Chapter 116 116

Chapter 116 116
Chapter 116

Alexander

...

"My King... we still haven't found Princess Layla Swan."

Baryon's voice shattered the silence that had been suffocating the war chamber for what felt like an eternity, but I didn't answer him immediately. My gaze remained fixed on the enormous map of the Kingdom of Lunaris spread across the table before me. Nearly every corner of the kingdom had been marked with red pins, each one representing a place my Elite Wolves had searched over the past several days.

The result, however, had never changed.

Layla hadn't left behind the faintest trace; no scent. No footprints. Nothing!

It was as though she had simply vanished from this world.

"Deploy them again." The order left my lips in a low growl, stripped of every ounce of composure I once possessed.

"Search every harbor, every trade route, every village, every inn... even every ship that has already left Lunaris. I don't care how long it takes. Leave no place unchecked."

Baryon lowered his head, though the weight on his expression only seemed to deepen.

"My King... we've already searched all of them."

"Then search them again!"

The roar that tore from my throat echoed violently through the chamber.

For the first time, even Baryon looked genuinely startled by my reaction, as though he had never imagined he would see me lose control like this.

"Keep searching..." My voice dropped into a cold, deadly growl. "Until Layla is found."

Silence swallowed the room once again.

It had already been more than a week since Layla disappeared.

During that time, all of Lunaris had changed... Preparations for war no longer held my attention. Meetings with the Alphas had been postponed indefinitely, and even the Elders had begun questioning my decisions because the gates to the Underworld would soon open.

None of it mattered to me anymore.

I no longer cared about the war.

"As you command, My King..." Baryon's quiet voice was the last thing I heard before he disappeared like a gust of wind, leaving me alone in the vast chamber.

BAM!

With a violent swing, I tore through the map and shattered the massive table before me.

My breathing turned heavy, each breath scraping painfully through my chest as though something inside me had been ripped apart.

It made no sense.

I wasn't injured.

There wasn't a single drop of blood on my body. Yet the agony consuming me was worse than any wound I had ever suffered.

My jaw clenched as I slowly turned toward the balcony. And all I could see... was Layla.

Standing there as she always did, waiting quietly by my side.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

I could feel it... My heart was pounding so violently it hurt. My hands trembled uncontrollably as a crushing pain spread through my chest, as though something deep inside was slowly tearing my heart apart.

The chamber had grown dim, but I couldn't think about anything except her.

Layla...

Where are you? Why did you leave me?

Is this your punishment... for the way I treated you before?

Layla...

Come back.

Please... come back.

For the first time since I learned I was the strongest wolf alive... For the first time since every Alpha in this kingdom had bowed before me... I found myself wishing, with all the weakness I had always despised, for only one thing.

I wanted Layla to come back. I didn't want anything else.

I only wanted Layla!

...

But...

Time continued to pass, and Layla was still nowhere to be found. With every passing day, the fear inside my chest grew heavier. What if she'd been taken by one of my enemies? What if something terrible had happened to her?

Those questions slowly drove me to the edge of madness.

It had been two weeks since Layla disappeared.

For two weeks, I hadn't truly slept, nor could I stop myself from returning to the same places I'd already searched countless times, hoping that somehow I had missed something before.

But every search ended the same way... Layla was still gone.

"My King..." Baryon approached me once again. I was standing on the balcony of my chambers, my eyes fixed on the magnificent moon hanging over Lunaris.

"We've searched the entire kingdom over and over again, but there's still no trace of Princess Layla Swan. We've also received word from the Kingdom of Varland Dawn. They've searched their territory as well, but Princess Layla wasn't found there either."

He paused before continuing.

"The forces from Varland Dawn will arrive within the next few days. I respectfully ask that Your Majesty prepare yourself."

His voice softened with concern.

"I also hope Your Majesty will eat something and get some rest. You haven't slept for so long... and you haven't eaten anything either. I'm worried that if this continues..."

"Baryon..." My voice was low and hollow, stripped of everything except one thought.

"Find Layla."

The words silenced him.

He stood there without speaking for several long moments before finally lowering his head.

"My King... I'll ask Laris to bring another meal to your chambers."

He hesitated briefly before continuing.

"If Princess Layla Swan truly ran away of her own will, then she's most likely hiding somewhere in the Human Kingdom. The only thing Your Majesty can do now is win this war... and search for her there." Baryon's voice gradually faded from my hearing.

I continued staring into the distance, feeling weaker than I had ever felt in my entire life.

