blocked out every single inch of light from the driver’s seat. Not even a shadow moved behind the coarse fabric.

"Hey! I asked you a question!" I yelled louder, leaning forward and banging my trembling fist against the wooden partition. "Who are you?! Where the hell are you taking me?!"

The silence from the front was absolute. No voice answered. No order was given. The only sound in the suffocating darkness was the violent creaking of the wheels and the harsh, furious snorts of the beast pulling us forward.

My heart hammered wildly against my ribs like a trapped bird. ’What is going on? How did I get here?’

I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing my thumping head to trace back my steps. The last thing I remembered... I was moving through the lower halls, desperately trying to find a way to get to Maria or reach Anabel. Then I ran straight into Daniel. I remembered his arrogant, mocking smirk. I remembered him looking down his nose at me, telling me that Maria would always belong to the quadruplets. I remembered losing my temper, swinging my fist, and landing a punch on his jaw... and then Daniel tearing through my defenses, kicking my ribs, and driving a brutal fist right across my temple.

Daniel.

Did Daniel put me on this carriage?

Did the quadruplets order him to dump my body outside the territory?

Or was this something far worse?

"Stop this carriage right now!" I roared, my gold Alpha light flaring weakly in my irises as sheer desperation took over.

I lunged toward the narrow side window, reaching out to tear back the leather curtain and throw myself out onto the dirt road. I didn’t care how fast we were moving. I didn’t care if I broke a leg or shattered my shoulder hitting the rocks. I just needed to get out. I needed to get back to Maria before those four Alphas sealed her fate forever.

But the moment my fingers touched the wooden window frame, a loud, sharp crack echoed outside.

WHAP!

A heavy leather whip lashed down brutally against the horse’s back. The animal let out a high-pitched, wild neigh, and the carriage suddenly lurched forward with terrifying, neck-snapping speed.

The violent burst of acceleration threw me backward, slamming my injured shoulder hard against the rear seat. The wheels spun out of control, rattling so violently I could hear the wooden frame groaning under the immense strain. The wind howled furiously outside the tiny cabin, a blurring storm of dark, passing trees visible through the cracks of the curtain. Jump now, and the speed alone would snap my neck instantly.

’Dammit!’ I swore inwardly, gritting my teeth against the mounting terror.

I leaned my head back against the wall, taking deep, frantic breaths as I tried to summon the ultimate weapon every Alpha possessed.

’Mind link,’ I thought, closing my eyes and forcing my mind to reach out across the spiritual plain. ’I need to mind-link... my beta or anyone, maybe I need to call my pack guards... I need a rescue team right now!’

I pushed my consciousness outward, searching for the familiar, buzzing thread of my pack’s mind link channel.

Nothing happened.

A sickening, hollow sensation settled in the pit of my stomach. I tried again, pushing with every ounce of my willpower, trying to force my wolf to step forward and roar through the link. But my wolf remained dead quiet, buried deep under a heavy, suffocating blanket of dark, metallic numbness.

My eyes snapped open in absolute horror as I looked down at my trembling hands.

’Wolfsbane.’

They had poisoned me. Whether it was on the blade of a weapon, injected while I was unconscious, or mixed into something else, my wolf was currently being heavily suppressed. My strength was completely gone, leaving me as weak, vulnerable, and helpless as a human.

Panic, cold and suffocating, wrapped its icy claws around my throat. I was trapped in a speeding wooden box, completely defenseless, stripped of my wolf, bleeding from my head, and being driven to an unknown location by a silent driver who refused to speak a single word.

’Think, Noah, think!’ I scolded myself, my mind racing through every single possibility at lightning speed. ’Look around. Find a weapon. Find anything!’

I dropped to my knees on the rattling floorboards, desperately running my hands along the dark corners of the carriage. I searched for a loose piece of wood, an iron bolt, a forgotten blade—anything I could use to defend myself or pry the heavy door open from the inside. My fingers scraped frantically against the coarse carpet and cold iron fittings, my breath coming out in fast, ragged gasps as the headache behind my eyes throbbed with blinding intensity.

Suddenly, the furious galloping outside began to slow down.

The loud, whipping sound of the wind died down, replaced by the heavy, crunching sound of iron wheels grinding to a slow, deliberate halt over thick gravel.

The carriage gave one final, heavy bounce before coming to a complete, dead stop.

The silence that followed was suffocating.

I froze on my knees in the middle of the cabin, my muscles locking tight, my heart hammering so loudly against my ribs it sounded like a drum. I stared intently at the blindfolded front window, then shifted my gaze toward the heavy side door, listening for the slightest sound.

Outside, the soft, distinct crunch of heavy boots stepped down onto the gravel, slowly making their way around the side of the carriage toward my door.

I scrambled up, backing myself into the far corner of the cabin, my fists clenched tight despite my trembling, weakened state. Every nerve in my body was screaming on high alert, a cold sweat drenching my forehead as I stared at the brass door handle.

What exactly was going on?

Who had taken me?

And where in the hell was I?