After the Divorce, My Psycho Alpha Ex-Husband Went Feral

Scarlett POV “Jaxen Hale, I have your Luna.” The man on the other end of the call laughed under his breath. “Transfer fifty million to my account right now. If I don’t see it in twenty-four hours, you can start planning her funeral.” The warehouse was quiet enough that every word carried clearly through the speaker. Jaxen’s answer came without hesitation. “Tell Scarlett to quit playing these dumb games.” The line went dead. No one moved for a few seconds. I stared at the phone in the kidnapper’s hand. After three years of marriage, after everything I had tried to become so I could stand beside him, this was what he believed when my life was actually on the line. A game. The man holding the phone turned toward me, face twisted with disbelief. “He thinks you’re faking it?” I didn’t answer. There was nothing left to say. My wrists were bound so tightly behind me that the rope had already rubbed the skin raw. My ankles were tied the same way, forcing me to sit awkwardly against a cold concrete pillar. The tape across my mouth had been there long enough that the corners of my lips burned. The air smelled of damp concrete, old oil, and blood. Somewhere above us,s water dripped at a slow, steady pace. When they first dragged me he, I had been terrified. I had screamed behind the tape, fought until my shoulders ached, prayed someone would find me. Mostly I had prayed for Jaxen. I kept picturing the same scene: the kidnappers would call, he would hear that his wife had been taken, and his alpha instincts would take over. He would send every available member of the Iron Claw Pack after me and refuse to stop until he found me. It had been a ridiculous fantasy. I knew Jaxen was not a gentleman. He had never been affectionate, not even in the beginning. But three years had to mean something. Being his wife had to mean something. Apparently, I had been wrong. The man cursed and smashed the phone against the concrete. He kicked the pieces across the floor, then crouched in front of me. “You’re his Luna?” I looked away. He laughed, bitter. “Looks like your Alpha doesn’t think so.” Then the warehouse door crashed open. The kidnapper jumped to his feet as two men hurried inside, dragging a large burlap sack between them. “Boss! We got her!” They dropped the sack. Someone inside groaned. The man in charge yanked it open, and a woman stumbled out: long hair, expensive clothes, a diamond bracelet catching the dirty light. Even though her face was pale from fear, I knew her immediately. Liliana Ashford. The name had followed me throughout my entire marriage. Jaxen’s childhood sweetheart. His former fiancée. The Ashford family’s precious daughter. His white moonlight. Everyone in Iron Claw Pack knew their story. They had grown up together, been engaged, until Jaxen’s loss in the Hale family’s heir selection changed everything. Her parents had broken the engagement and sent her overseas right after his loss. Years later, I had somehow become his wife. I had always known that if Liliana ever came back, there would be no place left for me beside him. I just hadn’t expected her return to look like this. She lifted her head. The moment she saw me, the fear on her face shifted. Her eyes moved over my torn clothes, my bound wrists, and the dirty floor. Then her mouth pressed into a thin line. For someone who had just been kidn*pped, she recovered fast. “What is she doing here?” Of all the things she could have said The kidnapper grabbed her phone from her bag, forced her finger against the screen, and started scrolling. He stopped when Jaxen’s name appeared again and again in the call history. His eyebrows rose. “Well, well.” He looked at Liliana. “Looks like we found the genuine treasure.” “That’s Liliana Ashford.” “The Ashford heiress?” “The one who’s been all over the news with Alpha Hale?” Liliana’s expression tightened. The kidnapper smiled. “Seems our first hostage wasn’t worth much.” His eyes slid toward me. I looked down at the floor. I didn’t need him to finish the sentence. He dialed Jaxen’s number. This time the call connected almost immediately. “Jaxen…” Liliana’s voice trembled. The man’s hand cracked across her cheek. The sound echoed through the warehouse. “Jaxen! Please!” “Liliana?” Jaxen’s voice changed instantly. The coldness was gone. “What happened? Who hurt you?” Even the kidnapper looked surprised. He grinned and shoved the phone closer, then grabbed the back of her neck. “Alpha Hale. Good to hear from you again.” The kidnapper glanced at me. “Your wife wasn’t very useful, so we’re changing the deal. Five hundred million for your first love.” Then Jaxen answered, calm. “Send me the account.” The man blinked. “What?” “I said, send me the account.” My fingers curled around the rope. The kidnapper laughed and raised the price. “One billion.” Another pause. “Done.” I closed my eyes. There was no dramatic collapse, just a quiet understanding settling into place. When he thought I was the hostage, Jaxen had dismissed the call as one of my games. When he heard Liliana’s voice, he didn’t question her. He paid. One billion. The kidnapper wasn’t finished. His fingers tightened around Liliana’s jaw. “And if the money doesn’t arrive in time? She dies.” Jaxen’s voice hardened. “Don’t touch her. If you lay one finger on her, I will find you. I’ll tear you apart myself.” That voice he used in pack meetings when the entire room went silent. Liliana started crying again. Jaxen’s tone softened at once. “It’s okay. I’m coming.” For three years I had wanted to hear those words. Not because I was weak or needed rescuing. Because I needed to know that somewhere in him, losing me would hurt. There was nothing there. The money arrived. Only one was treated as if it mattered. The kidnapper’s men cheered, so busy celebrating that none of them noticed me staring at my hands. A strange calm settled over me. Maybe heartbreak wasn’t always loud. Sometimes it was just the moment you stopped waiting. The kidnapper looked at his men. “Take care of them.” One of them picked up a baseball bat from beside the wall. His shadow stretched across the floor until it covered my feet. I tried to move. The rope cut deeper into my wrists. For the first time since the call, real fear came back, not because I thought Jaxen would save me. I knew he wouldn’t. I was afraid because I suddenly understood I could die here, and the man I had spent ten years loving might never even know how desperately I had wanted him to come The bat rose. My voice came out barely louder than a whisper. “Wait…” The bat came down. Pain exploded through the back of my skull, and everything went black.