My head was pounding. Every throb echoed through my skull like a war drum. The light spilling through the curtains stabbed into my eyes, making me wince and groan. My tongue felt dry, like sandpaper against the roof of my mouth. I reached for my temples and squeezed them. I was hoping to push away the nausea swirling in my gut.
I sat up slowly. My muscles were aching as if I had run a marathon in my sleep. My sheets were tangled. The pillow was tossed to the floor. Everything felt wrong. The female scent on my skin… it wasn’t Lisa. The room felt cold and foreign. A prickle of unease ran down my spine.
“Alpha?”
Jared’s voice came from the door.
I looked up. I was squinting at him. He stood there. His arms were crossed. There was a hard look in his eyes. There was no warmth and no familiarity.
“Jared,” I croaked. “Can you bring me some lemon juice or something? I feel like death.”
He didn’t move. Didn’t smile. His voice was flat and cold. “You should be feeling worse than
that.”
I blinked, confused. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He stepped into the room slowly. Each footstep was like a drumbeat of judgment. “I didn’t think you were the type, Alpha Rylan.”
“The type? What are you talking about?”
He let out a breath that was half a growl. “To betray the woman you claim to love.”
My entire body tensed. “What did you say?”
“Lisa. She saw you in bed with another woman last night. Naked. In your bed.”
The words hit me like a lightning strike. I felt the blood drain from my face. I stared at him. I was unable to speak.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Jared said, his voice rising. “You know what you did. Or are you going to say you don’t remember?”
“I… I don’t remember,” I whispered. My voice cracked like dry wood. “Jared, I swear to the
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Moon Goddess, I don’t remember anything after I had that drink. I thought I was talking to Lisa… then nothing. There was complete darkness.”
Jared’s jaw clenched tighter. “So you’re telling me you blacked out? That’s convenient.”
I stood up and stumbled lightly. My legs were trembling under me. “I’m not lying. You know me better than anyone. I would never do something like that to Lisa. Never.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Then explain what she saw. Because she’s devastated, Rylan. She cried all night. Screamed. Ran into the woods like her heart had been torn out. And you were just lying here, with another woman in your bed.”
My hands curled into fists. I could feel my wolf stirring angrily under my skin.
“Where is she now? Where is Lisa?” I asked, a spike of panic rising in my chest.
He hesitated. “Gone.”
My heart stopped. “What do you mean gone? Gone where?”
He shook his head. “She left. She packed her things in the middle of the night. Alexandra helped her. They didn’t take any guards. She just vanished:”
My chest burned. I couldn’t breathe. “Why would Alexandra help her leave? She should’ve stopped her.”
“She said Lisa was determined. She said that there was nothing she could do to change her mind. And honestly, I can’t blame her for helping. Lisa was broken. You didn’t see her, Rylan.
She looked like the world had ended.”
I ran a hand through my hair and gripped the strands tightly. “I need to find her. I need to explain. I need to tell her the truth.”
Jared looked at me for a long moment. Then something in his face shifted. He frowned. He seemed to be thoughtful. “You really don’t remember anything? Not even a face?”
“Nothing,” I said. “Just the taste of something sweet in the drink, and then… blank.”
“That’s not normal,” he muttered. “Something is really fishy.
I froze. “Alexandra?”
“Yeah. She said it was something special. A calming blend. It looked fancy. I assumed it was
from her collection.”
A deep growl started low in my throat. “Where’s the woman now? The one Lisa saw?”
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Jared straightened. “I locked her in the cellar last night. Something about her felt… off. She was too calm. Like she wanted to be caught.”
“Take me to her. Now.”
We walked in tense silence through the halls, down the stone steps that led to the cellar. The air grew colder with each step. The torches flickered. The stone under my bare feet felt like
ice.
We reached the cell.
It was empty.
“No,” Jared said, his voice sharp with disbelief. “This is not possible.”
I rushed forward. The door was wide open. The chains were undone, not broken. It had been opened cleanly. The bed was untouched.
“She’s gone,” I said, fury rising in my chest.
Jared was already checking the lock. “No sign of force. Someone let her out.”
I looked at him. “And only a few people knew she was here.”
His face darkened. “I’ll interrogate every guard. If someone betrayed us, I’ll find out who.”
My heart which was already bleeding, shattered again. “Lisa thinks I did this. That I lied to her. That I’ve been seeing that woman behind her back.”
Jared said nothing for a moment, then placed a firm hand on my shoulder. “We’ll find the woman. And we’ll find Lisa. But first, you need to think. Who would want to tear the two of you apart?”
I closed my eyes.
The list was longer than it should’ve been.
“We need the seer,” I said. “Maybe, she can help us. I want to know exactly what happened last night. And then I want to find Lisa. Even if I have to crawl to the ends of the earth.”
Jared nodded. “I’ll get everything ready. We’ll fix this, Alpha Rylan. We have to.”
But deep down, I feared it was already too late.
Because the woman I loved was gone.
And I had no idea how to bring her back.
