Chapter 98: Chapter 98
Kieran’s POV
I was sitting on the swivel chair, playing with the pen between my fingers. My wolf, Ronan, was restless. Today, I was having a meeting with the shareholders and the new majority stakeholder. I was about to get kicked out of my position, but that was fine. All because I knew it was her.
Kyra. My Kyra. My obsession.
Kyra was finally making her move after five long years. She was still angry, taking calculated steps to take everything back. What she didn’t understand was that I would willingly hand it all over. I’d ruin the entire world for her if she asked. If only she’d let me explain, give me another chance. Everything she wanted could be hers. Everything I owned could be hers.
I glanced at my wristwatch. The meeting would be at 10 a.m., but it was only 9 a.m. Five years of waiting, and now these final sixty minutes felt like torture. If I could, I’d fly to wherever she was and beg her forgiveness on my knees.
"Kyra, I’ve waited so long. Are you finally coming back to me, little one?" I whispered to the empty room, my chest aching with the memory of her.
She’d been so close to being mine completely. She had agreed to the mating ceremony, had worn my ring, had slept in my arms. Then her father died, and she blamed me. She ran. My perfect, beautiful Kyra—the missing piece of myself—had fled from me.
When the clock struck 10 a.m., I sat upright in the swivel chair, my heart pounding against my ribcage. The shareholders arrived one by one until only one remained—the one I’d been waiting for since she disappeared from my life.
My pulse quickened as I watched the door open, the sharp click of heels echoing through the meeting room. A smile stretched across my lips, but it died the moment I saw who entered.
"Mrs. Carver, good morning."
Everyone in the meeting room except me greeted Emily, who strode in with infuriating confidence.
I gritted my teeth when her eyes met mine. She smirked. "I suppose everyone’s here."
"Oh! You’re the new shareholder, Mrs. Carver?"
The shareholders glanced at me as I clenched my fists, my knuckles turning white. What the fuck are you doing now, Emily?
She smiled at me and took the seat directly across from mine. "Hello, dear."
"What are you doing here?" My wolf growled beneath my skin, wanting to lunge across the table.
Her sweet smile remained, infuriating me further. She lifted her arm and placed a document on the table. "I am the representative of the new shareholder. She’s a very busy person, so I came on her behalf."
The moment I touched the paper, I smelled orange blossoms. Kyra’s scent. My heart raced as I saw her name on the document. Those familiar letters sent a jolt through me.
I looked back at Emily as she crossed her legs, looking smug.
"Where is she?"
Emily shook her head. "I don’t think that’s what we should be discussing here, sweetheart."
I clenched my jaw so hard I thought my teeth might shatter. The meeting started and ended with me glaring at Emily the entire time. After the shareholders left, I lunged at her, grabbing her neck and slamming her onto the table.
"Where the hell is she?" I snarled, my face inches from hers. "Where’s my mate? Five years, Emily. Five fucking years I’ve searched for her. Tell me where she is or I swear by the Moon Goddess I’ll tear you apart."
I wasn’t actually choking her, so she smirked arrogantly and caressed my jaw. "My dear husband, she won’t see you ever again unless you bring her father back to life."
"Fuck you!" I growled, pushing her harder against the table.
Her smile faded as her face turned expressionless. She stared back into my glowing eyes with equal fury.
She was the reason I couldn’t find Kyra all these years. She’d been helping her, hiding her from me, and I’d never suspected.
"You are the devil I loathe most, Kieran," Emily hissed. "Do you think I easily gave up my life and accepted being caged with you forever? You can steal my wealth, but not my dignity and freedom. I refuse to be stuck with you forever, and I will help anyone who wants to punish you."
"You fucking bitch!" I raised my hand to slap her when the door swung open.
Three men in uniform entered—not police, but enforcers from the Alpha Council. My stomach dropped.
"Alpha Carver," the lead enforcer said formally, "the Council has reopened the investigation into Alpha Darian Monroe’s death. We need you to come with us."
"On what grounds?" I asked coldly.
The Alpha Council enforcer glanced at Emily, who now looked like a frightened kitten. What the fuck is this bitch playing at?
"New evidence regarding Mrs. Amanda Monroe and potential accomplices has come to light."
My jaw clenched. This wasn’t Emily’s doing alone. This was Kyra.
As I was escorted out, I caught Emily’s triumphant smile. She mouthed the words: "She’s coming for you."
A strange mixture of rage and pride surged through me. My little girl had grown up. Kyra was no longer the naive, broken girl I could manipulate. She’d learned to fight back, to use the system against me. My Kyra had become a formidable opponent, using Emily, the Alpha Council, everything at her disposal to corner me.
I almost laughed. Kyra had learned to protect herself, even if it meant going against me.
***
"The Alpha Council takes the death of any Alpha seriously, even five years later," the lead investigator said.
I leaned back in my chair. "I’ve answered these questions before. Nothing has changed."
"Alpha Carver, please recount your whereabouts on the night Alpha Monroe died."
"I already answered that question five fucking years ago. Do I need to repeat every single word I said to keep myself off your suspect list?"
"You need to cooperate, Alpha, or the Council will consider you complicit in this crime. The penalty for an Alpha murdering another Alpha is—"
"Are you threatening my client?"
I smirked when my lawyer spoke up behind me. I crossed my legs and clenched my jaw as my representative approached the Elder’s chamber.
The interrogator looked furious, but no one here was more enraged than me. I would make Emily pay for her betrayal. And Kyra... my clever, beautiful Kyra... she’d learned to play the game, but she’d forgotten who invented the rules.
When my lawyer returned from the Elder’s chamber, the Council was forced to release me temporarily. I strode out of their headquarters with my head held high. I was too powerful, my connections too deep, to be caged by their rules.
Once in my car, my driver handed me a stack of photos. "Sir, I followed Nathan Anderson as ordered. I caught him meeting with a woman who looks exactly like your fiancée."
My eyes narrowed as I examined the images. My fists clenched, blood boiling, as I saw Anderson sitting in a coffee shop with Kyra across from him.
This fucking bastard!
"The woman works at an event organizing company under the name Elle."
Elle? I could tell from every delicate feature that she was my Kyra. She was my missing part, the one that had been torn away. She was the reason my chest had ached with emptiness for five long years.
"Five years, Kyra," I whispered, tracing her face in the photograph. "Five years I’ve waited, searched, hungered for you. And now you’re back, trying to destroy me."
I pressed the photo to my lips. "But you don’t understand, little one. You can’t destroy what’s part of yourself."
I stared at Nathan Anderson’s photo and smiled. "I will destroy you... for stealing what’s mine."
