The Alpha's Forbidden Vow novel Chapter 76

POV: Zane

The fragile peace in the manor was a deceptive thing, a thin layer of ice over a raging sea.

I knew it wouldn't last.

The fallout from Isabella’s banishment was a political hurricane I had been navigating for weeks.

Her family, the powerful Laurent pack, was screaming for blood, demanding retribution for the slight against their daughter’s honor.

I had handled them with the cold, ruthless efficiency of an Alpha King protecting his territory.

But I knew it was not over.

The confirmation came on a Tuesday evening.

Kael entered my study, his face a grim mask.

He moved with a silent urgency that immediately put my wolf on high alert.

“Alpha,” he said, his voice a low rumble. “We have a problem.”

I leaned back in my chair, steepling my fingers. “Speak.”

“It’s Isabella,” Kael stated. “The convoy escorting her to the border of our territory was ambushed two days ago.”

My entire body went rigid. “Was she killed?”

“No,” Kael said, his expression tightening. “She was taken. Abducted.”

A low growl rumbled in my chest. An attack within my own territory was an act of war.

“By who?” I demanded, my voice dangerously calm.

“The attackers were Laurent pack warriors,” Kael said, confirming my first suspicion.

“But they were not acting on her father’s orders.”

He slid a tablet across my desk.

On the screen was a satellite image of the ambush site, and a file on a single individual.

A man with cold, intelligent eyes and a cruel smile that was chillingly similar to Isabella’s.

“So what is his play?” Kael asked.

“He is turning a liability into a bargaining chip,” I concluded, my eyes narrowing. “He has the disgraced fiancée, the supposed mother of my supposed heir. He will use her to force a negotiation, to extort concessions from us in exchange for her silence.”

The brief period of peace was officially over.

The danger had not been banished with Isabella.

It had simply changed its face, becoming colder, smarter, and infinitely more dangerous.

I looked up at Kael, my resolve hardening into steel.

“Double the patrols on the estate grounds,” I commanded. “I want eyes on Selene and Leo at all times. They are not to be left alone for a single second.”

Ryker didn’t know the truth about Selene’s bloodline yet.

But he was a predator.

And if he caught her scent, he would know he had found a prize far greater than his own foolish sister.