The Play-Toy Of Three Lycan Kings-Chapter 388: Queries II

ADAM

I paced the common room until the floor beneath my boots felt worn thin by my steps. Back and forth. Back and forth.

The space was large, meant for councils and celebrations, for laughter and raised cups and the easy noise of a pack at rest. Now it felt too open, too empty, every sound echoing back at me like an accusation.

Three days. Three days since Sage had vanished into thin air.

I dragged a hand through my hair, breath coming harder than it should have. Confusion sat heavy in my chest, tangled tightly with anger, worry, and a fear I refused to name aloud.

I had sent warriors across the land—scouts, trackers. I had called in favors, debts owed from years past. I had ordered searches in places I had sworn never to involve my pack.

Nothing.

No scent. No magic residue. No whisper of her trail. It was as though she had never existed.

The thought made something inside me splinter.

I had seen this before. Felt it. Lived it.

Maya. Dora.

Women who had existed once, vividly, brightly—then faded until even their names felt like ghosts on the tongue. Soon, Sage would be the same. A memory no one but me would hold. A space where a person should have been.

My heart twisted violently, pain ripping through my chest so sharp I had to stop pacing and brace myself against the edge of the table.

Not again. I had sworn never again.

I had tried reaching for her through my mind on the first night, half-mad with desperation. I hadn’t expected anything—had almost convinced myself it was useless. I hadn’t marked her. There should have been no connection strong enough to answer.

And yet... I had felt it.

A thread. Thin but unmistakable. A mind-link shimmering faintly between us, alive.

It had stunned me into stillness. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Matebond, I had realized slowly. Stronger than I had understood. Stronger than it had any right to be.

The connection had been faint, like a voice carried across water, but it had been there. Proof of life. Proof that she was still breathing somewhere in this world.

Relief had nearly dropped me to my knees.

But it hadn’t lasted. I couldn’t determine where she was.

The distance had felt wrong. Vast. Not merely leagues or borders—but something deeper. As if she were not just far away, but removed. Separated by more than land.

Continents away.

The idea made no sense. It clawed at logic, shredded it. How could that be possible? What did that even mean?

And yet the sensation had been unmistakable.

I clenched my fists, claws pricking at my palms beneath the skin. I had sent men after Darius too.

Every route. Every rumored hideout. Every place an enigma such as him might linger or pass through. The result had been the same—nothing. No trace. No sightings. No proof he had ever crossed our territory.

Had they left together?

The thought rose unbidden, ugly and sharp.

I shook my head violently, refusing it. Refusing to let it root.

If she loved Darius enough to disappear with him—if she had chosen him—then why would she want the latter gone? Why ask him to be exiled? Why leave without a word?

The doors opened then, interrupting the train of gnawing questions.

I turned sharply as my beta escorted Isla into the room. She looked smaller than I remembered, shoulders drawn in, eyes shadowed with exhaustion. Behind her came my brothers—Noah and Daniel—followed by their wives.

I felt irritation spike instantly.

Claire moved toward me, hand lifting as if to touch my arm.

I caught the flash of anger in her eyes, the sharp edge of jealousy she hadn’t bothered to hide. She resented this—resented that my attention was bound so tightly to another woman, even one who was missing.

I stepped back before she could reach me.

"Enough," I said coldly. "Take the women away."

They protested at once, voices overlapping, but I didn’t look at them. My gaze flicked to my brothers.

Neither of them spoke. Neither tried to stop me from sidelining their brides. And that was enough.

My beta nodded and ushered them out, ignoring Claire’s furious glare as the doors shut behind them.

Silence fell again.

I turned fully to Isla. "If anyone knows where she is," I said quietly, "it will be you."

She swallowed, hands twisting together. "I don’t," she said. "I swear it."

I watched her closely this time. Not as a king. Not as an interrogator. As someone desperate.

There was worry in her eyes. Real worry. Fear too. And beneath it—a sincerity that struck deeper than any lie could have.

My stomach dropped. "You would tell me if you knew," I said slowly.

"Yes," she answered without hesitation. "I would."

Fear sank deeper into my bones, cold and heavy. If Isla didn’t know—if her best friend had vanished even from her—then this was worse than I’d allowed myself to believe.

"Then tell me what you do know," I said. "About her. About where she came from."

Isla hesitated like before. Her mouth opened, then closed.

My patience frayed. "Speak."

She shook her head.

Was she bound by some oath not to talk about this particular topic?

I took a step closer, anger coiling tight. "Where did she come from," I demanded. "What is her heritage? Her bloodline. Anything."

Silence. Isla didn’t budge. She stood there trembling, eyes fixed on the floor, jaw set stubbornly.

To hell with her! To hell with her truth!

Rage flared, sharp and blinding. I turned sharply and called for my beta.

"Take her," I ordered. "Place her under house arrest."

Isla didn’t protest. She didn’t cry or beg. She simply nodded, as if she’d expected this all along, and let herself be led away.

I felt my brothers’ eyes on me as she left. Assessing. Questioning. Weighing my actions.

I didn’t look at them. I didn’t care anymore. If obsession was the price of not losing her—if becoming something unrecognizable was what it took—then so be it.

Afterall, we still needed her help with the dome... It didn’t matter that the vampires had stopped attacking...

I would not let Sage disappear into nothing. Not like the others.