Chapter 235

Ethan POV

Taking a deep breath, I push the door open and step out into my front yard. Fiona has been missing for two hours, and with each passing second, I feel my chest grow tighter. She’s already been gone too long, making me and Zev both angry and anxious to the point of shaking.

I shake off the red haze of anger that wants to take over, focusing on the group of men in front of me.

My Gammas, with Michael leading, are gathered and ready to follow me to No Man’s Land. With the distraction from the rogues, I have a feeling that they’re the ones behind this. They haven’t made any demands or given proof that they have Fiona, but I won’t sit around and wait.

She needs me now. Not later.

Whether it’s the rogues or the person instructing them, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to find them and force them to tell me where Fiona is. If the rogues don’t know, I’ll force them to tell me who has been gathering them and making them do their dirty work.

Either way, I will find her, even if I have to burn the entire forest down to get their attention.

“Is everyone ready?” I ask, looking at Michael for an answer. He nods.

“The best of the best as the first line and the others will follow behind, rounding up any rogues that think they can escape,” he tells me. Robert steps up to his side, bows to me, and then speaks.

“Alpha, we’re ready.”

“Then let’s get going,” I announce. “We are rounding the rogues up. Make sure none get away because we don’t know who has information on my mate’s disappearance.”

With that, each of them shifts and waits for me to do the same. My shift is faster than normal, with Zev pushing forward with eager determination. He doesn’t speak, just takes over, barks, and takes off in the direction of No Man’s Land.

We don’t look back to see if my men are keeping up; instead, our focus is on getting to our destination as quickly as possible. Trees fly by, forest sounds reach my ears, but nothing is important until I feel that familiar tingle as we cross from my land into No Man’s Land.

With another barked command, my men surge forward, parting into two groups to round up any rogues.

Zev and I jump onto one tries to get away, dragging it by the scruff to the group of Gammas that already has captives.

It takes less than twenty minutes until every rogue in the area is inside of the circle of Gammas.

Shifting, I stalk over and stand in front of the group. Eyes follow me, some wary, some uninterested, and others afraid. I notice a woman and a small boy off to the side, and Zev growls. There shouldn’t be any women kicked out of their pack, especially with a child.

I send Michael a link to take them aside and ask their story before I focus back on the main group. The rough group mostly stays quiet, but some of them push against the Gammas, demanding to be let go.

“Silence!”

Now, every eye lands on me and everyone freezes.

“I’m looking for my mate. She was taken after a group of rogues distracted my guards. It’s not the first time something like this has happened, either,” I explain, looking out at the faces of the rogues. “There has been an increase in rogue activity, and I want to know who is ordering or instructing rogues to trespass on Pack lands and attack people,” I announce. Murmurs break out, but no one steps forward.

“If you have any information or have been contacted by anyone about a similar situation, I want you to step forward.”

Again, no one comes forward, and Zev pushes against the wall between us. I do my best to keep him back because if he comes out, I feel like blood will be shed much quicker.

“Who is your leader? Who is the person instructing you to attack women in packs?”

More whispering and murmuring break out, and I try to listen to each of the rogues as they speak with each other. I catch some of them saying that they don’t know or that they haven’t been contacted by anyone.

“I’m prepared to offer sanctuary, protection, and a second chance to anyone who can tell me who is forcing you to hurt people.”

Someone has to know something about the man or men who took Fiona, and if giving them a second chance to be in a pack is what gets them to talk, so be it. I don’t know their circumstances, but I have no doubt that some of these people were kicked out of their packs wrongly or left for personal reasons.

Finally, a rugged, tall man steps forward, gaining the attention of several people around him.

“There was a man,” he says, speaking loudly. Some of the people around him move away, but he comes forward, still. “I don’t know who he is; actually, none of us really know who he is. He only ever sent a messenger with instructions and cash. We don’t know what he looks like, but he’s ruthless and won’t hesitate to kill anyone who betrays him.”

A growl forces it’s way out of me as my frustration and anger grows. What will it take to find this man?

“The only thing we know is that he’s not a rogue,” the man says, and several people nod in agreement.

“He’s from an established pack.”

Unknown POV

A growl falls from my lips as my partner makes me angrier.

“You wanted her gone, and she will be,” I tell him.

“My son is looking for you, even searching the rogue lands for people who have seen you,” he tells me, his tone worried. I roll my eyes.

Going to the rogues won’t help Ethan. There’s nothing those mangy dogs know that will give him clues as to who I am. They’ve never seen me, only random messengers that mysteriously died soon after they delivered my instructions.

Ethan would never guess that I’m currently comfortable sitting in my office, watching his mate cry on the dingy mattress in my cellar.

“Have you killed her yet?” Ethan’s father asks. I watch the Queen, thinking about how pathetic she looks. The grace and beauty she was said to have is nowhere to be seen.

“Not yet,” I answer. “I have my own timeline.”

The silence from his end of the phone has me interested, especially when he shouts, “I thought you were going to get rid of her. We had a deal!”

“That deal has expired. You get the rogues to distract your son while I nab your daughter-in-law. That was the deal. Now, I will be implementing my own plans, none of which require the girl’s death… yet.”

An angry growl from my, now, ex-partner paired with his shouts of betrayal make me roll my eyes and hang up.

When I took the girl, I had every intention of killing her immediately but seeing her so weak and scared makes me want to toy with Ethan.

I will become King, killing Ethan if I need to, but for now, I’ll settle for messing with the man who ruined my life.