Chapter 6

Elaria Pov

I was on my way to Lady Liora’s room to let her know I was done for the day when I accidentally knocked down the vase in the corridor.

It hit the floor and shattered.

No. No, No!

I dropped to my knees, staring at the broken pieces on the floor before gathering them with trembling hands and placing them into the basket beside me.

I had barely  started working here, and I’d already managed to break something.

How was I going to tell Lady Liora?

I could already hear the shouting. Maybe she’d deduct it from my pay. Or worse, maybe she would decide I wasn’t fit for the job and send me away.

I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. Then I reached for another shard, but a sharp prick stopped me.

I hissed and pulled my hand back, staring at my index finger.

A tiny bead of blood was already forming where the glass had pierced my skin. Before I could wipe it away, a drop slipped from my fingertip and landed on the floor.

Oh, shit.

I wanted to scream. To cry. To do anything that would release the frustration building inside me.

But it wasn’t the cut that hurt.

It was the thought of losing this job before I’d even had the chance to settle in.

I let out a shaky breath and reached for the last few pieces.

That was when the air changed.

It didn’t make a sound. It was just a stillness, as if the whole corridor had stopped breathing. The hairs on my neck rose, and my wolf stirred beneath my skin, restless and straining toward something I couldn’t name.

Slowly, I stood with the basket in my hands, turning to dispose of the broken shards.

And I froze.

He stood at the end of the corridor, tall and still, with black curls and eyes as green as a forest after rain. Eyes I had seen in my dreams for three years. Eyes I had begged the Moon Goddess to let me forget, and the same eyes that looked back at me from my son’s face every single morning.

Darius.

He didn’t move. Neither did I. I couldn’t tell if seconds passed or minutes, only that my heart was pounding so hard it hurt, and he was staring at me like I was a ghost.

Run.

The thought came from somewhere deep in my chest. Before I could think, my feet were already moving. I took one small step back, then another, the basket clutched tightly against me.

Then I turned and ran.

I didn’t stop until the corridor was far behind me.

Darius POV

I stood frozen, my wolf urging me to move, to take even a single step closer to her.

But I couldn’t. My feet refused to obey.

It had to be my eyes playing tricks on me again.

Three years. Three years of searching for her, following every lead, only to end up with nothing.

So how?

How could she possibly be standing here?

It wasn’t possible.

My wolf snarled inside me, refusing to accept my doubt. He pushed against my control, desperate to close the distance between us, desperate to reach the woman we’d spent years searching for.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to calm him.

Just breathe.

It’s just an illusion. Your mind is playing tricks on you.

But when I opened my eyes again, she was gone.

The corridor was empty, as though no one had been there at all.

It wasn’t her. It couldn’t be her.

Years of seeing her face in crowds, in doorways, in the corners of my dreams. Years of convincing myself that every glimpse was another cruel trick of my mind.

This was just another one.

It had to be.

But then I remembered the way she’d looked at me.

Those amber eyes had met mine, and for one moment, I’d seen something in them that no illusion could ever imitate.

Recognition.

A hand landed on my shoulder.

I spun around so fast that Kade stumbled back.

“Did you see her?” My voice came out rough, almost unrecognizable. “A woman. Brown hair, amber eyes. She was just here.”

Kade frowned and glanced down the empty corridor.

“There’s no one here, Darius.”

“She was right here!”

“Darius…” His eyes searched my face. “When was the last time you slept?”

I didn’t answer. I was already moving toward the spot where I’d seen her before she disappeared.

Lavender. Honey.

And beneath it, faint but unmistakable, the metallic scent of blood.

Her scent.

It was still in the air.

She had been here. I wasn’t going insane.

My gaze dropped to the floor, and I saw it.

A single drop of blood.

I crouched and touched it with the tip of my finger, bringing it closer as her familiar scent filled my senses.

My wolf stirred, a low, relieved rumble rising in my chest.

I straightened and turned to Kade, barely able to contain the urgency building inside me.

“Do you see it?” I held up the blood on my fingertip. “Someone was here. I know someone was here.”

Kade frowned.

“Darius, anyone could have come into the pack house. We have maids and guards walking through these corridors all day.”

“Then get me a list of everyone who works in this house.” “Every maid, every servant. I want to know who she is.”

Kade blinked. “Darius, you know everyone in this house. Why would you need a list?”

“Because I don’t know her.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it. He turned to leave but stopped halfway, a thought crossing his face.

“Your mother hired a few new maids recently,” he said slowly. “Maybe the woman you’re looking for is one of them.”

It was possible. It was the only lead I had.

And if I was wrong, if this was just another trick of my mind, I would be chasing a ghost again.

But I had to know.

“Bring them to me,” I said. “Every maid she hired. Now.”

Kade didn’t argue this time. He left, and within minutes the sound of hurried footsteps filled the hall.

They lined up before me with their eyes lowered and their hands clasped. Seven maids. One of them was trembling so badly her apron shook.

“Eyes down,” a guard snapped. “Do not look at the Alpha.”

I walked slowly down the row. I stopped in front of each one and breathed in.

Soap. Bleach. Fear.

Not one of them smelled like lavender and honey.

“Look at me,” I said to the first one. She lifted her head, her face pale. Brown eyes. I moved to the next. Grey. The next. Hazel.

“Alpha, please,” one of them whispered. “Whatever we did, we didn’t mean…”

“Quiet.”

My voice cracked through the hall like a whip, and she flinched. Behind me, I felt Kade shift uneasily. I didn’t care.

Not her. Not her. Not her.

I reached the end of the line and stood there, my chest tight and my wolf pacing restlessly inside me. Seven faces. Seven strangers.

“Which one of you was in this corridor today?” I demanded.

Nobody answered. Someone’s breath hitched.

“Answer me!”

“Darius?”

The soft voice cut through the hall, and every maid dropped into a deeper bow. My mother stood at the end of the corridor, her brow creased with concern.

“What is going on?” she asked. “Why are you frightening the girls?”

I turned to her. “These maids. Are they all the ones you hired recently?”

She glanced down the line, and I watched her count quietly under her breath. Then her brows drew together.

“There’s one more,” my mother said. “The girl I hired this morning.”

Every muscle in my body went rigid. My wolf went utterly still.

“What’s her name?” I asked.

My mother glanced at me, puzzled by the sudden change in my voice.

“Elaria Moreau.”