Page 40 of Whisper of an Alpha
“I found something, Wyatt,” Dalton says, his voice low and filled with dread. He holds out a torn piece of fabric, a delicate scrap of Octavia’s gown, its edges frayed and stained with crimson. My breath catches in my throat as I take it in, my mind racing. It can’t be.
“Blood?” I whisper, feeling the room spin around me. “No, no, no. This can’t be happening.”
“Wyatt—” Dalton starts, but I can’t hear him. The roar of panic drowns out all rational thought. My heart feels like it’s been ripped from my chest as I drop to my knees, the cold stone floor pressing against my palms. I can’t breathe. I can’t think.
“Find her!” I shout, the desperation clawing at my throat. “She has to be safe! We have to get her back!”
Dalton kneels beside me, his hand on my shoulder, grounding me. “We will find her, but we need to focus. We need to figure out who did this and why.”
The warrior, I remember suddenly. I whirl around, my eyes blazing with fury. “Bring him to me!” I snarl, the need for answers consuming me. “I want to know who sent him.”
“I’ll get him,” Dalton replies, his voice steady despite the chaos swirling around us. He stands and moves toward the exit, but I grab his arm, forcing him to meet my gaze.
“Please,” I say, the raw desperation leaking into my voice. “I can’t lose her. Not now, not before we got to evenlive.”
Dalton nods, understanding the weight of my words. He leaves, and I’m left alone in the suffocating silence of the dungeon, the torn fabric clutched in my hand like a lifeline. I can’t let Rachel win. I can’t let her take Octavia from me.
Minutes feel like hours as I wait, my thoughts spiraling into darkness. What kind of monster would do this? Who could’ve thought that they could come between us?
When Dalton returns, he’s dragging the warrior behind him, his face bruised and bloodied. The man’s eyes widen in fear as he sees me, and I can feel the beast within me clawing to be released.
“Wyatt,” Dalton warns, but I’m already moving. I step forward, my fists clenched, my heart racing with rage.
“Why did you touch her?” I growl, leaning close enough that he can smell my anger, the heat radiating off me like a furnace.
“I-I was following orders!” he stammers, trembling under my gaze. “I thought it was you! I didn’t mean to hurt her!”
“Who ordered you?” I demand, my voice a low growl. “Who sent you?”
“I swear, I thought?—”
“Enough!” I roar, my patience snapping. I grab him by the collar, lifting him off his feet. “You will tell me everything, or I swear I’ll make you regret ever laying a finger on her.”
His eyes dart around, and I can see the fear in his expression. “It was Rachel! She told me to secure the Luna! She said you needed her out of the way!”
The revelation hits me like a punch to the gut. Rachel. The very person I thought I could trust had orchestrated this chaos.
“Rachel sent you?” I repeat, the name tasting bitter on my tongue. “What was her plan? What did she want?”
“Just to keep you from the ceremony! She said she could convince you to change your mind, to come back to her!” The warrior’s voice is frantic, and I can see the truth now. Rachel’s jealousy had twisted into something dark, something vile.
“I’ll kill her,” I hiss, the words escaping my lips before I can stop them.
“Wyatt, wait!” Dalton interjects, his tone urgent. “We need to focus on finding Octavia. Rachel doesn’t matter right now.”
But I can’t think about anything else. The fury surging through me is overwhelming, but beneath it lies an icy fear. What if she hurts Octavia? What if she’s already?—
“Dalton,” I say, my voice trembling with desperation. “We need to find her. We need to get her back.”
“Let’s search the grounds, check every corner of the pack territory,” Dalton urges, his focus steadying as he turns back to the warrior. “You’re coming with us. You’ll guide us. Rachel knew I would question you, and that gave her a perfect opportunity to flee while nobody was guarding her cell.”
I throw the warrior a dark glare, but he nods, clearly terrified of what I might do if he doesn’t comply. “I’ll help you! I swear!”
“Let’s move,” I command, pushing past them and heading toward the exit. My heart is pounding in my chest, and with each step, the need to find Octavia grows stronger. I won’t let Rachel take her from me. I won’t let anyone take her from me.
The night air is cold against my skin as we step outside, and the moon hangs high above, casting an eerie light over the landscape. I scan the grounds, my senses heightened, searching for any sign of her.
“Wyatt, check the forest,” Dalton suggests, pointing toward the dark trees that loom at the edge of our territory. “She could’ve been taken in that direction.”
