Chapter 323 323
Maurice POV
Damien wastes no time preparing me for disappointment.
He tells me outright that he has no idea where Bee has been hiding. All he can say based on fragments and instinct is that she’s likely on the opposite side of the country. At the very least, there’s comfort in knowing she’s probably still within our borders, that she hasn’t fled overseas.
That possibility has been the one that haunts me the most.
The thought of her using smugglers to disappear entirely to be taken out of the country without a trace fills me with a cold, suffocating dread. Bee has no digital footprint. No paper trail. That was by design. Her father, Gaston, had ordered it meticulously.
She exists in official records only until the age of twelve. After that, it’s as though she ceased to exist.
I even have her death certificate.
And her mother’s.
Both claiming death by pneumonia.
We know without question that Bee’s mother was human. Which makes my mate half human, half werewolf. A truth she remained unaware of until she quite literally collided with our world Damien and I chasing her out of one of my warehouses, forcing her to face what she was.
I have regrets. More than I care to admit.
I regret bringing her into this world too quickly, exposing her before she was ready. She had already lived a life cut off from most humans after her mother’s death, isolated and vulnerable. And she had been manipulated used by Damien’s father for his own gain.
Worst of all, I regret relinquishing her safety to Damien under the excuse of him being her older brother.
That mistake will not be repeated.
The moment I find her, she’s coming back with me to the Ash Valley pack. No negotiations.
Damien abruptly announces that a trespasser has breached their family land. What surprises me is not the intrusion but the fact that he orders his guards to stand down.
Whoever is coming hasn’t been cleared. Or worse has been, and Damien still doesn’t trust them enough to grant free movement on his territory.
Person might not even be the right word.
Most people knock at the front door.
When there’s a sharp knock at the office door instead, I already know this “tracker” isn’t accustomed to formalities or asking permission.
“That was fast,” Damien calls out.
“The Alpha King demands,” a voice replies coolly, “the Alpha King gets.”
My pulse spikes. “So she’s nearby?”
Damien steps aside to allow the visitor in and whatever fragile hope I was clinging to evaporates instantly.
He’s a child.
“That’s your tracker?” I scoff, a breathless laugh escaping me. “He’s just a kid.”
Unbelievable.
Sixteen, maybe seventeen at most. Dark hair hangs into his eyes, which on closer inspection are a strange red-brown, unsettling in their intensity. His skin is olive-toned, sun-kissed. A watch tan marks his wrist, evidence of long days outdoors.
There’s something… off about him.
Hints of human features, yes but the way he stands before the Alpha King tells me human doesn’t quite fit. And I’m not even certain he’s a werewolf.
“No,” the boy says flatly. “She isn’t nearby.”
“Then how did you get here so quickly?” Damien demands.
“I have my ways.” His gaze shifts to me and for a moment, I’m caught. Hypnotised by the sharp intelligence behind his stare. “Who is this?”
“This is Maurice,” Damien says, watching him closely. “Alpha of the Ash Valley pack. Sab’s mate.”
The boy’s eyes sweep over me with blatant arrogance, measuring, assessing until they land on the baby asleep in my arms.
“And who is this?”
Whatever edge he had softens instantly.
“This is my son,” Damien replies, brushing his fingers through Frédéric’s pale blond hair. “Frédéric.”
I struggle to make sense of this arrangement. Damien doesn’t gamble lightly. And trusting something this delicate to a teenager feels reckless.
“Congratulations,” the boy says. “I heard about your news through my connections.”
“Connections?” I laugh sharply. “Damien, I’m leaving.”
I can’t believe he’s staked everything on this. On a child.
“Maurice, wait,” Damien says, blocking my exit though I couldn’t go far with his baby in my arms. “Gilles, tell us what you know.”
Gilles strolls to Damien’s desk, touching personal items without hesitation. Too young to be this confident. Too comfortable.
“You know the money you gave me ran out a long time ago,” he says casually.
“You promised to find her quickly,” Damien snaps. “It’s been six months. You better have something.”
What did he expect? Even a seasoned team of trackers would struggle with this. And now my chest tightens as the truth sinks in I’m no closer to finding her than before.
Damien pulls a brown envelope from his desk and tosses it across the room.
Gilles catches it, peeks inside and smirks at the thick stack of cash.
I mutter a curse under my breath. More money wasted.
“She’s been on a farm,” Gilles says lightly. “For the past six months.”
“What?” Damien demands. “How do you know that?”
I’m just as stunned. Bee on a farm? She’d grown up privileged, immersed in financial powerhouses and city luxury.
“I’ve been working with her.”
“For six months?” Damien explodes. “You deliberately withheld that from me?”
His shout wakes Frédéric, who immediately starts crying in my arms. Perfect. As if my world wasn’t already collapsing.
This kid knows more about my mate than I do and I don’t like that.
“Alpha,” Gilles says calmly, “you act as if I haven’t been busy. She’s been meeting someone. She’s secretive. Cold.”
“Cold?” I repeat.
“Yes. Always cold. I thought werewolves were supposed to be warm?”
“Who is she meeting?” Damien asks, taking Frédéric from me and checking if he’s hungry.
“A woman. I was meant to follow her today”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“You summoned me.”
“Damn it, Gilles.”
“Where is she?” I snap, grabbing Gilles by the elbow and dragging him to the massive map on the office wall. “Show me.”
He points to the far western edge of the country.
“Here,” he says. “But be warned the farm is crawling with illegals. Officials are overdue for a tip-off. When that happens, she’ll disappear again.”
My jaw tightens.
“Then,” I say quietly, “I need to move fast.”