Chapter 53
Rome's POV.
While Silvia revealed that she was threatened, my shock quickly turned to suspicion. Who would threaten her, and why? My focus narrowed solely on her, and I flicked her away with a quick gesture, sending her crashing into the wall before collapsing to the ground.
Alpha Ace rushed to his sister's side, concern etched across his face. "Alpha King, please, calm down," he pleaded once more.
But how could I calm down when the woman I cared for was missing, and now it seemed like there were sinister forces at play? I felt the anger inside me threatening to consume me entirely. Where was she? I was losing my mind with worry, desperate to know if she was safe.
With frustration boiling inside me, I let out a fierce roar of frustration. "Fuck!" I bellowed, my voice echoing through the room. "Get everyone ready. We're having a meeting in ten minutes."
Leaving the tension-laden atmosphere behind, I stormed out of the room and made my way to the only place where I could find solace. Entering Zendaya's room, I locked the door behind me and slumped down against it, feeling the coldness of the floor seeping into my skin. Surrounded by the lingering scent of her presence, it was as if she was still there with me, offering a small measure of comfort in the midst of chaos.
"Where are you, Zendaya? I'm on the verge of losing my mind," I sighed heavily, the weight of worry pressing down on me.
As I sat there in her room, memories of our time together flooded my mind. Our routine walks stood out the most. Despite her shyness, she never hesitated to join me. While she often remained silent, her occasional bursts of conversation were a reminder of her vibrant spirit.
I realized then that simply giving her a job wasn't enough to keep her close. I had hoped it would give us more time together, but now I needed to find her, to ensure she was safe and to be by her side.
When I entered the hall for the pack meeting, a palpable tension filled the air. Every eye turned towards me, reflecting fear and apprehension. I took my place on the Alpha's chair, my expression stern and commanding.
"Silvia, come forward," I commanded, my voice cutting through the silence like a blade.
Silvia hesitantly made her way to the stage, her posture submissive and her neck visibly marked with bruises.
"Who threatened you?" I demanded, my tone unwavering.
"I... I....I didn't see, properly," she stammered.
My eyes narrowed. "What do you mean you didn't see them properly?"
"I was talking on the phone so I didn't bother to check."
Silvia's stammered response only fueled my frustration. "You didn't bother to check?" I repeated incredulously. "So you told my mate to follow an unknown person without any regard for her safety?"
She attempted to speak again, but I cut her off with a fierce growl. "You must think I won't do anything to you because your brother is the pack Alpha. But you keep forgetting who I am!"
My growl reverberated through the room, eliciting fear and panic from everyone present. I allowed my Alpha aura to fill the space, watching as those in the room struggled to breathe under its weight. Some collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by the intensity of my power.
I didn't want them to witness this side of me, but the situation demanded it. My wolf, no longer restrained, surged to the surface, and my eyes blazed with a fierce yellow hue.
With a sinister grin on my face, I wasted no time in grabbing Silvia again, my wolf urging me to use any means necessary to extract the truth from her.
"Bring me the cuffs," I commanded, my voice cold and commanding.
A member of my pack quickly appeared with the requested restraints, covered in a brown bag to shield them from view. These cuffs were no ordinary restraints; they were designed to be inescapable for wolves, made with a combination of wolfsbane and silver.
I reached into the bag and withdrew the cuffs, feeling a slight irritation on my fingers from their contents. Ignoring the discomfort, I placed the cuffs securely around Silvia's wrists, knowing that without a key, they would remain firmly in place.
As the cuffs tightened around her, Silvia began to panic, scratching, and wailing in agony as the wolfsbane and silver burned her skin. Her suffering only fueled my determination.
"Are you prepared to speak?" I demanded, my voice laced with menace.
"It was Essie," she blurted. "She threatened me."
Essie? The same Essie from my pack?
"What does she have on you?" I asked, my tone impatient.
She looked away. What could Essie possibly have over her? What is worse than this?
"Speak little girl or your body will be dinner for the Rogues!"
She closed her eyes as if to think of her present choices. When she opened them, she sighed.
"Essie approached when you came to the pack. She claimed you were her mate and Zendaya stole you away from her. She wanted a little revenge," she paused. "I didn't think she could do something so stupid. I swear ...I didn't know what would happen."
Silvia's accusation stunned me. Essie, my own pack member, allegedly threatening Silvia out of jealousy? It was a shocking revelation, to say the least. If what Silvia said was true, it meant that there was a dangerous level of discord brewing within my own pack.
"What proof do you have of this?" I demanded, my mind racing with disbelief and anger.
Silvia hesitated, clearly struggling to come up with a satisfactory answer. "I... I don't have any proof," she admitted, her voice wavering. "But she... she was always talking about you, saying how Zendaya didn't deserve you and how she should have been your mate."
I gritted my teeth in frustration. This was not the kind of drama I expected to deal with within my own pack. Essie had always been fiercely loyal, or so I thought. Could jealousy truly drive her to such extremes?
"Thank you for your honesty," I said through clenched teeth, my mind already formulating a plan to confront Essie and get to the bottom of this. "You will be punished for your part in this, but I will deal with Essie myself."