Luke paced back and forth in his office, his frustration mounting with each step. It had been almost 24 hours since the men he’d hired had snatched Bella outside her apartment. A whole bloody day, and she still wasn’t here. His patience, never his strongest virtue, was nearing its breaking point.
Seated comfortably by the unlit fireplace to the right of Luke’s desk, his father, Tomas, watched him with calm detachment. The elder Alpha appeared perfectly at ease, but Luke could feel his father’s eyes on him, studying him as he paced.
Luke ignored him.
Benzy, meanwhile, was waiting by the pack gate, sitting in one of the pack cars. His Beta had mind-linked him earlier, reporting that the men had successfully subdued Bella with wolfsbane to keep her compliant. That detail had been enough to send Maddis into a destructive fit, his wolf clawing free and upending Luke’s desk, leaving deep gouges in the wood. Maddis had been volatile ever since Luke had spotted her on the TV. His wolf’s erratic behavior was beginning to wear on him.
“I got her,” Benzy finally mind-linked, his tone short and direct.
The moment the words entered Luke’s mind, Maddis surged to the forefront. The wolf’s ears were pricked, his attention razor-sharp, and he pushed hard against Luke’s control.
Luke clenched his fists, trying to hold the beast back. Maddis’s intensity unsettled him. His wolf hadn’t acted like this in years—not since they’d first scented Mia, their supposed destined Mate. But this time, there was no destined bond driving Maddis’s reaction.
“It’s just Bella,” Luke tried to reason with him. “She’s not our Mate.”
Maddis’s snarl echoed through his mind, the anger rolling off him in waves. “Gone now.”
Luke’s jaw tightened. Maddis’s rage wasn’t new. His wolf had never forgiven Mia for rejecting them. For rejecting him. Her wolf, Lucas, had bonded with Maddis quickly, and for a time, they had been happy. But Mia’s selfishness had destroyed everything.
Luke’s thoughts turned bitter as he remembered how it had all unraveled. Mia had been spoiled, lazy, and completely uninterested in fulfilling her duties as Luna. She had refused to learn from his mother, had shirked every responsibility, choosing instead to spend her days lounging by the pool and demanding attention.
She had chosen to leave, taking Lucas with her, and the rejection had cut Maddis deeply. Since then, Maddis had refused to even look at another wolf.
“Gone now,” Maddis growled again, his voice filled with longing and resentment.
Luke shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. “Bella isn’t our Mate,” he reminded his wolf firmly. “We grew up with her. She was 20 when she left. And we already had a Mate then. Remember?”
But Maddis wasn’t listening. The wolf’s agitation was palpable, and Luke struggled to keep him from breaking free entirely.
His father stood abruptly, drawing Luke’s attention. Tomas’s eyes glazed over briefly, a sign he was receiving a mind-link. Then, without a word, he turned and left the room.
Odd timing, Luke thought, but he didn’t dwell on it. Tomas’s actions weren’t his concern right now.
What mattered was keeping Maddis in check. The wolf was clawing at his mind, demanding to see Bella. Luke could feel Maddis’s turmoil, a storm of conflicting emotions that he couldn’t decipher.
He ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. Why is Maddis so worked up? he wondered. The wolf’s behavior didn’t make sense. Bella isn’t our Mate. This shouldn’t matter.
But it did. And Luke couldn’t figure out why.
The Pack car carrying Bella would be at the packhouse soon, and with it, answers—he hoped. Until then, all he could do was brace himself for what was to come.
Mia had always been stubborn, refusing to train or learn to fight to protect herself. She’d scoffed at the idea, dismissing it with the claim that it was the warriors’ job. “If anything happens,” she’d said with a smirk, “I’ll just command twenty or so to protect me.”
She had no interest in learning how to assist with running the pack either. Her attitude was always the same: detached, indifferent, and self-serving. She cared only about shopping trips, spa days, and spending his money on frivolous luxuries.
Luke had tried to please her, at least in the beginning. He’d lavished her with gifts, indulging her every whim. But no matter what he did, it was never enough. The car he bought her—the one she had picked herself—was apparently the wrong color. The jewelry wasn’t expensive enough or unique enough, heaven forbid someone else might wear a similar piece.
He’d done everything he could to satisfy her materialistic demands, but after two years of constant insults and criticisms, he’d stopped trying. It was exhausting, and the more he gave, the less she seemed to care.
The only part of their Mate Bond that ever worked was the s*x. It had always been hot, heavy, and furious—one of the few things they both seemed to agree on. But even that wasn’t enough to sustain their crumbling relationship.
When Mia had outright refused to give him an heir, he had been blindsided. Maddis, too, had been shocked. Even her wolf, Lucas, had refused, citing Mia’s unhappiness and unwillingness. That moment had been the breaking point. They had started to drift apart after that, the distance growing wider with every passing day.
Three years after their mating, Mia had stormed into his office, her heels clicking furiously against the hardwood floor, and demanded to know why her pack-funded credit cards had been cut off.
Luke had met her furious gaze, his patience already worn thin. “Why let you spend pack money,” he’d said coldly, “when you won’t learn to do Luna duties or produce an heir?”
He had hoped the punishment might bring her into line, force her to take her role seriously. Instead, it had backfired spectacularly.
Mia had screamed at him, calling him cold and heartless, declaring she deserved to be treated like a queen and would accept nothing less. Then, to his utter shock, she had hurled a formal rejection at him, her voice ringing loud and clear.
Luke had been stunned.
So had Maddis.
The room had fallen into a suffocating silence. His father’s Beta and his own future Beta had been there, witnessing every word. The rejection had been humiliating enough, but the fact that it had been over something so trivial as money made it sting even more.
Maddis had retreated to the farthest recesses of Luke’s mind, whining in pain. The heartbreak had been crushing, unlike anything Luke had ever felt before.
He had barely managed to hold himself together as he left his office and made his way to their suite. There, he had found her sitting in the middle of their bed, arms folded, looking angry but not even remotely upset.
Her composure had only made things worse.
“What do you want, Mia?” he’d asked, his voice low, trying to keep himself calm and figure out a way to fix things.
“Accept the rejection,” she’d replied coldly, “and give me what I’m entitled to.”
“And what exactly is it you think you’re entitled to?” he’d snapped, his annoyance bubbling to the surface. She had just ended their bond in the most public, humiliating way possible, and yet she looked utterly indifferent, as if it meant nothing.
