Chapter 125: Chapter 125 Trail Goes Cold
Julian’s POV
I couldn’t stop moving around my office, the walls feeling like they were closing in on me. After Seraphina stormed out, I had dismissed everyone else because there was nothing left to discuss with them anyway. They had already managed to destroy everything that mattered.
I kept telling myself she just needed some time alone after everything that happened. I convinced myself that a walk would help clear her head. But as minutes stretched into an hour, my wolf began clawing at my insides with growing anxiety, making every nerve in my body scream warnings.
"This is ridiculous," I growled under my breath, yanking the office door open with enough force to rattle the frame.
I had to find her immediately. I needed to apologize, to wrap my arms around her, and to make her see that my love for her was stronger than all the chaos surrounding us.
Stepping outside, I let my heightened senses take control, allowing my wolf’s instincts to guide me as I searched for the distinctive pattern of her footprints in the soft ground.
Her trail was weak but detectable, so I moved quickly through the forest, not quite running but maintaining a steady, urgent pace. Then everything went wrong.
The trail simply vanished.
It didn’t gradually fade away or veer off toward water or rocky terrain. It just ended completely, as though Seraphina had been plucked from the earth and carried away by invisible forces.
My ribcage felt like it was being crushed. This made no sense. Wolves don’t just evaporate into thin air.
I collapsed onto my knees, pressing my palms deep into the cold soil. I inhaled desperately, searching for any trace of her familiar fragrance. Seraphina always smelled like blooming jasmine mixed with warm cinnamon spice. It was a scent that could calm my wolf instantly.
I drew another deep breath. Absolutely nothing.
Only damp earth and scattered pine needles filled my nostrils. No Seraphina. No fear, no anger, no lingering trace of my mate anywhere.
It was as if she had never set foot in this place.
This wasn’t just unusual; it was completely terrifying. Something was deliberately erasing her presence, and doing it with supernatural precision. Dark magic was the only explanation.
My self-control shattered completely. Raw terror flooded every cell in my body, drowning out rational thought.
I drove my fist into the ground with enough force to send shockwaves of agony shooting up to my shoulder.
"Seraphina!" I bellowed through the pack mindlink, my mental voice cracking with desperation and authority. "All patrols, abandon your current positions immediately. I want every inch of our territory searched. Something terrible has happened!"
I quickly connected with Holden and Caleb through separate mental channels.
"Holden, organize search teams inside the pack grounds. Check every house, every building. Find out if anyone witnessed Seraphina leaving our territory. Move now!"
Next, I reached deep into my consciousness, searching for the mate bond that usually connected us.
It should have been there, that steady pulse of warmth and connection that lived somewhere behind my thoughts. But when I pushed my mental energy toward her location, trying to bridge the physical distance and her emotional walls, I encountered nothing but emptiness.
Complete, devastating silence.
This wasn’t Seraphina blocking me out of anger. The connection itself had been severed, cold and lifeless. The injection. Whatever poison the doctor had forced into her system must have accomplished exactly what it was designed to do. They had completely cut off her wolf’s abilities, making her invisible to tracking and impossible to locate through our bond.
I struggled to my feet, my entire body shaking. Forty-five minutes passed in frantic searching. Patrol members moved through the woods like phantoms, shouting her name until their voices went hoarse. Holden systematically checked every dwelling while urgent messages flew back and forth across our mental network.
We found nothing.
Each passing minute felt like a physical blow to my stomach, confirming the horrible truth that this wasn’t some emotional outburst or a simple walk to clear her thoughts. Most importantly, she hadn’t left voluntarily.
The crushing weight of guilt hit me harder than any enemy’s attack ever could. If I had just followed her immediately instead of giving her space, none of this nightmare would be happening.
I thought I was being considerate of her pain, but instead I had allowed someone to steal her away from me.
I didn’t need to think hard about who was responsible.
Dorian.
Even thinking his name made my mouth taste like bitter ash.
It had to be him. Right now, he was the only enemy I could identify who possessed the resources and ruthlessness for something this calculated.
