Chapter 59: One Step Behind

Leo 

The evening air was thick with tension as I yanked open the car door, only for flashing red and blue lights to blind me. The shouts came again—sharp, authoritative, cutting through the pounding in my skull.  

"Hands where we can see them!"  

"Step away from the vehicle, now!"  

A dozen police officers surrounded me, weapons drawn, their expressions grim.  

I clenched my jaw, irritation flaring. These fools were wasting my time.  

Without hesitation, I pulled out my phone, fingers moving swiftly as I dialed the one person who could put an end to this bullshit. Someone who owes me his life.

The line clicked.  

"Who is in charge here?" I barked, my voice cold, cutting. "You're wasting my damn time."  

One officer, a tall man with a hard stare, stepped forward cautiously. "Sir, we need you to—"  

The call connected.  

"Commissioner Jared speaking," came the voice on the other end.  

I didn't bother with pleasantries. "Your officers are pointing their guns at me."  

Silence.  

Then, a sharp intake of breath. "Mr. Leo Ashton?" The commissioner’s tone shifted immediately, laced with panic. "What the hell are my men doing? Put me on with the officer in charge. Now!"  

I smirked coldly, extending the phone to the officer in front of me. "Take it."  

The man hesitated before snatching the phone from my grasp. "Sir?"  

The color drained from his face almost instantly. He stiffened, nodding once, twice, before he swallowed thickly and turned to his team.  

"Stand down," he ordered, his voice firm despite the nervous edge. "Holster your weapons!"  

The officers obeyed immediately, stepping back, their eyes flicking between me and their superior with growing unease.  

The officer handed the phone back to me, visibly rattled.  

I pressed it back to my ear.  

"Apologies for the mix-up," the commissioner said hurriedly. "But you don’t get to call me just to complain, Ashton. You never do unless it’s serious. What’s going on?"  

I exhaled sharply, gripping the phone tighter. "Ivy Blackwood is missing."  

A pause.  

Then, "I'll assemble my best men. We’ll find her in no time."  

"You’d better," I said darkly, ending the call.  

The officers muttered apologies as I shoved past them, slipping into my car without another word.  

The engine roared to life, but my thoughts were louder.  

‘Ivy, where are you?’

I turned the car sharply, taking the back road, my mind a tangled mess of rage and desperation.  

****

I drove straight to Ivy’s house, pulling up to the gate with urgency thrumming through my veins. Ivy was missing, and I needed to find her as soon as possible.  

The security guards straightened as I stepped out of the car, my presence alone enough to put them on alert. I wasted no time.  

“Have you seen my fiancée?” My voice was sharp, demanding. “Did she come by? Anything unusual around the estate?”  

The head of security glanced at one of his men before shaking his head. “No, sir, we haven’t seen Miss Ivy.”  

I exhaled sharply, frustration mounting. But then—  

“Do you think it has something to do with that?” one of the guards muttered to his colleague.  

I stopped dead in my tracks.  

I turned to him, my eyes narrowing. “What are you talking about? Do you know something?”  

They exchanged an awkward glance before the head of security cleared his throat. “Some days ago, Miss Ivy received a package at the gate.” He hesitated. “It was… strange.”  

“What do you mean, strange?” My patience was wearing thin.  

“The security cameras didn’t detect anyone dropping it off,” he said, glancing at the other officer, who nodded in confirmation.  

My entire body tensed. “What was in the package?”  

The guard hesitated again before answering. “A basket of black roses.”  

I froze.  

Black roses.  

It can’t be.  

My mind raced. Why didn’t Ivy tell me about this? She had no idea what it meant—what it truly meant. This wasn’t just a warning. It was a declaration of war. Whoever sent those roses had just signed their intentions in blood.  

But more than that… something about this felt familiar. Like a déjà vu I couldn’t place. An itch in the back of my mind, something I should remember but couldn't quite grasp.  

“Sir?” The security guard’s voice dragged me back to reality.  

I clenched my jaw. “Anything else?”  

