Dante's POV
I vomit blood for the third time today.
Marcus holds my hair back like I'm a drunk teenager instead of an Alpha. The bond rejection is eating me alive from the inside out. My wolf howls constantly, a sound only I can hear, begging me to find our mate.
"Still nothing from the trackers?" My voice sounds like gravel.
"Nothing." Marcus's face is grim. "She vanished. No credit card use. No phone pings. It's like she disappeared into thin air."
I stumble to the sink, rinse my mouth. The face in the mirror looks like a stranger—hollow eyes, gray skin, three days of stubble. I've lost fifteen pounds. I can't eat. Can't sleep. Can't think about anything except the gaping wound where my mate bond used to be.
"How is this possible?" I slam my fist on the counter. "She's one woman with a child. How can my entire pack not find her?"
"Maybe because you spent seven years ignoring her," Marcus says quietly. "Nobody knows her favorite places. Her friends. Where she'd go. You made sure she was invisible, Dante. Now she is."
His words hit like a punch. He's right. I don't know my own mate. I don't know if she likes coffee or tea. If she has family. What makes her smile. Seven years and she's a ghost to me.
A ghost who's killing me by staying gone.
Screaming erupts from down the hall. Kieran. Again.
I run to his room. My five-year-old son is thrashing in his bed, sobbing like his heart is breaking.
"Kieran!" I grab his shoulders. "Wake up! It's just a nightmare—"
His eyes snap open. "I want the singing lady! I want her back!"
"Serena's downstairs—"
"NO!" He hits my chest with small fists. "Not her! The other one! With silver hair! She sang me songs! She made the bad dreams go away!" Tears pour down his face. "Why did she leave? Why doesn't she come back?"
My heart stops. "Son... do you mean Isla? Your mother?"
"Is that her name?" Kieran's voice breaks. "I can't remember her name. But I remember her voice. And her smell like flowers. And how she held me when I was scared." He looks at me with accusing eyes. "Where is she, Daddy? Why won't you bring her back?"
I can't breathe. My son doesn't even remember his own mother's name. What have I done? What have WE done?
"I'm trying to find her," I whisper. "I promise, I'm trying."
"You're lying." Kieran turns his face to the wall. "Miss Serena said you don't want her back. That she was mean and we're better without her."
Rage explodes in my chest. I storm out of Kieran's room and down the stairs. Serena sits in MY living room, drinking wine like she belongs here. Like she didn't destroy everything.
"What did you tell my son?" I growl.
She looks up, surprised. "Dante, darling—"
"Don't." I grab the wine glass from her hand, throw it against the wall. "What. Did. You. Tell. My. Son?"
Her face shifts. The sweet mask drops, showing something cold underneath. "I told him the truth. That weak little Isla ran away like the coward she is. That we're better off—"
I have her by the throat before I realize I moved. My wolf surges up, wanting blood.
"She's my MATE," I snarl in her face. "My children's MOTHER. You poisoned my son against her. You—" Wait. Something clicks in my brain. Something Marcus said days ago about Serena's strange behavior.
I drop her. Step back. Really look at her for the first time in years.
"You've been using magic," I say slowly. "Haven't you?"
Serena's eyes widen for just a second. That's all the confirmation I need.
"The mate bond," I continue, pieces falling into place. "It never felt right. I thought it was because Isla was weak. But it was you. You suppressed it somehow. Made me feel... what? Made me want you instead?"
"Dante—"
"HOW LONG?" I roar. "How long have you been manipulating me?"
"I saved you!" Serena stands, her face twisted with anger. "From being tied to that pathetic nobody! You're an Alpha! You deserved better than some packless orphan who couldn't even—"
Marcus bursts into the room. "Dante! The witch we captured talked. You need to hear this."
We've been interrogating one of Serena's associates for two days. An old wolf who deals in dark magic.
"Talk," I order.
Marcus looks at Serena with disgust. "The mate bond suppression started six years ago. Right after Lyra was born. But that's not all." He turns to me. "The miscarriage Isla had two years ago? Between the kids? That wasn't natural. Serena poisoned her. Killed your child."
The world stops spinning.
"What?" My voice doesn't sound like my own.
"Serena caused the miscarriage," Marcus repeats. "She admitted it to the witch. Said she needed to keep Isla weak and heartbroken. Easier to control the situation."
I look at Serena. She's backing toward the door, fear finally showing on her face.
"You killed my child," I whisper. "You murdered my baby."
"It wasn't a real baby yet! Just a—"
I shift partially, my wolf taking over. Claws extend. Fangs drop. Kill, my wolf demands. Kill her. Make her pay.
Marcus grabs my arm. "Dante, no! Not like this! She needs to face pack justice!"
