The Alpha's Exiled Mate Chapter 28

Thorne's POV

I slammed the door to the presidential suite, my fury barely contained. The scent hit me immediately - empty. Her scent was still here, lingering on the sheets, mixed with blood and medicine, but Freya herself was gone. The IV line hung uselessly from its stand, a small drop of blood on the tip evidence of her hasty departure.

"Dammit!" I growled, my Alpha voice making the windows vibrate slightly.

The doctor had just stabilized her internal bleeding. What was she thinking, pulling out an IV and running with injuries like that? My eyes tracked to the open balcony door, the curtains billowing in the night breeze. She couldn't have... I rushed over, looking down at the dizzying drop. Even in peak condition, a leap like that would be dangerous. In her state, it was suicidal.

I pulled out my phone, dialing my head Delta. "Freya Riley is missing," I said without preamble. "She's injured, weak, and likely bleeding again. Find her. Every available Delta on the streets, now."

The rage was familiar, comfortable even. The worry that accompanied it was not.

"Sir, should we bring her back to you or—"

"Yes," I cut him off. "And be careful with her. She's... fragile." The word felt strange on my tongue. Freya Riley had never seemed fragile to me before tonight.

I ended the call and paced the length of the suite, my wolf restless beneath my skin. The bed caught my attention again, the sheets still rumpled from where she'd lain. I could still smell her there - that distinctive scent of wild roses and mountain air, now tainted with pain and fear.

Without thinking, I sat on the edge of the bed, fingers brushing the indentation her head had left on the pillow. My mind drifted back to the kiss we'd shared just hours ago. Her inexperienced lips against mine, the way she'd trembled beneath my touch.

A strange emotion tightened my chest, something I couldn't quite name. I'd felt it before, when she knelt before me in the VIP room at the Moon Howl, when I recognized her despite her attempts to hide. It wasn't just anger, though there was plenty of that. It wasn't just desire, though I couldn't deny that either.

I understood why she ran. Kaelin's arrival must have terrified her. But why should it? Freya was the one who attacked Kaelin three years ago, the one who disrupted the peace I'd worked so hard to build. Yet she always managed to look like the victim, with those haunted eyes and that stubborn tilt to her chin.

"You're not the victim here," I muttered to the empty room, but the words lacked conviction.

The evidence had been clear at her trial. Multiple witnesses saw her confront Kaelin, saw the altercation. I had done my duty as Alpha Judge, passing sentence without favoritism despite her tearful pleas of innocence.

So why did that memory now leave a bitter taste in my mouth?

I sat there for a long time, caught between conflicting emotions - hatred for the woman who had hurt my intended mate, and something dangerously close to longing for the wolf whose kiss still burned on my lips. My mind kept replaying Dr. Maloy's words about the excessive moon-silver in her system, the scars that shouldn't be there, the signs of malnutrition and abuse beyond standard exile conditions.

---

The sound of the door opening broke my reverie. I looked up to see Ryder Foster entering the suite, his expression carefully neutral.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, not bothering to hide my irritation.

"I have business near here tomorrow morning," he replied smoothly. "Thought I'd stay at the hotel tonight." His gaze moved past me to the disheveled bed. "What happened? You look like you're about to shift."

I realized my claws had partially extended, digging into my palms. With effort, I retracted them. "Freya Riley just left," I said, gesturing toward the bedroom. "The doctor had just stabilized her internal bleeding, and she pulled out her IV and disappeared."

Ryder kept his expression neutral, but something about his scent seemed off. "Maybe she was scared. Finding herself in an Alpha's territory, vulnerable and injured..."

I stopped pacing to glare at him. "I brought her here to protect her. Someone in the Shadow District nearly beat her to death."

"And did you explain that to her?" Ryder asked carefully. "Or did you just command her to stay put?"

The question hit uncomfortably close to home. I hadn't explained anything. I'd just expected her to obey, as everyone else did.

"I've ordered my Deltas to search the city," I said, changing the subject. "She can't have gone far in her condition."

I felt Ryder watching me closely, no doubt noting the tension in my shoulders, the tremor in my hands that I couldn't quite control. He'd known me since we were pups tumbling through the Moonlight Woods together. He'd stood beside me when I took my father's place as Alpha, when I donned the judge's robes for the first time. I couldn't hide from him as easily as I could from others.

"Why are you really looking for her, Thorne?" Ryder asked, his tone light despite the seriousness of the question. "Is it because you want to finish investigating the Moon Howl's illegal dealings, or is there something else?"

My head snapped up, and I felt my eyes flash gold with Alpha power. "She hurt Kaelin. Attacked a high-ranking Beta and tried to sabotage my relationship. And she's connected to the black market trading at the Moon Howl. Those are reason enough."

"If you say so, Alpha," Ryder replied, not bothering to hide his skepticism.

My phone rang, and I answered it abruptly, barking orders to my Delta on the other end. When I hung up, I felt my expression darken further.

"Nothing," I muttered. "It's like she vanished into thin air."

"She survived three years in the Forgotten Wilds with a moon-silver collar," Ryder observed. "She's tougher than she looks."

My eyes narrowed. "Whose side are you on, Ryder?"

"Yours," he answered without hesitation. "Always yours. But sometimes I wonder if you know what side that really is."

I felt my wolf surge forward, eyes burning gold, and for a moment I nearly lost control. Then I sighed, the sound heavy with something that might have been regret.

"I hate her," I said, but the words sounded hollow even to my own ears. "She hurt Kaelin. She's reckless, impulsive, a disruption to the order I've worked so hard to maintain."

Ryder looked at me, and I felt like he could see past the Alpha exterior to the conflicted wolf beneath. "I hope that's truly how you feel," he said softly. "For everyone's sake."