Chapter 172

Darius

The storm had ended hours ago, but the rage in me hadn’t.

And I knew deep down that it wouldn’t.

I stood in the center of the hall, the firelight flickering across the marble, waiting for the fools I’d sent to return with her.

The silence between the walls was suffocating. Even the guards stationed at the door had stopped breathing too loudly, sensing what would happen if I was kept waiting much longer.

The door finally opened.

Five men stumbled in, snow still clinging to their cloaks, faces pale and drawn. “I don’t feel her presence, nor am I catching her scent.”

My voice was cold and void of emotion as I looked at the men, knowing that they hadn’t brought her.

The captain, Jonas, bowed low, trembling as he spoke. “Alpha, we…”

“You what?” My voice was low, almost calm, and that calm made every one of them flinch.

He swallowed hard. “We lost her. She managed to escape.”

The words tore something in