When Lilah said she would take us to Andrew’s house after I explained the situation to her, my little spark of hope lit up. I didn’t feel right the moment we entered the house, and I had this strange intuition that something was wrong.
The house was quiet as death, and now the door stood half-opened as if mocking us. We gingerly moved into the room, looking under tables and chairs and all around, hoping we could find something that would lead us to them. Unfortunately, nothing was found. The furniture was still the same, untouched, with the smell of Andrew’s cologne still pervading the room. He had been here recently.
Ethan picked up a note that was lying on the kitchen counter. He unfolded it, his eyes scanning the words before handing it to me.
I read it aloud, my voice hard as stone.
*”I already got my woman and my daughter. Next is your pack, Aiden. Watch out for me. And as for Skylar, the only way you can get rid of her is if her body is burnt. Unless you do that, she is still coming for you. Lucy has been shipped to where she would be used as a slave. She has been sold in the human trafficking trade. Even if you find her, it’s going to be too late. Her mate said he doesn’t need her anymore, so he decided to ship her off.”*
The words hit me like a punch to the gut. My vision blurred with anger, and my heart pounded in my chest. Alenjro. That bastard had sold my sister-his mate-into slavery because she couldn’t bear him a child. The thought of Lucy, alone and terrified, broke something inside me.
Ethan slammed his fist into the wall.
“That traitor Alenjro,” he muttered, fury etched in every line of his face. “I’ll kill him myself.”
I couldn’t speak. I was too busy trying to stop the rage from consuming me whole. I could feel the connection to Shenaya, her emotions swirling faintly in the back of my mind. She was scared, but she was still alive. That was something, but why couldn’t we find her? I gripped the note tighter, the paper crumpling in my hand.
*Andrew’s next target was my pack. He wanted to tear down everything I’d built and destroy the people I cared about.*
“I swear on everything, Andrew will pay for this,” I growled. “But first, we need to find Shenaya and Lucy.”
“We need to go back to Rome. We can’t let him catch us off guard.” Ethan nodded, his jaw clenched tight.
The note felt like a death sentence for Lucy, but I couldn’t let myself think that way. There had to be a way to save her. We had to work fast, or she’d be lost forever.
As the plane cut through the clouds on our way back to Rome, I sat by the window, feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. The empty seat beside me only made Shenaya’s absence more unbearable. My sister, Lucy, was being shipped off to some unknown part of the world like cargo, and Shenaya-my mate-was in the hands of a monster I should have seen coming.
Andrew.
I cursed his name under my breath, my fists clenching so tightly my knuckles turned white. He had been there, right under our noses, pretending to be a friend, Shenaya’s friend. Now, he’d kidnapped her, stolen Zoey, and sold Lucy into slavery. My mind was spinning, rage surging through my veins like wildfire.
And then there was Skylar. How had she come back? I saw her dead body myself. Andrew’s note echoed in my mind: *”The only way you can get rid of Skylar is if her body is burnt. Unless you do that, she is still coming for you.”*
The thought of her still out there, stalking us like a vengeful shadow, made my skin crawl. Ethan had already killed her once, and I’d do it again if I had to. But first, I needed to find Shenaya and my sister.
We arrived in Rome as it was evening, and the brown hue of the sun touched the ancient city. Which details were rather hard to enjoy, with the anxiety as irresistible as the familiar city was. Every moment felt like a ticking time bomb, knowing Andrew could strike at any moment. I had already alerted my warriors back home, instructing them to fortify the pack’s defenses. I didn’t trust anyone at this point-not with Andrew’s network of spies and allies working behind the scenes.
As we stepped out of the airport and into the waiting car, I could see the tension in Ethan’s eyes, but he was good at masking it. He was focused, and determined. We both were.
“I’ve already started mobilizing my warriors,” Ethan said, breaking the heavy silence. “We’ll have them scour every lead for Lucy. Some will infiltrate the human trafficking rings to get intel. If there’s any chance she’s still in Europe, we’ll find her.”
I nodded, thankful for his quick thinking.
“We need to split up. I’ll focus on the pack, and you focus on tracking down Lucy. Otherwise, we have to cover the distance as much as we can.”
Ethan looked out the glass for a moment before he turned towards me again.
“What about Shenaya? This leads to another related question; ‘How do we monitor a moving Andrew?’
I glanced at my phone and saw the last coordinates the tracker sent to me before disappearing again. Andrew no longer possessed the foolish arrogance of youth and was intelligent, but he was not omniscient.
“He can’t hide forever. I still have a faint connection to Shenaya. If we get close enough, I’ll be able to sense her. But we need to act fast. Skylar and Andrew won’t give us much time.”
Ethan let out a frustrated sigh.
“What the hell does Andrew want with her? He’s obsessed. This isn’t about territory anymore-it’s personal.”
“He thinks she’s his,” I said, the words bitter in my mouth. “He’s delusional. He doesn’t realize that Shenaya is stronger than him, and she’ll never be his. Not truly.”
As we drove through the lights of Rome I saw an illusion of Lucy in some corner waiting for me to free her it was like a blurry vision of a movie. Lucy had suffered enough it had been so much that she had already endured. First, she has to deal with her cheating mate Then she has to leave her own pack now. I felt as if the universe was challenging us, challenging her.
But I couldn’t let Andrew win, I’d die if he did.
When we got to the pack’s house there were so many things happening, it was quite active. Guards are walking around and watching the gates, watching surveillance systems.
It was clear that everyone was on high alert. Andrew was a threat they couldn’t afford to underestimate.
I strode into the command room, where my Beta, Logan, was waiting.
“Status report,” I demanded.
Logan saluted before speaking.
“We’ve fortified the borders, Alpha. Our scouts are patrolling the territory, and we’ve set up checkpoints at every major access point. No one gets in or out without our knowledge.”
“Good,” I said, pacing the room. “And what about Lucy? Any leads?”
“We’ve sent out teams to investigate human trafficking rings across Europe. We’ve got a few names, but nothing concrete yet. We’ll keep pressing.” Logan’s face tightened.
I nodded, though my heart sank a little. Time was running out.
I turned to Ethan “We’ll need to divide and conquer. I’ll stay here and make sure Andrew doesn’t make a move on the pack. You keep tracking Lucy. Keep me updated.” I said,
“We’ll find her. Both of them.” He met my gaze with determination.
I could see the same fire in Ethan’s eyes that burned in mine. We were united in this fight, even if the odds seemed insurmountable.
As the night settled over Rome, I found myself standing on the balcony, looking out at the city. The stars above were distant and cold, reflecting the heaviness in my heart. I could still feel Shenaya, somewhere far away but alive.
But for how long?
The wind shifted, carrying with it the scent of danger. Something was coming, I could feel it. Andrew was planning his next move, and it wouldn’t be long before the battle would begin.
But I would be ready. We all would.
I wouldn’t let Andrew take what mattered most to me. Not my pack, not my sister, and certainly not Shenaya.
The war had already begun.