Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty
Khalil stood in his office, the cold air from the air conditioner doing very little to calm the cold sweat that had broken out on his forehead. He held his phone to his ear, waiting and listening with bated breath as the phone continued to ring. He groaned as she didn’t pick. He wondered what had happened. He had heard a loud crash, and the line had died. He knew something had happened, he knew that she was in danger...and for the first time in his life, he felt vulnerable.  

In that moment, he came to a startling realization that he loved his wife. He loved her stubbornness, the way she turned her nose up at him, the audacity that she carried with her. He swore under his breath and held his phone in a death grip, praying for his phone to ring, hoping she would be the one on the other end of the line telling him that she was okay.  

He had people tracking the line, and for some reason, they were failing to give him positive updates.  

“Fuck!” he swore loudly and threw the bottle of bourbon into his wall, watching as the liquid stained the pristine white walls.  

He sighed heavily and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out at the city. He closed his eyes and placed his forehead on the glass as he thought about her, where she was, and how quickly he could get her home.  

He regretted having spoken to her rudely. Her reminder that he was not her fated mate affected him more than he would like to admit.  

So engrossed was he in his thoughts that he didn’t hear the incessant knocking on his door, or when his door slowly opened to admit Cassandra.  
She stood at the door and stared at him, then at the stained wall and the broken glass in the corner, and wondered what had happened and how it had affected her.  

“Khalil...” she called out softly as she entered and closed the door behind her. “What happened here?” 

No response. It was almost as though he hadn’t even heard her. She moved further into the office, carefully sidestepping the glass as she came to stand behind him.  

“Khalil!” she called again, and this time, her voice was loud enough to wake even the dead.  

Khalil turned around sharply, angry and irritated at not being allowed to stew in his misery. He clenched his jaw, angry that someone had had the guts to interrupt him.  

“What?” he yelled, his eye bulging out of his head as he turned to face a somewhat confused Cassandra who stared at him with wide eyes.  

She gasped at the look on his face and the anger in his voice. She had seen him angry before, several times in fact, but she could count on one hand how many times his anger had been directed at her in all the years that she had known him.  

“What’s wrong?” She asked, resisting the urge to take several steps back, to instinctively protect herself from his temper.  

Khalil took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn’t want to answer her question. Even after all the time that had passed, he had not forgotten how she had disrespected Isabelle, and he doubted it was something he would ever forget.  

Khalil sighed heavily, allowing his anger to leave him. “What are you doing in my office?” He asked, his voice calm and controlled, belying the anger and turmoil he felt deep in his chest.  
Cassandra looked down at the voluminous file in her hand and threw it down on his table, the sound of the file hitting the table disrupting the peace of the office.  

“I’m not leaving. You’re not going to blow me off that easily,” she said as she placed her hands on her waist. “What is going on?” 

Khalil growled and rubbed his temples, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming. He didn’t want to drag her into it. He could figure it out…he would figure it out…he had no choice. He would cross the ends of the earth and find her…no matter the cost.  

“Khalil…” Cassandra probed, still waiting for a response.  

“Yes, Cassandra…” 

“I asked you a question.” 

Khalil sighed heavily and began to pace the room, his heavy footfalls only seemed to make him more irate.  

“It’s none of your fucking business,” Khalil answered as he continued to pace his office. “Leave my office.” 

Cassandra scoffed. “You will need an army to remove me from here, Khalil.” 

Khalil groaned and clapped his hands together. “Cassandra. Nothing is wrong, everything is fine. Return to your office.” 

A small smile played at Cassandra’s lips, and her eyes softened. In that moment, she was instantly transported to when they were younger, when Khalil would bite down on his lip to stop himself from crying. It took her back in time to when they were children, to when things were simpler, to when she knew that Khalil belonged to her and her alone. Before there was an Isabelle in the picture.  

“I know you, Khalil…” she said calmly, as she came to stand behind him. “I’ve known you since we were children and did foolish things together. There’s something wrong.” 

Khalil turned to face Cassandra, his face buried in the palm of his hands as his brain craved the silence he had before she stepped into his office.  

“Cassandra…please…” 

“I know that things haven’t been the same between us since…”  

Her voice trailed off. She wanted to say her name, but even the mere thought of it caused her stomach to churn. Such was the deep-seated hatred she had for her.  

“Is this about her?” She asked calmly.  

“What are you talking about?” Khalil asked as his shoulders slumped involuntarily.  

Cassandra sighed heavily and placed her hands on his shoulders, using her comfort as an excuse to be unnecessarily close to him.  

“Are you having troubles at home?” She asked. “Is that what this is about?” 

