ALEX.
It had been three days since Ella escaped.
Three long, restless days with no trace of her, no sighting, no report, nothing. She had vanished as though the earth itself had swallowed her whole.
But that wasn't the real problem, the problem wasn't that she was missing.
The problem was that I needed her back.
I needed her beside me.
I needed her power.
The thought alone made my jaw tighten as I stood there, staring ahead, my mind running in circles I couldn't escape. Everything was slipping, slowly but surely, and without her… I could feel the balance shifting against me.
My brother Thomas had returned.
And with his return came the same relentless hunger, the same obsession with the throne that had never truly left him. He was hunting me again, just like before. Only this time, I could feel it more clearly, more dangerously.
But there was one thing he had always feared.
Ella.
Ever since that encounter… he had never been the same around her.
I closed my eyes slowly, exhaling as the memories rose uninvited, pulling me back to that night six years ago.
"It's over, Alex." Thomas' voice echoed sharply, filled with triumph, with certainty.
"I will succeed my father as Alpha of Bloodfang, and the Bloodfang Group will be mine."
I remembered the ground beneath me, cold, unforgiving, as I struggled to push myself up. My fists pressed against it, trembling, but I couldn't gather the strength. My body felt heavy, unresponsive.
Weak.
He had poisoned me.
Sealed my powers.
I had felt it the moment it took hold, like something inside me had been chained, locked away, unreachable no matter how hard I tried to call on it. For the first time, I was completely vulnerable.
And I had no choice but to run.
I ran without direction, without a plan, just instinct driving me forward. Each step was harder than the last, my vision blurring, my breath ragged as the poison coursed through me.
Still, I ran.
Until my legs gave out.
I hit the ground hard, the impact knocking what little strength I had left out of me. My body refused to move, refused to obey, leaving me there, exposed, defenseless.
Footsteps approached.
Thomas and his men.
They caught up easily.
Of course they did.
I could hear the satisfaction in their movements, the certainty that it was over. That I was finished.
I forced my head up slightly, just enough to see him.
Thomas stood there, calm, composed, as though this moment had always belonged to him. He raised the gun slowly, aiming it at me without hesitation.
There was no rush, no doubt, just the quiet certainty of victory and then, something shifted behind me.
It was sudden, powerful, undeniable.
Before I could turn, before I could understand, a surge of energy exploded outward, a wave of spiritual power so intense it felt like the air itself had been torn apart.
The ground trembled.
Thomas and everyone around him fell instantly.
As if struck by an invisible force they couldn't fight.
They were injured from just one attack.
I watched it happen, my vision still unsteady, my body barely holding itself together as the force of what had just occurred settled into the air. Men who had stood strong just seconds ago were now on the ground, struggling, groaning, their strength completely stripped from them by a single surge of power.
Thomas tried to move.
Slowly at first, then with more urgency, as if refusing to accept what had just happened. His men did the same, pushing themselves up, attempting to regain control, to fight back.
But before they could, the wolf shifted.
The massive form dissolved, bones and muscle reshaping, fur receding until a human figure stood in its place.
It was her—Ella.
She moved with precision.
Without hesitation.
Her leg lifted and struck Thomas' hand in one clean motion.
The gun flew from his grip, hitting the ground with a sharp metallic sound that echoed through the silence. Before he could react, before anyone could, she bent down and picked it up, her movements swift and controlled.
Then she raised it.
"Back off now," she said, her voice firm, unwavering, her stance didn't falter. "He is mine."
The words carried a force of their own, leaving no room for argument. For a moment, everything stilled and then Thomas stepped back.
It was subtle at first, almost unnoticeable, but I saw it. The hesitation. The fear. The shift in his eyes as he looked at her.
And then he turned.
He ran.
Just like that.
His men followed quickly, scrambling to retreat, their earlier confidence gone, replaced by something far more desperate.
I exhaled slowly, a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding escaping my lungs, relief washed over me.
Since that day, everything has changed.
Thomas stayed away.
He kept his distance, no longer daring to approach me the same way he had before. And Ella… she never used that power again.
It was as though it had never happened, as though she had forgotten everything and I…I saw an opportunity, I couldn't ignore it.
Not when everything I needed, everything I could use to secure my position, was right in front of me.
So I married her.
The memory faded, and I opened my eyes, the present rushing back in.
My jaw tightened.
"Philip!" I thundered, my voice sharp, commanding.
The door opened almost immediately.
He rushed in without delay, his posture straight, alert. My Beta. My friend. One of the few people who understood the difference between my calm and my authority, between when I spoke and when I meant what I said.
"Yes, Alpha," he responded.
I turned to face him fully.
Thomas was moving again. I could feel it. The tension he had created in the pack, the instability in the company, everything was beginning to fracture under pressure.
And without Ella…I was exposed.
"No matter what it costs…" I said slowly, my voice low but filled with intent as my gaze sharpened. "Ensure you find her."