Chapter Four

(Ronald's POV)

The door slammed shut behind me. I swept everything off my desk. Glass shattered across the floor, sharp shards slicing into my palm. I barely felt the sting. Another failed attempt to capture the Alpha of Springfield Pack.

Their damn competent warriors.

My warriors had already attacked them twice this week. They should've been exhausted. How were Springfield's warriors still so strong?

Someone knocked and I let him in. Cassius, my second-in-command, lowered his head as he walked in. "Master Ronald, we lost a number of warriors—"

"I'm not stupid."

Cassius shifted in his spot. "I think you should consider fewer attacks..."

I grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall. "Do you think I need you to tell me that?"

Cassius clawed at my hand. I let go of him. "I'm sorry," he coughed an apology. I didn't spare him a glance. I walked out, heading to the dungeon.

I stopped by the field. The training field was littered with injured warriors. I walked up to one. "Move the injured to the infirmary." I couldn't afford to lose any more of my men. I still needed them to capture the Alpha of Springfield Pack.

"The infirmary is full. The nurses told us to wait here."

My jaw clenched. Without another word, I turned and walked away. That stupid doctor was the cause of this. Tyra. If she had just followed my rules, she wouldn't be in the dungeon.

If she wanted to work as a slut, she could've just said so. There's a building dedicated to that instead of distracting my men.

I even offered her a better life. She would've carried my children and never wanted for anything, yet she refused.

She was a good doctor. That was the only reason I tolerated her. Wolfless. Barely twenty when I found her. Her pack threw her out like she was nothing.

Useless to them. Useful to me.

I didn’t put her in the brothel. She was too pretty for that kind of waste. I gave her work instead. A roof. Safety. Then she started acting like rules didn’t apply to her.

Tomorrow she'd be dead. There was no reason to let her beauty go to waste. My footsteps echoed in the darkness as I got there.

"Tyra Lewis..." I smiled, dragging my fingers along the silver bars. The burning sensation only made me smile wider. "It didn't have to come to this, but you brought it upon yourself." I stopped in front of her cell.

There was only one small window at the top. It cast moonlight into the cell.

"Her scent is different," Oliver, my wolf muttered.

A figure stepped forward, a smile on her face. "We meet again, Ronald."

My eyes widened as I took a step back.

"You..."

She smiled, though there wasn't an ounce of warmth in it. "Jordyn. You never learnt my name. Tell me, Ronald... was my father ever anything more than a pawn to you?"

"What... how are you here?"

"You killed them all. You took them from me! You made me a rogue." She gripped the bars as her voice echoed off the dungeon walls. "He was your best friend. He saw you as family—"

"Elias and I were only benefiting from each other. Nothing more."

She let out a dry laugh. "He gave you whatever you wanted and what did you give him in return? You had your way with his first daughter and then took the rest of his family. I was fourteen."

I stared at her. Her dark hair. Her sharp blue eyes. I remember the look. How she cried and begged. "It was you."

"You're slower than they give you credit for," she let go of the bars.

"You should be dead—"

"Along with the rest of my pack and family. Yes. I'm alive."

My gaze swept over the empty cell. "Where's Tyra?" I stepped forward.

"Far away from you." She scowled.

I clenched my fists, turning around and leaving. "Where are the guards on duty tonight?" I asked a maid passing by.

"Master Ronald, we're here. The prisoner—" I grabbed him by the neck, squeezing hard enough to hear a snap. The other stepped back, lowering his head. "Dispose his body," I ordered as the body fell to the ground.

I walked back to my office. Not only had Tyra escaped, but Jordyn had been inside my pack for who knew how long without anyone noticing. But what is she doing in the dungeon? She could stay in that cell until I decided what to do with her.

"We have to find her," Oliver growled.

"She won't last out there," I scoffed.

"Master Ronald..."

"What is it?"

Cassius came in. "The other guard gave a report of the escaped prisoner."

"Go ahead."

"It seems the woman in the cell helped Tyra escape. The guards managed to capture her, but Tyra got away."

I leaned on my desk, arms folded. "Did they go after Tyra?"

"The men pursued Tyra. She was struck by an arrow, but they lost sight of her. They searched the area, but there was no sign of her body."

"Lock up the other guard. I'll deal with him later. Organise a search party. Tomorrow, at dawn, we move." I dismissed Cassius. He nodded and left.

Jordyn.

She should have died years ago. I remembered the flames swallowing Elias's estate. The screams. The smell of blood. I'd watched enough to make sure no one important walked away. Yet somehow, a frightened fourteen-year-old girl had survived.

"Someone helped her," Oliver growled.

"Or someone failed to finish the job."

I lowered myself into the chair behind my desk, tapping my fingers against the wood.

She'd lived inside my territory without me knowing. That wasn't possible. Every newcomer was documented. Every rogue entering my borders was hunted. Every servant answered to someone.

Someone had hidden her.

Which meant someone inside my own pack had lied to me.

My jaw tightened.

Betrayal spread faster than disease.

And disease had to be cut out before it infected everything.

Oliver's attention drifted elsewhere.

"Forget Jordyn. Find the doctor."

"She's a wolfless woman with an arrow wound. She won't survive the night."

"Then why are you thinking about her?"

I didn't answer.

Her medical knowledge made her valuable. Nothing more. That's all she ever was.

I clicked my tongue.

Without Tyra, the nurses were slower and less organized. Patients piled up while minor wounds became serious infections.

She'd warned me more than once that she couldn't manage the infirmary alone.

I'd ignored her. She should have adapted.

Excuses were for the weak.

Yet the overflowing infirmary irritated me more than I cared to admit.

Tomorrow, Tyra came first. Once she was found, I'd uncover who had hidden Jordyn all these years.

Tyra knew every corner of the infirmary. Every herb, every medicine, every patient. Replacing skill wasn't as simple as replacing a servant. Competence took years to build. Loyalty, however, could be forced.

Once I found her, she'd remember exactly who she belonged to.

She'd done well under my protection once. She'd do so again.

This time, I wouldn't give her another chance to refuse me.