THE DEFIANT HEART

Chapter Four

Kieran's POV

I stood at my office window, staring out at the pack training grounds where my Beta, Wyatt, was putting the younger wolves through their paces. Everything looked normal. Peaceful. Exactly as it should be.

So why did my chest feel like someone had carved a hole through it?

"You're thinking about her again," Cassandra said from behind me. I hadn't even heard her come in, which said something about how distracted I'd been lately.

"I'm thinking about pack business," I lied, turning to face my mate. She looked beautiful as always—her blonde hair perfectly styled, her blue dress hugging her figure in all the right ways. The mate bond hummed between us, warm and constant.

But it didn't fill the empty space that had appeared six days ago.

Six days since Elara left.

Cassandra's expression hardened. "Don't lie to me, Kieran. I can feel your emotions through the bond, remember? You've been restless ever since that woman disappeared."

"She didn't disappear," I said, more harshly than I intended. "She left. I gave her twenty-four hours to clear out of pack territory, and she did."

"Did she?" Cassandra moved closer, her heels clicking against the hardwood floor. "Because from what I understand, no one actually saw her leave. Her car is still parked at her house. Her belongings are still there. But Elara herself? Gone."

I turned back to the window, jaw tight. I'd noticed the same things, had sent Wyatt to check on the situation three days ago. The abandoned car had been bothering me more than I wanted to admit.

"Maybe she got a ride from someone," I said. "Maybe she sold the car and just hasn't picked it up yet."

"Or maybe something happened to her."

The words hung in the air between us, heavy with implication.

I wanted to dismiss them, to say that Elara was resourceful and strong and perfectly capable of taking care of herself. But the truth was, she'd been vulnerable when she left. Alone. Pregnant—if she'd been telling the truth about that.

My wolf, Storm, had been agitated for days. Pacing. Restless. Something felt wrong, but I kept telling myself it was just the adjustment to the mate bond, to having Cassandra here permanently.

"If something had happened, we would have heard about it," I said firmly. "She's fine. She probably went to stay with family or friends."

"She doesn't have family," Cassandra pointed out. "Her parents died when she was sixteen. And from what I've gathered, she didn't have many close friends either. She spent most of her time with you."

The accusation in her voice was clear, and I couldn't exactly deny it. Elara and I had been inseparable for almost two years. We'd trained together, eaten together, spent nearly every night tangled up in each other. I'd told myself it was just physical, just a way to pass the time until I found my true mate.

But the hollow feeling in my chest suggested I'd been lying to myself about that too.

"What do you want me to do, Cassandra?" I asked, frustrated. "Send out a search party for a woman who left of her own free will? Who was probably lying about being pregnant just to manipulate me into rejecting you?"

"I want you to stop moping around like you've lost something precious," Cassandra snapped. "I'm your mate. Your true mate. The Moon Goddess herself chose us for each other. Whatever you had with Elara, it wasn't real. It couldn't have been."

She was right. I knew she was right. The mate bond didn't lie. What I felt for Cassandra was deeper, stronger, more intense than anything I'd experienced with Elara.

And yet.

"I'm not moping," I said, forcing my voice to stay level. "I'm adjusting. We both are. Give it time."

Cassandra's expression softened slightly. She moved behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her head against my back. The touch should have been comforting. The mate bond should have made it feel perfect.

But all I could think about was how Elara used to do the same thing, how she'd fit perfectly against me, how her laugh had sounded when I'd tickle her sides just to feel her squirm—

I shook my head, banishing the memories. That was over. Done. Elara was gone, and I needed to focus on my future with my actual mate.

"You're right," I said, turning in Cassandra's arms and pulling her close. "I'm sorry. I've been distracted. It won't happen again."

She smiled up at me, satisfied. "Good. Because we have important things to discuss. Like our mating ceremony. I was thinking we could do it during the next full moon—"

A knock at the door interrupted her. Wyatt stuck his head in, his expression grim.

"Sorry to interrupt, Alpha, but we have a situation."

I gently extracted myself from Cassandra's embrace. "What kind of situation?"

"The kind that involves Elara."

My heart stopped. "What about her?"

Wyatt glanced at Cassandra, clearly uncomfortable, but I nodded for him to continue.

"We just got word from one of our border patrols. There was some kind of fight on the eastern edge of our territory last night. Multiple unknown wolves, lots of blood. When they investigated this morning, they found this." He held up a torn piece of fabric. "It's from the shirt Elara was wearing the day she left. I checked the security footage to be sure."

I took the fabric from him, and Storm immediately went berserk in my mind. Her scent was still on it—faint, but unmistakable. Jasmine and honey. Along with something else. Something that made my blood run cold.

Fear.

"Where exactly was this found?" I asked, my voice deadly calm.

"About three miles from her house, in the woods near Old Miller Road. There were signs of a struggle. Several different wolf scents, none of them familiar. And Alpha..." Wyatt hesitated. "There was a lot of blood. Too much to be from just minor injuries."

Cassandra's hand gripped my arm. "Kieran, you can't seriously be considering—"

"Get me a tracking team," I interrupted, still staring at the torn fabric. "I want every available wolf searching those woods. Now."

"Kieran!" Cassandra's voice was sharp. "She left. This isn't your problem anymore."

I turned to look at her, and whatever she saw in my expression made her take a step back.

"If she was taken, if she was hurt because she was connected to me, then yes, Cassandra, it is my problem. She was under my protection as a member of this pack, and I failed her." The words tasted like ash in my mouth. "I won't fail her again."

