Gone (Alex's POV)

Alex had never driven this fast in his life.

His hands gripped the wheel so tightly that the leather groaned under his fingers. The city lights of Chicago blurred past, nothing but streaks of gold and red in his vision. His mind was fixed on one thing.

Lily.

Her voice still echoed in his head. The fear in it. The desperation. The way she had screamed his name.

And then—nothing.

Static.

Jonah had taken the phone from her, but Alex had heard enough.

“Faster,” Markus growled from the passenger seat.

“We’re already pushing it,” Michael muttered from the back.

“I don’t care,” Alex snapped.

Eric, seated next to Michael, had been silent the entire time, but his body was tense, his usual laid-back demeanor completely gone.

They all knew what was happening.

Werewolves had come for Lily.

Alex could barely think past the rage curling inside him like fire, but beneath it was something worse. Something he refused to acknowledge.

Fear.

Not for himself. For her.

“She better be okay,” Markus muttered under his breath.

“She is,” Alex said, more to convince himself than them.

The moment Lily had called him, he had felt something inside him snap. A need so primal, so uncontrollable, it had taken everything in him not to lose control right then and there.

She was his.

And now, someone was trying to take her from him.

Not happening.

The second they reached her building, Alex slammed the car into park and threw the door open before the engine had even fully shut off.

They moved fast, their footsteps echoing against the pavement as they raced inside.

Alex didn’t hesitate—he knew exactly where to go.

Three flights of stairs. A turn down the hall.

Her door.

It was open.

His stomach dropped.

He burst inside, his senses immediately scanning the space, searching for her.

Nothing.

The apartment was empty.

His brothers followed him in, their eyes scanning the scene.

A chair had been knocked over. A pillow lay on the floor. The scent in the air was all wrong—Lily’s was there, but so was something else. Something stronger.

Werewolves.

Alex clenched his fists.

“She was just here,” Michael murmured, his voice low.

Markus exhaled sharply. “But she’s not now.”

A growl rumbled deep in Alex’s chest.

She had fought them. He could tell. There were signs of struggle—faint scratches on the wall where she had braced herself, scuff marks on the floor where she had resisted.

But she was gone.

Alex forced himself to breathe. To think.

Where would they take her?

“The pack,” Eric said, breaking his silence. “They wouldn’t risk staying here long. They’re taking her back to Seattle.”

Alex’s vision blurred with rage.

“They think they can take her from me?” His voice was deadly calm.

Michael’s jaw tightened. “Looks like it.”

Alex turned toward them, his eyes burning with something dark. Something lethal.

“Then we’re going after them.”

Alex turned away from his brothers, his fists clenching at his sides as his mind raced. He forced himself to breathe, to push past the primal rage clawing at his insides.

Lily was gone.

Taken.

By werewolves.

The words made his vision blur, his entire body tensing with the need to destroy something. To kill someone.

His brothers were silent, watching him closely.

“They didn’t just take her for no reason,” Michael finally said, voice controlled but edged with tension. “If they came all this way, if they risked breaking into her home, they wanted her badly.”

“Which means she’s important to them,” Eric added. His usual carefree attitude was gone, replaced by something colder, sharper.

Markus exhaled through his nose, his eyes dark. “They won’t hurt her.”

Alex snapped his head toward him, his jaw tightening. “And how the hell do you know that?”

Markus held his gaze. “Because if she’s important to them, she’s valuable. They wouldn’t come all this way just to kill her. Not yet.”

Alex hated that Markus had a point.

But that didn’t mean Lily was safe.

“She fought back.” His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. “She called me for help. And I wasn’t here.”

The guilt twisted in his gut like a knife. He had been so close. If he had just moved faster—

No.

He couldn’t think like that.

She was still alive.

And he would get her back.

Then, Michael’s voice, calm and steady. “Then we go to Seattle.”

Alex nodded once. “We don’t stop until we find her.”

Eric rubbed his jaw. “If they’re moving with her, they won’t take a commercial flight. They’ll drive.”

“Or private jet,” Markus said darkly. “Some of these packs have money.”

Alex’s mind worked fast. “Either way, they’re not teleporting. They have to travel. We can track them.”

Michael’s gaze sharpened. “Their scent is still fresh.”

Eric was already moving toward the door. “Then let’s follow it before we lose time.”

Alex was the first out of the apartment, his entire body on edge. He inhaled deeply, catching the faint traces of a scent that didn’t belong.

Werewolves.

It was mixed with Lily’s. Faint, but still there.

His hands curled into fists.

They had touched her.

He would find them.

And when he did, he would make them regret ever laying a hand on her.