Chapter 149:
Bryan’s POV:
As the clock’s hands crept past midnight, I finally returned to my villa, exhausted from handling a mess caused by one of my subordinates. The night had swallowed the day whole by the time I crossed the threshold of my home.
The moment I stepped into the living room, a servant greeted me with the kind of respect that felt almost habitual. I shrugged off my jacket, tossing it to him without a second thought, and asked, “How’s that woman been today?”
“Your Highness,” the servant began, choosing his words with care, “Miss Dunn has been quiet all day. She hasn’t made a scene in the bedroom, like she usually does.”
I arched an eyebrow, surprise mingling with the exhaustion that clung to me. “Is that so?”
Her silence was as strange as a wolf without a howl. Normally, she would have been kicking up a storm, cursing my name to the heavens. But today, nothing? Had the toy I’d left her with done the trick? Or had she finally decided to bend to my will?
The thought of that toy stirred something in my belly, banishing the weariness from my bones. The urge to see her, to find out what had changed, drove me forward.
I made my way to her bedroom with long strides, pausing at the door to listen. True enough, the quiet was thick, like a blanket smothering any trace of rebellion.
A smirk tugged at the corners of my mouth. Had she dared to defy me, pulling the toy out and falling asleep as if nothing had happened?
“If that’s the case, you’ll regret it…” I murmured, savoring the thought. With a flick of my wrist, I pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The room was drenched in darkness. I flicked on the light, but what greeted me wasn’t what I expected.
The room was empty. Not a trace of Makenna anywhere.
“Makenna Dunn!” I called out, my voice sharp with irritation.
𝖀𝗉𝖽𝖆𝗍𝖾𝗌 𝖋𝗂𝗋𝗌𝗍 𝗉𝗎𝗍 𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗈𝗇 gal𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀．𝖼𝗈𝗆
I tore through the room, searching under the bed, behind the curtains, in every nook and cranny she could have squeezed herself into. But it was no use. She was gone.
Damn it! This villa was guarded better than a fortress. Where could she have possibly gone?
Then, something caught my eye—the window. It was ajar.
I crossed the room in a few swift steps and peered out. Below, faint imprints marred the lawn—marks left by something—or someone—landing.
Had Makenna actually jumped out and made a run for it? A fire of fury roared to life in my chest. I whirled on the servant, my voice a dangerous growl. “What the hell happened here? Where is she? Is this how you—”
The servant crumpled to the floor, trembling like a leaf in a storm. “Your… Your Highness, I… I don’t know… I swear I don’t…”
“Useless!” I spat, kicking him aside with enough force to send him skidding across the floor.
The idiot couldn’t even keep tabs on a powerless woman. Worthless, the lot of them.
Curled up in the corner, the servant stayed silent, too terrified to make a sound.
Rubbing my temples, I tried to steady the storm brewing inside me. I barked out, “Guards! Get in here! Find out where she went. Now!”
The guards jumped into action, scattering like ants to search for her. I turned back to the window, examining the tracks more closely.
The bedroom was on the top floor. From the marks, it was clear they were left by a wolf.
But Makenna’s wolf was too weak to leap from such a height.
If she could’ve done that, she would have escaped long ago, not waited until now. And besides, she was naked. She wouldn’t have run through the palace without a stitch of clothing.
Could someone have helped her?
Rescuing her from under my nose, without so much as a whisper to the guards—whoever did this had nerves of steel.
My eyes narrowed, suspicion tightening its grip on my thoughts. A name began to take shape in my mind, a shadow among shadows.
As dawn broke, my subordinates completed their investigation and gathered before me, the weight of their findings evident in their tense postures.
“Your Highness,” the captain of the guards began, his voice trembling with a mixture of dread and deference, “all the security cameras inside the villa were deliberately sabotaged, save for one on the outer perimeter. From what we could retrieve, Prince Clayton’s car was captured on the footage.”
In an instant, my temper ignited—a blaze I could barely contain.
“Clayton! So it was him. I knew it.”