"Pack justice?" I laugh, and it sounds insane even to me. "She murdered my child! She poisoned my mate! She stole my son's memories of his own mother!"
"And she'll pay," Marcus says firmly. "But legally. Through the council. You kill her now, you're no better than she is."
Every instinct screams to rip Serena apart. But Marcus is right. I'm an Alpha. I have to be better.
"Lock her in the cells," I order. "And get me the council on the phone. I want her tried for dark magic, murder, and—"
A phone rings. Not mine. Serena's, lying on the couch.
Marcus picks it up. His face goes white. "Dante. You need to see this."
It's a text message from an unknown number. Three words and a photo.
The text reads: "Found your mate."
The photo shows Isla walking into a massive mansion. Behind her, gates with a symbol I recognize from ancient pack history books.
The Morven family crest.
"That's the Morven estate," Marcus breathes. "One of the three original families. They're... they're even more powerful than us." He looks at me. "Dante, if Isla has their protection—"
"I don't care." I'm already moving, grabbing my keys. "Get twenty warriors. We leave in ten minutes."
"Dante, wait—"
"She's MINE!" I roar. "Bond or no bond, she's my mate! My Luna! The mother of my children!" The pain in my chest is unbearable. "I'll burn down every pack between here and there if I have to. But I'm bringing her home."
Marcus follows me to the garage. "What if she doesn't want to come?"
I stop. Turn. "Then I'll beg. I'll grovel. I'll do whatever it takes." My voice breaks. "But I need to see her, Marcus. I need to tell her the truth about Serena's magic. I need to—"
"Need to what?" Marcus challenges. "Apologize for seven years of treating her like garbage? For letting your son forget her? For choosing your mistress over your mate again and again?" His voice turns hard. "You think sorry fixes this?"
"I have to try!" I'm shouting now. "What else can I do? Just let her go? Let her raise our daughter alone? Let that baby—" I stop. "Wait. What baby?"
Marcus's face changes. "You don't know."
"Know what?"
"The witch said... Dante, Isla's pregnant. About six weeks. That's why Serena sent hunters after her. She wants the baby dead before it's born."
The garage spins. Pregnant. Isla's pregnant with my child. Out there somewhere, scared and alone, carrying my baby while assassins hunt her.
"Move faster," I tell Marcus. "We leave in five minutes."
I'm halfway to the car when Marcus's phone rings. He answers, listens, then his face goes deathly pale.
"What?" I demand.
"That was our scout near Morven territory." Marcus's voice shakes. "Dante... it's not just Isla we have to worry about anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"The Morven matriarch is with her. Elder Moira herself. And according to our scout..." He swallows hard. "Isla isn't just under their protection. She IS one of them. The heir. The missing granddaughter everyone thought was dead."
The keys fall from my hand.
"Isla's not a nobody," Marcus continues. "She never was. She's from the most powerful bloodline in existence. And you treated her like trash for seven years."
Oh god. Oh god, what have I done?
"There's more," Marcus says quietly. "The scout heard them talking. About the miscarriage. About Serena's poison." He meets my eyes. "Dante... Moira told Isla that you knew. That you knew about the poisoning and let it happen."
"That's a lie!" I shout. "I didn't know! I would never—"
"But can you prove that?" Marcus asks. "Can you prove you didn't know? Because from where Isla's standing, you chose Serena over her for six years. You let her suffer through that miscarriage alone. You let your son forget her." His voice drops. "Why would she believe you didn't know?"
The truth hits me like a silver bullet. She won't. Isla will never believe I didn't know. Because I've given her no reason to trust me. No reason to think I ever cared.
I've lost her.
"We still have to try," I say desperately. "I have to explain—"
Marcus's phone buzzes again. He reads the message and curses.
"What now?"
"It's from Moira herself." He shows me the screen.
The message is simple: "Come if you dare, Blackthorn. But know this—you're not taking her. She finally knows what she is. What she can do. And when she learns you knew about the murdered baby, there won't be enough of you left to bury."
My blood runs cold.
"Dante," Marcus says carefully. "Did you know? About Serena poisoning Isla?"
I open my mouth to deny it. To swear I had no idea.
But then I remember. Two years ago. Serena bringing Isla "special tea" to help with morning sickness. Me walking in on them. Serena's satisfied smile. Isla's pale, sweating face.
And I remember thinking, just for a second, that something felt wrong.
But I didn't investigate. Didn't question. Didn't protect my mate because I was too busy pretending I didn't have one.
"Oh god," I whisper. "I didn't know for sure. But I suspected. And I did nothing."
Marcus steps back from me, horror on his face.
"You let her murder your child."
The words hang in the air like poison.
And I realize the truth: Isla isn't just lost to me.
She should be.