Damon’s POV
The room was too quiet.
The kind of quiet that made my wolf restless.
I sat behind the long wooden table, papers scattered across it, pretending to read reports I couldn’t make sense of. The ink bled together, black smudges and empty words. I hadn’t slept in days. My hands ached from clenching. My chest hurt worse.
Aria was gone.
No trace. No scent. Just… gone.
It had been a week, maybe more. The days blurred together, stretching into something that didn’t feel like time anymore. I’d gone through every possibility ... abduction, betrayal, her choosing to leave ... but none of them sat right. None of them fit who she was.
“Alpha,” Rowan said softly, stepping into the office. My Beta. Always calm. Always steady. “The northern scouts returned.”
I lifted my head slowly. “An
