Matt POV
“This is outrageous!” Father roared. “How dare they disrespect Magnus?”
Mom was crying hard. “What do I do, Teddy?” she asked.
My father gathered her in his arms and kissed her temple. “Don’t worry, Shehla,” he said to her in a soothing voice. “I’m going there tonight.”
“I’m scared,” she sobbed.
I couldn’t imagine her grief. Not only was her brother dead, she was going to send her husband to a pack that was now rife with mayhem.
“Stay here with the pups,” he instructed her. “Only come when I ask
you
to.”
“You be careful, love,” she whispered.
My father didn’t waste any moment. Along with his warriors, he rode to my uncle’s pack that night. He also ordered his people to bring Uncle Magnus’s body to our pack, where he kept it in the morgue.
I didn’t know what happened after that. But in two days he didn’t return, my hatred for Tam only increased. While she was playfully having milk in her cradle, my father was in a battle he shouldn’t have been in. Had my uncle not taken me back that day, had he not met that man, and had Tam not been with him, things would have been so different, right? I think Gods played with us. Once when I was six, I watched a puppet show in which a puppeteer was moving the dolls with threads tied to them. That’s what Gods did to us.
My anxiety increased on the second day when daddy didn’t return. Mom was talking to some people, and she was outside in the porch. I sneaked a peek where Tam was. She was playing with a toy, eating it, to be exact, and kicking her feet up in the air. Slowly, I approached her, hating her, wondering how she could be oblivious to all the misery that consumed our lives. Because of her everything was out of control.
She looked at me with her gray eyes, removing the toy from her mouth. Her eyes focused on me as if she remembered who I was. “Remember me, little Tam,” I whispered. “For if you don’t leave this pack, I will become your greatest tormentor.” She giggled and extended her hand. I wanted to swat away that tiny hand, but the moment I brought it near her, she caught my pinky finger. I clenched my teeth and immediately removed my finger from her clutches. She giggled again and went on to eat her toy.
When I came out in the porch, my mom looked happy, even though she was crying. “Your father—” she said. “He has won the war. And now he is the Alpha of Magnus’s pack also.”
“Really?” I said, shocked.
My mom nodded and cried. She hugged me tightly. “He has won. He is alive.“.
I couldn’t help but hug my mother tightly, relieved that my father had won. Along with me, mother rode to uncle’s pack to be with father. She didn’t take Tam with her, leaving her in care of a nanny. My father was named as the undisputed Alpha of both the packs in the ceremony. I heard that many of the previous warriors who rebelled were killed. Daddy ordered the warriors to bring uncle’s body from our pack. He gave him the funeral he deserved, burning him in his pack. The moment was filled with heartbreaks. He was my favorite uncle, and I vowed that I would make Tam’s life miserable for all that she did
to us.
When my father returned to our pack, he sent word to other bear–shifter packs, trying to find out who Tamara was. But we waited for weeks, and received no answers. No one seemed to know who she belonged to.
The days seemed to stretch endlessly. Every moment reminded me that the world was slipping away from my grasp. Tamara was gone. I failed to protect my pup. The guilt gnawed my soul with so much ferocity that I felt suffocated. My eyes went to the crib that was now empty, the space where Tamara once slept and played. Bradley was sleeping peacefully, and I just couldn’t think what was happening to my little girl. My hands trembled as I reached out to touch her soft blanket. I picked up the blanket, smelled it as tears streamed down my eyes. Closing my eyes, I let out a shaky breath. “Where are you, Tammy?”
I had to believe that she was alive else I would lose my mind. The thought of something happening to her was more than I could bear. Everything in the house felt suffocating.
I turned and glanced at the window, where the rain fell in sheets. It looked like the goddess was mourning because ever since her disappearance, it had been raining incessantly.
My gaze went to a figure crossing the garden and coming toward the house. Lucien. Ever since Tammy’s disappearance, he had been distant. I knew that he felt like he couldn’t protect us. I didn’t know if I could blame him or not, but I didn’t want to talk to him.
He was drenched, the rain soaking him completely, yet through it, I could see the tears in his eyes. He tipped his head up for. them to drown, but there was no denying that my big, bad Alpha was crying. He missed Tamara more than me.
He came inside, his eyes red. “We found Bram’s body,” he said in a hoarse voice. “It was rotting on the forest floor in a puddle.”
“And what about Tamara?” I asked, steeling myself for the worst.
He shook his head. “She wasn’t there.”
My legs gave way and I dropped on my knees. A sob ripped from my throat and I covered my face with my hands. “My beautiful baby,” I cried.
Lucien came by my side immediately and hugged me tightly. “She’s fine, Auren. She is fine. As long as we don’t find her body, I know she is fine.”
“Then where is she?” I shouted. “You failed. I failed! Where is my baby? Get her!”
Lucien buried my face in his chest as I continued to sob. When I stopped, he said in a low voice, “I’m going to meet Maris.”
My eyes widened. “I’m coming with you! I want her dead if she is a part of it.”
He nodded. “Yes, Auren. I’ll kill her myself. It was her father who went against me with his allies. Do you think I’ll spare them? I’ve killed all those Alphas, including her father. Now it is Maris’s time!”
We reached Crimson Howl pack with a bunch of our army. Maris was in complete shock when we barged into her house. She was sitting with Josh in the main hall, and the moment we entered she knew what was wrong.
“Alpha Lucien!” she rasped, her face turning white as she glanced at me. Next to her Josh stood. “I swear this was all Bram’s plan. We don’t know where he is! Please don’t kill us.”
Lucien gritted his teeth. His muscles bulged as he took her in, hatred rolling off him in waves. “Bram’s body is rotting in the forest. I’ll give you the location, but trust me, other than his bones, you won’t find anything. Because the beasts have feasted on him.” He stepped toward her menacingly. “Now tell me, where is my daughter?”
“Your daughter?” she croaked, surprise flickering through her. “I–I don’t know.”
