"You're making a mistake."
Morris stood in the motel parking lot, arms crossed, watching me climb into Kade's truck. The sun was barely up, but I'd texted him that I was following a lead.
"It's just an interview." I kept my voice casual. "Local who might have information."
"At six in the morning? In the alpha's personal vehicle?"
Kade leaned out the driver's window. "Detective Morris. She'll be back by lunch. You have my word."
"Your word." Morris didn't look convinced.
The tension between them was thick. I grabbed the door handle before things escalated.
"Morris, I'll call you later. We still have those witness interviews this afternoon."
"If you're not back by noon, I'm coming looking for you."
I slid into the truck. Kade pulled out without another word, his jaw tight.
We drove in silence through the waking town into dense forest. The trees closed in on both sides, blocking out most of the rising sun.
"Tell me about Elena," I said.
"She's a historian. Studies pack lineages, supernatural abilities." Kade took a turn onto a dirt road. "She's also connected to at least three pack massacres in the last fifteen years."
"And you're letting me meet with her because?"
"Because if I tried to stop you, you'd go anyway and I wouldn't be there to protect you."
The cabin appeared suddenly. Small. Run-down. Smoke curling from the chimney.
Elena stood on the porch, eyes landing on me with intensity.
"You brought the alpha. How predictable."
"You said you knew my mother. Prove it."
Elena gestured inside. "Come. We have a lot to discuss."
The cabin interior was covered in papers. Photos. Maps. All marked with symbols I recognized.
Pack territories. Bloodlines. And in the center: SEER.
"Twelve years of research." Elena gestured at the chaos. "Trying to understand what happened to your pack and why."
She pulled out photos. My mother. My father. Pack members. Children. All marked: Deceased.
"They killed everyone under eighteen. Targeted the children specifically because that's where gifts manifest." Elena tapped a photo. "Your pack had the highest concentration of gifted wolves in the Pacific Northwest."
She showed me my mother holding a baby. Holding me.
"Your mother could see the future. Certainties, not just possibilities. That's why Thorne wanted her dead."
Kade's face went pale. "I didn't know the details until after he was dead."
Elena pulled out a yellowed letter. "From the Collector. Two months before your pack died."
She turned it so I could see. Anna Blackwood. My mother's name. Highlighted in red.
"The Seer must be eliminated. Her ability threatens our entire operation."
My hands shook. Elena pulled the letter back.
"Don't touch it. Physical objects hold memories. Touch this without training, and the vision will consume you. Trap you in the past until your mind breaks."
"How do you know?"
"Because I've seen it happen. Three Seers who touched objects too powerful for them. They never came back." Elena locked the letter away. "That's why you need training."
"And you can teach me that in two days?"
"Enough to survive the blood moon. Enough to fight back." Elena looked at Kade. "That's where he comes in. The mate bond. Every Seer needs an anchor. Someone to pull them back when visions get too intense."
"How does that work?"
"Physical contact. During visions, if he touches you, the bond pulls you back." She gestured between us. "But it only works if you accept the bond."
"So accept a mate I don't want or go insane? Great options."
"The blood moon rises in two days. During that time, your gift will be at its strongest. Every touch will trigger visions." Elena's voice went hard. "That's when the Collector will take your gift. Drain you. Leave you hollow."
Kade moved beside me. "Then we make sure that doesn't happen."
Elena pulled out a wooden box. Opened it to reveal a silver bracelet.
"This belonged to your mother. She wore it the night she died." Elena held it up. "Touch it, and you'll see everything."
Every instinct screamed to run.
"I thought I couldn't touch powerful objects yet."
"Not without an anchor." Elena looked at Kade. "He holds you. Grounds you. Pulls you back."
"And if he can't?"
"Then you're lost."
I looked at Kade. "You ready?"
"No. But let's do it anyway."
He moved behind me, hands on my shoulders. The bond flared.
I reached for the bracelet.
The world exploded.
Fire. Screaming. My mother's face. Her voice: "Run, baby. Run and don't look back."
Pain. Claws tearing flesh. And through it all, a vision.
Me. Grown. In this cabin with Kade, reaching for this bracelet.
My mother had seen this moment. Known I would survive.
Then darker. The Collector. Three figures in shadow. Amber eyes. "The Seer will be ours."
Agony. My mother's death. Her last thought: "I'm sorry I couldn't teach you."
I screamed.
Kade's voice cut through. "Sera! Come back!"
The bond pulled. I grabbed onto it, letting it drag me back.
Back to Kade.
I collapsed against him. His arms came around me.
"I've got you."
Elena was watching. "That went better than expected. You pulled her back in under a minute."
"She's my mate," Kade said. "Of course I pulled her back."
"My mother knew." My voice was muffled against his chest. "She saw this moment."
"What else did she see?" Elena asked.
"The Collector. Three people. Coming for me in two days."
"Did you see their faces?"
"No. Just shadows. Amber eyes." I shuddered. "They want to take my gift."
"Which means we have two days to make you strong enough to fight back." Elena pulled out another object. "Ready for round two?"
We trained for hours. Object after object. Vision after vision. Each one teaching me to shield. To filter. To control.
Each one with Kade pulling me back. Keeping me grounded.
By sunset, I was exhausted but stronger.
"Tomorrow we go deeper," Elena said. "Teach you offensive techniques. Ways to use visions as weapons."
We left as darkness fell. Kade drove in silence, one hand holding mine.
"Thank you," I said quietly.
"For what?"
"For being my anchor. For not running when things got hard."
"I'm not running. Not now. Not ever."
My phone buzzed. The unknown number.
One day left, little Seer. Hope you're ready. Because tomorrow night, we're coming for you.
I showed Kade.
His expression went dark. "They're wrong about you being unprotected. You have me. And I swear, they're not taking you without a fight."
"What if we lose?"
"We won't."
"How can you be so sure?"
Kade pulled over. "Because I've already lost one person to the Collector. My father was working for them. Hunting gifted wolves so they could drain them, take their abilities." His voice broke. "When I found out, I confronted him. He tried to kill me. So I fought back. And I won."
The vision I'd had earlier made horrible sense now.
"You killed him to stop him."
"I killed him because he'd become a monster." Kade's hands clenched. "The Collector didn't stop. They just found new operatives."
"How do we stop them?"
"We show them what a Seer can do." He cupped my face, and the bond flared between us. "Tomorrow night, when they come, you're going to show them exactly what a Seer can do. And I'm going to make sure they regret ever threatening my mate."
I leaned into his touch. "One more day of training?"
"One more day. Then we face whatever comes. Together."
I kissed him. Quick. Impulsive.
When I pulled back, his eyes were wide.
"What was that for?"
"For not running. For being here. For making me believe I might actually survive this."
His smile was soft. "You will survi
ve this. I'll make sure of it."
We drove back in comfortable silence, hands linked.
Tomorrow, the real training would begin.
And tomorrow night, when the Collector came, I'd be ready.
Or I'd die trying.