KADEN’S P.O.V

I walked into the room with all the guards watching them squirm as their eyes landed on me. I didn’t end up going yesterday like I planned, I went to see Clara instead, hoping she remembered the faces but she didn’t and that put me in such a bad mood that I couldn’t afford to see anyone else.


There wasn’t a lot of confusion from the guards, they all knew why they were here. I was just looking out for the guilty parties. The problem was, I had at least thirty men in this room.

I took the seat that had been kept aside for me while they all stood with their hands clasped behind them. “You know why you are here.”

“Yes, Alpha,” they responded in unison.


“I don’t want to be here as much as you all don’t want to be here so why don’t we make this easier on all of us. If you know that you were not at your designated post, step forward,” no one moved. “I asked out of courtesy, I already know who was there and who was not. You have one more chance before I-”

I didn’t even finish my sentence before a few people stepped forward. There were eight in total but I already knew that. People whispered and Caleb had spoken to a few of them who sang like birds to get out of trouble.


“Is there a reason you left your posts?” I asked crossing my arms over my chest. “Your negligence resulted in my mate going missing so you better give me a fucking good reason before I rip your heads clean off your fucking shoulders.”

The air in the room almost seemed to drop. They cast each other worried glances and I was counting down to ten in my head before I started doing anything.

“There was a wolf,” one of them began. “Two actually, a male and a female, they were trying to cross the border at the west and we went to help.”

“Did you think the guards at the west incapable of doing their jobs?”

“No, Alpha, it is just-” he swallowed. “You asked us to go there.”

I raised a brow. “Is there proof of this?”

He nodded and took out his phone from his pocket. With a bow, he handed me his phone and I looked through his messages. To my utter shock and surprise, there was my number displayed on his screen instructing them to go to the west border but it made no sense because I never sent that message.

I looked up at him. “I need to keep this.”

He nodded. “Of course, Alpha, anything you need.”

“You may all go.”

I watched all of them file out of the room and once I was alone, I took out my phone and called Caleb. As soon as he picked up, I spoke. “Is it possible for someone to clone my number?”

He was quiet for a second. “Yes, but why are you asking?”

“Someone fucking cloned my number. That is why the guards weren’t at their positions. I’m bringing the phone to you. Can you try and find out where it was cloned from?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never tried but-”

“Try now!” I grunted hanging up as I did. Blake had gone to extreme lengths to make this smooth and seamless. He couldn’t have done it on his own.

The moment I saw Caleb in my house, I knew something was wrong. It wasn’t merely the fact that he was here, he was here almost every day, it was the fact that he was willingly conversing with my mother whom he had said more times than I could count that he didn’t like.

They were talking in hushed whispers and the moment they noticed me, they went silent. I said nothing as I made my way over to Caleb and handed him the phone.

“This is the device. You’ll see the message,” I told him slipping it into his outstretched hand. “Are you going to tell me what you are doing in my house or not?” He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out so I turned to my mother. “Do you want to say anything?”

“I think we should sit down,” she said softly. “Something came for you in the mail.”

I could almost hear my heart pounding in my ears as she walked over to me. I could see the piece of paper in her hands and I wondered if it was from Blake or from Amelia herself. I held out my hand waiting for my mother to hand it over to me but she hesitated.

“I need you to keep an open mind while you-”

I snatched it out of her hands and read the words over and over again. It sounded like Amelia, it was her writing but I knew it wasn’t her. None of what we went through was a lie, I knew she loved me so I knew there was more to the letter than met the eye.

“I think that Blake might have forced her to write it-” Caleb began but I shook my head.

“He didn’t, these are her words,” I looked over the letter again. “Look at the first letter of each line. It spells out ‘I love you’.”

“It could be a coincidence.”

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” I shut him up quickly. “She sent this to me because she wanted to. She wants me to know that she is fine. Our relationship wasn’t a lie, she knows that and I know that. Maybe she is trying to explain the pain down the bond of her being with Blake.”

“What?” mum spat but I ignored her. “Why didn’t you tell me that she was cheating with him?”

“She isn’t cheating,” I growled. I didn’t care if I was grasping at straws or seeing what I wanted to see. “Amelia is trying to send me a message. I know her, she would never touch him if she didn’t have to. This is her way of telling me that she loves me.”

“Kaden-”

“She loves me,” I ground out. “I am going to find her whether you help me or not.”