Chapter 20 #3
“And you just…accepted that?”
“What choice did I have? He’s the alpha.” Jeddian’s expression softens. “I assumed he was protecting Zion. Your brother was barely holding it together. Maybe the thought of other packs interrogating him…”
I nod slowly, but the explanation feels thin now. Incomplete.
Something’s not right.
But that’s a problem for later. Right now, I need to get to Violet.
I pull out my phone as Jeddian heads back to his office. The next flight to Moonvale leaves in an hour. I book it without hesitation.
I arrive in Moonvale just after eight p.m. The sun has already set, streetlights flickering on across the city.
I don’t bother going home. I head straight to Violet’s apartment building, using my master key to enter the lobby.
The elevator ride to the top floor feels more like descending into a grave. My phone stays clutched in my hand, but Ethan hasn’t sent any updates since this afternoon. The silence makes my skin crawl.
Her door is locked. I use the master key, my hands shaking slightly.
The apartment is silent, but the lights are on. I step inside and freeze.
Her scent hits me stronger than ever before. Jasmine and something uniquely Violet. It saturates the air, clings to every surface, wraps around me until I can barely breathe. My wolf whines desperately, clawing at me to find her.
But the trail is cold. She has been gone for hours.
At first glance, it looks like everything is here. Her furniture, books, some of the little touches that make this place hers. But other traces of Violet have vanished. Her favorite blanket, missing from the couch. The photo of her father and brother that she kept on her bookshelf, gone.
I walk through each room, my anxiety building. Her bedroom closet stands half empty. Dresser drawers are pulled out, their remaining contents pushed to the side. She took clothes, personal items, anything that mattered.
Cinnamon’s bowls are gone. Her bed, her toys, every trace of the puppy erased.
But Violet left everything else that would remind her of me behind. Everything from the furniture store, home goods shop, and kitchen supply place where I arranged those ridiculous discounts. Even the expensive coffee maker I’d installed in her kitchen before she moved in.
My chest constricts, pain lancing through me so sharp, I have to grip the kitchen counter to remain upright.
This isn’t merely running away. This is cutting ties so completely that there’s nothing left to trace. No threads connecting us, no remnants of what we had together.
Where the hell has she gone?
I pull out my phone and call Ethan. “Tell me you know where she is.”
“I don’t.” His voice is tight with frustration.
“I watched the apartment all afternoon. The lights were on. I could see movement every once in a while. I thought she was still there. But when you didn’t show up by seven, I went to check.
The door was locked, no answer. I used my key and… ” He trails off.
“She was gone,” I finish, my voice hollow.
“Yeah. I’m sorry, man. She must have slipped out somehow. Maybe through a back exit or the parking garage. I don’t know how I missed her.”
He missed her because she planned it that way. She knew someone would be watching. Knew I’d come after her.
I end the call and sink onto her couch, dropping my head into my hands. After a few deep breaths, I dial her number again.
Straight to voicemail.
I leave another message. “Violet, please. I know you’re angry. I know I hurt you. But please, let me explain. Call me back. Or text. Anything. I need to know you’re safe.”
My voice cracks on the last word.
I stand and head for the door. There’s nothing left for me here. Just the ghost of her scent and the emptiness she left behind. I turn out the lights as I leave.
The elevator opens. I step inside and punch the button for the lobby.
It stops several floors down. A human woman enters wearing a dressing gown, her eyes half-lidded with sleep. In her hand is a leash, which is attached to a small golden retriever.
Cinnamon.
The puppy bounds toward me immediately, tail wagging. She recognizes me.
I freeze, staring at the dog.
The woman glances at me as she tries to get Cinnamon off my leg. “Sorry. She’s friendly. Won’t bite.”
“That’s Violet’s dog,” I say, my voice breathy.
Her expression shifts to surprise. “Oh, you know Violet?”
“I’m a friend.” The lie tastes bitter.
“Poor thing came by this afternoon.” The woman shakes her head. “Asked if I could take the puppy for a while. She looked awful. Like she’d been crying all night.”
