Chapter 134 Chapter 134
LUCIAN’S POV
Two days.
Two long, merciless days. I had never known time could feel like punishment. It felt like a decade since I had last seen her.
Every hour dragged like a wound that refused to close. Every minute stretched into a reminder that she was gone. Not dead. Not safe. Not with me
Gone.
And the helplessness of it was carving something ugly inside me. My office looked like a war room.
Maps scattered across the table. Patrol routes rewritten so many times the ink had bled through paper. Reports piled high. Names of rogues, outsiders, enemies, informants, all scribbled in furious handwriting that no longer resembled my usual composed script.
I stood at the window, staring into the forest beyond the pack borders. My wolf was restless.
No.
Not restless. He was rabid.
‘She’s out there’
“I know” I whispered. My jaw clenched so tightly it hurt.
The bond between us felt muted, like a fading sound I couldn’t fully grasp. Sometimes there was a flicker, a distant ache, a whisper of fear, a ghost of pain but nothing strong enough to track.
It was torture. Not knowing was worse than knowing the worst. I dragged a hand through his hair, pacing like a caged predator.
Two days.
Two days since Ailsa vanished from inside my territory. Inside my protection and inside my home. The failure of that truth burned like acid.
“I should’ve talked to her” I muttered. My wolf snarled.
‘You pushed her away’
I stopped walking. The memory slammed into me with brutal clarity.
Ailsa standing in front of me, the hurt in her eyes, guilt weighing on her shoulders, fear hiding behind silence. The tension and accusations. The truth about Lorcan ripping through everything.
And then…I had asked for space.
Space.
The word felt like betrayal now. I should have never said that.
If I hadn’t done that…
If I had held her…
If I had stayed with her…
Maybe she wouldn’t be gone. I slammed my fist into the wall. The stone cracked instantly. Pain shot up my arm but I welcomed it. It was the only thing grounding me from the storm raging inside.
A knock sounded at the door. I didn’t turn.
“Enter”
Aiden stepped inside, his expression tight with exhaustion. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, but his posture remained firm.
We were all tired but I looked like something worse than tired. I looked hollowed out.
“We’ve expanded the search another ten miles beyond the eastern ridge” Aiden reported.
“ No tracks. No scent and no rogue activity”
I didn’t say anything and that made Aiden hesitate before continuing.
“The patrol at the northern border questioned travelers and merchants. Nothing suspicious”
I still remained silent. I was thinking deeply before I finally spoke up.
“This must have happened inside my territory” Aiden nodded grimly.
“Yes, I suspect that too”
“That means someone helped them”
The words fell heavy in the air. Aiden didn’t argue.
I turned slowly, my eyes glowing faintly with restrained fury.
“They walked into my pack. Took my mate and vanished without a trace” my voice dropped.
“That doesn’t happen without inside help” Aiden’s jaw tightened.
“We’re investigating everyone who was on duty that day” my lips curled.
“Investigating isn’t enough”
The air in the room shifted as my Alpha aura bled into the space, it was heavy, oppressive and dangerous.
“I want answers!!” I growled.
“You’ll get them but rage won’t make them come faster” Aiden said calmly. My gaze snapped to him.
“Rage is the only thing keeping me standing. You don’t understand what I’m feeling right now. I feel like burning down everything until I find her” Aiden kept quiet.
“Elara regained consciousness” he said quietly.
Good, I thought.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
“And?” Lucian asked.
“She’s refusing to speak”
A slow smile spread across my face. I had finally found somewhere to dump my rage.
“Good”
Aiden’s expression hardened.
“Lucian….” He called but I was already walking toward the door.
The dungeon smelled like damp stone and fear. The only thing I wanted to smell. I descended the stairs slowly, my footsteps echoing like a death march. Guards stepped aside instantly, lowering their heads.
They could feel it. The rage.
The Alpha dominance my wolf was letting out. I stopped in front of Elara’s cell.
She sat chained to the chair, bruised but conscious. Her eyes lifted when she sensed me. And for the first time since her arrival, fear flickered there.
I stepped inside. The door shut behind me with a heavy clang.
“Elara” I said softly, too softly. She swallowed.
