Chapter 161

Asher POV

There are some things that never leave my mind, no matter how many meetings I attend, how many decisions I make as the Alpha, or how high my title sits on a plaque. My mother’s escape from the dungeon was one of them.

It haunted the back of my mind like a shadow that refused to dissipate, curling in the corners of my thoughts even as I sat in the quiet of my office. I kept thinking about what Aurora told me.

I’d combed through the security feeds a dozen times, questioned every guard personally, and still, nothing made sense. No struggle, no signs of forced entry or exit. Just… gone.

And the worst part? The silence. That eerie, suffocating stillness left in the aftermath of her disappearance. I should have been focusing on the Rogues attacking, or the expansion plans for our territory, but instead, I was here—mentally stuck in that damned dungeon with the ghost of her absence whispering treachery in my ear.

A sharp knock broke my spiral.

“Come in,” I called, straightening up