“Yes.” His voice dropped slightly. “The basket came with a black envelope. The message inside warned Miss Ivy to watch her back. And…” He hesitated before finishing. “It was signed with just one letter—S.”  

I frowned. “S,” I repeated, rolling the letter over in my mind. It wasn’t familiar, but the rest of it was. The roses. The warning. The eerie sense that I’d witnessed something like this before.  

My hands curled into fists.  

“Keep close watch over the estate,” I ordered, my voice a low growl. “And if anything—anything—unusual happens, you call me immediately.”  

“Yes, sir.”  

I lingered for only a moment, my jaw tightening. Then I turned on my heel and walked back to my car.  

I was running out of places to look. And time was slipping through my fingers.

****

The moment I stepped into my house, my wolf, Theo, prowled beneath my skin, restless and on edge. Every second that passed without Ivy felt like a knife twisting in my gut.  

And then I saw her. 

Isabella. Why is she still here?

She was sitting casually on the couch, my damn shirt still draped over her like she had every right to be here. As if she hadn’t just destroyed everything.

My fists clenched at my sides as I stalked toward her, barely containing the rage simmering beneath the surface. She looked up, eyes widening slightly at my approach, but before she could speak, I was already in front of her.  

"You better start praying, Isabella," I said, my voice low, dangerously calm. "Because Ivy is missing. And if anything happens to her, I swear to the Moon Goddess, you’ll have more to worry about than my temper."  

Her breath hitched, and she scrambled to her feet. “Leo, I—”  

“Shut up.”  

She flinched at the venom in my voice.  

"You thought playing your little game would be harmless, didn’t you?" I took a slow, deliberate step closer, watching as she instinctively backed away. “You didn’t think for a second about the consequences. About what could happen if she ran. And now she’s gone.”  

Isabella swallowed hard. “I didn’t know—”  

"Exactly," I cut her off sharply. "You didn’t know. And because of your stupidity, my mate is out there, alone, and possibly in danger."  

Tears welled in her eyes, but I felt nothing. No sympathy. No patience. Just cold, consuming rage.  

"Leo, I’m sorry," she whispered, her voice shaking. "I never meant for this to happen."  

"Save it." My voice was ice. "I don’t need your apologies. I need to find Ivy."  

She opened her mouth again, but I turned away, already done with her.  

"Just go, Isabella," I muttered, barely sparing her a glance. "And pray to whatever gods you believe in that I find her in one piece. Because if I don’t…" I let the threat hang in the air, watching as fear flickered across her face.  

And then I was gone, storming down the hall toward my study, where the real war was just beginning.

I paced the room, my phone in my hand, waiting. Expecting.  

The police had better call me soon.  

But it wasn’t my phone that rang first.  

It was my mind.  

‘Alpha.’

I stopped, standing rigid as I felt Zane through the mindlink. 

“We had an attempted rescue at the dungeon.”

A sharp breath. “Let me guess, Malrik’s mate?”  

“Yes. The rogues tried to get across the borders, but we caught them in time. They fled.”

I exhaled sharply, running a hand through my hair. My mind was already in too many places at once.  

“Are you listening, Alpha?” Zane asked.  

I realized I had barely responded.  

“My mate is gone.” My voice was emotionless, detached. “Kidnapped. All because Isabella decided to play house.”

“Shit. What the heck did she do this time? Wait, Isabella’s back?” He asked cautiously.

My jaw clenched as I ignored him.

“Hold the fort, Zane, while I handle this.”

I cut the link.  

And then I stood there, heart pounding, my wolf restless beneath my skin.  

My mind raced through every possibility, every enemy who might have taken her.  

Malrik?

No. He didn’t even know about Ivy. He couldn’t have known.  

Then again…  

What if word got out?  

What if someone who knows I'm engaged to Ivy told him?

What if—  

My breath hitched.  

A thought struck me so suddenly, so violently, that my body locked up entirely.  

And then Theo howled inside me, rage and pain colliding into one unbearable storm.  

Because there was one person. One enemy ruthless enough.  

One monster who would do anything to make me suffer.  

I whispered her name and my blood ran cold.  

What if she took her?