Kaden’s POV
I threw open the driver’s door and climbed into the first car parked outside the mansion. My hands were shaking so badly that I nearly missed the ignition.
"Fuck!" I growled, jamming the key in.
I started the engine and slammed my foot down on the accelerator. The car shot forward, tires squealing against the pavement as I sped away from the mansion.
My mind was filled with one name.
Ruby.
Where the fuck was Ruby?
My wolf was going insane inside me, pushing violently against my skin, pacing, snarling, and thrashing around as panic spread through my entire body. Find her! Find her!
"Shut up! I’m trying!" I shouted at the empty air, gripping the steering wheel so hard I almost tore the leather. I pushed the speedometer past ninety, the dark trees blurring into a single black shadow outside my window.
I opened the mind-link. Kane!
Nothing. Silence.
Kane! I pushed harder against the link, forcing my Alpha command through the bond. Kane, answer me! Where the fuck are you?!
For several terrifying seconds, there was complete silence. Then I heard something—a cough.
My heart nearly stopped. Kane?
Another heavy, wet cough came through the link.
Kaden... His voice was so weak I barely recognized it, sounding broken and slurred.
Relief and terror hit me at the same time. Where are you?! What happened?!
Kane didn’t answer right away.
Where the fuck are you, Kane?!
More coughing echoed through the link. I gripped the steering wheel harder as I sped down the road. Kane, listen to me. Logan was attacked. I’m coming. Tell me where you are!
Road... His voice disappeared into a groan.
Kane!
Near... eastern... territory line...
I sucked in a sharp breath. I’m coming! Where is Ruby?! I screamed, not even asking about his injuries first. Kane, where the fuck is Ruby?! Is she with you?!
There was an agonizing hesitation. Silence stretched across the link for three long seconds, and my stomach dropped.
Kane?
Nothing.
Where is Ruby?!
Another horrible cough came through. My heart began pounding harder. Kane, where the fuck is Ruby?!
His breathing became rough. Then his weak voice finally entered my head, trembling and faint. I... I don’t know.
Everything inside me went cold.
"What?" The word left my mouth as a whisper.
I nearly lost control of the car. My foot slammed against the brake for half a second before I forced myself to keep driving, tires skidding across the asphalt.
What the fuck do you mean you don’t know?! She was with you! Kane, tell me what the fuck is happening right now!
They... Kane coughed again. They took her, Kaden. They... they took her.
My entire world stopped. The world inside my head shattered into a million pieces.
"No," I whispered, my voice completely stripped of its strength.
My wolf went completely silent.
"No." I shook my head violently.
That wasn’t possible. This couldn’t be happening. They were five minutes from my territory. Five fucking minutes. Who would dare attack my pack? Who knew she was in that car?
Who took her, Kane?! I screamed through the link, tears of rage and fear burning behind my eyes. Who the fuck attacked you?!
I don’t know, Kane choked out, his voice sounding smaller, like he was fading. Three cars... blocked us. Another came from behind. Multiple cars... they surrounded us. There were too many of them, Kaden. I tried... I tried to stop them. I tried to fight them off... I tried to protect her, but they overwhelmed me...
My vision blurred. How many?!
I don’t know. Too many...
And Ruby?! Was she hurt?! My voice broke completely. Did they hurt her, Kane?! Answer me!
There was a pause. A pause that nearly fucking killed me.
KANE! WAS SHE HURT?!
I don’t know... everything happened so fast... they dragged her out of the seat...
My wolf exploded. A vicious roar tore out of my throat as my eyes flashed gold.
"FUCK!"
I slammed my fist against the steering wheel, shattering the plastic screen of the console.
Not Ruby. Not her. A terrible, suffocating weight pressed down on my chest. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t draw air into my lungs.
I pressed harder on the accelerator. Stay awake, I ordered Kane. I’m almost there.
I opened another wide mind-link immediately to every warrior and guard on shift.
All available warriors, move! My Alpha voice boomed through the minds of dozens of men. Code Red! Emergency on the eastern road, five minutes outside the territory! Logan and Kane have been attacked. Ruby is missing! Lock every fucking border immediately!
Responses flooded my head.
Yes, Alpha!
Understood!
Moving now!
Nobody leaves this territory! I roared. Search every vehicle. Shut down every road. Check the main highways, the back roads, the local airports, and every private airfield in the region! Call out every head tracker we have! If anyone lets a suspicious vehicle slip through our borders tonight, I will rip their throat out myself. Find her!
I cut the link. My chest burned.
