Chapter 54 54
Denzel’s POV
I had just stepped out of the shower when Jalisa appeared before me completely naked.
“You haven’t touched me in a while, Denzel,” she said softly, wrapping her arms around me from behind. Her palms slid over my bare chest.
I stiffened instantly. Irritation surged through me, and Nigel growled low in my chest.
She mistook that growl for invitation.
She pressed a kiss to my back.
I reacted immediately, pulling her away from me with force. There was no way no way I would put Venessa through that kind of pain because of Jalisa.
I turned to face her and reached for my shirt, pulling it on as a barrier between us.
“You reek of Tyrell,” I said flatly.
Her expression hardened.
“He’s my friend. We spend time together. Of course I’ll smell like him. Stop using that as an excuse.”
I shook my head.
“You smell too much like him for it to be innocent. If I didn’t trust him, I’d think you two were sleeping together. Maybe you wore something of his whatever it is, Nigel isn’t comfortable with Tyrell’s scent on you.”
She stared at me, stunned.
The truth was, his scent wasn’t truly on her not enough to prove anything. But I needed a reason. I needed distance. I needed out of that room.
“I’m going to the office,” I said sharply. “Don’t trouble me.”
I left before she could respond.
The moment I sat behind my desk, I reached out through the link for Venessa.
So did Nigel.
We hit a wall.
She wasn’t within the pack.
Cold dread slid down my spine. Had she run?
I immediately linked Tonya.
“Tonya,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “Where is Venessa?”
“Alpha,” she replied, and relief flashed through me at the sound of her voice.
“We went into the woods after breakfast to gather herbs. She didn’t find what she needed, so she sent me back to the office and said she’d search near the border. She hasn’t returned.”
I was on my feet instantly.
The border.
There had been Lycans near the border.
Fear slammed into me, sharp and brutal. How could Venessa be so careless?
“Rayon,” I called through the link.
“Denzel,” my Gamma answered immediately.
“Venessa is missing,” I said as I moved toward the woods.
“Where are you?” Rayon asked urgently.
I linked Tonya again.
“Which part of the forest?”
“The western side,” she answered. “The clearing near the pine trees.”
I changed direction instantly, heading west, and told Rayon to meet me there.
He joined me moments later, and we began searching.
It didn’t take long before I caught her scent.
I followed it relentlessly, heart pounding, until it led us to a spot dangerously close to the border. Then I caught it two foreign scents layered over hers.
Lycans.
My blood turned to ice.
“How did they cross?” I muttered. Someone had given them access. There was no other explanation.
“Lycans,” Rayon confirmed.
Panic overtook me, and I started calling out for her, my voice breaking through the trees.
“Denzel,” Rayon said quietly. “She’s not here.”
I already knew that but knowing didn’t help. I didn’t know what to do. If Lycans had taken her, how would I get her back?
Powerlessness crushed me.
I dropped to my knees where her scent ended and pressed my hand into the ground, as if it might give me answers.
My thoughts scattered. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe.
“When did she come here?” Rayon asked.
“This morning,” I said hoarsely. “After breakfast.”
I glanced at my watch.
Six in the evening.
“Fuck,” Rayon swore, understanding settling heavily between us.
“Who gave them access?” he demanded. “Where were the guards stationed at the border?”
I looked up at him, fury igniting through the fear.
“I want everyone who was on guard duty this morning gathered immediately,” I said coldly. “Every single one of them. No one is spared until I get answers. I don’t care if blood has to be spilled.”
Rayon stiffened.
“If Tyrell is behind this,” I continued, my voice shaking with rage, “there will be no diplomacy. I will kill him. First he betrays me with my wife, and now my mate is taken?”
“Denzel,” Rayon said firmly. “Calm down. Don’t jump to conclusions.”
“They’re Lycans!” I snapped. “They murdered her mother. What do you think they’ve done to her?”
I couldn’t say the worst out loud.
My insides burned with fury while fear wrapped itself tightly around my heart. I had never prayed in my life not once.
But I did then.
For the first time, I begged the goddess to rig the game in my favor.
I prayed Venessa would come back to me alive.