Chapter 4 She Had Disappeared

Selena's POV:

Violent gusts tore across the rooftop terrace, sending my skirt flying wildly around my legs.

Pressed against my chest, I held onto the battered black duffel bag. It carried only a handful of clothes.

This was all that remained of my three years with Kael.

From afar, the thundering chop of helicopter blades started to close in, shaking the air around me.

Through the darkness, a blinding beam of light sliced across the night sky. Above the villa, a massive black helicopter hovered with force, its presence heavy and threatening as it stirred chaos below.

Marked along its side was a blood-red wolf's head, bold and unmistakable. It was Damon's mark.

Sirens wailed across the villa without delay.

"State your identity!"

"We're under attack! Defend the villa!"

Guards flooded out in panic, stumbling over each other in confusion, but they were already too late.

From above, a rope ladder dropped down and landed right in front of me.

Without stopping to think, I secured the duffel bag tightly against my chest and reached for the ladder.

"Wait... isn't that the Luna?" one of the guards shouted from below, his voice breaking with fear. "The Luna's getting away! Stop her!"

"Start shooting! Bring that ladder down!"

"That's a Rogue helicopter! Don't let them take the Luna!"

The ladder jerked upward at once, pulling me off the ground.

Beneath me, the villa began to shrink. The walls that had held me captive for three long years faded into the distance, slowly slipping out of sight.

From the helicopter window, I cast a final glance at the place that had kept me trapped.

It ended here, Kael.

What we had, foolish and quiet as it was, ended here too.

Without another thought, I turned away and refused to look back again.

At the front, Damon handled the controls from the pilot's seat. A quick sideways look passed between us. He stayed quiet and simply threw a thick wool blanket toward me.

"If you're freezing, use that," he said. "I'm not dealing with someone dying on my aircraft. That kind of luck sticks."

Pulling the blanket around myself, I held it close. The faint trace of tobacco clung to the fabric, and for the first time in a long while, I felt safe.

Tears slipped down at last. They weren't from grief, but from the simple truth that I was finally free.

...

Kael's POV:

Inside the hospital room, everything felt still.

Aria lay unconscious.

According to the doctor, she had gone into shock, and her frail condition meant she needed complete rest.

Seated beside her, I watched her pale features, unable to settle the tension building inside me.

This feeling had been gnawing at me for the past two hours. Unease stirred within me as my wolf paced wildly in my mind, low growls echoing like something that belonged to me was being torn away.

"What's wrong, Kael?" Aria wasn't resting peacefully either. Her fingers tightened around my sleeve as if she didn't want to let go.

Gently, I slipped free from her grip and fixed the blanket over her. "It's nothing. Get some rest. I'll head back to the office."

Without lingering, I stepped out of the ward.

Instead of going where I said I would, I got in the car and drove recklessly. The speed climbed fast, pushing deep into the red.

Something pulled me back to the house.

I needed to see what Selena was doing. In my mind, she was probably still acting out, refusing to calm down.

Before leaving earlier, I had locked the door tight and reinforced it with an Alpha seal. She should've been stuck inside her room, breaking down in tears.

If she just gave in and apologized to Aria, maybe I could let this slide.

Three years together wasn't something I could ignore so easily.

The moment I reached the villa gate, everything in me went still.

The front gate was left wide open. Guards lay scattered across the ground, their faces drained and shaken.

"Alpha!" The captain rushed toward me the second he saw me, barely steady on his feet, his face completely drained of color. "A Rogue helicopter just came..."

"What?" I cut in with a frown, but before he could continue, a heavy sense of dread crashed over me.

I burst through the villa doors without slowing down.

"Selena?" I shouted into the silence.

Nothing came back.

An eerie stillness filled the house, broken only by the wind brushing against the curtains.

Selena's soft, familiar scent was fading fast. In its place lingered the unmistakable trace of another Alpha.

It was Damon!

My vision tightened, and my wolf surfaced before I could hold it back.

"Damon..."

His name came out through clenched teeth.

What connection did Selena have with that madman?

I took the stairs two at a time and slammed the master bedroom door open with a kick.

The clothes and jewelry I had given her remained untouched, yet a black duffel bag had disappeared.

Without wasting a second, I went back downstairs, my eyes locking onto the massive wedding portrait.

The picture had been ruined. A jagged slash split it apart, cutting straight between us.

Beneath it, resting on the cabinet, was the Luna diamond ring I had once slipped onto her finger. Now it sat there abandoned, marked with dirt.

My gaze shifted beside it, searching for the Rejection I had destroyed earlier, but it was no longer there.

Nothing remained except a single note.

Across it, one word had been scratched out, uneven and desperate, like she had used the last of her strength to write it. "Goodbye."

I tried to reach her through the mind link, but I failed.

"That can't be..." I whispered under my breath. "It doesn't make sense! She doesn't even have a wolf. Why would she leave me?"

One thought followed another. Maybe she was throwing a tantrum, or maybe she was doing this to get my attention.

Driven by panic, I bolted toward the garden.

Under the light, I saw a smear of darkened blood staining the dirt.

At that moment, it felt like everything beneath me collapsed.

With shaking hands, I pulled out my phone and dialed Selena's number. But the number was no longer in service.

She had disappeared.

She left, gathered what little belonged to her, and chose to follow another Alpha, disappearing from my life without a trace.