After saying those words, Baryon quietly left. A short while later, I heard Laris enter my chambers to leave another meal behind before slipping away again, careful not to disturb me.

I didn't care... None of it mattered!

"Layla..."

My voice trembled as I whispered her name. My breathing had grown heavy, and for the first time in my life, I found myself suffering from a pain that even my strength couldn't erase.

I could picture her so clearly.

Those wide green eyes... Her long brown hair... The way her cheeks flushed pink... And the beautiful smile that always bloomed across her face whenever she threw herself into my arms.

"Is this the punishment you've chosen for me?" A bitter smile tugged at my lips.

"If it is... then you've succeeded, Layla."

"You've completely destroyed me."

"I don't know how to live without you."

I slowly closed my eyes.

"I used to wonder why my heart felt so restless every time I looked at you."

"But now I finally understand, Layla."

"I never imagined someone like me could feel something like this. The feeling that's been tearing me apart... the one that's been hurting me all this time..."

"...is because I'm in love with you."

"I love you, Layla."

"My human."

"If you're hiding among the humans, then you've left me with no other choice. If you've truly chosen your father over me..."

"...then I'll destroy everything your father's kingdom holds, Layla."

"I'll reduce it all to ashes."

"Because if I destroy everything... you'll come back to me."

"You'll beg for their lives... and you'll stay by my side."

"Layla..." My voice sank into a possessive growl. "I will never let you leave me."

"Never!"

Blue flames ignited within my eyes as fury surged through every vein in my body. The air around me grew scorching hot, cracks spread beneath my feet across the stone floor, and my heart pounded violently against my ribs, shaken by emotions I could no longer deny.

Only after Layla left me did I finally understand the truth.

I loved her... Far more deeply than I had ever realized.

What I had felt from the very first moment I found her in that forest had never been simple amusement or passing curiosity.

It had always been love.

A love so profound that even I hadn't recognized it until I was forced to live without her. And because of that... I would chase her.

Even if Layla fled to the ends of the earth... Even if she escaped into hell itself...

I would find her.

...

I turned away from the balcony and walked back into my chambers.

I hadn't eaten for so long that, had I been an ordinary man instead of a Lycan, I would have been on the verge of collapsing from starvation by now. My body was far stronger than that of any human, but even so, I could feel the weakness settling into my limbs after denying myself food for so many days.

So, for the first time in nearly three weeks, I forced myself to eat. Not because I wanted to. But because I knew that if I was going to win this war... if I was going to bring Layla back... then I had to keep myself in perfect condition.

I would do whatever it took to reclaim her.

After finishing my meal — the first real meal I'd had in weeks — my eyes drifted toward the large bed where Layla had always waited for me. The emptiness in the room felt unbearable, and the loneliness that had been eating away at me only grew heavier. Missing her like this was slowly destroying me.

With a weary sigh, I closed my eyes and lay down in the very place where she used to sleep beside me.

"I'm pregnant..."

The whisper brushed so clearly against my ears that my half-closed eyes twitched. Before me, something began to take shape.

The dimly lit room suddenly brightened, as though the night had vanished in an instant, replaced by the warm glow of the morning sun pouring through the windows.

Before I could make sense of it, another scene unfolded before me.

"Really, my love?" The voice was unmistakably mine, filled with a joy I'd never heard from myself before. "Then we have to celebrate. I'll call Baryon right away and have him prepare a grand banquet."

"I'm going to be a father..."

I frowned.

That voice. That smile... It was me.

Confusion tightened in my chest as I stared at the impossible scene unfolding before my eyes. I didn't understand what I was seeing or why it felt as though I was remembering something that had never happened.

"Haha... and I'm going to be a mother. We're going to be wonderful parents!"

Layla's laughter rang out, bright and carefree. Her smile was so radiant that it seemed to fill the entire room with warmth, and I watched myself lift her effortlessly into my arms, unable to contain my happiness as I held her close.

And then...

The moment I fully opened my eyes, everything disappeared.

The sunlight was gone. The room was dark again.

My chest rose and fell sharply as I struggled to steady my breathing, too stunned to process what had just happened.

Was it because I missed Layla so desperately that my mind had begun conjuring illusions like this?

But...

Why had it felt so real?

It hadn't felt like a dream at all. It felt like something that had already happened... as though I'd lived through it before, only to forget it somehow.

A sharp ache pulsed through my head.

I couldn't understand what was happening to me. But I knew, deep down, that something was terribly wrong.

...

To be continued