Alpha Rolan’s POV
I stood at the front of the palace, pacing with barely restrained rage as I waited for Caleb to return with Derrick. The night was still, the air thick with tension.
My thoughts raced, circling back to the same burning anger: how dare Derrick come back and disrupt my life again? After everything he had done to Pandora, the mere thought of him still being obsessed with her made my blood boil.
The sound of footsteps approaching pulled me from my thoughts. I turned to see Wilson coming toward me, his expression tense but focused.
“I just got back from the eastern border,” Wilson said, his voice low. “I’ve scoured the entire area. There’s nothing. No tracks, no signs of Pandora.”
My hands clenched into fists, the frustration mounting. “Nothing?” I echoed, barely able to contain my anger.
Every second Pandora was gone felt like a knife twisting deeper into my gut. “How can there be nothing, Wilson? She didn’t just vanish.”
Wilson sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know, Rolan. But listen-there’s something off about all of this. I’ve been thinking about it, and I have a feeling Derrick doesn’t actually know what happened to her. It’s almost like he’s been caught up in something bigger. A trap, maybe.”
I turned sharply, my eyes narrowing. “A trap? You think this is some elaborate setup?” My voice dripped with skepticism.
Derrick showing up just before Pandora disappeared couldn’t be a coincidence.
Wilson raised his hands in a gesture of peace. “I’m not defending him. I’m just saying it doesn’t add up. What if he’s just a pawn in someone else’s game?”
I didn’t want to hear it. “I don’t care what he is. All I know is that Pandora saw him right before she went missing. If he’s part of this, I’ll make him talk, one way or another.”
Wilson hesitated for a moment before nodding. “I understand. I just wanted to offer my perspective. But I’ll step back and follow your lead.”
Before I could respond, the sound of vehicles pulling up reached my ears. Caleb had arrived. I could feel the tension ripple through the air as his team dragged Derrick out of the car, his hands bound in cuffs.
As soon as I laid eyes on him, something inside me snapped. The months of bitterness, the pain Pandora had carried, all of it surged to the surface. Without thinking, I rushed forward.
“Where is she?” I roared, not waiting for an answer before slamming my fist into Derrick’s gut.
He doubled over, gasping for air, but that did nothing to stop me. Blow after blow, I let my rage pour out, pummeling him until Caleb and Wilson had to physically pull me off of him.
“Alpha!” Caleb shouted, grabbing my arms and holding me back. “You need to stop. Let him speak.”
I tore myself from Caleb’s grip, my chest heaving. Derrick lay on the ground, blood trickling from his nose, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Despite the beating, his eyes met mine with a mix of fear and defiance.
“Where is she?” I demanded again, my voice deadly calm this time. “If you don’t tell me where Pandora is, I swear you won’t leave here alive.”
Derrick coughed, wincing as he struggled to sit up. “I… I don’t know anything,” he rasped, his voice weak but insistent. “I swear, Rolan, I don’t know what happened to her. Yes, I came to the resort, but I never saw her. I didn’t take her. I wouldn’t.”
“Liar!” I snapped, stepping forward again, but Caleb held me back.
“Rolan, stop,” Wilson said firmly. “Let him speak.”
Derrick wiped the blood from his mouth and shook his head. “I know you have no reason to believe me, but I had nothing to do with this. I came back to the resort to see her, yes. But I was never planning to take her. I just… I wanted to talk.”
I stared at him, barely able to contain my fury. “You expect me to believe that?”
“I swear on everything, I don’t know where she is,” Derrick said, his eyes wide with desperation. “Someone else is behind this.”
I was seething, but something in the way Derrick spoke gave me pause. His desperation seemed real, but I couldn’t trust it. Not after everything he’d done.
Still, if he wasn’t lying, then someone else was pulling the strings.
“Throw him in the dungeon,” I ordered coldly, not taking my eyes off Derrick. “We’ll see if some time in the dark helps him remember anything.”
Caleb and Wilson nodded, quickly dragging Derrick to his feet. As they hauled him away, I turned back toward the palace, the heavy weight of uncertainty hanging over me. This didn’t feel right. Something was missing. Someone else was involved, but who?
Griffin.
The name shot through my mind like a bullet. He had been acting strange for weeks, pushing boundaries, and testing my authority.
I’d brushed it off as petty ambition, but what if it was more than that? What if he was working against me, orchestrating this chaos from within?
My hands clenched into fists once more, the realization making my blood run cold. I wouldn’t put it past him. Griffin was always too close for comfort, always watching. And with Pandora gone, this was the perfect time for him to make a move.
“Guards!” I barked, storming toward the entrance of the palace. Two guards snapped to attention, rushing to my side. “Bring Griffin to me. Now.”
They exchanged a quick glance before nodding and hurrying off to follow my orders. I stood there, the cold night air biting at my skin, my heart pounding with the anticipation of what was to come.
If Griffin was behind this, if he had a hand in Pandora’s disappearance, he would regret ever challenging me. I would tear apart everything he had worked for, brick by brick until there was nothing left.
They had touched a part of me that I wished that no one had. My woman, my mate.