Mated to My Intended's Enemy novel Chapter 67

Chapter 67: Chapter 67 Memories

Victoria

The meditation room was bathed in soft, amber light when I entered. Carson had outdone himself—potted plants lined the walls, creating a miniature indoor garden. The scent of earth and green things filled the air, instantly calming my frayed nerves. In the center of the room sat a plush meditation cushion surrounded by a circle of small river stones.

"Will this work?" Carson asked, hovering uncertainly by the door. His usual confidence had given way to awkward curiosity.

I smiled, already feeling the plants reaching out to my consciousness like curious children. "It’s perfect. Thank you."

After he left, I settled onto the cushion, crossing my legs and resting my hands on my knees.

"Ready, Ava?" I whispered.

*We need to find them,* Ava’s thoughts flowed into mine. *The pack needs its Alpha.*

I closed my eyes, breathing deeply as I had in the nexus chamber. "Show me how," I murmured.

I felt Ava’s instincts guide me, drawing from ancient memories that seemed to belong to neither of us but to something older, something that ran in my blood from my mother’s lineage. I extended my awareness outward, past the potted ferns and succulents in the room, seeking the wild green things beyond the compound’s walls.

At first, there was nothing but a jumbled chorus of disconnected sensations—sunlight on leaves, water moving through stems, roots pushing through soil. I felt myself growing frustrated, my concentration wavering.

"Focus," I whispered to myself. "Remember what it felt like in the nexus."

I thought of the chamber with its glowing crystals, the way the ancient tree had reached for me, recognized me.

Something shifted. The cacophony of plant voices began to organize itself, like an orchestra tuning before a performance. I felt my consciousness expanding, flowing outward along invisible green pathways that connected every growing thing in the territory.

"Show me," I breathed. "Show me Enzo and Aurora."

Images flickered through my mind—sunlight through canopy leaves, mist rising from forest floors, underground root systems spreading like neural networks through soil. I pushed further, guiding my awareness toward the northern mountains where Marcus’s territory lay.

Suddenly, I felt it—the strange, artificial environment of the mining facility. Plants grew there too, albeit stunted and struggling in the harsh industrial landscape. Moss clung to damp tunnel walls. Determined weeds pushed through cracks in concrete. A single, pitiful tree stood in what must have been a break area for miners.

Through the eyes of these botanical witnesses, I began to piece together fragments of recent events.

The moss had seen them—Aurora and Enzo, bound and blindfolded, hustled through the tunnels by armed guards. The moss remembered the vibrations of their footsteps, the scent of their fear.

The weeds in the courtyard had witnessed vehicles arriving—black SUVs with tinted windows and the Crimson Claw insignia barely visible on their sides.

And the lonely tree had stood sentinel as Marcus himself had exited one of those vehicles, barking orders to his subordinates: "Take them to the main compound. I want full security. No one approaches without my direct authorization."

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify