Chapter 5 The Vanishing: Klaus' POV

"A king doesn't beg his subjects for entry, and an Alpha doesn't beg his pet for surrender; if you won't give me your keys, Zoey, I will simply break down the door."

I stood by the window of my chamber, watching the moon bleed silver over the jagged peaks of Moonhill pack.

My skin felt like it was being flayed by invisible whips. Every breath I took was saturated with her scent.

"You look like you're in pain, Klaus," Zoey said from her place on the floor. Her voice was quiet, but it cut through my thoughts like a blade.

I turned, my eyes flashing obsidian. "Pain? No. I am beyond pain. I am a man starving in a room full of food he isn't allowed to touch. And I am done being hungry."

I walked toward her, my footsteps heavy on the stone. I grabbed her by the silk collar I had fastened around her neck and pulled her up until she was inches from my face.

"Tonight, the games end," I hissed.

"I’ve tried to ignore you. I’ve tried to replace you. But you’ve ruined every other woman for me. So, if I am to be cursed with you, I will at least have the satisfaction of hearing you beg."

Zoey didn't flinch. She looked at me with those calm, defiant eyes.

"You want me to beg? For what? To be used by a man who hates himself more than he hates me?"

"I don't hate you, little mouse," I whispered, dragging her toward the bed.

"I loathe what you do to me. And tonight, I’m going to make you feel every bit of the fire you've started in my blood."

I shoved her onto the bed, pinning her wrists above her head with one hand.

"Submit, Zoey. Just say the words. Tell me you want me. Tell me your heart belongs to me, and I’ll be gentle."

"Never," she spat, her chest heaving.

"You can take my body, Klaus. You can use your Alpha command to make me move. But you will never own my mind. I didn't submit my mind to you. I offered to serve you with my body….as your pet."

"We'll see about that," I growled.

I leaned down, my lips grazing the sensitive skin beneath her ear. I didn't bite. I used every trick I knew, every touch that had made a thousand women scream my name. I was an Alpha; I knew exactly where the nerves lived, where the pleasure turned into a weapon.

"Do you feel that?" I asked, my voice vibrating against her throat.

"Your heart is racing. Your skin is flushing. Your body is screaming 'yes' even if your tongue says 'no'."

"It's just biology," she gasped, her eyes squeezed shut.

"It... it means nothing."

"It means everything!" I roared, moving my hand to her waist, pulling her flush against my heat.

"Submit! I command you, Zoey. Open for me."

I felt the power of the Alpha command ripple through the air. It was a physical force.

Her body arched involuntarily, her breath hitching in a way that signaled she was on the edge of breaking. I could see the sweat on her brow, the way her fingers clawed at the sheets.

"Say it," I urged, my own control slipping.

"Say you're mine."

She opened her eyes. They weren't clouded with lust or broken by my command. They were cold. They were a fortress of ice.

"You are a pathetic man, Klaus," she whispered, her voice steady despite her trembling body. "You think a command makes a heart? You can't even make your own wolf stay quiet, and you think you can rule mine?"

"I'll break you," I snarled, my frustration boiling into a blind rage.

"I'll spend all night if I have to. You will scream my name until your throat is raw—"

BOOM.

The floor beneath us buckled. The massive stone walls of the pack house groaned as an explosion rocked the foundations. Glass from the balcony doors shattered, raining down on us like diamond dust.

"What the hell?" I yelled, rolling off the bed and shifting halfway, my claws extending.

Another blast followed, closer this time. I heard the frantic howls of my sentries and the unmistakable sound of silver-tipped bolts whistling through the air.

"Alpha! We're under attack!" Jace’s voice boomed from the hallway, followed by the sound of splintering wood.

"It's the Dust Pack! They’ve breached the southern wall!"

I looked at Zoey. She was sitting up, her hair wild, her eyes wide with confusion.

"My pack? Why would they... they can't defeat you."

"They aren't here for a war, Zoey," I said, a dark realization dawning on me as I heard a voice shouting outside—her father’s voice. He wasn't calling for a rescue. He was calling for her head.

“Kill the ghost! Leave no witnesses to the secrets!” her father roared from the courtyard.

"They're here to kill you," I hissed, grabbing my shirt. "They’re afraid you’ll tell me their secrets. They'd rather have a dead daughter than a loose tongue."

"No," she whispered, her face pale.

"I saved them. I gave myself to you for them."

"Stay here! Don't move!" I commanded, the Alpha roar shaking the room.

"I'm going to end this. If I find one Dust wolf left standing, I’ll burn their forest to ash."

I sprinted out of the room, shifting fully into my massive black wolf. I tore through the hallways.

I met the Dust Pack commandos in the foyer. They were cowards, using silver and explosives because they couldn't match our strength. I ripped through them, my mind a whirlwind of fury.

How dare they? How dare they come for what was mine?

Blood coated my muzzle as I tore the throat out of the last intruder in the hall. I didn't care about the fire spreading in the kitchens. I didn't care about the gold. I only cared about the girl.

I ran back up the stairs, my heart pounding against my ribs.

"Zoey!" I barked as I reached the door.

I shifted back into my human form, kicking the door open. The room was filled with thick, black smoke. The balcony was a jagged hole in the wall.

"Zoey!"

The bed was empty.

The silk sheets were shredded, but not by my claws. I looked down at the floor. The midnight-blue silk collar was lying there, the gold buckle snapped in half.

It was soaked in a scent that made my knees weak— something primal and ancient. It was the scent of a Great White wolf, a lineage that hadn't been seen in a thousand years.

The collar hadn't been unbuckled. It had been torn apart by claws.

"No," I whispered, falling to my knees and grasping the broken silk.

She was gone. The ‘useless’ girl, the ‘ghost’ of the Dust Pack, had vanished into the smoke. And in her place, she had left a trail of power that told me one thing: I hadn't just lost a pet. I had lost the only thing that could ever make me whole.

"I will find you," I roared into the empty, burning room.

"I will find you and I will ruin the world to bring you back!"