Revenge to the Alpha Mate-Chapter 254

Jacob’s Perspective

Damn it.

My boy. My Brett. He was really gone.

When Lily told me Aurora had been kidnapped and Brett was likely caught up in it, I knew it was bad. The kid was quiet, but stubborn to his core, especially about Aurora . Following her around like a devoted shadow. Him going on one of her joyrides? Not surprising at all.

But now... this.

I gunned the engine, tires screeching as I sped toward the area the pack’s network had pinpointed as their last known location. Selena wanted to come. I made her stay. Her eyes were red-rimmed, holding back tears by sheer force of will. I knew she was breaking inside. I couldn’t let her see whatever might be waiting. I had to find a trail. I had to bring my son home.

The industrial zone on the city’s edge. The pack had invested in its redevelopment years ago. The road was half-finished, stalled by permits—a perfect, unmonitored "private" strip. From the perspective of dodging family oversight, Aurora ’s choice made sense. From another angle—remote, deserted, easy access—it was a perfect ambush point.

*Too clean.* That was my first thought pulling up.

I killed the engine and immediately shifted my senses. The night wind carried the scent of dry weeds, rusted metal skeletons, the distant hum of the city, mud, and chemical residue. I searched, meticulously, over and over. Along the new concrete strip, through every patch of ground where they might have ridden, crashed, been taken...

Nothing.

No fresh scent of a young wolf. None of Aurora ’s rebellious, vibrant signature. No trace of motorcycle fuel. Beyond my own car’s smell, not even the acrid scent of burned rubber from a hard stop. The road was pristine, as if hosed down and vacuumed. Even the faintest, almost ghostly trace of blood I could attribute to Brett from a possible fall was weak and fragmented, clearly tampered with.

Professionals. Absolutely. Not common kidnappers or opportunistic thugs. People who knew how to scrub a scene, how to counter enhanced senses.

My heart sank like a stone. This was serious trouble. If Brett was in the hands of people like that...

I couldn’t let myself imagine Selena’s grief. It would destroy her. It would destroy me.

I forced myself into a hunter’s calm. They’d cleaned the main road, but they couldn’t have covered everything, not in a rushed job. I expanded the search, leaving the concrete, pushing into the overgrown, rougher terrain at the edges of the site.

My wolf’s nose became an extension of me in the dark. I dropped low, almost to the ground, filtering out everything but the most subtle shifts in the air. Damp earth. Rotting leaves. Animal scat... and there. A whisper. The faint, burnt scent of overheated rubber and metal.

*Got you.*

I followed the ghost of a trail, moving carefully through brush and around scattered debris. Near the base of an old oak tree, I found it: a small, scorched patch of grass, the dirt beside it freshly disturbed, with drag marks. The smell was slightly stronger here—motorcycle exhaust or brakes. And a thread, gossamer-thin, of Brett’s blood, dried into the soil.

Had they dealt with the bike here? Had Brett struggled here? The signs were deliberately messed with, but not thoroughly enough. Or they’d run out of time.

It was a direction. I memorized the spot and the trajectory, then sprinted back to my car. I had to get this to Ethan and Lily. This wasn’t just a ransom grab anymore.

I called Lily. Her phone was off—destroyed, I later learned. I called Ethan directly.

"Jacob?" Ethan’s voice was immediate. The background was quiet.

"I’m at the site," I said, my voice rough with urgency and suppressed rage. "It’s too clean. Pros. The kids’ scents are almost completely wiped. Found a possible crash/pickup point. It’s been sanitized too, but they left a thread. This isn’t amateurs, Ethan."

A two-second silence on the line. I could feel the atmospheric pressure drop on his end. "Understood. Lily’s here." Then Lily’s voice came on, strained with forced calm, a tremor lurking beneath.

"Jacob... the kidnappers made contact again. Sent a video of Aurora . She looks... okay. Unhurt, just pale. They’re pushing for the money. Gave new drop instructions."

A sliver of relief. At least Aurora was alive, seemed safe for now. "Brett? Any mention of Brett in the video? Any sign of him?"

Lily’s breath hitched. When she spoke again, the tremor was more pronounced, laced with cold fury and a deeper, chilling dread. "No. I asked. I demanded to know about the boy. They... they seemed thrown. Jacob... Brett isn’t with them."

The words hit my chest like a sledgehammer. Brett wasn’t with the kidnappers. Then where the hell was he?

"Goddamn it!" I snarled, my fist slamming into the steering wheel. The horn blared, a sharp, lonely cry echoing across the desolate ground.