Mated by Contract to the Alpha Chapter 79

Dominic's POV

I paced the length of the villa's living room, checking my watch for the third time in as many minutes. 8:47 PM. Rebecca should have been home hours ago.

"Sir," Diana approached cautiously, "would you like me to prepare dinner?"

"Has she called?" I asked instead of answering.

"No, sir. No messages."

I dismissed her with a nod, pulling out my phone to call Rebecca again. Straight to voicemail, just like the previous five attempts. A knot of unease tightened in my stomach.

I had been harsh earlier—my jealousy getting the better of me when I'd seen her with that professor. His scent had been all over her table, and while my human side recognized the innocent nature of their meeting, my wolf had seen only another male encroaching on what was mine. Now I regretted letting her leave me without resolving things between us.

As I moved to call Marcus, a dull throbbing began behind my temples. I paused, recognizing this sensation from earlier in the day—around 6:30, I'd experienced a similar unexpected headache during a conference call, along with a strange sense of alarm. At the time, I'd dismissed it as stress.

Now, with Rebecca missing, the significance clicked into place. The mate bond. It had been trying to warn me.

"Raymond," I barked into my phone. "Bring the car around immediately. And get Marcus on the line."

Within minutes, I was issuing orders to every Beta and Delta in my inner circle. "Search the building, starting with her office. Check security footage. Find her."

As Raymond drove toward Sterling Tower, my instincts screamed that something was deeply wrong. The headache had faded, replaced by a hollow sensation that felt like dread.

"Faster," I growled, and Raymond pressed the accelerator without question.

At the building, security had already been alerted. Marcus met me in the lobby, his expression grave.

"No sign of her on the executive floor," he reported. "Security says her ID was last used at the fifteenth-floor stairwell at 6:22 PM."

I closed my eyes, concentrating on the faint connection I could feel with Rebecca. It was weak but present—a tether I could follow. Without waiting for Marcus, I moved toward the stairwell, my senses heightening as adrenaline flooded my system.

The moment I pushed open the stairwell door, her scent hit me—along with the metallic tang of blood and the sour note of fear. My vision sharpened, the world taking on the blue-tinged clarity that came with my wolf rising close to the surface.

"Rebecca!" I called, my voice echoing in the concrete chamber.

There was no response, but I didn't need one. I could follow her scent now, strong and direct. I descended the stairs rapidly, taking them three at a time, until I reached a landing where her scent was overwhelming.

And there she was, crumpled against the wall, her body unnaturally still. Blood matted her hair where her head had struck the edge of a step, a small pool forming beneath her.

"Rebecca," I whispered, dropping to my knees beside her. I could hear her heartbeat—steady but slow—and the shallow rise and fall of her breathing. Relief flooded me, quickly replaced by cold rage as another scent registered.

Elizabeth.

Her scent was all over this stairwell, mixed with the acrid smell of aggression and—most damning—partial transformation. She had shifted, or begun to, in Rebecca's presence.

I gathered Rebecca carefully into my arms, cradling her head against my chest. Her skin was cool to the touch, her face pale beneath a forming bruise. As I lifted her, her eyelids fluttered but didn't open.

Marcus appeared at the top of the stairs, his sharp intake of breath telling me he understood the severity of the situation.

"Call Dr. Winters," I ordered, my voice barely human. "Tell her to meet us at the Silvercrest Medical Center. Now."

"Yes, sir," he responded automatically, the formal address acknowledging the power he could surely sense rolling off me in waves.

As I carried Rebecca's limp form up the stairs, I felt my control slipping. My vision pulsed between normal and the electric blue of my wolf's sight. I looked down at the woman in my arms, her vulnerability tearing at something primal within me.

"I will find who did this to you," I whispered, though she couldn't hear me. "And they will pay with blood."

The wolf inside me howled in agreement, demanding vengeance. Elizabeth's scent signature was unmistakable, her guilt written in every molecule she'd left behind. A Collins—challenging me by harming what was mine.

This was no accident. This was an attack. An act of war against an Alpha.

As I pushed through the door toward the waiting car, Rebecca stirred slightly in my arms, a small whimper escaping her lips. I held her closer, forcing my rage to cool enough to focus on her immediate needs.

"Get her to safety first," I reminded myself. "Then hunt."

---

Raymond drove us swiftly to Silver Moon Medical Center, the private facility reserved for pack members. I kept Rebecca cradled against me, monitoring each breath, cataloging each injury I could see. The head wound was the most serious, but bruises were already forming on her arms and shoulder.

When we arrived, Dr. Winters was waiting with a team, her calm efficiency a stark contrast to the chaos in my mind. She directed me to place Rebecca on a gurney, then began her assessment.

"Alpha Sterling," she said quietly, "we'll take good care of her. But I need you to step back now."

Every instinct in me rebelled at the thought of leaving Rebecca's side, but I forced myself to nod and move away. As they wheeled her through the double doors into the treatment area, I turned to Raymond, who had followed in a separate car.

"Find Elizabeth Collins," I said, my voice low and deadly calm. "Bring her to me."

Raymond hesitated, his expression grave. "Sir, with all due respect, I think you should reconsider."

"You're questioning me?" I growled, my control slipping further.

"No, " Raymond said carefully, lowering his eyes in deference. "But Elizabeth Collins isn't Silver Moon Shadow. You don't have direct authority over her."

"She attacked what's mine," I snarled.

"Yes, sir. But handling this incorrectly could have serious repercussions between our packs. Your father has spent decades building the alliance with the Collins family. If you seize another Alpha's wolf without proper protocol..."

I stalked away from him, my hands clenching and unclenching as I fought for control. He was right, and I knew it. Pack politics were complex, territorial boundaries sacred. Even as the future Alpha of Silver Moon Shadow, I couldn't simply abduct a member of another pack, no matter how justified.

I leaned against the wall, forcing deep breaths into my lungs. The wolf in me howled for immediate vengeance, but the Alpha in me knew better. There were rules, protocols. Breaking them would only give Elizabeth's family ammunition against me.

"Fine," I said after a long moment. "But make no mistake—she will pay for this."

Marcus approached, his phone in hand. "Security footage is being retrieved. We'll have the full recording within the hour."

I nodded, a cold smile spreading across my face as a plan began to form. "Elizabeth thinks she's untouchable because of her family name. But there are many ways to destroy someone without laying a hand on them."

Raymond watched me warily. "Sir?"

"She wanted to be part of Sterling family so badly," I said, my voice hardening with resolve. "Let's see how she fares when every business connection, every social circle, every opportunity in this city is closed to her. By the time I'm finished, her own pack won't want to claim her."

The clinical lights of the hospital corridor reflected in my eyes, which I knew had taken on the blue glow of my wolf. Elizabeth had made a critical mistake. She'd assumed that because I couldn't touch her directly, she was safe.

She was about to learn how wrong she was.

I turned back toward the treatment area where Rebecca lay, the mate bond pulling me toward her. "Stay with her," I instructed Marcus. "I need to make some calls."