The Moon's Legacy

Defiance

Alpha Keith POV

My thoughts centered around Willow. I couldn't wait to have her bonded to me, to have her healing power for myself. Bonding a white wolf would bring me strength, and having a healer at my fingertips would mean that I never lost in the arena.

I'd have her bonded already if it hadn't been for her father pushing for the nightcap last night. By the time we were done, it was too late for me to sneak away and find her as I'd intended. Not to mention the beta female had been wandering the halls, and I didn't want my plans to be observed by anyone who might object.

Her father certainly wasn't going to. He had made it clear he wanted her gone and entrance into my fighting ring. It was an easy enough payment to get a tool like Willow. I was heading to his office now to finalize the terms and to see about my request to move up the ceremony.

Voices carried from the crack in the door. I recognized Eliza's nasal tone, followed by Ellis's deeper one. I froze as I heard my name. Creeping closer, I listened as they discussed something about a spa treatment and an excuse for someone to be off territory. Suspicion threaded through my gut. I would bring this pack down around them if they had lost my prize.

I pushed my way through the door. "Buy you some time for what, exactly?"

Eliza's eyes widened, and she took a step back. I'm not sure she even realized she did it, her eyes darting between Ellis and me. Ellis smiled, though it looked more like a grimace. "Nothing you need to worry about, Alpha Keith. Just girls being girls."

"Oh?"

Eliza gathered herself, stepping forward. "My daughters wanted to spend some time with their sister before she was gone. They left this morning to get some time in at the spa. I know you wanted to move the ceremony up, and this may hinder that a bit. But I'll get them back here as soon as I can." Sweat beaded on her temple.

I looked between them—Ellis standing behind his desk, smug and secure, while Eliza was inching her way to the door as if she were trying to escape. A low chuckle rumbled in my chest. "Do you take me for a fool?"

"What?" Ellis's head jerked back. "Of course not, Alpha Keith."

"Then why are you telling me that your daughters are gone when I clearly saw two of them in the dining hall before coming here? When I overheard you making plans, needing to find someone, needing to buy time, before I walked in here?" I stalked forward slowly, leaning over the desk and into Ellis's space. I took great satisfaction in the way he recoiled, at the tremble in his hands. "You've lost Willow, haven't you?"

"Not lost, no. She's just…no longer in the pack." Ellis licked his lips nervously. "I felt a link break early this morning, after you'd retired. I'd assumed it was you cementing your bond, as we'd discussed."

The girl hadn't just run. She'd severed every tie to this pack before doing it. Wolves didn’t reject their packs lightly. The bond was more than loyalty—it was instinct, blood, identity. Breaking it meant tearing a piece of yourself free. Most wolves would rather die than feel that kind of pain.

Willow had done it without hesitation.

"And you planned to hide the fact that she ran from me? For how long, exactly?"

"She can't have gone far. I'm sure we'll have her back before the end of the day. The girl is all but useless. It's nothing to worry about," Ellis blustered.

I straightened, straightening the cuffs of my shirt as I looked between the two of them. "The only useless people I see are standing before me." The rage that washed through me burned, but my face was impassive. "I don't know what your current plan is, but if you want our alliance to stand, if you want to own the fighter in my arena instead of becoming one yourself, then you'd better find her before I do." I turned my back on them and strode out of his office without waiting for a response.

I turned down the hallway to my suite, already cataloguing my next steps. A lone wolf could cover miles in a night, but exhaustion would slow her, eventually. Rogues needed food, water, and somewhere to hide. Human towns were the most likely refuge—places where wolves blended into crowds and hoped not to be noticed. She might think herself clever.

She would learn otherwise.

As I stepped into the main living area, my beta, Dexter, rose from his position on the couch. He took one look at my face and blew out a breath. "What did they do?"

"Willow has disappeared. She rejected her pack, broke her pack link, and went rogue early this morning. Ellis and his scheming little luna were planning to try to hide it from me." I walked to the wet bar and grabbed the crystal decanter. The stopper came out with a pop. "They came up with some excuse about a spa day, as if I hadn't already seen the other two daughters in the dining hall, not to mention their disdain for their sister during last night's dinner."

The amber liquid swirled against the glass as I poured. Trading the decanter for the glass, I turned to Dexter. "Ellis seems to think it won't be a problem, that his people will find her quickly. I don't think he's smart enough to realize how much trouble he's actually in." I took a sip, and the whiskey burned its way down my throat. "Activate our network. Send out the best photo we can find. Search for a lone female werewolf with a fresh rogue scent. Start with a hundred-mile radius from here, then fan out from there."

"If she left early this morning, she could be anywhere by now, Alpha." Even as he said it, he was typing on his phone to get our search started.

"I'm aware."

"I'll have the network running within the hour. If she's within a hundred miles, we'll know. He didn't give any clue where she would go?"

I laughed. "He didn't think she'd run at all. He swears she has no one to run to, but she's gone, isn't she?" I shook my head. "I knew I shouldn't have let him delay me last night. If I'd marked her as I planned, this wouldn't be an issue." I tossed the rest of the alcohol back, then set the glass on the counter with a click. "Pull in whoever you need to. She's too valuable to lose."

"Of course, Alpha. I'll alert the rogues who owe us favors," Dexter said. "And the trackers in Iron Ridge territory. If she passes through any of the northern towns, we'll hear about it."

"We're leaving. Pack your bags and get the rest of our men ready."

He nodded, then entered his room to do as he had been instructed.

I walked into my room and grabbed my suitcase, quickly gathering my items together. I would not rely on Ellis to get this taken care of. I would handle it myself.

"Soon, little Willow. Soon, I'll have you right where you belong."

I zipped my bag, then grabbed it and strode out of the room, out of this infernal pack house.

She might believe she had escaped. But prey that ran only made the hunt more interesting. And the hunt was on.