The air in the eting room was thick, crowded with the high-ranking wolves of the Full Moon Pack. To the elders, the three Alphas appeared composed, even focused—but inside, their blood was racing. They were all thinking about the sa thing.
Leo looked at the clock on the wall: 12:00 PM. It had been hours since he had seen her. Every minute spent talking about borders felt like a waste of ti. Across the table, Leon was tapping his leg rapidly, his jaw tight with anger.
Before an elder could finish his sentence, Liam stood up suddenly. His heavy chair made a loud scratching sound on the floor. "This eting is over," he declared.
Leon and Leo didn’t wait. They were on their feet before the elders could even complain. They didn’t care about the whispers behind them; they only cared about the pull in their chests leading them back to Scarlett.
But then, it happened.
It felt like a physical hit to all three of them at once. It wasn’t a punch; it was a sharp, burning pain that started in their souls and spread through their bodies. Liam’s hand grabbed the table, his knuckles turning white as he tried not to fall. Leon let out a quiet gasp, clutching his chest as if his heart were breaking. Leo’s vision went blurry and red.
Inside their minds, their wolves scread: Mate. Pain. Loss.
The triplets looked at each other, terrified. They didn’t need to speak. They turned together and ran.
They reached Scarlett’s room in seconds and kicked the door open. The room was perfectly still. The bed was unmade. Her sweet scent was fading away, replaced by a strange, cold sll.
"Where is she?" Leo’s voice was a deep roar that made the windows shake.
Two guards ran into the hallway, their faces pale. "Alphas!" one said, bowing his head.
"Where is Scarlett?" Liam shouted, stepping close to the guard. His power was so strong it felt like heat radiating off his skin.
"She... she left the house for a walk a few hours ago, Alpha," the guard lied, his voice shaking. "She said she needed fresh air."
Liam’s hand shot out, grabbing the guard by the collar and lifting him off the ground. "You let her leave? Alone? After what happened last night?"
Before he could hurt the man, a loud ping echoed in all three of their minds. It was a ssage from the Patrol Leader.
"Alphas... you need to see this. Right now."
"What?" Liam growled back in his mind. "What is it?"
"Please co see for yourself... the North Woods. The clearing by the border. Just co."
They didn’t wait. They jumped from the balcony and shifted into wolves mid-air. Three huge wolves—one black, one wine-colored, and one brown—raced through the forest in a blur.
As they got close to the border, the sll hit them. It wasn’t just Scarlett; it was the sharp, awful sll of fresh blood.
They skidded into the clearing and changed back into human form, naked. They didn’t even care that they had no clothes on in front of their n. The patrol team was standing in a circle, their heads down in solemn silence.
"Move!" Leon scread, pushing a guard out of the way.
In the middle of the crushed grass lay a trail of dark red blood. And lying in the ss were the torn, wet pieces of the white dress Scarlett had been wearing.
Leo dropped to his knees. His fingers shook as he touched the ripped cloth. Her scent was all over it—mixed with the terrifying sll of death and the foul scent of rogues.
"No," Leo whispered, starting to cry. "No, no, no."
The bond in their chests, which had been screaming just a mont ago, suddenly went quiet. It didn’t fade away; it snapped. A cold, empty hole opened up where she used to be.
Leon’s voice broke the silence of the area, a rough and painful sound that made the warriors shake. "What happened?! Who did this?!"
The patrol leader stepped forward, looking at the ground. He couldn’t look his Alphas in the eyes. "It looks like a rogue attack, Alpha. There are tracks everywhere... and so much blood. Based on the fight and the sll of death in the air... we think she is dead. They must have taken her body."
"Liar!" Liam shouted, his body shaking with a rage that tried to hide his deep pain. "She isn’t dead! She can’t be!"
Inside, the triplets were fighting a battle no one else could see. Liam tried to reach out through the mind link he shared with Scarlett, desperate to feel even a tiny bit of her warmth. Scarlett? Scarlett, answer ! But there was only a cold, empty silence. Leon tried next, his soul calling her na into the darkness, but the connection that had always been in his chest was gone. It felt like a part of him had been ripped off.
That was the real horror. They knew this feeling. It was the feeling of a mate dying. But they couldn’t admit it. They refused to believe Scarlett was dead.
Liam noticed Leon holding his stomach, his face white and eyes wide with a pain that looked just like his own. He saw Leo standing completely still, his eyes filling with tears, looking like a ghost. Why are they hurting like this? Liam wondered for a second, but the sadness was too heavy to think clearly. They were all drowning in the sa sea of grief, yet each believed their brothers were rely sharing in his pain.
"Search the whole forest!" Liam sent a mind ssage to the Head of Warriors, his voice loud and commanding. "I want every rogue found and killed! Do not stop until you find her! She is out there!"
Leon, breathing in short gasps, sent his own ssage to the Pack Seer. Get to the mansion now! If you aren’t there by the ti we arrive, I’ll burn your temple to the ground!
Leo finally moved, but only to pick up a small, blood-stained piece of her dress. He pressed it to his nose, slling the fading scent of her, his tears finally falling quietly onto the cloth.
"We have to go back," Leon said with a choked voice, grabbing Leo’s shoulder. "The Seer... she’ll know. She’ll find her. She has to."
The walk back to the packhouse was thick with pain. The three brothers, who were usually so close, were now like three wounded animals. Each one was hiding a secret that was killing him.
They got to the hall to find the seer already waiting. She was an old woman with cloudy eyes, and the mont she saw them, her face was full of deep pity. She hated what she was about to do... but she had to do it. It is in their best interest, she thought.
"Well?" Liam asked, his voice trembling with fear. "Where is she? Tell us where she is!"
The Seer didn’t let their aura scare her. She held her staff and straightened up, her voice filled with pity.
"I am sorry, Alphas," she said, slowly lifting her eyes to hold theirs. "The stars have gone dark. The thread has been cut. Scarlett... Scarlett is dead."
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