Chapter 182: Hailee Has Been Found
Callum’s POV
"You must be joking," I growled at the head of my search team. My voice was so sharp it made him flinch.
He bowed his head quickly. "Alpha, it’s true. Miss Hailee has been found. She’s... she’s in Alpha Nathan’s pack as we speak."
My chest burned. My wolf inside me howled loud. Nathan. Of all people — she was with him?
I pushed my chair so hard it fell behind me. "Ten years," I shouted. "Ten years of searching, and now you tell me she’s been with him?"
The man’s hands shook. "We—we don’t know how long, Alpha. Only that she is there."
"She’s mine!" I roared. I began pacing, my claws itching to come out. I remembered the last time I saw her. How she left. How she vanished. I had sworn I would find her one day.
Now Nathan had her.
"Get the car ready," I ordered, my eyes blazing. "We leave now."
The man swallowed. "Should we tell Alpha Nathan first?"
I spun on him, growling. "Don’t you dare. He knew I was searching. And he kept her from me. He thinks he can hide her? He thinks he can keep her?"
My wolf snarled again, matching my anger. "Another thing, Alpha... she returned with triplets."
"What?" My mind went blank, my body stiff.
"Yes, sir..." my head of search team confirmed with a nod.
My teeth gritted. Triplets. My chest grew hot.
I slammed my fist into the wall. The stone cracked. "If those children are mine," I said, my voice shaking with rage, "then I will tear his whole pack apart before I let him take them from me."
I stormed toward the door. My men jumped aside to clear my way.
My convoy of black cars pulled in behind me as I slid into the back seat. The engine roared, and the trees outside rushed past in a blur.
My mind spun in circles. Triplets. Hailee had triplets. Whose kids were they? Nathan’s? Was that why she was with him? Was that why she returned after ten years?
I gritted my teeth. I didn’t care. If those children were his, then fine. Let him have them. But Hailee—she wasn’t his to keep. Not now, not ever.
My wolf stirred, its voice deep and cold inside me. "Callum, what if they’re mates? What if she belongs to him? She’s not yours."
I slammed my palm against the seat, making the driver flinch. "I don’t care!" I barked, my chest rising and falling hard.
The wolf growled back. "You can’t force a bond."
I thought of the nights I’d searched for her, the empty places, the hollow years. Hailee’s face in my memory. I would not let Nathan or anyone else take her away again.
After an hour’s drive, the Full Moon Packhouse came into view. Guards stood ready, the air thick with Nathan’s power. My jaw tightened as I leaned forward.
"Drive in," I ordered.
I looked at the house, my blood boiling hotter. I didn’t know what I would find—Hailee running from me or collapsing into my arms. I didn’t know if those children were mine or another man’s.
But I knew one truth. Hailee was mine.
And this time, I wasn’t leaving without her.
The cars screeched to a stop at the gates of Full Moon Packhouse. The guards at the entrance stiffened when they saw me step out. Their eyes widened before they bowed deeply, their voices hurried.
"Alpha Callum," one said, head bent low. "Does... does Alpha Nathan know you’re visiting him?"
I narrowed my eyes, my wolf pacing inside me. "No," I said firmly. "And he doesn’t need to. Tell him if you want, but I won’t be waiting at the gates like some guest."
The guards exchanged a worried glance. One cleared his throat carefully. "Alpha... you’ve been here a few times before, for business deals. You know Alpha Nathan doesn’t like unannounced visits."
I stepped forward, my aura snapping like a whip. They both flinched. "I don’t care what Nathan likes. This is an emergency." My voice dropped lower, filled with rage. "Are you going to let me through, or do I have to tear the gates down myself?"
The men paled instantly, bowing again. "Of course, Alpha. Please—go inside." They quickly opened the gates, stepping back.
I strode forward without another word, my convoy following behind me. Nathan and I... we weren’t enemies, but we sure as hell weren’t friends. Our packs bordered each other; business had forced us to sit at the same table more than once. We tolerated each other, nothing more.
The car hissed to a stop, and the door yawned open. Cold afternoon air hit me, and for half a heartbeat I stood there letting it wash through me—then it hit me: the scent I’d been hunting for a decade.
Honey, with a thread of nutmeg underneath. Warm and familiar and impossibly hers. It punched the breath from my lungs. For ten years I’d sworn I’d never forget it, and here it was, dragging me like a leash.
"Alpha Callum." A voice at my shoulder. Leo—Nathan’s Beta—stepped forward, eyes sharp and polite. He’d always had that "you’re treading on thin ice" look about him when we met. Tonight it was turned up a notch.
"I’m here for Hailee," I said flatly, already moving. The scent pulled me before reason could. I took the first step and then another, following it like a trail of breadcrumbs.
"Alpha," Leo called, careful. "You should—"
"Don’t stop me," I warned without looking back. My voice was low and cold. "Tell Nathan I’m not here to negotiate. If anyone interferes—" I flexed my fingers, feeling the restlessness coil in my gut. "—they’ll regret it."
Leo’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t step in front of me. Instead he fell into step at a respectful distance, the guard’s duty and the Beta’s instincts fighting on his face. "At least wait in the guest rooms," he said. "Let me tell him—"
"Tell him what?" I snapped. "That I’m at his doorstep? That he should bring Hailee out?" I kept walking. My boots ate the gravel. "No. Don’t slow me down."
The guards at the gate had already straightened and backed away; they feared my temper and respected the power behind it. But once inside the courtyard, the mansion itself swallowed most of the scent, and I had to concentrate to tune everything out but that one thread of spice and honey.
Leo kept up, silent now. He glanced at me once, questioning, then forward — his face softening ever so slightly. "He’s in the main wing," he murmured. "You’ll see him—"
I didn’t need to see Nathan. I needed Hailee.
The corridor inside smelled faintly of old wood, pipe smoke, and the faint citrus of polish. The scent of her grew stronger again, tugging me down a maze of halls like a compass needle. Guards bowed and stepped aside when I passed, recognition and nervousness written on their faces. A house like this held a thousand rooms and a thousand smells, but only one of them mattered tonight.
We reached a door, and the scent slammed into me harder.
"She’s inside," I whispered to myself, my fists clenching.