Chapter 30: The Hunt Begins

Adrian’s POV

I woke up with her still on my mind.

For a moment, I just lay there, staring at the ceiling of my Alpha dorm, replaying everything from last night like it was some kind of dream I didn’t want to wake up from.

The rain. Her lips. The way she melted into me. A small smile crept onto my face before I could stop it.

Damn.

I actually smiled. If anyone saw me right now, they’d think something was seriously wrong. But I didn’t care.

For the first time in a long time, I felt… good. Excited even. I couldn’t wait to see her again. To talk to her properly this time.

The door suddenly opened without knocking.

“Why do you look like that?”

I didn’t need to turn to know it was Xavier.

I rolled my eyes slightly but didn’t hide the smile.

“Like what?” I asked lazily.

Xavier walked in, shutting the door behind him, his eyes scanning my face like he was trying to solve a mystery.

“Happy,” he said simply.

I scoffed. “You’re overthinking.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “You don’t do ‘happy.’ So what happened?”

I sighed and sat up, running a hand through my hair. I wasn’t planning to say anything. But for some reason… I said it.

“I kissed her.”

Silence. Xavier blinked.

“…You what?”

“I kissed Lena,” I repeated, this time looking straight at him.

He stared at me like I had just said the most impossible thing in the world.

“Stop joking,” he said.

“I’m serious.”

He took a step closer, studying my face.

And when he realized I wasn’t joking.

“Wait… you’re actually serious?” he asked.

I nodded once. Xavier let out a low whistle. “Wow… I didn’t see that coming.”

I leaned back slightly, shrugging like it wasn’t a big deal.

“It just happened.”

Xavier folded his arms. “So what now? You’re just going to play with her feelings?”

That made me frown immediately.

“I’m not playing with her,” I said, my tone sharper than before.

He raised a brow. “Really?”

I exhaled slowly.

“She’s not like other girls,” I admitted.

And that was the truth. There was something about Lena… something I couldn’t explain.

Something that made me act out of character. Something that made my wolf restless. She was different.

Xavier watched me for a few seconds, then nodded slowly.

“Alright,” he said. “Then don’t mess it up.”

I didn’t respond. Because deep down, I wasn’t sure I already hadn’t.

Practice the that day felt… easy. Too easy.

Every move I made on the ice was sharp, controlled, perfect. Like my body just knew what to do. Like something had finally clicked into place.

“Good!” the coach shouted. “That’s what I want to see!”

I smirked slightly, adjusting my grip on my stick. We wrapped up shortly after, and I stayed back to talk with the coach.

“I don’t know what changed,” he said, looking impressed, “but keep this up and you’ll definitely be captain again.”

“I never stopped being captain,” I replied casually.

He chuckled. “Confidence. I like it.”

We were still talking when I heard hurried footsteps. Fast. Uneven. Panicked.

“Adrian!”

I turned immediately.

Zara?!

She was running toward us, breathing heavily, her face pale like she had seen something terrible. My chest tightened instantly.

Something was wrong.

I stepped forward. “What happened?”

She stopped in front of me, trying to catch her breath.

“I… I can’t find Lena,” she said.

Everything inside me went still.

“What do you mean?” I asked, my voice calm, even though something dark was already rising inside me.

“She didn’t sleep in the dorm,” Zara said quickly. “Her bed is untouched. I’ve looked everywhere… I can’t find her.”

My heart slammed hard against my chest.

But I forced my expression to stay neutral.

I couldn’t panic. Not in front of her.

“Relax,” I said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll find her.”

Zara shook her head. “Adrian, something is wrong.”

I already knew that. My wolf was restless.

Agitated. Like it could sense something I couldn’t see yet.

“We’ll check the CCTV,” I said immediately. “If anything happened, it’ll be there.”

She nodded quickly. “Okay.”

We turned to leave and then…

“Well, this looks serious.”

I stopped.

Damian. Of course.

He stood a few steps away, watching us with that same calm, unreadable expression. I didn’t like him. Never did.

“Mind your business,” I said coldly, walking past him.

He chuckled softly. “Or maybe I can help.”

Zara hesitated, then spoke.

“Lena is missing.”

Damian froze. His expression shifted just for a second but I caught it.

“…What?” he asked.

“She didn’t come back last night,” Zara explained.

Damian’s eyes darkened. Then he looked at me. And what he said next made my blood boil.

“How could you lose Lena?”

I stopped walking. Slowly turned back.

“What did you just say?” I asked.

Zara frowned. “Wait… what do you mean?”

I exhaled sharply.

“Zara, she was with me last night after Damian left,” I said. “I dropped her off near the dorm.”

Zara’s eyes widened. “And you left her there?”

I ignored that.

“I didn’t see what happened after,” I added.

Damian shook his head slightly, almost like he was disappointed.

“Unbelievable,” he muttered.

I stepped closer to him, my aura rising without me even trying.

“Say that again,” I warned.

He didn’t back down.

“You had her,” he said. “Now she’s gone.”

“You took her out of the academy in the first place.” I snapped.

“The Academy?” Zara whisper slightly.

The tension between us snapped tight.

Zara stepped between us quickly. “Stop it! This isn’t helping!”

I clenched my fists but forced myself to step back. She was right.

Arguing wouldn’t bring Lena back.

“We need to move,” Zara said.

I nodded in agreement. We turned again but before we could take another step, Zara’s phone buzzed.

She froze. Slowly, she brought it out and looked at the screen.

“Unknown number…” she murmured.

“Open it,” I said immediately.

She hesitated. Then she did. Her eyes scanned the message. And I watched as the color drained from her face.

My chest tightened.

“What is it?” I asked.

She looked up at me slowly.

“It’s from Lena’s phone,” she whispered.

Everything inside me went cold.

“What?”

Zara swallowed hard. Then read it out loud.

“Come alone… if you want to see her alive.”

Heavy silence fell around us. I felt it instantly.

Whoever did this, they made a mistake.

A big one.

I shook my head quickly. “No… this is a trap.”

“I know,” she said.

“Then you can’t go…”

“I’m going.”

Damian stepped forward. “You shouldn’t go alone.”

Zara ignored him. “I'm going.”

“Zara… please think…”

“I am thinking, If anything happened to her… I swear I wouldn’t leave a single one of them alive.” Zara cut in