"You ordered her to leave," Cassandra said, her voice rising. "You told her she had twenty-four hours to get out. How is any of this your fault?"

Because I should have made sure she got out safely. Because I should have at least checked that she made it to wherever she was going. Because even though I'd found my true mate, even though Elara and I were never meant to be, she'd still deserved better than to be thrown away like garbage.

"Wyatt, the tracking team," I said, ignoring Cassandra's question. "How long until they're ready?"

"Ten minutes, Alpha."

"Make it five." I grabbed my jacket from the back of my chair. "I'm going with them."

"The hell you are," Cassandra said, planting herself between me and the door. "You're the Alpha of this pack. You can't go running off into the woods chasing after some woman who probably staged all of this for attention."

"Move, Cassandra."

"No." Her blue eyes flashed with anger. "I'm your mate, Kieran. Your Luna. I'm telling you, as your mate, that this is a mistake. You need to stay here. Let your wolves handle it."

For the first time since we'd bonded, I felt the mate connection strain. She was trying to use it against me, trying to make me submit to her will through the bond.

It might have worked, if Storm wasn't absolutely losing his mind with the need to find Elara.

"I'm going," I said firmly, pushing past her. "You can either accept that, or we can have a much longer conversation about boundaries and respect later."

Cassandra's face flushed with fury, but she didn't try to stop me again.

I found Wyatt already assembling the tracking team in the courtyard—six of our best trackers, all shifting into their wolf forms. I shifted too, letting Storm take over, grateful for the simplicity of wolf instincts.

Find her. Protect her. Make sure she's safe.

Everything else could wait.

We followed Wyatt to the location where the fabric had been found. The scent of blood hit me immediately—Elara's blood mixed with at least four other wolves. There had definitely been a fight here.

But which direction had she gone?

One of the trackers, a she-wolf named Petra, picked up a trail heading north. Old, maybe three or four days, but still there. We followed it, moving fast through the dense woods.

The trail led us in circles for almost an hour before we found something that made Storm's hackles rise—a abandoned house, windows broken, door hanging off its hinges. The scent of Elara was stronger here, along with something else that made my blood boil.

Silver.

I shifted back to human form, not caring about my nakedness as I stalked toward the house. Wyatt and the others followed suit, their expressions grim.

"She was held here," Wyatt said, examining scratches on the doorframe. "Look at the locks—three deadbolts, all recently installed. And the basement..." He disappeared inside, then called up, "Alpha, you need to see this."

I took the stairs down to the basement two at a time, and what I found there made Storm roar in fury.

A mattress on the floor. Rope—some pieces crusted with dried blood. Empty food containers. And most damning of all, the unmistakable scent of Elara's fear permeating every corner of the space.

She'd been kept here. Imprisoned here. For days.

"Who did this?" I growled, barely maintaining my human form. "Who took her?"

"Unknown," Wyatt said, examining the ropes. "But whoever it was, they knew what they were doing. Silver-lined ropes, reinforced door, isolated location. This was planned."

"And the fight we found evidence of?"

"Her escape, probably. Or someone came for her." Wyatt moved to the window, peering out at the woods. "The trail splits from here. Multiple directions. They tried to cover their tracks."

"Then we split up and follow every trail until we find her." I turned to the tracking team. "I want to know where she went, who took her, and why. Use any resources necessary. Contact our allies, check with informants, I don't care. Just find her."

One of the trackers, a young male named Owen, cleared his throat nervously. "Alpha, with all due respect, what if she doesn't want to be found? What if she orchestrated this herself?"

I was across the room before I even realized I'd moved, my hand wrapped around his throat, slamming him against the wall.

"If you ever suggest something so idiotic again, I will rip your tongue out," I snarled. "Elara was pregnant. Vulnerable. And someone took advantage of that. Someone hurt her. So unless you have something useful to contribute, keep your mouth shut."

I released him, and he slid down the wall, gasping.

Wyatt put a hand on my shoulder. "Alpha, we'll find her. I promise."

I nodded, trying to regain control. But Storm was barely contained, rage and worry and something else—something that felt a lot like guilt—churning inside me.

I'd thrown her away. I'd given her twenty-four hours to disappear from my life, and then I'd forgotten about her. Moved on with my perfect mate and my perfect future.

And while I'd been playing house with Cassandra, Elara had been suffering. Alone. Scared.

Pregnant with my child.

Because deep down, in a place I hadn't wanted to examine too closely, I knew she'd been telling the truth about that. Elara had never lied to me, not once in two years. And the look in her eyes when she'd told me about the baby had been real. Desperate. Terrified.

And I'd called her a liar.

"We find her," I said to the team, my voice rough with emotion I couldn't quite contain. "We bring her home. And we make whoever did this pay. Understood?"

A chorus of "Yes, Alpha" echoed through the basement.

As we headed back outside to continue the search, my phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number:

*Looking for someone, Alpha Kieran? Perhaps we should talk about what you're willing to pay to get her back. - H*

My blood turned to ice.

This wasn't just a random k********g. Someone had taken Elara specifically to get to me.

And whoever they were, they'd just made the worst mistake of their life.

"Change of plans," I said, showing Wyatt the message. "We're not just tracking anymore. We're hunting."

Storm howled his agreement, and for the first time in six days, the hollow feeling in my chest was filled with something else entirely.

Purpose.

I was going to find Elara, bring her home, and destroy anyone who'd dared to touch her.

And then, if she'd still let me, I was going to beg for her forgiveness.