Chapter 58

It had been a few hours since we started our search for her. We found nothing. Not a damn thing. It was going to get dark soon, and it was cold outside, and I didn’t want her to be out here all alone.

I was going crazy.

I walked next to Marcus. Owen and Blake were on my left, while Liam and Kane were on my right. The guards

followed behind us.

“ Emily! ” Owen shouted, his voice cracking with desperation. “ Emily, answer me! ”

I try to ignore him.

Asher was whining and growling, and he couldn’t calm down. His mate ran away. I couldn’t control him or talk to

him.

I couldn’t sense her. Nothing.

Maybe because our bond wasn’t complete, and the distance was making it hard for Asher to find his mate.

Distance shouldn’t matter, but it was the only thing that made sense.

“ There’s no scent, ” Liam said. “ Not a trace. Not a single drop of her blood or a hair from her head p>

“ That’s impossible, ” Owen whispered, his face turning ghostly pale. “ She must waiting for me right here. She

promised p>

I was ready to rip his throat out for trying to run away with my mate.

I shook my head, trying to clear the haze. The pain in my chest was winning.

“ She couldn’t just vanish into thin air! ” I roared, the sound echoing through the dark trees. “ She is a wolf! She

cannot just disappear! ”

I turned to Blake, my eyes glowing a lethal, predatory gold.

“ Search every inch of this territory! ” I commanded, my Alpha aura exploding outward, forcing them to flinch. “ I lon’t care about the borders. I don’t care about the treaties. Scour every cave, every bush! ”

I couldn’t shift into my wolf because I feared that I wouldn’t be able to control him right now. Asher was hurt and aggressive, a deadly combination. I felt like I could kill somebody just by looking at them right now. Asher could do so much more. It was better that I had control.

The whole night passed like that. We searched everywhere, under every bush, and walked the entire border – not a single trace.

“ Nathan, you need to rest, ” my mother said via mindlink.

“ No, I will keep looking for her until I find her, ” I insisted.

9:46 am WWW

“ I’m not saying to stop the search by any means, but sweetie, you need to sleep. Let the guards continue for now.

Please.

I reluctantly agreed. Liam and Marcus went with me. When I walked into the house, my feet automatically carried

me to her room.

“ Do you want some coffee? ” Liam asked, turning into the kitchen.

“ Not yet, I want to check her room, maybe I’ll find something. ”

Liam shrugged and went into the kitchen.

“ Nathan, I need to tell you something, ” my mother stopped me.

“ Not now, ” I tried to brush her off. I was already approaching the stairs, to the second floor. I wanted to get to her room as quickly as possible; maybe I could find some clue as to where she could have run.

“ Nathan, it’s important. ”

“ Fine, ” I growled. “ But make it quick. ”

“ It concerns Emily p>

My attention immediately snapped to my mother.

“ Do you know where she is? ” I asked.

“ I don’t know where she is, ” she said quietly. “ But I do know who took her. ”

I looked at her, confused.

“ She wasn’t taken, Mother, ” I argued. “ She ran away. ”

“ I’m afraid that’s not quite right, my dear. Perhaps she was kidnapped, which is why you still haven’t found any

racks. Or even a scent to show which way she went. ”

I remained silent, processing the information.

୮

“ Do you remember that day when you walked in and Emily had a burn on her hand? She said it was an accident. Do you remember that? ” she asked.

I nodded.

“ It wasn’t an accident, ” my mother said. “ Stella grabbed her necklace and threw it onto the stove on purpose. She watched as Emily got burned. ”

I saw red. I would kill Stella.

“ That is not all, ” she said.

I focused back on her, but Asher continued to growl quietly. What else did that bitch do to Emily?

he threatened to kill her if she didn’t stay away from you. ” My mother gently touched my leg to calm me down. And Emily suspected that it was Stella who pushed her off the cliff during the pack run on Remembrance Day. ”

I couldn’t breathe. Fouldn’t think. She tried to tell me, and I didn’t believe her. If Stella really did something to her, it was completely my fault.

“ My dear son, please don’t believe Stella. Meredyth looked deep into my eyes. “ I’m afraid that Stella is behind Emily’s disappearance. Otherwise, I don’t know how to explain how she vanished without a trace. She didn’t even

eave a scent behind. ”

Marcus looked at us, deep in thought.

“ What’s going on here? ” Liam asked, walking in with a cup of coffee and a sandwich in his mouth.

