31

Chapter 31

Zach’s POV

“He’s in the car with her?” I asked, my voice thundered across the office before I even realized I had spoken.

My fist slammed down on the mahogany desk so hard the ink bottle rattled and nearly tipped over. I was so angry about getting the information about Bella's whereabouts.

Across from me, my Beta stiffened from the shock of my anger and reaction.

“Yes, Alpha,” he said carefully, trying to steady himself.

The word Alpha sounded heavier today as I stood up slowly, my chair scraping across the marble floor. 

The air in the room felt too tight, too hot, like the walls were closing in. “Say that again,” I said quietly, my gaze directly on Perry.

My Beta swallowed hard as he tried to repeat what he just said.

“Alpha Hayden picked Luna Belle up himself. No driver, just with a few escort vehicles inside the lane.” Perry finally repeated.

My jaw clenched so hard I felt it in my skull.

“He is driving her,” I murmured to myself, and for a moment, there was nothing but silence in the room.

Then, there was a crack, and the wooden edge of my desk split under my grip and my Beta flinched immediately from the shock.

“That arrogant bastard,” I growled.

“Hayden,” I called, of all the things that man could have done, this was the worst possible one.

Driving my pregnant wife around the city in broad daylight, not secretly, not quietly, but openly.

It wasn’t just disrespectful; it was a declaration.

I turned away from the desk, pacing slowly across the office, my wolf stirring violently under my skin.

“Does he think I’m stupid?” I muttered, my voice high and firm.

My veins ignited something fierce in me.

“No, Alpha,” my Beta said quickly with a cool voice, trying to reduce the tension building up.

I stopped walking and looked at him sharply. “Then what does he think he’s doing?” I asked angrily.

My Beta hesitated for a while as I could see him fighting hard not to give me a reply that would trigger my anger more.

“That… I do not know,” he stammered.

But I do as I knew exactly what Hayden was doing. Yes, he was provoking me to anger and testing me the same way wolves circle each other before a fight.

Belle was playing a dangerous game and to me, she thought her pregnancy made her untouchable to me and to everyone.

She did not understand Hayden because Hayden didn’t see a pregnant woman; he saw leverage, weakness, and opportunity.

I walked back to the desk and grabbed Belle’s phone tracker tablet as the screen lit up instantly.

Two blinking dots, one red, one blue, and both in the same place. It was stationary, and my eyes narrowed.

“They have stopped,” I said, and my Beta leaned forward slightly.

“Traffic, maybe?” he said softly.

“Maybe,” I said slowly, but my instincts screamed otherwise.

Hayden didn’t stop for traffic, not unless he wanted to. I thought to myself as I stared at the blinking dot representing Belle.

“Zoom in,” I commanded Perry as he immediately tapped the screen, and the map expanded.

A street, crowded and busy, but the car hadn’t moved for almost five minutes.

My fingers curled slowly around the tablet.

“What could they possibly be doing for five minutes?” I asked angrily.

My Beta stayed silent as he just concentrated on the screen.

“Smart man.” I muttered to myself because he knew better than to guess.

I set the tablet down carefully, too carefully and then I exhaled slowly through my nose.

“Prepare the car,” I said and my Beta blinked.

“Alpha?” he called calmly, trying to say something.

“I said you should prepare the car.” I snapped, cutting him short.

My voice dropped to a dangerous whisper.

“I’m going out,” I added.

He hesitated for a while. “Alpha… with respect, if you appear there it might escalate…” he wanted to say, but I turned to him slowly.

“What did you just say?” I asked, my voice low but firm.

He looked at me as his throat bobbed.

“I meant… it could cause attention between the packs,” he blurted out.

The treaty, that fragile little document everyone pretended kept the peace.

I walked toward the coat stand and pulled on my coat. “Let me remind you of something,” I said calmly.

My Beta straightened immediately. “That treaty exists because Hayden and I allow it to exist,” I said as I adjusted the sleeve of my coat.

“If a single hair on Belle’s head is touched today…”

My hand moved to my belt, and the cold metal of the silver dagger pressed against my palm.

“The treaty won’t just be broken.”

I looked up slowly. “It will be burned to ash.” I declared angrily.

My Beta lowered his head slightly. “Yes, Alpha,” he replied fearfully.

“Good,” I muttered.

At least someone in this building understood the seriousness of the situation.

I started walking toward the door, but before I reached it, my steps slowed because a sudden thought crossed my mind.

Not about Belle, not about Hayden, but about Livia.

My hand tightened around the dagger hilt. “Livia,” I called silently.

She's small, quiet, fragile, but those eyes… Those haunted eyes that looked like they had already seen the end of the world and survived it.

I leaned my head slightly against the doorframe. Hayden didn’t deserve her, not even close.

Anyway, people said he saved her, that he rescued her but I knew men like Hayden because I was one.

Men like us didn’t save people; we claimed them, we colonized them, and we reshaped them until they belonged to us completely.

My lips curled slightly. “Tell me something,” I said suddenly.

My Beta looked confused as he did not understand what I was saying.

“Yes, Alpha?” he replied.

I turned back toward him. “Before Hayden picked Belle up…”

“Yes?” Yes, he said.

“Did they talk?” I asked.

He frowned slightly. “I believe so,” he replied.

“How long?” I asked calmly.

“Not sure,” he replied, trying to avoid my gaze.

“Minutes? Hours?” I asked, trying to get the exact time.

“Maybe ten minutes,” he finally replied.

My mind started turning slowly. Hayden wasn’t the type to waste ten minutes on casual conversation.

He always had a purpose, always.

Which meant he might have told Belle something.

Something deliberate, strategic.

I walked back toward the desk slowly.

“What did they talk about?” I asked, but my Beta shook his head.

“We don’t have audio surveillance in that area,” my Beta replied.

For a moment, I stared down at the blinking dots again to see if they had started moving, but it still remained the same.

Hayden and Belle are still stationary, still not moving.

My wolf growled softly inside my chest, but it wasn’t jealousy that bothered me, not really, because I knew Belle could flirt with ten men if she wanted.

I wouldn’t care, but what bothered me was something else, something darker and far more dangerous.

I turned the tablet toward my Beta. “Look at that.

He leaned closer.

“Yes, Alpha,” he replied.

I tapped the screen. “You see those two dots?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied.

“That’s not what worries me,” I said as I could see the confusion on Perry's face.

“Then what does?” he asked, almost like a whisper.

I leaned back slowly, and for the first time since hearing the news, a cold smile spread across my face.

“What worries me…”

My voice dropped to a whisper.

“Is what Hayden might have told her about Livia.”