Kiya's POV
We were sitting in the cafeteria, waiting for Rita.
Ken had been unusually quiet since morning, checking his phone every few seconds like a restless puppy. He said Rita was on her way, and for some reason, that made him more nervous than excited. I was pretending not to notice, sipping my juice and staring out through the wide glass window.
That's when I saw her.
A sleek car pulled up across the street. The door opened and a girl stepped out. She was tall, confident, and… strikingly beautiful. Rita.
She stood near her car, talking to someone. A man wearing a red cap. I couldn't hear them, but from where I stood, her body language looked tense. She wasn't smiling. She kept glancing around as if she was uncomfortable.
She couldn't see me because of the one-way glass. But I could see everything.
I straightened in my chair, suddenly alert.
So this was Rita.
Pretty. Smart-looking. Simple clothes, no flashy makeup. Definitely not like Ken's last girlfriend who looked like she walked straight out of a party every day of her life. Rita looked… real.
Ken wouldn't stop talking about her. The way he spoke about her, anyone could tell he was deeply into her. And honestly, from what I could see so far, she already seemed miles better than that manipulative ex of his.
Still, I couldn't fully trust anyone that easily.
I had searched everywhere for information on her before today—social media, public accounts, digital footprints. Nothing. No Instagram. No Facebook. No digital trail at all.
That itself was strange.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when Jack came and placed our drinks on the table. I immediately grabbed my glass and started drinking. I'm not the kind of person who lets food wait.
Ken returned from the washroom just in time to see me halfway through my drink.
He frowned.
"Couldn't you wait for Rita to join?" he asked, clearly disappointed.
"Nope," I replied lazily. "My drink, my rules."
He sighed deeply. "Kiya, I really want you to like her. I want you two to be friends. She's a really good person… you'll love her."
I raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure she's such a good person that she thinks it's totally fine to keep us waiting while she chats with the red-hat guy over there."
I pointed towards the street.
Ken followed my finger—and the moment he saw Rita, his entire posture changed.
His eyes narrowed. His jaw tightened.
He looked at me. Then at her. Then back at me again.
"I don't think she's chatting," he said slowly. "Something feels… wrong."
I scoffed. "Oh wow. Now you suddenly feel things from a distance for your two-month-old girlfriend?"
Before he could reply, he leaned closer to the glass.
"Look… he's not alone. There are more guys around them."
My smirk vanished instantly.
I looked again.
And he was right.
Two… no, three men had subtly surrounded Rita now. The red-hat guy said something. Rita took a step back. I could clearly see the tension on her face now.
A bad feeling twisted in my stomach.
When I was about to say something, a dark-colored car suddenly sped in and stopped right in front of them—blocking our entire view.
My heart skipped a beat.
Ken and I stood up at the same time and rushed outside.
But the street was empty.
The car was gone.
Rita's car was gone.
And Rita… was nowhere to be seen.
All that remained was her phone lying on the road… and a few drops of blood beside it.
My breath hitched.
"They kidnapped her?" The words slipped from my lips in shock.
Ken froze beside me.
"Should we call the cops?" I asked quickly.
No response.
His face had gone pale. His body looked stiff, like he had forgotten how to breathe.
"Ken?" I shook him lightly. "We should inform her family."
He swallowed hard. "She… she said her parents died a long time ago. She's an only child."
My chest tightened.
"Do you have contact details of any friend of hers?"
He started pacing back and forth, running his hands through his hair like a man on the verge of breaking down.
"I—I don't know. I never asked. I never thought—"
I bent down and picked up Rita's phone. Surprisingly, it wasn't locked.
I opened the contact list.
There were barely ten numbers.
My eyes stopped at the very first one.
Alpha
I frowned. "What kind of name is that?"
I scrolled further. All the names were strange. Short. Odd. Nothing that looked like a normal human contact list.
I showed the phone to Ken. "Do you recognize any of these?"
He shook his head helplessly, eyes filled with fear.
"Okay," I said firmly, trying to keep my voice steady. "Panicking won't help. We'll handle this. Just calm down first."
My thumb hovered over the screen.
For some reason, my instincts screamed that the person saved as Alpha was important.
I pressed call.
Ring…
Ring…
No answer.
