Shattered Bonds: A Second Chance Mate - Chapter 75: Chapter 75

Go to Francesco point of view:
The storm was still gathering when I returned home, wind curling around the edges of the estate like whispers from the past. The moment I stepped through the door, something felt wrong.
“Ellaine?”
I called her name once, then again. No answer.
Her scent should’ve greeted me the moment I entered—lavender and ink and something warmer, softer, like the sun through stained glass.
But there was nothing. Just cold air and silence.
I checked the main hall first, then the west garden, then her room—still untouched, the rose I left that morning wilting on the windowsill. My chest tightened. A cold, primal fear began to unfurl in my ribs.
I reached for the bond between us. It should have been pulsing with her presence, her heartbeat echoing softly in the back of my mind.
But there was… nothing.
Not faint. Not distant.
Just—gone.
“Ellaine!” My voice cracked like a whip through the halls. I didn’t care who heard me. I was already moving, fast and focused, scanning for any sign of her.
“Ellaine!!” No answer.
I stood in the entryway, scanning the silent corridors. But I felt no presence.
Not hers. A chill ran through me.
I walk to the library; remember she always spend her time there. The door creaked open beneath my hand, and I stepped inside. The room was quiet, warm with the soft glow of candles. Books lay open on the table. Pages scattered across the floor. Her handwriting.
But no Ellaine.
I felt something then. A tug deep in my gut—the bond straining, searching.
And coming up empty.
My voice cracked. “Ellaine, where are you? I sensed you a moment ago!”
Nothing.
Not a whisper. Not a shadow.
Just silence.
And the unmistakable fear beginning to crawl beneath my skin.
I turned in a slow circle, heart hammering. I was the Alpha. I could feel every member of my pack through the bond—especially her. But now, it was like she had disappeared. No heartbeat. No breath. No scent.
“ELLAINE!!”
My voice rang off the stone walls, loud enough to rattle the shelves.
Footsteps echoed behind me—Audrey burst in first, sword already half-drawn. “Alpha, what is it?”
Others followed. Guards. Healers. Warriors on alert from the moment they heard me shout.
“Luna isn’t here!” I snapped, already pacing. “Find her. Now.”
Audrey blinked, looking around the room. “But... I saw her coming here a while ago,” she said, picking up a leather-bound journal. “And these are her notes—this is her handwriting.”
“I know,” I growled. “But she’s not here. I can’t feel her.”
That admission sent a ripple of fear through the room. The warriors exchanged glances. Audrey’s expression sharpened.
“She was here. I know she was,” I muttered, scanning every corner of the room again. “Why can’t I sense her?”
I dropped to my knees, placing my palm on the wooden floor, trying to reach through the bond again. Ellaine. Where are you. Please answer me.
Nothing.
Not even an echo.
Could it be… Magic?
Old, dangerous, unfamiliar.
It clung to the air like perfume—fragrant and subtle, but it scraped the edge of my instincts.
“She did something,” I whispered to myself. “Something I can’t see.”
Everyone was still.
“Find her,” I ordered again. “Search the house. Check the woods. I want every inch of this estate swept—now.”
Audrey bowed her head and turned to move, but I hesitated, staring once more into the flickering shadows of the library. Something tugged at me.
A scentless breath of wind. A shift of warmth.
Like someone was watching.
Like someone was here.
Then, just as suddenly—
Everyone was gone.
One by one, they slipped out, murmuring, retreating.
I tore through every inch of the property—cellars, corridors, balconies, even the old stables. I ran the perimeter myself, shifted for speed, fur slick with rain, rage rising with every step that came back empty.
The woods were empty.
The gardens untouched.
No signs of struggle. No blood. No trace.
Just the hollow ache where her presence used to be.
How could this happen? Under my watch? Under my roof?
By the time I returned to the estate, dripping and panting, the entire household was on alert. Audrey met me in the foyer, her face pale, her voice grim. “Nothing, Alpha. She’s not outside. She’s nowhere.”
That can’t be true.
That won’t be true.
I stalked toward my office, barely noticing the servants who stepped aside in silence. My hands were trembling—not from exhaustion, but from fear. Real, bone-deep fear.
If I’d lost her—no, I couldn’t think that.
I shoved open the door and collapsed into the chair behind my desk. Rain hit the windows in soft, steady beats. The hearth had long since gone cold.
Then I heard it.
A sound.
Soft. Deliberate.
Movement.
Not in the hall. Not upstairs.
Right beside me.
In the library?
I stood so fast the chair scraped hard against the floor. My hand was already on the door before my mind could catch up. She’s not there a moment ago.
I shoved it open.
And stopped cold.
She was there.
Standing right in the middle of the room, surrounded by scattered books and candlelight. Her eyes met mine—wide, startled, haunted.
“Ellaine.”
I didn’t know if I said it out loud or just breathed it. Relief and confusion crashed into me all at once, knocking the air from my lungs. For a second, I couldn’t move. Couldn’t think.
She was here.
She was right here.
But there was no scent. No heartbeat brushing my bond.
As if she weren’t real.
As if I were seeing a ghost.
“Where have you been?” My voice came out hoarse, barely restrained. “I couldn’t feel you—I couldn’t find you.”
She didn’t answer.
Her hand trembled slightly at her side, and her lips parted like she wanted to speak. But her face paled before my eyes, and her body wavered.
Something was wrong.
“Mia amore?” I moved toward her, heart hammering.
And then she gasped.
A sharp, sudden sound of shock—like something inside her snapped.
“Ellaine!” Her knees buckled.
I caught her before she hit the floor.
She collapsed against me, her body limp, cold, breath shallow. Her pulse flickered beneath my fingers, faint as smoke.
“No,” I breathed, cradling her close. “Stay with me. Ellaine—come back.”
Her head rolled against my shoulder, eyes fluttering closed. I held her tighter, heart pounding like a drum in my chest.
That’s when I smelled it.
Not her.
Something else.
Old magic. Faint but potent—like the aftertaste of moonlight and blood. My eyes went to the table, the scattered pages, the crystal vial beside a half-burned candle.
A potion.
She drank something.
And now the bond was silent.
My gut twisted.
“What did you do?” I whispered, voice thick. “Why didn’t you wait for me?”
I pressed my forehead against hers, listening to her breathe—shallow, fragile, alive. But for how long?
I didn't know.
The moment Ellaine's body went limp in my arms, a silent scream echoed in my chest.