Chapter 91: Foreboding

Henna paced around the living room, her phone clamped tightly against her ear as she desperately prayed for Jake to answer. But with every attempt, the line rang into silence before cutting straight to voicemail.

The feeling of foreboding grew heavier as morning dissolved into noon. Pandora and Alyssa had been gone for hours, and the silence hanging over the mansion felt less like peace and more like a warning.

Something was terribly wrong.

She considered alerting the estate guards, but she hesitated. What if her instincts were playing tricks on her? What if Alyssa was safe, and the strange chill she felt from Pandora was just her own paranoia?

The last thing she wanted was to raise a false alarm and cause panic in the mansion while the Alpha King was away.

She was so tangled in her racing thoughts that she missed the sound of tires rolling over the cobblestone driveway outside until the engine of a car died.

When she finally noticed, her heart skipped a beat. She turned and rushed toward the front door, praying to see Pandora’s SUV returning.

Instead, an unfamiliar car was parked outside the entrance.

The driver’s door opened, and an older man stepped out, leaning heavily on a carved gold cane. His face was twisted into a dark scowl that radiated pure menace. Then the passenger door opened.

The moment Henna’s eyes locked onto the younger man stepping into the sunlight, every drop of blood drained from her face.

Joffrey Lowell!

The merciless bastard who had forced her family into ruin, bound her into a fraudulent marriage, and sold her off to Gerald years ago. What a small world indeed!

Joffrey froze for a brief second, shock flitting across his sharp features. But the surprise vanished just as quickly, replaced by a cocky, arrogant smirk as he ascended the front steps toward her. Behind him, Conri took his time walking forward.

"Look what the North wind dragged here," he chuckled coldly.

Henna stumbled back, her fingers tightening around her phone until her knuckles turned white. When Joffrey reached out to run a finger down her cheek, she slapped his hand away with a sharp crack.

"Still as feisty as ever," he grinned, his eyes dark with amusement. "What are you doing here, Henna? I thought Gerald would have finished you off by now."

"Screw you, Joffrey!" she spat.

"Who is she?" Conri demanded as he stopped beside Joffrey and glared coldly down at her.

Joffrey’s smug smile dropped instantly. "She’s nobody, Father."

"Nobody?" Henna shot back, her eyes flashing with righteous fury as she took a defiant step forward. "Are you ashamed to admit how you forced me into a marriage with you, left my family bankrupt, and sold me off to that monster?"

Conri’s eyes hardened into ice. He turned a lethal glare onto his son. "Is this the girl you claimed swindled your riches years ago?"

Joffrey scowled as he answered. "Yes."

Henna’s eyes flashed angrily. "Swindled you? How low can you go, Joffrey? You left my family bankrupt after you married me! They were killed because they couldn’t pay back their debts! You sold me off, yet you stand here and lie to your own father’s face!"

Conri shot a look of utter disgust at his son, entirely unsurprised by Joffrey’s deceit. Disregarding the drama, he turned away with a shake of his head.

"I don’t have time for this," he muttered and stormed into the living room. Seeing it empty, he scowled harder and strode back out onto the terrace.

"Where is Dorian?" he demanded.

Henna tore her gaze away from Joffrey and looked away, swallowing the lump in her throat. "The Alpha King took his army into the valley for the Pre-Ceremony Hunt."

"And the wife?"

Henna didn’t like the cold, commanding tone he used on her. But seeing as she was cornered and outnumbered, she swallowed her complaint.

"The Luna left a while ago with the Alpha’s sister. They went to carry out the Luna ritual for the Moon Ceremony."

Conri’s head snapped up suddenly. "What Luna ritual?"

"I don’t know. The Alpha’s sister mentioned it. She left with the Luna hours ago. They’re not back yet."

A furtive glance passed between Conri and Joffrey as Conri’s jaw clenched so hard the muscle twitched.

[There is no such thing as a Luna ritual, father.] Joffrey said through the mind link, his foggy eyes widening in horror.

[I know that.] Conri snarled back. [The Alpha alone conducts the rites of the Hunt. That wasn’t Pandora. Pilate has already made his move.]

[That bastard was supposed to strike during the peak of the ceremony! He wasn’t supposed to touch Alyssa!]

Conri suddenly closed the link and turned on his heel, his cane striking the stone floor with violent force.

"Joffrey! Come!" he ordered.

Joffrey lingered for a single second, casting a dark, promises-of-murder look at Henna before turning and hurrying down the steps after his father.

Henna finally let out a shuddering breath of relief as they pulled out of the driveway. She had seen the terrifying realization in Conri and Joffrey’s eyes. Even without hearing the mind link, it didn’t take much for her to connect the dots.

Her hunch had been right all along. Disaster had already struck.

She turned and hurried back into the mansion, making up her mind to tell the guards immediately. This wasn’t a false alarm anymore.

But as she raced through the hallways and the lower section of the mansion, she didn’t find a single guard.

She ran out the front door, her eyes darting wildly. Even the guards who normally patrolled around the courtyard and fountain were absent. It was as if every single one of them had vanished into thin air.

She hurried toward the entrance gate to see if she could find anyone, but halfway down the trail, something caught her attention.

She turned into the gravel path that led toward the private training grounds where Dorian and his warriors usually trained. The moment she rounded the corner, her steps froze.

Right before her eyes lay the house guards who had been stationed to protect the mansion. More than a dozen elite warriors lay scattered across the manicured grass, completely immobile, thick white foam seeping from their lips. Their eyes were glazed over.

Bile rose violently into Henna’s throat as she whipped out her phone with shaking hands and sent a panicked text to Jake.

{Something is wrong, Jake. I think Alyssa and Pandora are in danger. Please, come back home.}