The call disconnected.
I was about to try the next number when the screen lit up again.
Incoming Call – Alpha
I picked it instantly.
Before I could even say hello, a deep, authoritative voice barked from the other side.
"Where is Rita?"
I stiffened.
"Hello?" I said cautiously.
Silence.
"Are you related to Rita?" I asked.
Nothing.
"Can you hear me?"
Still no reply.
Behind me, Ken was losing control. "We need to find her! They kidnapped her and you're just standing there on the phone!"
"Ken, calm down!" I snapped. "Just trust me."
I turned back to the call.
"I don't know who you are," I said quickly, "but Rita was taken right in front of us. A few men surrounded her and a car blocked our view. When we came out… she was gone. Her phone and blood were left behind."
Complete silence met my words.
Yet… I could feel it.
Whoever was on the other side was listening.
Watching.
Calculating.
After a few seconds with no reply, I ended the call slowly.
My hand was shaking.
Ken stared at me with wide eyes. "Who was that?"
"I don't know," I said honestly. "But I'm sure of one thing…"
I looked back at the blood on the road.
Rita wasn't just kidnapped.
She had been taken by something far more dangerous than we could imagine.
And the world we were about to step into… was nothing like the one we knew.
............................................
Logan's POV
My phone rang.
The screen lit up with a name that made my wolf stir instantly.
Rita.
We never used phones. Never. With the mind link, there was no need for such a primitive device. A phone call meant only one thing—Something was wrong.
Before I could answer, the call ended.
At the same moment, Sam came rushing into my office with Shelly right behind him. Both of them looked terrified.
"That's weird," Sam muttered, staring at my phone. "Rita never calls."
My jaw tightened. "Talk."
Sam swallowed hard. "Rita mind-linked me earlier. She said she felt like she was in danger. After that… nothing. The link got blocked completely. I tried again and again, Alpha. I couldn't reach her."
My wolf, Leo, growled low and dark inside me.
"She went to the city to meet her human mate," Shelly added softly. "She still hasn't told him the truth. She wanted more time."
My fists clenched on the desk.
The phone rang again.
Same number.
I answered instantly.
"Where is Rita?" I demanded without wasting a second.
There was a pause.
Then… a voice.
"Hello?"
The sound of it hit me like lightning down my spine.
Soft. Clear. But laced with fear.
My wolf froze.
Something about that voice made Leo stir violently—drawn, restless, confused. My heart skipped once in a way it never had before.
"… I'm her friend. We were supposed to meet her here," the girl replied.
Behind her, I heard a male voice, panicked and broken.
"We need to find her! They kidnapped her and you're just standing there talking on the phone!"
"You need to calm down, okay? Just breathe," the girl told him firmly.
That male voice…
That must be Rita's mate.
The girl spoke again, faster now. "We saw a man in a red hat talking to Rita outside the café. Then a car suddenly blocked our view. When we went outside—she was gone. Only her phone and some blood drops were left on the road."
Blood.
Leo roared violently inside me.
My grip on the phone tightened. My chest felt strange—tight, restless. My wolf was reacting not only to Rita being in danger…
But to the girl's voice.
And that made no sense.
The call ended before I could ask anything more.
Silence filled my office like the calm before a storm.
"Rita has been kidnapped," I said darkly.
Sam's eyes widened in fury.
"Send our warriors now," I commanded. "Search the borders. The city. Every possible route. I want her found alive."
"Yes, Alpha," Sam said instantly and began mind-linking the pack.
Shelly stepped forward, trembling. "Who was that girl on the call?"
"Someone who knows Rita… and who witnessed the kidnapping," I replied.
Sam suddenly froze.
Slowly, he walked to a cabinet and pulled out a file. He opened it, took out a photograph, and placed it in front of me.
My eyes darkened instantly.
A man wearing a red hat stared back at me from the image.
Derick.
"The border patrol clicked this last month," Sam muttered. "It's him."
My wolf snapped.
The ground beneath my feet cracked as I stood.
"Find him," I roared.
"Yes, Alpha."
And deep inside, beneath the rage for my Gamma…my wolf was still restless—
haunted by the echo of a strange girl's voicethat made my heart respond before my mind ever could.