As she stood there, looking up into the eyes of the man she had loved for most of her life, a man she had had to pretend to for the last few months, she realized that she had missed him terribly. She had missed his kisses, she had missed the easy way he smiled at her, held her, paraded her. They were perfect together, like two peas in a pod.  

And then she had come…like a wrecking ball that had been sent straight from hell, and had shattered the precious paradise that she had managed to build for herself.  

Her grip on his shoulders tightened as she realized that she needed him. She needed him in a way that was almost primitive. She swallowed and tamped down the desire that was welling up in her stomach. Now wasn’t the time. One day…one glorious day, her time would come, and he would be hers to do with as she pleased.  

“Talk to me…what’s going on? I hate to see you like this…”  

“Something’s happened to Isabelle…” Khalil said calmly.  

Cassandra almost jumped with joy. She was happy, ecstatic. A combination of words that made the sun suddenly shine brighter. As she stood there, her hands still resting on Khalil’s shoulders, she imagined all the ways it must have happened.  

Maybe she had been mauled by a bear, or perhaps she had been in a ghastly accident and her remains could not be identified, or perhaps she had been kidnapped by rebels and killed. Each thought fueled her joy more than the last.  

“Why do you think so?” She asked, feigning concern in her voice. “What happened?” 

Cassandra bit down on her lip as she led Khalil to the sofa in his office, ushering him before sitting next to him, her right hand around his broad shoulders, feeling the muscles underneath, dreaming of the day she would get to unveil them again.  

“Fuck…” Khalil swore under his breath.  

“What’s the problem? Tell me everything.” 

And so he did.  

He sat next to her on the sofa and told her all about his relationship with Isabelle. How he had promised her that he would be better for her after they had gone through a very rough patch, how she had just begun to settle into life as his wife, his mate, and his Luna. He told her about how he had called the guard he had handpicked for her, only for him to say that Isabelle had gone to visit her father.  

He held nothing back.  

In that moment, the atmosphere felt different; he let it all out, and it felt just like the old days. He sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair. He wasn’t entirely sure if he had the right to be worried. After all, she had been angry with him, and they had both said some hurtful things to each other. Maybe she was fine and simply refusing to pick up his call. Maybe she didn’t want to speak to him and was keeping her distance to make him pay.  

He sighed again. He had definitely learnt his lesson. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer to the moon goddess. If she brought his wife back to him unharmed, he would never raise his voice at her again.  

Or maybe…maybe she had been hurt, lying in a ditch somewhere waiting for help, hoping for her husband to find her and rescue her. Khalil clenched his jaw and said yet another prayer for her safety, for her to hold on for him to find her and return her to her rightful place by his side.  

Cassandra was also praying…but for a completely different reason. She prayed that he never found Isabelle. She prayed that he would be distraught at her absence so that he could begin to feel the pain she had felt when he had thrown her to the wolves for that bitch. She wanted him to know what it felt like to lose the one thing that had been given to you. She bit down on her lip to hide the faint smile she had.  

“What do you plan to do?” She asked, feigning concern. “Do you remember where you last spoke to her?” 

“No. I don’t know where,” he replied. “All I know is that she had already left her father’s pack.” 

“Have you called him?” Cassandra asked.  

Khalil shook his head in agony. “He doesn’t know where she is.” 

Each word that came out of his mouth sounded like music to her ears. She wanted him to keep talking, to keep telling her how Isabelle had completely disappeared, how she had become one with the darkness that she had brought with her. 

“I…I love her, Cassandra…” Khalil muttered.  

Cassandra’s breath caught in her throat at Khalil’s declaration, and she had to remind herself to breathe. A lump formed in her throat, and she blinked back the tears that threatened to flow down her cheeks. Her lips pursed, and hatred settled deep in her stomach. He had never said those words to her before…not in all the years they had been children together, or the years she had been friends with him and had had to pretend to like his mate, or the years she had shared his bed and comforted him.  

He had never told her he loved her.  

And yet, here he was, declaring undying love for his wife to his former mistress, the one he had promised that she would be by his side forever.  

She forced a smile to her lips as her heart broke into pieces in her chest. “Really? How long have you known?” 

Khalil shrugged. “I guess I always did…it just took me losing her to realize it.” 

Her heart broke further, and the hatred she had for Isabelle grew deeper. 

“I’m going to help you find her,” Cassandra declared. “I’ll organize a group of warriors. They’ll search everywhere. We will begin from Alpha Zane’s pack.” 

Khalil turned to her in bewilderment. “You would do that?” He asked, surprised at her willingness to find Isabelle.  

Cassandra shrugged and mustered the sweetest smile she could muster. “It is the least I could do for my friend.” 

As she sat there, she decided. She would find Isabelle through any and all means necessary, and then she would make sure that Khalil never found her.