Chapter 125
Astor’s Pov
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I kept pacing in my office, trying to keep my frustration in check. I sent everybody out after she left because I have nothing to say to them.
They’ve already done everything they could to ruin everything.
I told myself she needed space after what happened. I told myself a walk was good for her. But as the clock ticked past, my wolf got restless and uneasy making me worried.
“Enough is enough,” I muttered, shoving the door open.
I needed to find her. Now. I needed to apologize, to hold her, and to make her understand that I loved her more than this mess our lives had become.
I stepped out and focused on my senses, letting my wolf take over just enough to track the familiar prints of her shoes.
The trail was faint but I could follow it so I moved fast, maybe not running, but definitely leaning into a powerful sprint. Then, I stopped dead.
The trail just ended.
It didn’t fade, it didn’t turn sharply toward a creek or a rock face. It just stopped. As if Faith had simply lifted off the ground and vanished into the air.
My chest tightened. This was wrong. Wolves or people don’t just disappear.
I dropped to my knees, pushing my fingers into the cold dirt. I sniffed hard, trying to pull in her smell. Faith’s scent is usually strong jasmine flowers and a sharp hint of cinnamon. It’s comforting, addictive.
I breathed in again. Nothing.
Just wet earth and pine needles. No Faith. No sweat, no panic, no lingering essence of my
mate. It was like she had never been here at all.
This wasn’t just strange; it was terrifying. It meant something was covering her tracks, and doing it perfectly. It has to be dark magic.
My control snapped. Pure, raw panic flooded my system, overriding everything.
I slammed a fist into the ground, sending a shockwave of pain up my arm.
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‘Faith‘ I roared the command through the pack mindlink, my voice thick with fear and power
“Patrol, drop everything. Search the entire perimeter, I want every man on the move. Something is wrong!”
Then I mindlinked George and Liam,
“George, mobilize the search party on the inside. Go door–to–door Find out if anyone saw Faith leaving the pack territory. Now!”
I then tried to reach for her through the mate bond,
It’s always there, a pulsing connection deep in my brain, warm and constant. But when I pushed my mental energy toward her, trying to break through the distance and the anger, I hit
a wall.
Silence. Absolutely nothing,
It wasn’t just that she was refusing me, the connection was blocked, cold, and dead, The drugs. What the doctor injected her with must have done exactly what it was meant to do, They had cut her wolf connection, making her impossible to track and impossible to find mentally.
I stood up, shaking. Forty–five minutes. We searched frantically. The patrol ran like ghosts through the forest, yelling her name, George checked houses, messages were flying back and forth across the packlink.
Nothing.
Every minute that passed was a punch to my gut, solidifying the sickening truth, this wasn’t an angry tantrum or a walk to cool off. AND most importantly she didn’t leave on her own
accord.
The guilt hit me harder than any physical blow. If I had just followed her then none of this would have happened.
I wanted to give her space because she was hurting but instead she was taken from me.
I didn’t have to dig deep to know who did it.
Kyle.
The name tasted like ash in my mouth.
It had to be him. At the moment he is the only enemy that I can think of who is capable of something like this.
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<Chapter 125
Claim
I stumbled backward, leaning against a tree trunk, trying to breathe past the rising terror. I’ve never been this afraid because usually I know how to act and how to destroy my enemies but Kyle is different. He isn’t like the other rogues we fought.
It’s easier to take on an enemy that isn’t driven by personal revenge and that makes him very dangerous.
He has no mercy.
The victims we’ve found so far weren’t just killed. They slaughtered. Torn to pieces.
I couldn’t handle that. I couldn’t picture Faith my beautiful mate in his hands. The thought made the adrenaline in my veins turn to ice.
“NO!” I roared, spinning around, my wolf snapping into full control.
“I want the search radius doubled! I want every patrol hound brought out! Get the tracking team on the ground now!” I screamed into the link, the sheer volume of my despair making the whole pack tremble.
My father rushed to me, his face etched with worry, George right behind him.
“Astor, son, calm down, we need to think clearly—”
He reached out, his heavy hand resting on my shoulder in an attempt at comfort.
I erupted. The rage and the fear burst out, directed entirely at the man who had caused this whole toxic situation with his secrets.
I thought I could live with them until he decided to just break the news to Faith without thinking about how it would affect her in the long run.
I violently shoved his arm away, taking three steps back as if his touch burned me.
“Don’t touch me!” I snarled, my voice low and dangerous. “Don’t you dare tell me to calm down!”
My eyes were cloudy but I refuse to break down especially because I have to lead by example.
“This is your fault!” I accused, pointing a shaking finger at him. “It’s your fault! If you hadn’t told her everything, she wouldn’t have left! She wouldn’t have run! She wouldn’t have been
angry at me too”
My breath hitched. The thought of losing her was unbearable.
“You better pray, Father,” I whispered, the threat laced with absolute conviction. “You better
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pray to the Goddess that I find her alive. Because if I don’t… nothing, and I mean nothing, between us will ever be the same again.”
I couldn’t stand there anymore. The fear was paralyzing, but the anger was driving me forward. I needed action. I needed a lead.
Kyle wouldn’t have just taken her for fun. He wanted something. And there was only one person who knew exactly how Kyle thought and what he wanted.
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The door groaned when I ripped it open. The smell of damp stone and stale blood hit me immediately.
Alice was where I had left her. Silver chains binding her wrists to the wall, her clothes torn, but her body was weak.
I didn’t waste time on threats. I needed her alive and talking.
I stalked inside the cell. She flinched as I approached, probably expecting more pain. Instead,
I grabbed the key from my pocket, my fingers shaking so badly I almost dropped it.
The silver lock clicked. I freed one wrist, then the other. The chains fell heavily to the ground.
Alice didn’t move. She was too weak.
I reached down, slipping an arm beneath her shoulders and the other under her knees. She was practically weightless. I lifted her and carried her out of the dungeon, ignoring the smell and the blood soaking into my shirt.
I carried her straight through the main house, startling every pack member we passed.
I burst through the double doors of the pack hospital, Doctor Samuel looked at me in shock, then at the bruised, unresponsive woman in my arms.
“Alpha, what happened? What do you need?” he asked, rushing toward us.
I laid Alice gently on the examination bed. I looked down at the doctor, the desperation in my eyes overwhelming my usual composure.
“I need you to save her” I ordered, my voice trembling with urgency. “Do whatever you need to do. Give her blood, give her medicine, whatever she needs. Get her stable. Get her conscious.
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I grabbed the doctor’s arm, making sure she understood the gravity of the situation.
“She’s the only person who can lead me to my mate. If she dies, Faith dies too.”
