Alpha's STOLEN Mate Chapter 97

Kaius

My desk was covered in papers—notes, maps, fragments of intelligence I'd painstakingly extracted from Rowan over the past weeks. The cramped handwriting was almost illegible now, written and rewritten as new pieces of the puzzle emerged.

The masked witch had a name: **Morgath**.

According to what little Rowan had been willing to share, Morgath hadn't abandoned her insane plans after Elowen destroyed the cave. If anything, she'd doubled down. Her goal remained the same—control and transform all werewolves, bend them to her will, create an army of enhanced slaves.

But now she had a new priority target: the legendary White Wolf herself.

*Capture Elowen. Control the most powerful wolf in existence. Use her as the cornerstone of the entire operation.*

The timeline, the specific methods, the exact location of Morgath's new base—Rowan refused to divulge any of it. And I knew why. That witch and Rowan were connected somehow, their relationship complex and secretive enough that every revelation came with calculated reluctance.

*She's protecting Morgath. Or protecting herself. Or both.*

I set down my pen, rubbing my tired eyes. The irony wasn't lost on me—keeping Elowen away from me, making her hate me, might actually be the safest thing for her right now. Under normal circumstances, with no attachments or vulnerabilities, she was damn near invincible. No one could touch the White Wolf when she was truly free.

*As long as she stays far away from me and my cursed entanglements, she'll be fine.*

Footsteps approached from behind—light, deliberately provocative. Arms draped over my shoulders before I could turn around, and I caught the overwhelming scent of expensive perfume mixed with something darker.

I hastily flipped my notes face-down on the desk. "I'm working. What do you want?"

Rowan slid around to perch on my lap, and I couldn't help the grimace at her outfit—or lack thereof. She wore something that could barely be called clothing: a sheer black negligee that left absolutely nothing to the imagination, her breasts practically spilling out, the fabric so transparent it was purely decorative.

*She looks like an expensive whore. Which I suppose is exactly what she's aiming for.*

"Still obsessing over your precious mate?" Her voice was honey laced with poison. "I've never met an Alpha so pathetically devoted. It's almost touching." Her fingers traced idle patterns on my chest. "But let me give you some advice—if you truly care about her safety, you'll forget she exists. Completely."

I knew this game. She dangled Elowen's safety like a carrot, keeping me compliant, keeping me in line. The rage that simmered constantly beneath my surface threatened to boil over, but I forced it down.

"Can you guarantee her safety?" My voice came out low, dangerous. "Because I don't give a fuck how many times I've had to touch you, how many nights I've wasted in your bed. If anything happens to Elowen, I *will* kill you."

Most people would have flinched at the naked threat. Rowan just smiled, amused rather than afraid.

"My dear Alpha, always so dramatic." She shifted on my lap, her hips grinding deliberately against me. "Don't worry. Morgath may be ambitious, but I've warned her—balance must be maintained. Her plans for complete werewolf enslavement are outdated, barbaric. We Elders believe in cooperation, not domination." Her fingers walked down my abdomen. "Isn't that right?"

I grabbed her wrist, my eyes narrowing. "What exactly is your relationship with her? You promised to tell me everything, Rowan. Stop playing games!"

She laughed, the sound grating on my nerves. "Oh, you say that every single day! 'Tell me everything, Rowan!' 'What's Morgath planning, Rowan?'" She rolled her eyes theatrically. "Can't we talk about something else for once? Something more... stimulating?"

Her ass ground harder against my groin, trying to coax a physical response.

Shame and fury warred inside me. I stood abruptly, sending her stumbling backward, then advanced on her with predatory intent. She fell back onto the bed behind my desk, and I was on her in an instant, my hand closing around her throat.

"Bitch," I snarled, applying pressure. "You seem to forget—I've recovered my full strength. My natural magic immunity is more than enough to counter your aura now." I squeezed harder, watching her face flush red. "Which means I can kill you without consequences. Right here. Right now."

Her eyes bulged slightly as oxygen became scarce, but incredibly, infuriatingly, that arrogant smile never fully disappeared. She managed to choke out words: "Pity... you can't... actually do it..."