My chest tightens. “Did she say where she was going?”
The woman’s eyes narrow slightly, studying me. “You look familiar. Have we met?”
“I don’t think so.”
She tilts her head, clearly trying to place me, then shrugs. “Violet didn’t say much. Just that she needed someone to watch Cinnamon.” Her voice softens. “She was really upset. I didn’t want to pry.”
“If you hear from her—” I start, but the woman is already shaking her head.
“I don’t think she’s planning to come back anytime soon. She gave me all of Cinnamon’s things. Food, toys, bed, everything.” Her expression turns sympathetic. “Whatever happened, it must have been bad. She loves this dog.”
The elevator dings. Lobby.
The woman gets out with Cinnamon, glancing back at me once more before heading toward the front entrance of the building.
I step out of the elevator and stand there, watching the front door close behind her, the image of Violet’s puppy seared into my mind.
She gave her away. Left behind the one gift I gave her that she truly loved.
She’s not just leaving me. She’s erasing everything we were.
I head out into the cold night air. My wolf howls inside me, desperate to track her, to follow her scent wherever it leads.
I try. On one side of the building, I pick up her trail. It’s faint but unmistakable. Jasmine and Violet, heading toward the curb.
Where it disappears completely.
A taxi. Or a rideshare. The mechanical smell of exhaust and rubber obliterates her scent. I could follow the street, try to pick it up again, but in a city this size, with this much traffic…
The trail is gone.
She had all day. A whole day to plan her escape while I sat in a meeting. The entire day to cover her tracks, to disappear so thoroughly that I wouldn’t be able to follow her scent.
I drive to Ethan’s place, hands gripping the steering wheel hard enough to make it creak. He opens the door before I can knock.
“I’m sorry,” he says immediately. “I should have gone up sooner. Should have checked. But you told me not to push her—”
“It’s not your fault.” I pat him on the shoulder. “She planned this. Left the lights on, made it look like she was home. She knew someone might be watching.”
“Shit.” Ethan runs a hand through his hair.
“She gave her puppy to a neighbor this morning. Left through a side exit.” I sink onto his couch. “Trail goes cold at the curb.”
“There’s more.” Ethan crosses to his laptop and pulls up an email. “Violet asked to be let out of her lease early. She’s willing to pay the penalty.”
My vision blurs. I lean back, struggling to breathe.
“And she sent her resignation to pack headquarters. Effective immediately. No notice, no explanation.”
Her apartment. Her job. Her dog. Every connection between us, severed. She spent the entire day systematically dismantling every piece of our life together. And I was in Miami.
“Did you try the main house?” The question scrapes out of my throat.
“First place I checked. Got the butler. He said she hasn’t been there in a while.”
“What about friends? Anyone she might go to?”
“I called everyone I could think of. Nobody’s heard from her.” Ethan sits beside me. “I even looked at the bus and train stations. Called in favors with transportation security. It’s like she vanished.”
“She’s a wolf,” I say quietly. “She can’t just vanish.”
“She can if she doesn’t want to be found.”
The truth of it settles over me like a shroud. Violet doesn’t want to be found. Doesn’t want to talk to me, see me, give me any chance to explain.
Ethan’s voice becomes gentle. “I’m sorry, Darius.”
I shake my head, fury building beneath the devastation. No. This isn’t over. She doesn’t get to decide for both of us, doesn’t get to walk away without giving me a chance to explain, to fight for us.
I let her go once. When she turned eighteen, when I realized what she was to me, I pulled back. Let fear and duty dictate my choices.
I won’t make that mistake again.
“What are you going to do?” Ethan asks, uncertainty in his eyes.
“Find her.” I stand up, resolve hardening in my chest. “Whatever it takes. Wherever she’s gone. I’ll find her, and I’ll make her listen.”
My wolf snarls his agreement, ready to hunt, to claim, to fight for what’s ours.
Violet thinks this is over. She’s wrong.
It is just beginning.