Chapter 1
Ace
Belle was gone. And I was barely holding it together.
I could feel it in every breath—the jagged, painful emptiness where she was supposed to be. My bond to her didn’t just ache—it roared. It burned. It tore into my chest like barbed wire twisting with every beat of my heart.
And while I was bleeding inside, people kept knocking. Kept asking. Kept needing.
“Alpha, the border patrol is nervous.”
“Alpha, the southern river pack wants a word.”
“Alpha, the council is demanding a status report.”
I didn’t care.
None of them mattered. Not right now. Not when she was missing.
The constant noise, the relentless pressure, the suffocating demands of being Alpha—it all grated on what little patience I had left. I could barely sit still. My claws threatened to pierce through my skin every time someone mentioned her name or asked what we were doing to find her.
Charlie had the nerve to say, “She’ll be okay.”
Like that meant anything.
I nearly snapped his neck. Not literally, but the thought crossed my mind—and that scared me more than I’d ever admit. That I was so far gone, even my closest friend wasn’t safe from the storm brewing inside me.
She’d been gone for three days.
And I had no answers.
Arianna had failed her. I didn’t want to say it out loud, but it pulsed in the back of my mind like a second heartbeat. She was supposed to protect Belle. Instead, she lost her—and we had no idea who had taken her.
No trail. No clue. No sound.
Just gone.
But something in my gut said Raul. It always came back to him. There was a scent in the air that didn’t belong, a twisted undertone of power that clung to the earth. My instincts screamed it. And my instincts had never failed me.
I paced behind my desk like a caged animal. My hands were balled into fists at my sides, knuckles aching from how tightly I held them. Ares, my wolf, was agitated beyond control. He snarled in my head at all hours of the day, demanding to hunt. Demanding to tear flesh.
And Klaus? My vampire side had gone completely silent.
Useless.
The last thing he’d said was Raul’s name—and then he vanished into the recesses of my mind like a coward. No help. No guidance. No purpose.
The worst part? I could feel Belle’s pain. Not directly, not like a beacon—but the hollow chill in my chest told me she was suffering. Every second that passed was another second I wasn’t with her, wasn’t saving her, wasn’t burning the world down to bring her home.
I grabbed a stack of papers from my desk and threw them across the room. The crash wasn’t satisfying. Nothing was.
Then a knock came at the door.
I didn’t answer—I growled. Loud. Sharp. Feral.
The whole damn pack probably heard it. Good.
The door creaked open slowly. “Alpha?”
Harley.
“Speak,” I snapped without turning.
“I—sorry. I know you’re dealing with a lot. We’re still tracking this Connor guy.”
I turned, slowly. “Stop looking for Connor.”
Harley blinked. “But—”
“Start looking for Raul.”
He hesitated. “Alpha, that’s like chasing smoke. He’s not on any records. No one even knows—”
“Just do it,” I said through gritted teeth, stepping forward. “Tear the territory apart if you have to. Turn every forest, every den, every vampire burrow inside out. I want him found.”
Harley bowed slightly. “Yes, Alpha.”
As soon as the door shut again, I felt the silence wrap around me like a noose.
I hadn’t left this office since the day Belle vanished. I hadn’t slept, hadn’t shifted, hadn’t even stepped outside. I was running on instinct and fury. No one questioned it. They didn’t dare.
But I needed more. I needed answers. I needed Klaus.
Klaus, talk to me.
Nothing.
Klaus! You said his name. Raul. Why won’t you speak?
Finally, a whisper echoed faintly in the corners of my mind.
I’m afraid.
Of what?
Of him.
Who is he? What is he?
No one.
Liar.
I can’t.
You can. You just won’t.
Silence.
Fine. Fuck you. I’ll find out myself.
I slammed my fist down on the desk so hard the wood splintered. Klaus was hiding like the coward he was, and Belle was suffering while he cowered behind the shadows in my head.
She had always calmed him. Her voice soothed him like no one else could. He’d only ever purred for her—like some spoiled pet. But now she was gone, and he was worthless.
I left my office with only one place to go. Charlie’s room.
I didn’t knock. I pounded. Hard.
He opened it, jaw tense, eyes tired.
“Is Arianna here?” I asked, barely holding back the growl in my throat.
“Yeah,” he said, stepping aside.
Arianna looked up from the bed, pale and hollowed. Her guilt was written across her face. And good. She should feel it.
“I need everything you’ve got on vampires,” I said.
She blinked, startled. Then slowly stood and moved to her closet. She pulled out a large wooden box and handed it to me.
“This is everything. Notes, texts, my mother’s journals. She… she was obsessed with them.”
I stared at the box. It was heavier than it looked.
“Thank you,” I said. My tone wasn’t soft. Just less sharp.
I turned to Charlie and stepped close. Low enough so Arianna wouldn’t hear me.
“Liar,” I muttered, narrowing my eyes. “She won’t let you mark her, will she?”
Charlie sighed. “I’ve tried. She won’t even let me touch her.”
“She’s scared. She thinks she failed Belle.” I paused, voice quiet but direct. “Give her time.”
He didn’t answer, but I saw his jaw tighten.
“I don’t have that luxury,” I added, stepping back. “But you do. So fix it.”
I left without another word.
Back in my office, I opened the box and spread its contents across the desk. Pages of lore. Symbols I didn’t recognize. Scrawled handwriting. Dates. Names. Warnings.
I started reading.
And what I found chilled me.
Raul wasn’t just some vampire. He wasn’t just powerful.
He was the first.
The original.
The blood from which all others were born.
And Belle… Belle was the only thing that ever hurt him.
One entry caught my eye. Just a few short lines:
“The flame of rebirth. The phoenix’s fire scorched the firstborn. He remembers it still.”
I froze.
That was it. That was why.
He feared her. Her power. Her presence. Her potential.
That’s why he took her. Because she was the one thing that could destroy him.
And somehow—he’d known. About her. About me. About the bond.
Connor. Raul. They were the same. He’d met her in Paris. He knew what she was. He was watching. Waiting.
Had he orchestrated all of it? Her mother’s death? Our meeting? My mark?
Nothing about this felt like coincidence.
And Klaus—he knew. He’d known all along. And still, he kept it buried.
Klaus!
No answer.
I clenched my fists so tight I felt the bones creak.
Fine. If I had to find Raul alone, I would. If I had to burn every village, every den, every ruin to ash—I would.
He took my mate. He marked himself the second he laid a hand on her.
And when I found him?
I would kill him.
I would rip his ancient heart from his chest and burn it in the fire he feared.
Because Belle was mine.
And no one—not even the first vampire—steals what’s mine and lives.