Because she was right. She was the only key to unraveling Morgath's plans, the only source of intelligence I had. As much as I wanted to crush her windpipe, I needed her alive.

I released her with a disgusted sound, stepping back.

Rowan coughed, catching her breath, but within seconds she was back to her seductive persona. She grabbed my hand and guided it to her breast, pressing my palm against the thin fabric.

"Feed me what I need," she purred, moving my hand lower, toward the junction of her thighs. "And I'll feed you more information. It's a simple transaction, Alpha. Why do you always make it so complicated?"

Revulsion churned in my gut, but before I could pull away, a sensation hit me like a physical blow.

*Pain. Not mine.*

Through the mate bond—that connection I'd been trying to ignore, to suppress—came a wave of foreign emotion. Elowen. Kissing someone. The phantom taste of alcohol and masculine cologne, the feel of unfamiliar hands—

*What the fuck?*

Rowan noticed my reaction immediately. "Oh my," she said with false sympathy, still holding my hand against her body. "Feeling jealous, are we? You get to have your fun, but she's not allowed to find a man to fuck?"

"She's not—" I started to protest, but the sensations continued. Definitely kissing. Definitely aroused.

"Stop fighting it," Rowan crooned. "You pushed her away. What did you expect?"

But then the sensations changed. The pleasure turned to something else—confusion, then fear, then—

*No.*

Dread slammed into me with the force of a freight train. Something was wrong. Terribly, catastrophically wrong.

"Fuck. FUCK!" I jerked away from Rowan, my hand flying to my chest where the bond pulsed with warning.

Rowan sat up instantly, her expression shifting from seductive to alert. "What the hell?"

I reached for Elowen through the bond, trying to find her location, her status, anything—

Nothing.

Not blocked. Not shielded. Just... *gone*. Like she'd ceased to exist entirely. But I could still feel her—trapped somewhere dark, suffocating with terror and despair. The emptiness where our mental link should be was somehow worse than if she'd cut me off deliberately.

*She's been taken. Someone or something has severed our connection.*

My hand moved before conscious thought—a sharp crack as my palm connected with Rowan's face, snapping her head to the side.

"You SAID she was safe!" I roared. "You just fucking told me she was fine!"

Rowan's head turned slowly back to face me, and incredibly, she showed no pain from the slap. Just cold calculation behind those ancient eyes. But I caught something else too—not concern for Elowen, but panic about losing her leverage over me.

*She knows if Elowen dies, our arrangement dies with her. And so does Rowan, shortly after.*

She stood gracefully, one hand touching her reddening cheek. "That bitch," she muttered, more to herself than to me. "So impatient. She couldn't even wait..." Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "She broke our agreement."

I grabbed Rowan's shoulders hard enough to bruise, getting in her face. "WHERE IS MY MATE? Where the fuck did they take her?!"

Rowan met my eyes with surprising steadiness. "Alpha King," she said coolly, "I will remember that slap. But this situation—" She paused, seeming to weigh her words carefully. "I will handle it. Our transaction isn't complete. Elowen's capture is my failure, my responsibility." She pulled free of my grip with surprising strength. "I'm going to fix this. When it's time for you to appear, I'll send word."

I studied her face, searching for deception. But her expression held something I'd rarely seen in her—genuine determination. Not because she cared about Elowen, but because her carefully constructed house of cards was collapsing.

*She needs Elowen alive as much as I do. Maybe more.*

"You'd better find her quickly," I said, my voice dropping to something lethal. "Because if you don't—if Morgath hurts her, if she's harmed in any way—I won't just kill you, Rowan." I stepped closer, letting her see the Alpha King who'd earned his throne through blood. "I'll slaughter every single remaining Elder. I'll burn your precious Council to ash. I'll make your entire bloodline extinct."

For the first time since I'd met her, I saw something close to fear flicker in Rowan's eyes.

"I understand," she said quietly. Then she straightened, her mask of composure sliding back into place. "Stay here. If I need to reach you, I'll find you immediately." She moved toward the door, already pulling a robe over her obscene outfit. "Morgath will regret breaking our agreement. That I promise you."