Chapter 14: Smoke and Ashes

Ava's POV

He had still loved her. No matter how deeply I had tried to bury their past inside the constructs of manipulation and deceit, it just wouldn't stay buried.

I stayed calm, forcing myself to keep my composure. "Then we move ahead. We take control before they do."

The spy nodded but hesitated. "There's more."

"Then say it!" I snapped.

He shifted uncomfortably "It's about Emilia" A shiver ran down my spine.

"She's been seen. Not just alive but speaking to Vickson"

My knuckles whitened around the table's edge. If Emilia came back, she'd ruin everything. She knew too much-about me, about what I had done to her, and the lies I had told.

"Find her," I whispered. "And make sure she never talks again."

The spy nodded and vanished into the night.

Storm raged outside, yet I could feel a cold, slow smile forming on my lips.

This wasn't over. Not yet.

Vickson's POV

The storm howled outside shaking the windows of my office while I stared at the flickering candle on my desk. It was in my gut a strong intuition that something was coming. Something ominous, something threatening. And Hailey...she was right in the center of it all.

I clenched my fists, thinking of how she had looked at me earlier—so confused and angry. That was my doing. I had barged back into her life when all I should have done was let go, desperate to reclaim what I had lost. But now the fight was for more than her heart; it was for her life. Our children's lives too.

I was brought out of my reverie by a sudden knock at the door. My Beta, Marcus entered, his face was full of sorrow. "Alpha, we've got a problem."

My heart pounded. "What is it?"

"We caught one of Ava's spies lurking around the pack borders. He was trying to send a message."

My jaw tightened. "Take me to him."

Minutes later, I stood in the interrogation room, looking down at a scared rogue bound to a chair. His scent was a potent mix of deception and desperation.

"Who sent you?" I demanded, my voice dangerously low.

The rogue sneered. "You already know."

Ava.

I wasn't in the mood for games. I took his throat, tight enough to induce a gasp. "What was your message?"

His lips twisted into a grin. "It's too late. She knows already."

My blood ran cold. "Knows what?"

The rogue chuckled darkly. "That Emilia is alive. And that Hailey has something she wants."

My vision blurred with rage. Ava wasn't finished. She wouldn't give up. If she knew about Emilia, then she was already two steps ahead of me. And if she knew about Hailey's secret…

I dashed out of the room, Marcus right on my back. "Lock him up. We have to go. Now."

Hailey was in danger, and this time I wasn't going to let Ava win.

As the night air thickened with tension, I moved towards Hailey's house on my horseback, my wolf uneasy beneath my skin. Every shadow looked to be in motion, and every whisper of the wind seemed to carry a threat.

I arrived just in time.

The hint of fear was heavy in the air as the front door stood wide open. I went in a hurry, my heart beat rapidly.

And then I saw it.

The glass shattered. Furniture overturned. Blood on the floor.

Hailey was gone.

Ava had taken her.

The scent of blood was heavy on the air, a warning I couldn't ignore. My wolf howled within me, raw urgency clawing at my chest. All my instincts said this was not a game; time was running out. Hailey and the kids were in danger—I could feel it in my bones.

I followed a path through the thick woods toward the abandoned mansion at the far end of our property. The closer I got, the harder my senses shouted. Something was off.

Then I saw it: the weird glow of fire that shines on the old stone walls, in the light of which darkness becomes bright. My heart was thumping; someone had let everything go up in flames.

Ava. It had to be her.

I pushed on, ignoring the acrid smell burning my lungs. Just before the entrance, a raw figure staggered out of the shadows. Emilia.

She could barely stand, her body scratched and bruised all over. Her eyes were frantic with fear and fixed on mine.

"Vickson… it's a trap!" she gasped, collapsing into my arms.

The ground beneath me might as well have opened up. A trap? I panicked. If this was Ava's doing then Hailey--

A bone chilling scream pierced the night.

Hailey. I didn't think about it, I ran. My wolf surged forward taking control, my muscles straining as I leaped through the flames licking at the manor's entrance. Smoke burned my eyes, but I pushed through, my mind focused on one thing only—getting to her.

Through the thick smoke, I saw her—Hailey was struggling, held by a figure I hadn't expected to see.

Alpha Lyon.

His grip was tighter around her throat and a distorted smile crept over his face as he pressed the dagger to her side. "You should've let her go Vickson" he mocked. "But you couldn't, could you? You had to have her and now? Now you lose"

A rage like any other had not ignited inside me. My wolf roared, and it was such a loud sound that even Lyon flinched. I did not hesitate to lunge.

We tumbled down, rolling through the wreckage. Lyon was powerful, but I had something more intrinsic: a primal need. A need to defend what was mine.

The fight was vicious, pure punches and claws through flesh. But there was no way I could lose, not with Hailey's life hanging in the balance. I drove my claws into his shoulder and twisted hard enough to hear that sickening crack of bone.

He howled in pain but retaliated, slamming the dagger toward my chest. I barely dodged it, the blade grazing my side. Pain flared, but I pushed through it.