However, Cassian did not reply. He refused to even give me a glance. Instead, he simply stepped out of the door as though he had not heard me, slamming the door shut behind him.

I groaned, my shoulders slumping. Slowly, I turned to look at the window.

I could still see the world beyond the glass panels, with its blue skies and the green leaves of the trees outside. However, there was no way I could escape through it. They had chosen a room ― or perhaps, specially made one ― that was barred down, and there was no way I could slip through the cracks.

But it couldn’t hurt to try.

I gritted my teeth, forcing myself onto my feet despite the pain in my sides. Step by step, I nudged towards the window, peering out as far as I could. I scanned the surroundings, hoping to find something I could use as a location marker.

Unfortunately, the rolling scenery all looked the same to me. There were no distinctive landmarks that stood out. For as far as I could see, I couldn’t spot anything that would work as a sign― mountains, cliffsides, or even a clearing in the forest that seemed different from the others.

There was, however, a thin layer of white on the ground outside. It looked oddly like snow that was already melting.

I sighed. This was hopeless. I touched the metal bars, my finger running down the rod. It left a stinging sear on the pad of my index finger, and I drew back, hissing in pain through my teeth.

They were insane. Instead of normal steel or iron, the triplets had chosen to use silver for the bars. They were actually worried that normal metal wouldn’t be able to keep me down, that they had to employ supernatural means.

Or perhaps, this was a sign that they didn’t actually believe Lucien was dead. There was no reason for the triplets to think I would be able to bend metal and get out through the window. I would have a better chance ramming against the door until it broke free.

However, Lucien was a different story. He had gotten into my room via the windows before; they were worried that he would do so again.

That was a somewhat comforting thought. At least even the triplets didn’t think that Lucien would die so easily.

However, the bars were still a problem. I would need to be the size of a mouse to be able to squeeze between them without accidentally touching any of the silver metal. And unfortunately for me, I couldn’t even shift into a wolf, much less a rodent.

My shoulders slumped, dejected. I was about to turn and return to the bed until my eyes landed on a familiar figure.

I sucked in a cold draw of air and scrambled back to the window, pressing my face as closely to the metal bars as possible. Even without touching, I could hear a faint ringing of the silver in my ear, along with a slight heat that grazed my cheeks as though it were a roaring fireplace.

As though she could feel my eyes on her, Jessie turned around. She searched the general area before finally landing on my figure. I watched as her eyes widened and her lips broke into a smile. Then, she raised a hand and waved frantically.

After about three seconds, she hurriedly lowered her hand and looked around before disappearing. I didn’t see where she went as she went right into a blind spot. However, I didn’t need to wonder for long.

A knock came on the door.

"Briar? Is that you? Are you inside?" came Jessie’s muffled voice from outside.

I turned sharply to the door, mildly surprised that the triplets hadn’t employed guards to stand outside. Perhaps they no longer trusted anyone. Surely they would’ve noticed Ralph was missing from their ranks when going through the dead bodies after the battle.

Quickly, I crossed the room. I placed my hand on the handle and decided to try my luck. Unfortunately, it merely wiggled a few times, but didn’t budge otherwise. It was locked.

I couldn’t help but scoff. The triplets had made sure the windows were impossible to breach, but merely locked me behind an unguarded, plain wooden door. Surely they didn’t think so little of Lucien’s intelligence?

"Yes, it’s me," I said through the door. "How are you here? Actually, no, scratch that. Why are you even here?"

"I followed the Alphas," Jessie confessed. She sounded hushed. "Listen, I don’t have much time. I can get you out of here!"

"Are you insane?" I hissed.

Once bitten, twice shy. And at this point, I was already bitten twice― once when I tried to escape with Violet’s help, only for Cassian to catch up, and a second time with Lucien, only for all three of the Alphas to haul me back into this cage.

Both those people were highly skilled, highly resourceful wolves. Jessie, on the other hand, was neither.

"They will find us," I said. "What makes you think I will be able to escape when they’ve already caught me twice."

"Trust me, Briar," Jessie said. "I have a way. The Alphas don’t know that I am here, and I don’t have much time left before they figure it out."

"No shit," I grumbled under my breath. It was a miracle they hadn’t already noticed, considering the fact that Jessie quite literally just waltzed over from right under my window. "How did you even find this place?"

"I told you," Jessie said. There came some sounds from the other end, and I placed my ear against the door, scrunching my eyebrows as I strained my ears in an attempt to hear more.

Suddenly, there was a click, and the door sprang open. I jumped back, my eyes widening with surprise. Jessie stood right outside the doorway, a bright smile hanging on her lips.

"I followed the Alphas while they weren’t looking."

"Wow."

"Great, aren’t I?" Jessie said with a cheeky grin. "Now come on! We don’t have much time!"

I guess the third time could also be the charm. Maybe what I needed was someone who could blend in with the surroundings, someone forgettable.

As quietly as I could, I stepped out of the room. What was outside was a long corridor. There were barely any lights, and the only light source was that of the sunlight streaming in from the window outside, along with the weak, flickering flames of small candles hung on the walls.

"What is this place?" I asked, looking around as Jessie began to walk.

"The Alphas had this place built a month ago," Jessie said. "I only just found out about this recently."

"A month ago?" I echoed.

That would be after they had already found out that I was their fated mate. It would’ve also been a month after I had first met Lucien. Back then, I thought that he was Soren’s wolf. I didn’t even consider the idea that I might’ve had a fourth mate who looked identical to them.

Maybe they had already realized Lucien might be my fated mate as well, and wanted to keep me here so that he might never find me. Or, they were building this as my prison, with every intention of keeping me there for the rest of my life. Whatever it was, the thought made me shudder.

"I don’t suppose we’re near Shadowclaw?" I asked.

Jessie shook her head.

"Far from it," she said. "We’re somewhere a little up north. We’re actually closer to the Frostfang Pack."

The Frostfang Pack was a pack filled with warriors. They were tucked in the northern icy mountains, a distance away from Shadowclaw’s land. The Frostfang wolves mainly kept to themselves, reclusive as a pack could be. They cared not for territory disputes or resources. However, whenever they did enter battle, they had always emerged victorious.

For centuries, Frostfang had remained a neutral party. As far as I had overheard while running errands and doing housekeeping, Frostfang had fairly alright relations with Shadowclaw. They weren’t enemies, but they certainly weren’t friends either.

Shadowclaw had tried to establish a partnership many times, but Frostfang had always either rejected our advances or ignored them entirely. That had been the subject of Cedar’s complaints to Willow, as far as I knew.

"How did we travel so far?" I muttered more to myself than to Jessie. Frostfang was at least a week’s worth of travel away, even if the triplets were to spring the full way in their wolf forms.

"You were out cold for a week," Jessie said, confirming my thoughts.

"And since when did you start following the Alphas?" I asked, frowning.

I wanted to ask why as well. After all, there was no reason for Jessie to go out of her way to do such a thing. She wouldn’t have possibly known that Rowan, Soren, and Cassian were coming to get me either.

"I... overheard that the Alphas have commissioned some rogues to find you," Jessie admitted, her steps pausing for a split second before she continued.

My eyes narrowed. Something wasn’t right. For some reason, I felt that Jessie was omitting some truths about this situation.