Chapter 16

Emily’s POV

The doors burst open and hit the floor as Liam and Marcus rushed into the room, both of them radiating anger.

“ You dared to touch what is ours? ” Liam said, his voice low and threatening.

Marcus smiled, but it was the coldest, scariest smile I had ever seen. “ We’re going to have a private, very long conversation. I promise you three won’t survive it. ”

He looked at the first security guard, then at the taser in the man’s hand. At last, his cold stare landed on me.

“ Emily, Jessie. Get behind me. ” Marcus said quietly, his voice tense with control.

I couldn’t move, my boots glued to the floor. But Jessie grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

“ Stay back! ” The security guard raised the taser with a violently shaking hand.

Marcus caught his wrist in a split second. A sickening crack echoed through the room. The security guard creamed in agony, but Marcus didn’t even flinch.

“ You locked two females in a room, you touched them, and you tried to make them undress, ” Marcus said, his

voice dropping into a dark, terrifying purr.

“ I didn’t. ” The first security guard sobbed, dropping to his knees as Marcus twisted his broken arm.

Marcus hit him and the guard crashed against the table, blood streaming from his broken nose.

Liam dragged the second man forward, throwing him onto the floor beside the first like a piece of trash. The third ried to escape, but Marcus rammed a fist into his stomach, folding him in half.

Kane appeared in the doorway a moment later. “ Jess? ”

“ I’m okay, ” she said, though her voice shook badly.

Kane pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her hair. She just held on, her hands shaking violently against his back. Vincent came in behind them, his face set and serious. Two of Marcus’s warriors followed.

Marcus turned his head slightly. “ Find the saleswoman. She set this up. ”

Vincent nodded once and vanished back into the hallway with the two warriors.

The third guard tried to crawl away, slipping through the blood on the floor. Marcus stepped heavily onto his

hand, grinding his boot down. The man screamed, bursting into tears.

“ Where do you think you’re going? ” Marcus asked, his voice chillingly calm.

“ I’m sorry, ” the security guard sobbed. “ I’m sorry, please don’t kill me–

Marcus crouched in front of him. “ You should have thought about begging before you put your filthy hands on

stared at Marcus, my heart racing. This wasn’t the friendly man who joked with Liam in the car. Now he was a true Alpha: dangerous, cold, and utterly lethal. For the first time, I understood why even Alpha Nathan watched

him carefully.

Marcus stood up slowly and turned to me. The raw anger in his face disappeared at once. “ Did he hurt you,

Emily? ”

I shook my head, but I was trembling too much for the lie to be believable. His jaw tightened.

Liam stepped beside me and gently wrapped his heavy jacket around my shaking shoulders. “ Emily, ” he

vhispered, his voice thick with emotion. “ You’re safe now. I promise. ”

Safe. The word felt completely foreign to me.

Vincent strode back into the room, his expression grim. “ Marcus, we couldn’t find the saleswoman. She ran. ”

“ Well then, ” Marcus said, giving the three trapped security guards a bloodthirsty look. “ We’ll just have a private

conversation with the ones who stayed. ”

“ Please, no! ” the head guard whimpered, his face draining of all color. “ We didn’t know! ”

Marcus didn’t even look at them. “ Kane, take the girls out of here. Liam and I are going to teach these bastards

how to respect females. ”

“ With pleasure, ” Liam agreed, cracking his knuckles as a deadly promise flashed in his eyes.

Marcus glared down at the whimpering men. “ When we’re finished, they’ll never dare touch another female

gain. ”

Kane led us out of the security room while Vincent and the other warriors immediately surrounded us.

The door closed behind us. For a few seconds, it was quiet. Then, the screaming started. It was a raw, terrifying ound that echoed right through the thick door. Followed by another. And another.

I froze, but Jessie didn’t even look back.

“ Good, ” she muttered, her voice deadly cold.

୮

Nathan’s POV

My office door burst open, and Beta Blake rushed in, pale and out of breath. “ Nathan, I’m sorry. I just found out

ive minutes ago. ”

“ What is it? ” I demanded.

Blake held out his phone, his hand shaking while I read the text message from Marcus.

Don’t be angry, Nathan. Liam and I decided Emily deserved a proper birthday celebration, so we ‘ borrowed ‘ her

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and her friends and took them into the city. Relax. She’s safe. Try not to panic.

The glass in my hand broke into sharp pièces. Blood and alcohol dripped onto my desk, but I hardly noticed.

Birthday.

A strange chill ran down my spine. I missed her birthday? I stared at the screen, my chest tightening.

But before guilt could take over, the mate bond hit me hard.

Fear. Pain.

Emily

In my mind, my wolf Asher let but a furious roar. The guilt disappeared, replaced by a surge of pure rage.

“ How long have they been gone? ” I asked through clenched teeth.

“ Three hours, ” Blake said, bowing his head.

“ Why am I only hearing about this now? ” I shouted, slamming my bloody fist on the desk. “ Who let them cross the

order? ”

Blake swallowed hard. “ Luna Meredyth gave the order. ”

I cursed quietly. My mother was reckless. She didn’t know that rogues had started attacking more often and had

ecome more dangerous.

“ And where the hell were you? ” I snapped, stepping closer to him. “ How could you not know they left? ”

“ I stepped away for a few minutes, ” Blake stammered. “ Liam and Marcus used that time to make a deal with the

uards. ”

Through the bond, I felt Emily’s pain in my mind. She was trapped and crying, and her panic was making me lose

ontrol.

“ Get the cars ready, ” I said, my voice dropping into a deathly cold calm.

Blake’s head shot up. “ Nathan, wait

Now! ”

Marcus was going to answer for this.

Next Chapter Chapter 17

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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.