Chapter 198
Deckard
After hours of going back and forth, I return to the room where Amica lies with Serria.
She should be asleep by now, but her eyes are wide open–haunted, restless. This… this will drive her mad.
“Did you find our son, my Alpha?” she asks the moment I enter, her eyes desperate and searching, “Did you?”
I pace slowly across the room, dragging my hand through my hair, trying to find the words. Finally, I let out a heavy breath.
“No, No, I didn’t.”
She doesn’t even flinch–just looks down at our daughter, her arms tightening protectively around the infant.
“How are you feeling?” I ask, though I know the answer.
“Not good,” she replies softly, her voice barely holding together. “But it doesn’t matter. How is my son? I wonder how he is…. wherever he is.”
Her words rip through me like a blade. I clench my fists, fighting to stay calm.
“Amica,” I begin, stepping closer, “we’ve searched the woods, the riverbanks, every corner beyond the manor grounds. There is no sign of another baby. Please, I need you to tell me the truth–did you really have twins? Are you sure?”
Her eyes lock onto mine, wide and wounded.
“Yes. Yes, I did, my Alpha,” she whispers, her voice cracking. “I swear to you. I held him. I fed him. He is real.”
Something in me snaps.
“Then this is all your fault, Amica!” I explode. “I gave you one instruction!
“Having a baby in the woods? The Luna of Lunas?” I shout, the words escaping before I can stop them, “What is wrong with you!”
I try to steady my voice, but I’m losing it–completely.
“I’m sorry,” she sobs, trembling. “I’m so sorry, my Alpha–but we need to find him!”
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I clench my jaw and take a deep breath, forcing myself to stay grounded. “Tell me something, Amica. You’re absolutely certain–you birthed and held our baby boy in your arms? You’re not hallucinating?”
“Yes!” she cries out, eyes blazing with grief and fury. “I did. He looks just like you! And I know–I know–he wasn’t taken by a wild animal. That’s a lie. A distraction to make me forget. But I won’t forget. He is alive, and someone has him–we just have to find him!”
That’s all I need to hear. She held him. She knows him. And if there’s even a chance he’s alive, I’ll tear down every wall in this land to find him.
Amica growls low in her throat, her voice trembling with rage. “Someone in this castle has him, Whoever took him will pay,” she swears. “I will kill if I have to. I will do anything to get my son back.”
And in that moment, I believe her.
“Search everyone my alpha!” her voice thickens “Do not let a single soul leave this manor. No one comes in or out. I won’t sleep–I won’t even shut my eyes–until my son is found!”
I’m furious with Amica–furious that she disobeyed, that she wandered off, that she put herself and our child at risk. But if there’s even the slightest possibility that what she’s saying is true… then I have no choice. I have to pursue it.
I storm out of the room, my resolve sharp as steel. I won’t rest–not until I find what I’m looking for.
“Leonard!” I bark. “Lock down the manor and all of Black Castle. No one leaves this place–not the manor, not the city. I want a full- scale, aggressive search starting now.”
He doesn’t hesitate. Within minutes, the lockdown begins. Somehow, the news spreads like wildfire, and it’s everywhere–the whole of Blackwater comes to a standstill. The heir to the Blackthorn clan is missing.
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Good. Let the world know. Let them feel the weight of this loss.
I don’t even know what my son looks like… but if I have to line up every baby boy born in Blackwater today and bring them to Amica to identify–then that’s exactly what I’ll do..
We begin at the manor. Every wing, every corner, every room. No one moves. No one leaves.
Everyone is on high alert. I think for a moment–if my son is still here, we should hear him cry. A baby doesn’t just disappear into thin air without a sound.
The search intensifies. Every hand is on deck, combing through every inch of the manor. But then another thought strikes me–Freya. She was the one who found Amica. She might know something. Her insight could be useful in this search.
“Where is Freya?” I ask Leonard, urgency tightening my voice. “We need her. Please, get her–now.”
Leonard hurries off, but time drags, and he doesn’t return. Growing uneasy, I send another guard to find her.
Eventually, Leonard comes back–but alone.
“Where is she?” I demand.
*I… I can’t find her, Alpha,” he says, hesitant.
“What?” I bark. “What do you mean you can’t find her?”
Before Leonard can respond, the second guard rushes in, face pale and breathless.
“Alpha,” he says, “she’s gone. She’s not in the manor. She’s left.”
My heart drops. “What?” I roar. “How? Who gave her permission to leave?”
No one answers. My hands clench into fists as fury pulses through me.
Freya… ran. Why?
“Sir,” the guard says, “she left before you gave the order to shut down the
manor.”
That’s all I need to hear.
“Damn it, Freya!” I curse, slamming my fist against the nearest wall. “Amica wasn’t lying. She definitely had twins. Fuck!”
Leonard looks shaken. “But why? Why the hell would she do that?”
“Nobody leaves the city!” I snarl, my voice like thunder. “I want that damn witch found!”
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With that, we move out. Amica at all.
-no longer just guards, but men on a mission. I swear to the moon, I will find that witch. Or I won’t return to
I regret not catching the signs earlier. Now the sky is dark. The city lights glow, but there are corners, alleys, shadows–places where evil can hide, slip away, vanish like smoke.
But not tonight,
We’ve shut down every exit and sealed off every road. Horns blare across Blackwater as drivers rage at the chaos, but I don’t give a damn. Let them scream. Let them curse the night. My son is out there–and someone is going to pay for taking him.
Where could someone like Freya hide in a city like Blackwater?
She’s not from here. She comes from some strange, backward village with no civilization–just rituals, herbs, and witchcraft as their only forin of communication, She has no family in Blackwater. No roots. So who the hell would help her pull this off?
I release her description to the press, every detail down to her cloak and hair color. A bounty goes out: two million dollars to anyone who brings her to me–or gives me her location. No one can resist that kind of money. This will shake the city, and I want it to.
It worked for Darth once. It’ll work again.
Within minutes, the city ignites with chaos. The hunt begins. The name Freya is on every tongue, and wolves are everywhere–sniffing, tracking, tearing through the streets like bloodhounds. We start our own door–to–door search, scouring every home, every alley, every
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Chapter 198
shadow.
I’ve set Blackwater on fire.
Anyone wearing anything remotely similar to Freya’s outfit is in danger now. The streets are no longer safe for her–or anyone who even looks like her.
There will be no sleep in Blackwater tonight.
Yes! Let no one rest until my son is found.
