Chapter 159
Tristan POV
The void where I should have been able to feel Athena through our mate bond suddenly felt like it was consuming me from the inside out. It was like having
a gaping hole in my chest where my heart should be, and the emptiness was driving me insane.
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t do anything except feel the crushing weight of my own failure.
“Tristan, Orion said carefully, taking a step toward me. “We need to stay calm.
Calm? How could I stay calm when my mate was missing and the man who had tortured her for two years might still be alive? How could I stay calm when my own beta had potentially lied to me about killing the bastard?
I felt my bones beginning to shift, my human form struggling to contain the rage and terror coursing through my system. My wolf was howling for blood. demanding that I find our mate and destroy anyone who had dared to touch her.
“Tristan, don’t,” Orion said sharply. “We’re in a human building. You can’t shift here.”
But his words were like trying to stop a hurricane with a paper bag. The transformation was already beginning, my muscles expanding, my senses sharpening
to an almost painful degree.
Derek moved quickly, positioning himself between me and the apartment’s thin walls. “If you shift here, the humans will hear everything. The government will come looking for answers. Do you want to expose our entire species because you can’t control yourself?”
His words cut through the haze of rage just enough for me to clamp down on the shift, forcing my bones to stop changing, my muscles to stop expanding. But the effort left me shaking with barely contained fury.
“Max lied to me,” I said, my voice coming out as a growl. “My own beta betrayed me. He let that monster live, and now Athena is gone.”
The betrayal cut deeper than any physical wound ever could. Max had been my right–hand man for years. I had trusted him with everything – pack security, sensitive missions, my life. And he had looked me in the eye and told me Daxon was dead.
‘We don’t know for sure that he betrayed you,” Orion said, though his tone suggested he was having his own doubts.
‘Don’t we?‘ I laughed bitterly. “He told me he saw Daxon die. He told me he disposed of the body personally. If Daxon is alive, then Max lied about
everything.”
Derek pulled out his phone, his expression grim. “I’m calling my contacts. We can have every security camera between here and the city limits checked within the hour. If someone took Athena in a vehicle, we’ll find out which direction they went.”
I nodded gratefully, but my mind was already moving to darker places. If Max had betrayed me, on? Was he working with Daxon all along?
what else had he lied about? How long had this been going
The questions were eating me alive, but there was only one way to get answers.
“We need to find Max,” I said, my voice deadly calm. “Right now.”
“Tristan, think about this, Orion cautioned. “If you confront him in front of the pack, it’s going to cause chaos. You can’t just accuse your beta of treason without proof.”
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Chapter 159
The proof is that my mate is missing and Daxon is supposed to be dead,” I snarled. That’s all the proof I need.”
But even as I said it, part of me was screaming that this was my fault. I should have insisted on seeing Daxon’s body myself. I should have made sure he was really dead instead of trusting someone else to handle it.
1 had failed to protect Athena again, just like I had failed to protect her years ago. Just like I had failed to protect Jess and our unborn child.
The self–blame was almost as crushing as the rage. How many times was I going to let the people I loved get hurt because of my failures?
‘Where would Max be at this hour?” Derek asked, effectively cutting through my spiral of self pity.
“Pack meeting,” Orion answered. “Sunday night strategy sessions. They’ll all be at the compound.”
“No.” I shook my head, remembering. “He’s with Seraphine. He was the one that had called me and said she’d tried to commit suicide.”
They both looked at me, and I could see the same realization dawning on their faces that was crawling up my spine like ice water.
“Was that a lie?” Orion asked quietly, mirroring my thoughts.
“But I saw Seraphine,” I said, more to myself than to them. “She was admitted to the hospital. There’s no way they’d both lie about that. What about the hospital and all that?”
Did they plan everything? The thought made my stomach turn over.
That was the reason I left at the first place. Did they do that to draw me out?
“We have to be sure first,” Orion said, his voice taking on that careful tone people use around explosives. “He might have gone out.”
I brought out my phone with hands that were still shaking and dialed Max’s number. After the third ring, he picked up.
“Alpha. His voice sounded normal. Concerned. Like the beta I’d trusted for year
I tried to maintain my breathing. He couldn’t suspect anything. “You haven’t sent the details I asked you to send, I said, putting my phone on speaker so
the others could hear.
‘I’m still trying to figure out his last movements, but he was at Athena’s place like an hour ago.”
I raised a brow and looked at Derek, who pointed at himself and shook his head violently, mouthing the word ‘that’s a lie so Max wouldn’t become
suspicious.
‘Alright. I’ll get to the bottom of all this. Where are you now?”
‘Pack meeting. Seraphine was already asleep, so I decided to lead the meeting since you wouldn’t be around.”
If it had been before, I would have been proud of him. Taking the initiative to cover for me when I wasn’t available, I would have praised him. But right now,
I had nothing close to pride in my chest.
‘Good. You’re a good beta, and I’ll reward you,” I said, ending the call before turning toward Orion and Derek,
“Do you believe he’s lying now? He said Derek was here an hour ago and left.”
2/3
15:22 Sat, Jan 10 G MR.
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
