I stood, my hands braced on the table, my Alpha presence filling the space.
“I am the CEO of Ravencrest Global. I am the Alpha of this pack. And anyone—anyone—who thinks they can challenge me, who thinks they can threaten my family, who thinks they can take what’s mine—they will meet the same fate as Selene and Ethan.”
No one spoke. No one even breathed.
“Does anyone have any objections?” I asked softly. “Any concerns they’d like to voice? Now’s your chance.”
Silence.
“Good.” I straightened. “Then this meeting is adjourned. Edmund will handle the formalities of Selene’s removal from the board and the investigation into Ethan’s shares in Crescent Valley. I expect full cooperation from everyone.”
I walked out of the conference room with my head high, leaving them to process what hadjust happened.
It was done. Finally done.
Selene and Ethan were exposed. The conspiracy had finally ended. I should have felt victorious. Relieved.
Instead, I just felt tired. I went back to my office to deal with some paperwork before heading back to the location where Adele and Isabella were. But barely past noon, my phone rang.
Edmund’s name was on the screen.
I answered. “Hello?”
“Dimitri.” Edmund’s voice came through the phone, panicked. “Selene escaped. I don’t know how, but she had help, personal guards from her father’s pack. They overpowered our security and got her out of the building. We’re searching now, but—”
I didn’t hear the rest.
My blood ran cold. My vision narrowed to a single point.
Selene was loose. Desperate. With nothing left to lose.
My thoughts immediately went to Isabella and Adele. I couldn’t afford to be complacent, thinking they were safe. The assassin Selene sent had managed to disguise themselves as a waiter and sneak into my resort. She would have no trouble finding out exactly where Isabella and Adele were right now.
“Send every available unit to the safe house,” I barked into the phone. “Now. And get me a helicopter. I need to be there five minutes ago.”
I was already running.
Selene had played her final card. And if she got to my family before I did—
No. I couldn’t think like that.
I had to get there in time.
I had to.
Because the alternative was unthinkable.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Isabella’s POV
I sat beside Adele’s bed, watching her sleep peacefully. But every time I closed my eyes, I saw her in that pool. Saw her small body going limp. Saw the terror in her eyes before she lost consciousness.
Someone had done that to her. Someone had looked at my four-year-old daughter and decided she deserved to die.
And that someone was still out there.
My thoughts traveled to Dimitri. He’d been gone five hours now. I would have called him, but he’d insisted on not using phones while in the safe house so that no one could trace us. He used an untraceable cell to communicate with the security and Edmund.