“P-please I n-need waterr” she slurred.
“There’ll be no water for you till you talk”
“You’ve gone mad” she whispered.
I tilted his head.
“My mate was taken from my territory”
“I have nothing to do with that?” I raised a brow.
“You might have deceived me for a while thinking I won’t find out what you did before coming here but not again. I have every reason to believe you have a hand in her disappearance” her eyes widened.
“You look surprised! You thought I wouldn’t find out you were not abused? You killed thé man you ran away with? I’ll get back to that later. Tell me where she is!”
Then, she did the most audacious thing. She smiled.
“I don’t know”
“You’re smiling. You must think I’ll easily let you walk out?”
“I know you won’t do anything to me. But, I’m telling you, I don’t know where she is”
“You’re still lying”
“I’m not” I stepped closer.
“It’s been two days, Elara. Two days without her voice, her scent. Without knowing if she’s alive or screaming somewhere I can’t reach” my voice dropped to a low whisper.
“If I ask you one more time and you don’t give me the answer I’m willing to hear. You’ll wish for death”
Elara’s composure cracked slightly. My lips curved in a wicked smile. I crouched in front of her.
“Now for the last time, tell me where she is”
“I-I don’t know” she stuttered. I stared at her for a long moment. Then I stood.
“Hold her”
The guards stepped forward. What I planned next was all controlled by my wolf. He wanted to assert dominance and he planned to do it brutally. Every of her denial met with consequences.
She cried, screamed and begged but she never gave a location. I applied more pressure and she finally decided to speak.
“You’re too late” she whispered weakly.
I froze. His eyes sharpened.
“What does that mean?” She laughed faintly.
“You think you can save her?” I grabbed her chin.
“Explain”
But she only smiled through blood.
“You should’ve chosen me. By now, she should be on her way to Lorcan”
I released her like she was nothing.
“Keep her alive”I ordered coldly.
Then I left.
Night had fallen by the time I returned to the pack house. The forest stretched endlessly beyond the pack house, shadows swallowing the land like secrets. I walked toward Ailsa’s room. The room still smelled like her even though it was faint.
Lavender.
My chest tightened. I stepped inside.
The room felt frozen in time. Her clothes still draped over the chair. A book left open on the bedside table. The faint indentation on the pillow where she used to sleep.
I closed my eyes. The grief was suffocating.
“I will find you,” he whispered. My wolf growled softly.
‘Or burn the world trying’
I moved slowly through the room, forcing himself to think like an Alpha instead of a grieving mate. I thought and inhaled deeply. My eyes snapped open.
My wolf surged forward.
‘Lorcan’
My pulse quickened. This changed everything. Elara had said she was on her way to Lorcan. I didn’t know if I should believe that or Elara was using it to distract me.
I turned sharply and walked out. Aiden was already waiting in the hallway. I didn’t speak. I didn’t need to. Aiden looked me in the eyes.
“What did you find?”
“We’re not dealing with rogues” I said quietly. Aiden frowned.
“Then who?” My gaze darkened.
“Someone who thinks they can take what’s mine”
A slow, dangerous smile spread across my face.
“They’re about to learn what that costs”
Later that night, I stood on the balcony overlooking my territory. The moon hung high above the forest.
Two days.
I had been in misery for two days and guilt eating at me but not anymore. Tomorrow, Ailsa would be back in this pack.
‘We will find her’ my wolf pressed at the back of my mind. My hands curled into fists.
“Yes”
My voice was barely a whisper.
“I would find her safely and when I do, I will end every single person responsible” my eyes glowed with lethal promise.
The wind carried the scent of the forest toward him. I inhaled deeply. As if trying to catch a trace of her.
Anything.
Even the faintest whisper but there was only silence and the crushing weight of her absence. I tilted my head back, staring at the moon.
“I’m coming for you, Ailsa”
My voice was steady and I was certain. No matter how long it took and no matter who stood in my way. I’d end the person because this was no longer just rescue.
This was war.
Lorcan had purposely angered me even though I had warned him and I would see the end of this even though it meant one of us dying.
As for Elara, she would suffer until Ailsa was back here safely and I’ll kill her with my hands.