Chapter 387 387
Sabine POV
“Aurélie?”
She stands by the window, Frédéric cradled tightly in her arms. Her eyes are swollen and raw, dark circles etched beneath them from sleepless nights and endless tears.
“What happened?” Maurice asks Fabrice and Lucas as I move quickly toward her, wrapping my arms around Aurélie and pulling her into me.
She’s freezing.
Her body trembles against mine.
“Damien took the twins out,” she begins weakly. “The cars were ambushed. The guards with them were killed at the scene. It’s just like before… when they were taken.”
Her voice lacks its usual strength.
Fear and doubt have taken over.
“No, Aurélie,” Maurice cuts in firmly. “He’s dead. You know that. This isn’t the same.”
“My children, Maurice…” she whispers brokenly. “Where have they taken my children?”
“Listen to me,” he says urgently. “He won’t let anything happen to them. You and those kids are his entire world. You know that.”
“I can’t feel him,” she sobs softly. “What if…”
Her lips tremble violently.
“What if Damien has done something?”
She bites hard on her lower lip, as if trying to stop the words from spilling.
“What do you mean?” I ask gently, reaching to take Frédéric from her arms to give her some relief.
“He’s been acting differently,” she admits quietly. “Not himself. He keeps saying… ‘I won’t let it take him like it did me. I won’t let it poison my son.’”
Ice rushes through my veins a chilling sensation like someone walking over my grave.
“What if”
“No,” Maurice interrupts sharply. “The children are his life. He would never hurt them. He wouldn’t let anything happen to them. Have faith in him, Aurélie. Have faith in my brother.”
I might be the King’s sister, but I don’t recognize a single alpha gathered outside this room.
I don’t know who I can trust.
My fingers move instinctively to my phone as I call Didier again… and again.
Nothing.
I’ve been a terrible friend lately barely reaching out to Caroline or Didier, not even Gilles.
The farm days feel like another lifetime now, yet it hasn’t been long at all.
Even Gilles doesn’t answer.
Beta Maxime and the Ash Valley warriors arrived moments ago, standing ready and waiting for their Alpha’s orders.
Maurice has been coordinating with our pack speaking to the IT department, requesting every scrap of CCTV footage near the ambush site.
I can feel Aurélie barely holding herself together, hovering on the edge of unleashing both alliances.
She just needs something anything to tell us where to start.
The waiting is tearing her apart more than I ever imagined it could.
I gently rock Frédéric in my arms while Aurélie discusses aerial images arriving by email with Fabrice and Lucas surveillance sent over from the Ash Valley pack.
Knowing her baby is safe with me allows her to focus.
If holding him is how I can help her right now, then I’ll hold him for as long as she needs.
Aurélie steps outside the room to address the gathered alphas, preparing to issue her command.
Every one of them is eager to help their packs already on standby, ready to deploy warriors across the lands.
“This is insane,” Fabrice growls, snapping his laptop shut in frustration. “A man as powerful as Damien and two children don’t just disappear off the face of the earth.”
He pulls off his gold-rimmed glasses, rubbing them clean with the edge of his shirt.
Tension fills every corner of the room.
Dominique and Delphine are like Fabrice’s own children.
All of us would go to any length to bring them home safely.
Carefully, so I don’t disturb a sleeping Frédéric, I slide my phone from my pocket.
I expect to see Didier’s name.
Or Gilles’.
I answer immediately relieved, hopeful.
But instead of a male voice, a woman greets me.
“Just the person I wanted.”
I would know that voice anywhere.
Pulling the phone away from my ear, I glance at the number confirmation of what I already knew.
She always uses burner phones.
But I memorized this one.
The same number flashing across my screen now.
“Clémence,” I snarl into the phone.
Every head in the room snaps toward me at my sudden outburst.
Coincidence no longer exists in my world.
Not after everything.
My wolf already knows why she’s calling.
She wants to talk about the ransom.
About kidnapping my brother…
And his children.