“ I think Stella might have kidnapped Emily, ” my mom said, her voice trembling.

Liam squeezed his coffee so hard that the cup cracked, and the boiling water burned him.

“ I knew it. She is a lying bitch! ” he growled loudly.

I froze in place. I knew that I had let Stella trick me. She had clouded my mind with those bracelets and their

ove – spell scent – but kidnapping Emily was going too far.

“ But Owen … he said that Emily decided to run away today. They were supposed to meet at the border, ” I said, rying to find a logical explanation out loud.

I couldn’t believe that I was an Alpha and I didn’t see a threat that was right in front of me. My mate was in

langer because of it.

“ Maybe Emily was waiting, ” Marcus suggested. “ But she didn’t wait long enough. Either she ran away and we omehow missed her tracks, or she was kidnapped and her tracks were hidden. That would explain why we can’t

ind even a hint of where she went. ”

My mom was sitting on the couch, her hands shaking. I still couldn’t believe it.

r

“ There’s something I don’t understand, ” I said, looking at Marcus. “ If Stella was with me during the ceremony …

low could she have done this? ”

I let the question hang. Heavy. Uncomfortable.

“ She couldn’t have gotten there before us, ” I continued. “ Even if she ran the second she left the hall – she’s not

hat fast. ”

Silence fell over the room. I could see it in Marcus’s eyes. The shift.

“ … That doesn’t make sense, ” he muttered.

My fingers slowly curled into a fist.

“ Unless … ” I said quietly.

A pause. Then

“ She wasn’t alone, ” Marcus finished my thought.

I was going to kill Stella if she was behind all of this. I was going to rip her apart.

“ I will kill that bitch if she organized this! growled loudly, startling everyone.

“ Nathan, I know you are in shock, ” Marcus said, walking up to me. “ But we need to be calm and collected. We

ren’t sure it was her. Although I am inclined to suspect her, especially since her stunt at the ceremony already howed what she is capable of. ”

“ Marcus is right, ” Liam said, taking a deep breath. “ We need to act carefully. If it’s not her, there will be onsequences. And if it is her, then we have to be even more careful so we don’t spook her and let her warn her ccomplice. ”

“ But if she has gone this far, there is no turning back for her. She is planning to either have you for good, or … ” my

nother said.

“ Or what? Finish the sentence! ” I snapped at her.

“ You know how it is with girls like her – it’s all or nothing. She definitely won’t leave Emily alive if you reject her

gain. ”

My heart started beating painfully. My Emily. My mate. I will find you; I will do anything to find you.

“ We need to capture Stella and make her tell us where Emily is, ” I said.

I forced myself to get my head in the game and start thinking like the Alpha I was. My mate was in danger, and

he needed me.

“ But we need to make sure she doesn’t tip off the person who is helping her, ” I added. “ I need to get her here and ake her down to the dungeon. She won’t be able to use a mind – link from there. ”

“ You think her accomplice is a member of the pack? ” Marcus asked, raising his eyebrows. [

“ I don’t know. It could be a rogue. ”

“ Or a witch, ” Liam added.

“ A witch? Don’t even start thinking like that, ” Marcus snapped. “ I trust Zynair. ”

“ Maybe you trust her, but we don’t, ” Liam replied, stepping closer to Marcus. “ Where do you think Stella got hose bracelets with the love – spell scent that drugged Nathan, huh? ”

“ It couldn’t be Zynair, ” Marcus said, though he sounded less sure now.

“ Well, think about it. Who else in this pack can make a potion besides a witch? ” Liam threw his hands out as if the

inswer was obvious.

“ Then we will interrogate both of them, ” I said, ending the argument.

I could see that Marcus didn’t like the idea, but right now, everyone was a suspect without exception. I hadn’t trusted that witch for a long time anyway.

“ I will interrogate Stella. Liam, you bring the witch to the dungeon – lie to her, tell her we need more information

about the rogue attack in the cells. Make sure she doesn’t suspect anything. I don’t want them contacting anyone if

hey are in on this together. ‘

“ Good, ” I said. “ Let’s go. We start with Stella. ”

Next Chapter

Olivia Harris is an emerging author celebrated for her captivating romantic and steamy novels. With a talent for crafting deep emotional connections and fiery chemistry between her characters, Olivia’s stories offer readers an escape into worlds filled with passion, intrigue, and heart-stopping drama.