Chapter 75
Back to the present.
Lowell turns to leave, his steps heavy but determined. His breath fogs in the cold air. Victory seems within his reach. But then — a low growl.
He freezes.
Before he can turn, Marco shifts. The crack of bones, the tearing of skin, and in seconds, a massive gray wolf lunges at him from behind. Claws rake across Lowell’s back, tearing through fabric and skin.
Lowell stumbles but catches himself. He whirls around, eyes burning with rage.
“Nathan!” he roars.
Nathan doesn’t hesitate. His bones crack as he shifts into a huge brown wolf, larger than Marco’s, muscles rippling with power. With a vicious snarl, Nathan crashes into Marco, slamming him into the ground, pinning him effortlessly.
Lowell wipes blood from his mouth, breathing hard. He approaches slowly, eyes cold.
“Let him go, Nathan.”
Nathan growls but obeys. He steps back, tail swishing low, his breathing rough.
Marco shifts back into his human form, panting, blood smeared across his mouth. His eyes are wild.
Lowell doesn’t shift. He doesn’t need to. His muscles tighten. He steps forward.
“My father should’ve killed you the day he killed your father,” Marco says, his voice low and even.
Marco laughs hoarsely. “You were just a boy. And now you’re nothing.”
Lowell’s fist crashes into Marco’s face before he finishes the sentence. Marco staggers back.
The fight begins.
Marco lunges first, claws extended, but Lowell dodges effortlessly. He grabs Marco’s arm mid-air and twists it until bones crack. Marco howls.
Lowell throws him to the ground.
Marco rolls and kicks, catching Lowell’s ribs. A sharp pain shoots through Lowell, but he doesn’t stop. He grabs Marco by the throat, slamming him down again. The ground shakes.
But Marco doesn’t stay down. He spits blood and gets up, charging once more.
They collide. Fists, claws, blood. The ground is stained red.
Lowell’s knuckles split open as he punches. His body aches, but he doesn’t give Marco a chance to breathe. He keeps going.
Marco’s strikes weaken. His face is swollen, his breaths ragged.
“You think you can rule?” Marco sneers between gasps.
“I don’t think. I will.”
A final punch — straight to Marco’s temple. He collapses. His body twitches but doesn’t rise.
Lowell stands over him, chest heaving.
Stephen, Marco’s Beta, suddenly charges at Nathan from the side, teeth bared.
Nathan turns just in time. The two collide in a mess of fur and blood. They roll, snapping jaws, claws raking each other.
Nathan growls deep, grabbing Stephen by the scruff and throwing him aside. But Stephen comes back, slamming into Nathan’s side.
Both wolves are panting, gasping for air. Their bodies shake from exhaustion.
Stephen’s tail lowers. His ears flatten. He takes a step back.
Stephen gasps, shifting back to human form, bloodied and beaten. He drops to his knees, head bowed. Marco in shock realizes what that means, Stephen has suddenly surrendered to Lowell’s reign.
Lowell doesn’t waste a second. He steps over Marco’s limp form, grabbing his collar, lifting him with one hand.
“Where is my mate?” His voice is like thunder.
Marco coughs. Blood drips from his mouth.
Lowell shakes him violently. “Where is she?”
Marco’s lips curl into a mocking smile. He laughs weakly. “Locked away... where you’ll never find her.”
Lowell’s heart pounds harder. His grip tightens. “Tell me.”
Marco only laughs again.
Suddenly, a hoarse voice pierces the tense air.
“She’s in the underground dungeon!”
Everyone turns.
Felicia stumbles out from behind the debris, her arm cradled to her chest, blood streaking down her temple. Her face is pale, lips trembling.
“Nana’s in the dungeon,” she sobs. “Please... hurry...”
Lowell drops Marco’s limp body like discarded trash. His heart pounds so loudly it deafens him.
He runs.
His feet barely touch the ground.
The dungeon entrance looms ahead — hidden behind old, rusted iron doors. He rips them open with a strength he didn’t know he still had.
The stench of damp stone and rust floods his nose.
“Nana!” he roars, his voice echoing through the underground corridor.
The silence suffocates him.
He storms deeper, eyes scanning every dark corner. Chains clank in the shadows. He follows the sound.
At the end of the corridor, a heavy iron door blocks the way. Chains crisscross the handle.
He grabs them.
His hands bleed as he pulls. The chains snap, metal clanking loudly on the floor. He throws the door open.
But the room is empty.
The chains on the wall dangle loosely, broken.
There’s no one there.
His heart stops.
“Nana,” he whispers, voice cracking.
The cold air feels like knives on his skin.
He steps into the empty cell, eyes wide.
The scent of her is here — faint, fading.
She was here.
She’s gone.
His chest tightens. His breath comes in short gasps.
“Nana...”
He falls to his knees, fists clenched, eyes burning.
The room echoes with silence.
Lowell stands in the middle of the cell, frozen.
His heart refuses to settle. He presses his palm against the cold stone wall as if somehow he could feel her presence there, lingering. The scent in the air tells him she was here not long ago — faint, warm traces of her that twist around his chest, suffocating him.
He breathes her in, desperate.
“Nana…” he whispers again. His voice sounds broken, raw.
Behind him, Nathan rushes in, panting. His clothes are torn, his knuckles bloodied.
“Lowell?” Nathan’s voice is cautious, unsure. He looks around the empty cell, then at his Alpha, and his face falls.
Lowell doesn’t move.
“She was here,” Lowell says quietly. His hand tightens into a fist against the wall. “I can feel it.”
Nathan lowers his head. “She must’ve escaped… or someone moved her.”
Lowell closes his eyes, trying to calm the storm raging in his chest. He turns slowly, his face pale, jaw tight.
“I should’ve come sooner,” he mutters.
Nathan steps forward. “You fought for her. You’re still fighting.”
But it doesn’t ease the ache.
Lowell’s fingers brush over the broken chains on the floor. The cold metal is slick with rust and something else — old blood.
He swallows hard.
“Nana,” he whispers once more.
He stands abruptly, his shoulders squared. His eyes burn with determination.
“We have to find her,” he says, voice hardening. “I will turn this place upside down.”
Nathan nods firmly.
Lowell takes one last look around the empty, silent cell — and leaves.
His heart races as he climbs the dungeon stairs two steps at a time. His mate is out there. And he will not rest until she’s in his arms again.
He once stopped feeling her, especially when he was healing, he felt another strange connection in their bond.
“She's in the pack, I’m trying to mindlink her but it feels blocked” Lowell whispers, his ears perk up, his nose sniffs around for any scent hers, he needs to trace her scent, even though it's faint now.
He moves swiftly out of the cell, following the faint smell from Nana.