Nathan’s POV
Three years. Three long, torturous years.
I sat at the edge of my bed, staring blankly at the papers on my desk.
They were supposed to hold my focus-pack reports, alliance
agreements, numbers that required my attention-but all I could think
about was her. Mia.
We had been searching for her ever since that night, combing through
every inch of the forest, every neighboring pack, and every rogue haven.
But there was nothing. No scent, no sightings. Nothing. It was like she
had vanished into thin air.
“Still at it?” Sean walked in, his voice laced with a mixture of guilt and
exhaustion.
I didn’t look up. “I can’t stop. I won’t.”
“She’s gone, Nathan,” Sean said, though his voice cracked slightly.
“We’ve been searching for three years. If she were alive, we would’ve
found her by now.”
“Don’t,” I snapped, standing abruptly. “Don’t you dare say that. She’s
out there, Sean. I can feel it.”
Sean’s expression softened, but he didn’t argue. He knew better than to
push me on this. Deep down, I knew he felt the same guilt I did. We all
did. But for me, it was unbearable.
The memory of that day, the day Mia was exiled, haunted me like a ghost
that refused to be exorcised.
I had been walking past the courtyard when I overheard Scarlet and Layla
laughing. Their voices were low, but the smugness in their tone was
unmistakable.
“I still can’t believe they believed us,” Scarlet had said, her laugh
echoing through the empty space.
“Of course, they did,” Layla had replied, her tone dripping with
arrogance. “We played it perfectly. Poor little Mia, caught red-handed.”
My blood ran cold as their words sank in.
“What did you just say?” I had stormed into the courtyard, my fists
clenched at my sides.
The sisters froze, their eyes wide with fear. “Nathan, we were just-”
“You lied,” I growled, my voice low and dangerous. “You set her up.”
Scarlet opened her mouth to deny it, but Layla’s trembling hands gave
them away. “It was just a joke,” Layla stammered. “We didn’t think it
would go this far-”
I didn’t let her finish. I grabbed them both by the arms and dragged them
into the main hall, where my brothers were gathered.
“They framed her,” I announced, my voice shaking with fury.
Xavier’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“They admitted it,” I spat. “Scarlet and Layla framed Mia. She never
attacked them. She never spied for Tristan.”
The room fell into stunned silence. Rolex was the first to speak. “You’re
sure?”
“They just admitted it,” I snarled, shoving the sisters forward. “Tell
them.”
Scarlet’s lips quivered, but she didn’t deny it. “We didn’t mean for it to
go this far,” she whispered.
Xavier’s jaw tightened as he turned to Diego, who had entered the room,
his expression grim. “Father, we made a mistake.”
“A mistake?” I snapped. “You didn’t just make a mistake. You ruined her
life. You broke her.”
Diego’s face was pale as he absorbed the revelation. “We’ll make it
right,” he said, though his voice lacked conviction.
But it was too late. Mia was already gone.
The punishment for Scarlet and Layla had been swift, but not nearly
severe enough. They were stripped of their privileges and confined to
their family’s estate, but they weren’t exiled. Their family’s influence
had saved them, much to my disgust.
As for me, I learned another truth that day-one that shattered the
foundation of my hatred.
Mia’s mother had nothing to do with my mother’s death. She hadn’t
seduced Diego or tried to take her place. My mother had been possessive,
her jealousy consuming her until it drove her to paranoia. She had died
chasing ghosts of betrayal that never existed.
Mia’s mother had only ever been a friend to Diego, nothing more.
The weight of my guilt became unbearable after that. Everything I had
done to Mia, every cruel word, every act of humiliation, had been based
on a lie.
The flashback faded, leaving me staring out the window of my room, the
weight of my mistakes pressing down on me like a physical force. Three
years. Three agonizing years without a trace of her. The guilt never
lessened, and the anger I felt toward myself burned just as fiercely as it
had that day.
I could still see her face in my mind, the pain in her eyes when she was
dragged away. Her screams echoed in my ears as if it had just happened. I
thought about her every single day-her defiance, her strength, the way
she never gave in even when we gave her every reason to. And how I had
been too blind, too filled with hatred, to see her for what she truly was:
innocent.
“We should’ve found her by now,” I muttered, my voice low but filled
with frustration.
Rolex, seated across from me, nodded grimly. “We’ve looked
everywhere. It’s like she vanished.”
“She didn’t vanish,” Sean interrupted, pacing the room. “She’s out
there, somewhere. We just need to keep looking.”
Xavier leaned back against the wall, his arms crossed. “And if she
doesn’t want to be found? Can you blame her for hiding from us?”
The words stung, but they weren’t wrong. After everything we did to her,
after how we believed Scarlet and Layla’s lies and let her suffer for them,
how could she want anything to do with us?
“She might not want to be found,” I admitted, my voice barely above a
whisper. “But I need to find her. I need to make this right.”
Rolex exchanged a glance with Sean. “Do you think she’ll forgive us?”
I swallowed hard, the knot in my throat tightening. “I don’t know,” I
confessed. “But I’d do anything for her forgiveness. Anything.”
Before anyone could respond, my phone buzzed on the table. I grabbed it
without thinking, my heart pounding as I answered.
“Nathan,” a voice on the other end said, urgent and clear. “We’ve found
her.”
I froze, my breath catching in my throat. “What?”
“We think it’s her. There’s a sighting. She was seen near the old rogue
camp, close to the northern border.”
I didn’t wait to hear more. “I’m on my way,” I said quickly before
hanging up.
The room went silent as I turned to my brothers.
“What’s going on?” Sean asked, his brow furrowed.
“They found her,” I said, my voice steady but laced with urgency. “She’s
near the northern border.”
For a moment, no one moved. Then Rolex stood, grabbing his jacket.
“Let’s go.”