---- Chapter 9 LAURENCE POV: "See for yourself, Alpha." Allen's mental voice was grim as an image materialized in my mind. It was the rejection form. And at the bottom, my own signature stared back at me, a bold, arrogant testament to my own stupidity. The memory hit me like a physical blow. That night. | was on the Mind-Link with Rosalie, distracted, signing a stack of documents Josie had put on my desk. She had played me. She had used my own obsession against me. The fury inside me shifted, solidifying into something cold and lethal. This wasn't a lover's spat. This was a declaration of war. "Where is she?" | growled, my hands strangling the steering wheel. "She's gone, Alpha. Vanished. No one has seen or heard from her in five days." Five days. The number echoed in my head. Five days of silence. | had thought it was a tantrum. ---- | floored the accelerator, the powerful engine of my car screaming in protest. The first stop wasn't the office. It wasn't the Elder's council. It was the hospital. | would fix this. | would find her father, offer him the best care in the world, and use him to force her back to my side. Everything had a price. | strode into the private wing, my Alpha presence making nurses and doctors flatten themselves against the walls. | found the head healer in his office. "Prepare Mr. Watson for immediate transfer to the capital medical center," | commanded. "Spare no expense." The old wolf looked up at me, his face a mask of confusion and sorrow. "Alpha... | don't understand. Mr. Watson passed away five days ago." The words didn't register at first. They were just sounds. "What did you say?" "He died, Alpha," the healer repeated softly. "The night of the gala. We... we couldn't save him." He then told me everything. He told me about the Sun-Root | had forgotten. He told me how Rosalie had summoned the entire senior medical staff to her suite for a frivolous complaint, leaving my mate's father without care. He told me how the transport vehicle Josie arranged was attacked by Rogues. ---- Each word was a hammer blow, shattering the foundations of my world. The Mind-Link. Josie's desperate plea. "Dad is dying!" Rosalie's giggle in the background. My own cold dismissal. "Stop bothering me with trivial matters." | stumbled back, my hand flying to my chest as if | could physically stop my heart from breaking. It wasn't a tantrum. It wasn't jealousy. It was revenge. Earned and justified. A desperate, primal hope surged through me. She had to be at the house. She had to be waiting for me to come home, to explain, to beg. | ran from the hospital, ignoring the healer's concerned calls. | drove like a madman, the world a blur outside my windows. | burst through the front doors of the mansion, my soul screaming her name. "JOSIE!" Only the silence answered back.