Chapter 102

Ryder's POV

The first thing I felt was pain.

It was everywhere, dull in some places and sharp in others, but the worst of it came from my side and my jaw. I flexed my fingers slowly, surprised by how heavy they felt. For a few seconds, I didn't know where I was.

Slowly, I forced my eyelids to part, wincing slightly at the faint evening light from the window. I blinked several times, squinting, trying to bring my environment into focus.

I looked around the room, taking in the fact that I was in the pack’s hospital as pieces of memory hazily tried to piece themselves together.

Elliot entering the pack. The fight. The burning pain I felt in my jaw that sent me down. And the last thing that burned into my brain, Zeena, shifting into her wolf and sinking her teeth straight into Elliot's jaw.

Zeena

Panic tore through me, completely overriding the pain. I threw the blanket down, shoving myself up to bolt out of bed.

Bad idea.

The movement ripped right through my stitches. A white-hot wave of agony tore across my side, my legs turning to dead weight. I crashed forward, slamming both hands against the wall just to keep from hitting the floor.

"Who's there?!" I bellowed, my voice rough and cracking from disuse.

The door flew open instantly. Two pack guards rushed in, eyes wide.

"Alpha!" One of them grabbed my waist, hauling my weight up.

"Where's my mate?" I choked out, ignoring my burning side, my eyes locked on the door. "Is she safe?

The guard, Mason hesitated, his hands tightening around my arm. "She... she's fine, Alpha."

"Get me up," I gritted through my teeth, breathing hard.

They hoisted me back toward the bed, easing me down as I hissed in frustration.

"Fetch Edrin," the other guard I'm assuming was Gavin, barked at Mason. "Now!"

Just as Mason turned to sprint out the door, the urgency of my own realization hit me. "Wait.” I choked out. “Get Zeena first. If possible… bring her before Edrin."

He nodded and sprinted out. Gavin, left behind hovered, hands up. "Alpha, you need to lie back down, you're gonna tear—"

"I'm fine," I snapped, waving him off.

Inside my head, Max was pacing like a caged animal. ‘I'm not sensing Celeste, Ryder.’

That hit my chest like ice. I glared at the guard. "When was the last time anyone saw the Luna?"

"Almost an hour ago, Alpha. She was just here checking on you before heading to the pack house."

"Maybe she's just sleeping," I muttered, trying to convince myself.

‘I'm no fool, Ryder,’ Max snapped.

The door swung open again. Edrin rushed in with his medical bag, followed by Mason. No Zeena.

"Alpha, what were you thinking?!" Edrin scolded, shoving a hand against my chest to force me back. "Your stitches—"

"Where is she?" I demanded, blowing past Edrin. "Where's Zeena?"

“I–I didn't see her, Alpha," the guard stammered, looking terrified. "She wasn't at the pack house.”

I jolted upright again, hissing at the pain. "Edrin, let me go!"

"You need to be calm! She's somewhere around the pack. She left the courtyard after seeing Gamma Andre off."

My blood ran cold. I locked eyes with the guard. "Off to where?"

"Gamma Andre led an ambush on the wolves messing with our borders, Alpha."

I was already moving. I shoved Edrin back, ignoring the tearing flesh, I reached blindly for the heavy wool coat hanging over the back of a nearby chair, shoving my arms through the sleeves.

"How long ago?"

"Not up to an hour ago, Alpha. Same time the Luna was last seen."

I yanked the door open, deaf to Edrin yelling behind me. I half-ran to Zeena's room, shoved the door open,

Cold. Her scent was already faint, she hadn't been here for a while.

I spun back to the guards. "Spread the word. The Luna is missing. I want every warrior searching this territory."

Edrin stepped into my path. "Alpha, please, you can't scatter the pack right now. It's unsafe until Andre gets back."

I stepped right up to him, shaking with fury. "Every second we waste, my mate is out there, Edrin! And where the hell is Laura? Why isn't her link working?"

Mason stepped forward. "She went to a Beta's meeting in Silver Creek, Alpha."

"When?"

"Three days ago."

I grabbed my hair, a low growl tearing out of my throat. Why the hell did Andre lead an ambush knowing the state of the pack?

"What about Lucius?"

"No, Alpha. He's on patrol near the eastern watch."

Trembling, I fired a sharp link straight to Lucius. ‘Meet me in my office. Now.’

We moved together. Lucius was already waiting outside my office by the time we got there. "Alpha,” he lowered his head in a bow.

I didn't care about the formality. "Lucius. Where is my mate? Why was the pack left unprotected?"

Lucius blinked, looking genuinely lost. "The Luna isn't back?"

I raised a brow. "Back from where?"

"I saw her at the western edge of the forest," Lucius said quickly. "She said she was just running for ten minutes to clear her head. I thought she'd be back by now."

That was all I needed.

I turned and dragged myself toward the western tree line, my healing side screaming with every step.

‘Let me out, Ryder,’ Max snarled in my head. ‘We aren't going to find her in this pathetic state. Let me through!’

I gritted my teeth, fighting the hesitation for a split second before completely letting go.

Pain washed over me, bones snapping and reshaping as Max took control. We launched forward into a full sprint, the dark trees blurring past. Lucius and the guards shifted right behind us, their paws thundering against the dirt.

Max lowered his snout, catching a faint, thin trail of Zeena's scent leading straight up ahead.

‘What was she doing out here?’ Max snarled, dread flooding our chest.

We pushed harder. Right before we broke through the tree line near the hunting zone, Max caught a strange, unfamiliar scent.

We skidded to a halt, paws digging into the dirt, eyes scanning the dark bushes.

Lucius’ wolf trotted up, panting, and locked eyes with a spot on the ground a few yards away. He called out, ‘Alpha.’

Max trotted over, at first, there was nothing unusual. Just a patch of leaves scattered across the earth.

Then Max caught her scent, it was stronger there, so he stepped closer and nudged the leaves aside with his paw.

There, beneath the patch of trampled leaves and disturbed soil was sunken earth. Alongside were deep, heavy boot prints pressed sharply into the ground with the faint, lingering trace of that same unfamiliar scent.

Max let out a low, vibrating growl that shook the surrounding brush. We followed the prints a few feet ahead, right to the exact edge of the territory line.

The tracks didn't wander off, they marched straight to the border and stopped abruptly.

‘She was taken.’

My blood ran cold for the upteenth time this night from that realization.

Someone had taken my mate across our borders.