I staggered backward until my spine hit a tree trunk, struggling to breathe through waves of rising panic. I had never experienced this level of fear before because usually I knew exactly how to respond to threats and eliminate my enemies. But Dorian was different from anyone we had faced.
He wasn’t like the typical rogues we had battled in the past.
It’s much easier to fight an opponent who isn’t motivated by personal hatred, and that emotional drive made him incredibly dangerous.
He showed absolutely no mercy.
The victims we had discovered weren’t simply killed. They were completely butchered. Torn into unrecognizable pieces.
I couldn’t bear to imagine that fate. I couldn’t picture Seraphina, my precious mate, trapped in his cruel hands. The thought turned the adrenaline in my bloodstream to ice water.
"NO!" I roared, spinning around as my wolf seized total control of my actions.
"Double the search perimeter immediately! Deploy every tracking hound we have! Get specialized teams on the ground right now!" I screamed through the mindlink, my overwhelming anguish making the entire pack shake with sympathetic fear.
My father appeared suddenly, worry etched deep into his weathered features, with Holden close behind him.
"Julian, you need to stay calm so we can think this through logically—"
He extended his hand toward my shoulder, attempting to offer comfort.
I exploded. All the rage and terror I had been containing burst outward, directed entirely at the man whose secrets had created this toxic mess in the first place.
I had thought I could tolerate his lies until he decided to dump everything on Seraphina without considering the devastating consequences.
I violently knocked his arm away, stumbling backward three steps as if his touch had burned my skin.
"Don’t you dare touch me!" I snarled, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Don’t you dare tell me to stay calm!"
My vision blurred but I refused to break down, especially when my pack needed strong leadership.
"This is entirely your fault!" I accused, pointing a trembling finger directly at his face. "Everything that’s happening is because of you! If you hadn’t revealed everything to her, she never would have run! She wouldn’t have been vulnerable! She wouldn’t have been furious with me too!"
My breathing became labored. The possibility of losing her forever was unbearable.
"You better pray, Father," I whispered, each word carrying absolute conviction. "You better pray to the Moon Goddess that I find her breathing and unharmed. Because if I don’t... nothing between us will ever be repaired."
I couldn’t remain there any longer. The fear was paralyzing, but anger was propelling me forward. I needed action and information.
Dorian wouldn’t have taken her randomly. He wanted something specific. And there was only one person who understood exactly how Dorian’s twisted mind worked and what he was planning.
The dungeon door groaned loudly when I tore it open. The stench of damp stone and dried blood immediately filled my nostrils.
Roxanne remained exactly where I had left her. Ironridge chains secured her wrists to the stone wall, her clothing shredded, her body clearly weakened.
I didn’t waste time with intimidation tactics. I needed her alive and cooperative.
I strode into the cell. She flinched instinctively as I approached, probably expecting more torture. Instead, I pulled the key from my pocket, my fingers trembling so violently I nearly dropped it.
The silver lock clicked open. I freed one wrist, then the other. The heavy chains crashed to the floor.
Roxanne didn’t attempt to move. She was too exhausted.
I reached down, sliding one arm under her shoulders and the other beneath her knees. She weighed almost nothing. I lifted her carefully and carried her out of that hellish place, ignoring the stench and blood that soaked into my shirt.
I carried her directly through the main house, startling every pack member we encountered along the way.
I burst through the hospital’s double doors. Doctor Neville looked at me with shock, then at the battered, barely conscious woman in my arms.
"Alpha, what’s wrong? What do you need?" he asked, rushing toward us immediately.
I placed Roxanne gently on the examination table. I stared down at the doctor, desperation overwhelming my usual composed demeanor.
"I need you to save her," I commanded, my voice shaking with urgency. "Use whatever resources necessary. Blood transfusions, medications, anything she requires. Get her stabilized and conscious."
I gripped the doctor’s arm firmly, ensuring he understood the critical nature of this situation.
"She’s the only person who can lead me to my mate. If she dies, Seraphina dies with her."