Then I saw it. Lights ahead and smoke.
I rounded the sharp bend on the eastern road, and the nightmare unfolded right before my eyes. Smoke was rising heavy and black into the night air. The smell of burning rubber, gasoline, and fresh blood hit my nostrils. Broken glass glittered across the asphalt like shattered ice, and heavy black tire marks spanned across the road. One vehicle sat sideways across the lane, and another was crushed against the trees.
My blood turned to ice.
"No..."
I pushed the car faster. I slammed on the brakes before the car had completely stopped and threw the door open, hurling myself onto the road.
"RUBY!" My voice tore through the night, echoing into the dense woods surrounding the road.
I ran toward the wreckage. "RUBY!"
Silence answered me. Only the crackle of fire near the wrecked cars.
I reached Logan’s vehicle first. The front was completely destroyed, jammed sideways against a tree, the driver’s door mangled like a crumpled piece of paper. Inside, Logan was slumping against the steering wheel, his face covered in blood, his breathing shallow and horribly ragged.
Headlights suddenly flashed behind me as three pack guard vehicles pulled up to the scene, warriors spilling out with weapons drawn.
"Get him out of there!" I barked at the arriving warriors, pointing at Logan. "Get the healers here right fucking now!"
I kept moving, turning away from Logan’s car and running toward the second vehicle sitting near the ditch. Kane’s SUV was heavily dented, the passenger door torn wide open.
"Kane!"
A weak groan came from a few feet away. Kane was lying on the grass, clutching his side, blood covering the side of his face and dirt smeared on his skin. He looked weak, groaning in pain as he struggled to sit up.
I dropped to my knees beside him, my hands grabbing his shoulders. I didn’t care about the blood staining my hands. I didn’t care about his injuries.
"Where is she?"
His eyes barely opened, looking up at me with dazed, unfocused eyes. "Kaden..."
"Where is Ruby?" I demanded, shaking him. "Where did they take her?! Which way did they go?!"
He swallowed painfully, his voice weak and raspy. "They took her... I... I don’t know. There were... three black vehicles... men in masks... it happened so fast, Kaden... they hit Logan first, then rammed us off the road..."
My chest tightened. "How many were they?! Give me a direction! Give me a description! Give me anything!"
Kane shook his head weakly. "I tried..." His voice cracked. "I tried to pull her back, Kaden, but someone hit me from behind. They dragged her out of the car. I couldn’t stop them."
He looked so genuinely broken, so beaten and helpless, that I didn’t doubt a single word coming out of his mouth. He had tried. My brother had tried to save her, and he had failed just like I had failed by letting her leave the house.
I let go of Kane and slowly stood, staggering backward. I looked around the entire scene desperately, my eyes sweeping over every inch of the dark road, the ditches, and the edges of the woods.
"RUBY!" I roared into the dark.
Nothing.
My wolf thrashed violently inside my mind, his teeth bared, wild with unchecked aggression. Find her. Kill them! Tear them apart!
"Please," I whispered, dragging a trembling hand over my face. "Please let her be okay."
I was terrified. A cold, paralyzing fear gripped my heart and squeezed until I could barely stand.
She was carrying a child, she was vulnerable, and she was out there somewhere in the dark, terrified out of her mind.
Behind me, warriors were pulling Logan from the wrecked car while dozens more pack vehicles arrived, their bright red and blue lights flashing across the dark road. Dozens of warriors spilled out, assembling in front of me, waiting for commands.
The despair inside me suddenly snapped. The fear, the sadness, the helplessness—it all collapsed, morphing into a cold rage that flooded my veins like liquid fire. My wolf stopped crying and stood tall, his eyes burning with pure bloodlust inside my mind.
I turned around slowly, looking at every single warrior standing before me. My voice dropped, losing all its panic, replaced by a low, terrifying growl that made every man in front of me bow his head in immediate submission.
"Listen to me!" I roared, my voice carrying over the sound of the burning wreckage. "Nobody sleeps tonight. Nobody rests until she’s found. Shut down every road, every border, every airport, and every private airfield within reach."
The warriors immediately straightened.
"I want every tracker we have out here. Search the woods for miles. Search every vehicle. Contact every Alpha within a hundred miles. If a bird flies across our boundary, I want to know about it."
"Yes, Alpha!"
My wolf growled violently inside me. I turned my head and looked back into the darkness beyond the road.
My hands were shaking, but this time, it wasn’t fear. It was rage.
"Find her," I roared. "Find Ruby and bring her back to me."
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