Chapter seven

Alpha King Jake POV

I woke at dawn out of old habit, military and Alpha both.

The bed beside me was empty.

My wolf snapped to attention. Where is she?

Her clothes were gone along with her shoes, phone. She'd left without a word.

My wolf growled, unsettled. He'd been strange about her all night, pressing close, wanting to mark and claim a woman who wasn't our mate. We would have known if she were. And yet there'd been a pull there, something he recognized even if I didn't.

I rang for my old butler in the next room.

"Good morning, Alpha King, I already—" He stopped in the doorway, nostrils flaring, his face going pale.

I was on my feet at once, wolf snarling. "What is it?"

"Forgive me." He recovered, but his voice carried something careful. "I didn't take you for a man who'd… sow wild oats with a woman already carrying."

"What are you talking about?"

"The she wolf who was here all night. Her scent's still thick in the air." He hesitated. "As is her cub's."

The floor seemed to tilt. "You're saying she's pregnant."

"You didn't know?" He looked genuinely stunned.

"She can't be. She was—" I stopped.

She'd been a virgin. I'd known it the moment I touched her. And I was the one who couldn't have children. Test after test, year after year, had told me so. The men in my line had never been lucky with heirs.

"How early can a pregnancy be scented?" I asked, though I already dreaded the answer.

"As early as a day, with a potent enough seed. Everyone but the mother and father can catch it."

I called five of my guards into the room and had them stand in a line.

"Does anyone smell a pregnant wolf in this room?"

They looked confused. Then, one by one, they nodded.

The breath went out of me.

She was carrying a child. My child. The heir my whole bloodline had been told would never come. And I had no idea where she was.

My wolf paced, frantic. If she vanished, the heir vanished with her. Raised somewhere beyond my reach, never knowing what they were.

Unacceptable.

I searched the room and found it on the nightstand. A small silver earring, a crescent moon. I lifted it to my face and breathed her in. Dark cherries and woodsmoke. It was Hers.

My wolf steadied. We can find her.

"Find someone for me," I told the guards. "A woman. Auburn hair, green eyes. Goes by Liya." I gave them everything I could, keeping my voice level. "Use every resource we have."

"Yes, Alpha King."

"Quietly," I added. "And fast.”

They filed out. I sat with my head in my hands a long moment. Then I stood and dressed to go hunt her myself.

"Liya," I said to the empty room, turning the little crescent moon over in my fingers. "Whoever you really are, wherever you've run, I'll find you. If I have to turn over every stone in this kingdom, I'll find you."