Chapter 76
Hardin had not slept in days.
The Alpha’s chambers felt like a prison. Moonlight cut across the heavy oak desk, illuminating border maps, scout reports, and desperate letters from allied packs. The black crescent insignia on his shoulder burned like a fresh wound. He had taken the title in blood, shattered his brother to claim it.
But none of it meant anything.
Not without her.
Six months since Rhianna vanished. Six months since Sebastian abandoned his fated mate, chose Brittany and the title, and—by marking her and completing that bond—cut the sacred mate thread that tied him to Rhianna. The bond had snapped on his side alone, leaving Rhianna to suffer the full agony of a broken connection: rejection sickness, weakness, a body and wolf slowly dying.
She had been Sebastian’s by the Goddess’s decree.
Hardin had only ever been the shadow who loved her from afar—deeply, hopelessly, without ever saying the words.
Now she was gone.
Hardin leaned over the desk, claws scoring the wood as he reread the latest reports.
Nothing useful.
No trail of a dying Luna.
No body.
No witnesses.
Only one set of signs near the great river: struggle, blood with a faint wolf scent, small barefoot prints ending at the water’s edge. The current had been deadly that night. Anyone who fell in would have been swept far downstream—possibly beyond reach.
Hardin refused to believe she was dead.
A knock—sharp, urgent.
“Enter.”
Garrick, his Beta, stepped inside, face grim.
“Alpha. Northern patrol returned. Nothing new. The river gave up no body. Some of the men are saying we should stop. That the search is tearing the pack apart.”
Hardin’s growl filled the room.
“We stop when I find her.”
Garrick bowed his head. “Yes, Alpha. But the council grows restless. Brittany’s pup is strong in her womb, and whispers say—”
“I don’t care about whispers,” Hardin cut in. “Rhianna is out there. Alive.”
Garrick hesitated. “Sebastian is outside again. Drunk. Asking for you.”
Hardin’s jaw tightened.
“Tomorrow.”
Garrick left.
Hardin stared at the map. Red marks covered nearly all their territory. Only the most dangerous places remained unsearchable: rogue wastelands and lands beyond the great river.
He would go there himself if he had to.
A Fractured Bond
Sebastian lurked in the hallway shadows long after Garrick passed. He had heard every word.
He clutched a near-empty bottle, swaying. His once-proud frame looked hollow. Eyes red. Hair unkempt. The golden heir reduced to a ghost.
He had abandoned his true mate.
To save his title, he had married Brittany, marked her, consummated the bond—knowing full well it would cut the thread to Rhianna. He told himself it was for the pack. For the child. For duty.
But that night—after the marking—Rhianna had vanished.
Not a simple runaway.
Tracks told a darker story: multiple male wolves, rogue scents, signs of struggle. Blood. Then the river.
Sebastian slid down the wall, bottle clattering.
He knew whose scent had been faintly on those rogues.
Brittany’s.
A Dangerous Ambition
In the eastern wing, Brittany admired her reflection. Seven months pregnant, belly rounded with the future. The pup kicked hard—strong, dominant, already showing Alpha traits in the womb.
She wore deep crimson silk, looking every inch the queen she intended to be.
The door opened roughly.
Sebastian stumbled in.
She didn’t turn.
“You look pathetic.”
He slammed the door.
“You sent men to kill her.”
Brittany faced him slowly, brow arched.
“You’re drunk.”
“I spoke to one of the rogues,” he rasped. “Before Hardin’s enforcers got to him. He named you. You paid them to take Rhianna after I marked you. To make sure she disappeared forever.”
Brittany’s lips curved slightly.
“And?”
Sebastian stared, horrified.
“You tried to murder my mate.”
“I removed a weakness,” she said coldly. “She was dying anyway. The broken bond had already ruined her. I simply ensured she wouldn’t linger as a liability. She escaped the men—fought like a cornered animal, apparently. Ran straight into the river. If she drowned, blame the current.”
Sebastian’s voice cracked.
“You destroyed everything.”
“No,” Brittany whispered, stepping close. “You hesitated. You couldn’t fully let her go. Ever since that night, you’ve been a shadow. Weak. Broken. And I will not allow my son to have a weak father.”
She placed his hand on her belly. The pup kicked against his palm—hard.
“This is our future,” she said. “Strong blood. True Alpha. But Hardin is unraveling the pack with his obsession over a girl who was never his. The council sees it. The warriors feel it.”
She leaned in.
“Someone must stop him. Someone must reclaim what belongs to our son.”
Sebastian pulled away.
“I yielded the title.”
“An unfit Alpha can be challenged again,” she said softly. “Especially one risking everything over a broken Luna who survived—or didn’t.”
Sebastian stared at her, then turned and left without a word.
Brittany watched the door close.
She smiled at her reflection.
One brother obsessed.
One brother broken.
And she carried the heir.
All she needed was the right moment.
A Whisper from the River
Later that night, Lila slipped into Brittany’s chambers.
“My lady.”
Brittany didn’t look up from her vanity.
“Report.”
“Message from our contact beyond the great river.”
Brittany’s brush paused.
“Go on.”
“A female was found half-dead on a riverbank months ago. Washed downstream. No memory. Healed far too quickly. Dark hair. Pale. Fragile appearance. A royal family took her in. The prince named her Aurora. He’s… deeply attached. The queen suspects something unusual. They’re preparing a ritual to test her blood.”
Brittany set the brush down slowly.
Aurora.
The timeline matched. The river. The healing.
If Rhianna survived…
Brittany’s eyes gleamed.
“Tell our contact to watch the ritual closely. If the stone answers… we need to know exactly how strong—or weak—the wolf is that crawled out of that river.”
She touched her belly.
“And prepare contingencies. If she remembers who she is… if she ever tries to return…”
Brittany’s voice dropped to silk over steel.
“We end her properly this time.”
In the Alpha’s chambers, Hardin jerked awake from fitful sleep.
For the first time in months, something stirred in his chest.
Not a bond.
Just instinct.
A pull—east, beyond the river.
He stood, heart racing.
She was alive.
He knew it.
And nothing would stop him from bringing her home.
Rhianna, the only one he had ever loved…