66

ALEXANDER

I midlinked Claude again, forcing the connection harder this time, but I still couldn’t reach him. My mental walls trembled with the effort, and it took everything in me not to slide into full blown panic.

Steven and Jared sat across from me, their postures stiff with anticipation. Waiting. Watching.

They’d managed to contain the breach before it spread to the rest of our systems but everything that had already been hacked? Gone. Irretrievable. And now a blast had gone off somewhere in the pack. No clear location. No report on who was hit or where they might strike next.

“Try tracking my brother again,” I said, voice low and deceptively steady.

Jared’s fingers flew over the keyboard like his life depended on it.

“I’m not getting a clean signal. But…” He glanced up, hesitation clouding his eyes. “I don’t think he’s anywhere near the blast. So… he should be okay.” A shallow swallow followed. “I hope.”

My jaw clenched. “Anyone seen near the dungeon?”

They both shook their heads.

I dragged a hand down my face, trying to make sense of it. None of this lined up. If my uncle was behind this, wouldn’t the dungeon be his first target? Freeing his son should’ve been his priority.

So what the fuck was this?

My thoughts spiraled until Steven’s voice cut through.

“Sir. There’s a call for you.”

He handed me the untraceable black phone I only ever used during emergencies tied to the house. The only person with this number was the housekeeper.

Which meant something was wrong. Bad wrong.

I didn’t hesitate. I snatched the phone from his hand and pressed it to my ear. My voice came out rough, primal.

“Where is she?”

Alina.

Every fiber of my being was clawing toward her. And the moment I realized this entire attack might’ve been about her, it all clicked. My breath turned to gravel in my chest. Rage burned behind my ribs. I should’ve seen this coming. I should’ve—

“I—I don’t know where she is, sir,” the housekeeper stammered. “I sent her maid to bring her down so she could be brought to security, but… but she never came down. Everyone’s been deployed. She’s not here.”

The phone creaked beneath the pressure of my grip.

“And why the fuck was a maid sent to get her?” I growled. “She’s under your supervision.”

“I’m sorry, Alpha. It won’t happen again.”

“You’re right,” I said flatly. “It won’t.”

I hung up and flung the phone across the room. It shattered against the wall.

Without sparing either man a glance, I turned on my heel and stormed out, heading for the elevator.

Each second inside the lift felt like a lifetime wasted. I pounded the ‘down’ button, willing the damn thing to move faster. Claude had mentioned upgrading the system once and said this delay was a waste of time. I hadn’t listened.

I should’ve.

The doors opened at last and I stepped into the open air. The sky stretched endlessly overhead, but my eyes locked on the dark smoke curling in the distance and south of the pack, toward the estate.

Toward her.

A tremor rolled through me, deep and furious. Without hesitating, I gave my wolf the reins. His senses were sharper, faster. He could get to her.

But instead of heading toward safety or the main site of the explosion, I veered off toward the forest, toward the source of the smoke.

Claude’s voice finally reached me through the link. “I’m in the dungeon. Most of them are down. Their leader swears they aren’t behind the second wave.”

He sounded just as confused as I felt.

And then it hit me.

‘Cassandra.’

The name coiled in my mind like venom. When I get my hands on her, she’ll regret ever taking her first breath.

I cut the link and pushed harder, my legs moving with speed and single minded purpose.

Reaching the door to the underground tunnels, I yanked it open. Her scent hit me like a punch to the gut.

Sweet. Soft. Hers.

It drenched the air, wrapping around me like a taunt. But instead of going in, I stepped back and inhaled deeper, tracking the direction it grew strongest.

She wasn’t in the tunnels anymore. She’d gone up. Out.

My stomach twisted. Was she running?

The idea of her trying to escape sent molten fury through me.

She looked so innocent. So fucking soft and unsure of herself. I’d believed she didn’t have it in her to play games like this. I wanted to believe that.

But I’d underestimated her.

My fault.

I’d let myself get distracted by the way her lips parted when she gasped, the quiet vulnerability in her eyes when she wasn’t looking at me, the way she felt beneath my hands.

I followed the trail like a predator, my anger blinding me to everything but the need to find her. My only thought was where is she and who the hell is she with.

She didn’t pull this off alone.

And when I found her, every single one of them was going to pay.

The forest grew thicker as I pushed forward. My fists clenched at my sides, and I fought the rising urge to let my wolf take full control. He didn’t give a damn about logic. He’d find her, throw her over his shoulder, and stake his claim in the dirt.

But this area was laced with surveillance.

And if anyone caught so much as a glimpse of her skin…

The thought alone nearly broke me.

The trees closed in. This part of the woods I hadn’t walked it in years. Too many old ghosts. Too many buried memories.

But none of it mattered.

She was here. And I was going to find her.

I paused when I heard the sound of twigs snapping. Branches rustling. My instincts sharpened to a blade.

I was close.

Closer than I’d been all day.

I slowed my steps, every muscle coiled in anticipation.

Then I heard the scream.

High pitched. Terrified. Hers.

My blood iced. And boiled.

I surged forward without hesitation.

No one touches what’s mine.