4

Noah’s POV

The silence in the Alpha’s suite was louder than the screams I’d left behind in the pack square.

I sat at my mahogany desk, a glass of neat bourbon trembling slightly in my hand. On the surface, I had everything. I had the Green Diamond Pack under my thumb. I had the fame, the supermodel contracts, and the women who would crawl over glass just for a glance from me.

But the bank accounts were frozen. The Montgomery Trust—the only reason I had tolerated that girl for years—was locked tight.

"Damn it!" I roared, slamming the glass onto the desk. The amber liquid splashed over a photograph of Isla. Her face looked back at me, wide-eyed and submissive. The way she always looked.

"Alpha Noah?"

Elder Ken stood at the doorway, his face the color of sour milk.

"What now? If you’re here to tell me the lawyers failed again, I’ll have your tongue," I hissed, leaning back and lighting a cigarette.

"It’s not the lawyers, Alpha. It’s the border patrol," Ken stammered, clutching a tablet. "They found her. Or rather, they found who took her. It was the Ravencurse Pack. Caleb Donovan’s personal escort."

The name hit me like a physical blow. Caleb. That arrogant, self-righteous bastard. He’d been my shadow since the Academy—always one step ahead, always looking down at me like I was something he’d stepped in.

"Caleb?" I burst into a dark, humorless laugh. "He took Isla? Why? That man only surrounds himself with the finest things. Why would he pick up a wolf-less reject who can barely walk a mile without panting?"

"He’s calling her his Luna, Noah."

I stopped laughing. The cigarette cherry glowed bright as I took a long, sharp drag. "His Luna? He’s playing a game. He knows I need her for the trust. He’s holding her hostage to bleed me dry."

"I don't think so," Ken whispered, stepping closer. "Our spy in their kitchen sent this. It’s from their dinner tonight."

He handed me the tablet. It was a grainy video, but I recognized that jawline anywhere. Caleb was sitting at the head of a table, looking like a king. And next to him...

My heart did a strange, violent flip in my chest.

Isla.

She was wearing a dress that cost more than a small house. She looked... different. The slumped shoulders were gone. Her skin, which I’d always called 'pasty,' glowed under the Ravencurse chandeliers. Caleb was leaning toward her, whispering something that made her flush.

"Get out," I muttered.

"Alpha?"

"I SAID GET OUT!" I screamed, swept the contents of my desk onto the floor in one frantic motion.

When the door slammed shut, I stared at the screen. My wolf, Brutus, was pacing in the back of my mind, a low, territorial growl vibrating in my skull. It wasn't love. I didn't love Isla. You don't love a tool. You don't love a bank account.

But she was mine.

I was the one who had broken her. I was the one who had marked her—even if I’d ripped that mark away. No one else was allowed to touch the ruins I’d created.

"You think you’ve escaped, Isla?" I whispered to the frozen image of her face. "You think that 'Hero' Caleb is going to save you?"

I grabbed my phone and dialed a number I hadn't touched in years. A contact for the "Grey Hunters"—mercenaries who didn't care about pack laws or international borders.

"I have a job," I said when a gravelly voice answered. "I need a girl retrieved from Ravencurse territory. Bring her to me alive. The rest... do whatever you want with the pack guarding her."

I hung up and paced the room. I could still smell her scent in the carpet—faint vanilla and old books. It irritated me. Everything about her irritated me.

Then why are you shaking, Noah? Brutus asked, his voice a mocking echo.

"Shut up," I snapped at the walls.

I walked to the mirror and adjusted my silk shirt. I was the most beautiful Alpha in the country. I was a god. Isla should be begging to come back. She should be crying for my forgiveness. The thought of Caleb’s hands on her skin—the skin I had deemed 'not good enough'—made a physical heat rise in my throat.

If she was 'not good enough' for me, she wasn't good enough for anyone.

Suddenly, my private line buzzed. It was a message from the pack’s lead auditor.

Alpha, the High Council has sent an inquiry. Since the Luna is missing and the rejection was publicized on social media by the pack members, they are questioning your right to the Montgomery properties. If she isn't returned and the marriage reinstated within 48 hours, the assets will be seized by the State.

I felt a vein throb in my temple.

"Isla, you little bitch," I hissed. "You’re trying to ruin me."

I didn't wait for the mercenaries. I couldn't. This was my legacy on the line. I grabbed my car keys and headed for the garage.

"Alpha!" Ken shouted, running after me as I jumped into my custom black Lamborghini. "Where are you going? You can't just storm Ravencurse! It’s suicide!"

"I’m not storming it," I said, the engine roaring to life like a caged beast. "I’m going to get my wife. And if Caleb Donovan tries to stop me, I’ll show the world what happens when you steal from Noah Prescott."

As I tore out of the driveway, the tires screaming against the asphalt, I felt a strange surge of adrenaline. It wasn't just the money anymore. I wanted to see the look on Isla’s face when she realized that her 'Alpha' was coming to take her back to the basement.

I wanted to see her eyes fill with that familiar terror.

"You belong in the dirt with me, Isla," I muttered, flooring the gas as I headed toward the Ravencurse border. "Not in a palace with him."