MasukDamian’s POV The woman stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking at Maddison as though she was seeing a ghost. I didn’t like the way she looked at her. There was too much guilt in her eyes. Too much history. Maddison hadn’t moved. She was staring at the woman like her mind was refusing to accept what she’d just heard. “Your mother didn’t die.” The words still hung heavily in the room. “She was taken.” Maddison’s lips parted, but nothing came out. I stepped slightly in front of her. “Who are you?” The woman looked at me. “My name is Clara Wells.” So this was her. The name we’d been chasing for the past day. The woman who had somehow been connected to Maddison’s mother, my father, and the secret surrounding Crescent Pack. I studied her carefully. “You said you helped Maddison’s mother disappear.” Clara nodded. “I did.” “Why?” Her eyes shifted toward Maddison. “Because if I hadn’t, she would have been killed.” Maddison finally spoke. “By who?” Clara looked down
Maddison’s POV I didn’t say anything after the guard finished speaking. I couldn’t. My mother’s name had always been something I carried quietly. I remembered very little about her now—the softness of her voice, the way she used to brush my hair before bed, the faint scent of flowers that always seemed to follow her around the house. Everything else had faded with time. But I remembered her death or at least, I remembered what I’d been told. “She died when you were six.” My father’s voice had been so certain back then. I had believed him because children believed their parents. Now I didn’t know what to believe. I sat down slowly, staring at the floor. “If she’s alive…” My voice broke. “Why didn’t she come for me?” Damian sat beside me. “I don’t know.” “Why didn’t she look for me?” “I don’t know, Maddison.” I looked at him, tears gathering in my eyes. “I hate that answer.” “I know.” His hand found mine again. This time, I held on. The guard shif
Maddison’s POV I kept staring at the name on the paper. Clara Wells. It meant nothing to me, yet something about it made the hairs on my arms rise. Damian had already taken the note back, his expression unreadable as he studied the handwriting. “Do you know her?” I asked. “No.” “Then why would someone leave her name with the guard?” “That’s what we’re going to find out.” He slipped the note into his pocket and turned toward Rowan. “Find everything you can about Clara Wells. Where she lives, who she’s connected to, when she left Crescent, all of it.” Rowan nodded. “Already working on it.” He started walking towards the door, then stopped. “There’s one more thing.” Damian looked at him. “The other missing guard hasn’t been found.” A quiet tension settled over the kitchen. “How long has he been missing now?” Damian asked. “Almost twelve hours.” “Keep searching.” Rowan left. I watched the door close behind him before looking back at Damian. “Do you
Damian’s POVI couldn’t sleep that night.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the empty patrol vehicles sitting near the eastern gate. No blood. No signs of a struggle. Nothing that explained where two trained warriors could have disappeared to without a trace.The words in my father’s journal kept running through my mind.“Trust no one wearing the council crest”.I had spent most of my life believing my father died because he made enemies as Alpha. I had accepted that explanation because it was easier than questioning everything that happened before his death but now I wasn’t so sure.A soft knock came at the office door.I closed the journal.“Come in.”Maddison stepped inside.She was wearing one of my hoodies.I stared at her for a second longer than I should have.She noticed.“What?”“Nothing.”She looked down at herself.“Your hoodie is comfortable.”“I can see that.”She narrowed her eyes.“Are you complaining?”“No.”“Good.”She walked toward my desk and sat on the edge of it.
Maddison’s POVI stared at the page for so long that the letters began to blur.My father’s name was written in the same faded ink as Adrian Cross’s, carefully written in the visitor’s ledger as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world.It wasn’t.My father had never spoken about Crescent Pack unless it was necessary. He kept to himself, worked quietly, and believed problems were solved through patience instead of power. Even after I became Fernando’s mate, he rarely visited the pack house unless there was an official summon.So why was his name here?And why had he visited so many years before I ever met Fernando?“There has to be a mistake,” I whispered.Rowan shook his head. “I checked the original ledger twice. The handwriting is genuine.”I reached for the file with trembling fingers. There were four entries in total, spread across several years. Each visit had been approved by the same person.Lisa.My stomach tightened.The room felt smaller than it had a moment ago.
Damian’s POVThe flashlight disappeared.For a split second, the archive was swallowed by complete darkness. The only sounds were hurried footsteps echoing through the narrow aisles and the faint rustle of old documents as someone brushed against the shelves.“Rowan,” I called quietly.“I’m on your left.”“Henry?”“Still here.”The stranger had already reached the exit.I took off after him, weaving between rows of towering cabinets that held decades of Crescent Pack records. By the time I burst through the archive door, I caught only a glimpse of a dark figure disappearing around the corner of the administration building.“Stop!”The command echoed across the courtyard, but the man never looked back.He was fast—not like an ordinary wolf trying to escape, but like someone who already knew every inch of the grounds.I followed him through the empty streets of Crescent Pack. The morning sun had barely risen, leaving the roads deserted except for a few early patrols who stepped aside in
Maddison's POVThe moment I pushed the front door open and I stepped inside slowly my entire fingers started trembling. I pulled my fingers away from the door knob and walked further inside. I was ashamed of myself, and I had to tell Fernando the truth no matter what.I won't be able to live with t
Maddison's POV“I am going to the hospital.” I said, as I watched Fernando dress.He turned around from the mirror, then glared at me. “What hospital?” He was annoyed.“Lisa wants me to go to a fertility clinic in the human territory. She said she wants answers that she has connections there.” I ex
Damian's POV“Put them on the desk.”I told Rowan immediately he entered with files in hand.“These are the reports from the human branch managers and also there are reports of the financial review from the last quarter of the year.” He said as he placed them on my desk.Then he remained rooted, giv
Maddison's POV“Fernando, please wait just let me talk, let me explain!” I cried out immediately as the door clicked shut behind us.Fernando brushed past me with a huge force, my eyes followed him as he walked upstairs with Liam in his arms who was sleeping. My heartbeat pounded heavily, I knew it







