Brenn's face creased with worry. "She was right over there about twenty minutes ago, and said she needed some air. Why? What's wrong?"
"Did you see her leave the estate?" The alpha command in his voice caused both women to straighten instinctively.
"No," Talia replied, her sharp green eyes already scanning the crowd. "But I noticed her heading toward the back terrace earlier. She seemed overwhelmed by all the attention."
Raikar was moving before Talia finished speaking, his powerful strides carrying him through the celebration with single-minded determination. Guests stepped aside without conscious thought, their shifter instincts recognizing a predator on the hunt.
The terrace doors stood open to the night air, revealing empty stone and shadows. The space felt wrong—too quiet, too still. Raikar's nostrils flared as he caught the lingering traces of Jade's lavender and citrus scent, but underneath it lurked something else. Something that made his panther snarl with recognition.
Sera.
"General!" Veynor's voice carried across the terrace as the captain approached with his characteristic military efficiency. "What's the situation?"
"Jade's missing. And the mate bond's been compromised somehow." Raikar's hands clenched into fists as frustration warred with protective fury. "Someone's taken her."
Brenn and Talia appeared in the doorway, their expressions grim with understanding. In their world, threatening a mated pair wasn't just criminal—it was a declaration of war.
"The bond's still there but muted," Raikar continued, his voice tight with controlled violence. "That means she's alive but something's interfering with our connection."
"Could be a suppression drug," Veynor suggested, his tactical mind already working through possibilities.
The implications hit Raikar like a gut punch. Someone had planned this, prepared for it. This wasn't a crime of opportunity—it was an assassination attempt.
"We spread out and search the grounds," he ordered, his General's authority taking command. "Veynor, take the east wing. Brenn, Talia—cover the gardens and outbuildings."
As his team dispersed with military precision, Raikar closed his eyes and reached through the dampened bond, searching for any trace of Jade's location. The connection pulled weakly toward the back of the estate, a gossamer thread of awareness that felt fragile as spun glass.
Following the faint tug, he moved beyond the manicured gardens toward the wild edges of Xylen's property. The estate perched on the highest cliff in their territory, offering commanding views of the jungle canopy far below. Perfect for privacy. Perfect for eliminating witnesses.
Jade's scent grew stronger as he approached the cliff's edge, mingled now with fear-sweat and the acrid tang of chemical sedation. Through the trees ahead, he caught sight of two figures silhouetted against the star-filled sky.
His blood turned to ice.
Sera stood at the very edge of the precipice, her elegant form deceptively calm as she gripped Jade's swaying figure. His mate's hands were bound behind her back, her movements sluggish from whatever drug coursed through her system. One wrong step, one moment of lost balance, and she would plummet hundreds of feet to the jagged rocks below.
"Sera!" Raikar's roar echoed across the cliff face as he charged toward them, every protective instinct screaming. "Let her go!"
Sera turned with practiced grace, her deep blue eyes reflecting starlight as a cold smile curved her lips. Her grip on Jade tightened possessively, her fingers digging into his mate's arms with cruel precision.
"Oh, you're just in time to watch your mate die," she said, her voice carrying the cultured tones of aristocratic breeding twisted into something venomous.
Raikar forced himself to stop twenty feet away, his entire body coiled with the need to attack while his strategic mind calculated angles and distances. If he rushed her now, Sera could push Jade over the edge before he reached them.
"Stop this madness and walk away," he commanded, his voice carrying the authority of generations of leadership. "This isn't you, Sera. This isn't who you were raised to be."
Her laugh held no warmth, only bitter rage and years of suppressed resentment finally given voice. "Walk away? I can't walk away, Raikar. I've spent my entire life preparing for this role, being groomed to stand beside you as your mate and future High Queen."
The confession hit him like a battering ram, pieces of a political puzzle suddenly clicking into place. "I didn't know?—"
"Of course you didn't know!" Sera's composure cracked, revealing the volcanic fury beneath her polished exterior. "Xylen promised my family this mating when I came of age and influence. I've spent twenty years being molded into the perfect political partner, learning every protocol, every expectation, every duty required of a General's mate."
Her grip on Jade shifted, and Raikar's heart stopped as his mate swayed closer to the edge. Through their dampened bond, he felt her fighting the sedative's effects, her warrior's spirit refusing to surrender even in her weakened state.
"Then you rejected me," Sera continued, her voice rising with each word. "Publicly. Humiliated me in front of the entire clan. Ruined everything I'd worked for, everything I was promised."
"I had to follow my heart," Raikar said carefully, his hands raised in a gesture of peace while his mind raced through tactical options. "I never meant to hurt you."
"Your heart?" Sera's eyes blazed with fury. "Do you have any idea what you've destroyed? Xylen has been arranging strategic matings for Generals for centuries, ever since your great-grandparents died. He couldn't risk another fated mate pair in the high command—it diminishes his control, threatens the power structure he's spent lifetimes building."
