Bound To The Broken Alpha (Amy and Daniel) novel Chapter 412

Chapter 412 Paying The Price

DANIEL

I woke up knowing something was wrong.

It wasn’t instinct or a vision or anything dramatic. It was the quiet. Amy was never unreachable.

Finished

Even when she needed space, she left a trail–messages unanswered but read, By the second day, I stopped pretending to be calm.

I stood in the kitchen holding my phone, staring at the screen like it might explain itself. I had already called her three times. Straight to voicemail. I hadn’t left a message. Not yet. Leaving a message felt like admitting fear.

Mark came in behind me. “Any word?”

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“She might still be cooling off,” he said carefully. “After everything—”

“She doesn’t disappear,” I cut in. My voice was sharper than I meant. I lowered it. “Not like this.”

He nodded slowly. “I’ll ask around again.”

“I already did,” I said. “Office. Security. Drivers. No one saw her leave. No one logged her departure.”

That was the problem. Amy didn’t move without creating a record. Even when she bent rules, there was structure. This wasn’t structure. This was a break.

By midday, I stopped waiting and started acting.

I called the internal security head first. “Lock down access logs from the last week,” I said. “All of them. I want vehicle movement, badge use, door access. Nothing filtered.”

“That’s a lot of data,” he replied.

“I know,” I said. “Start now.”

Next was pack security. Then corporate compliance, Then every contact who owed me anything.

By the third day, panic had settled in fully. It sat in my chest, heavy and constant.

I barely slept. When I did, I woke up reaching for my phone.

Clara came to me that afternoon.

She stood in the doorway of my office, hands folded, face drawn. “Daniel,” she said softly. “I heard Amy

still hasn’t been found.”

I looked up at her. Really looked. She appeared worried. Too worried, maybe. Or maybe that was just my

head.

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“No.” I said. “She hasn’t.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I can’t imagine how hard this must be.”

I didn’t respond right away.

“If there’s anything I can do,” she continued, “anything at all—”

“There is,” I said. “Stay out of the way.”

Her eyes widened slightly. Hurt flashed across her face. “Of course,” she said. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”

She turned to leave.

‘Clara,” I added.

She paused. “Yes?”

‘Where were you the night she disappeared?” I asked.

She didn’t hesitate. “Here. I had dinner with Mark. He can confirm.”

Mark nodded from the corner of the room. “She was with me until late.”

‘Thank you,” I said. “That’s all.”

She left quietly.

Mark frowned. “You think she’s involved?”

‘I think everyone is involved until they’re not,” I said.

That night, I finally left Amy a message.

‘It’s me,” I said into the phone, my voice tight. “I don’t care where you are. I just need to know you’re alive. Call me. Please.”

I ended the call before my voice could break.

On the fourth day, we found something.

One of the analysts came running into my office, tablet in hand. “We found an anomaly,” he said “Vehicle log. A private transport registered under a shell company. It accessed a service route near Amy’s last

known location.”

“Why wasn’t this flagged?” I asked.

“Because the credentials were valid,” he replied. “Perfectly clean.”

Too clean.

“Track it,” I said.

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“We tried,” he answered. “It went dark outside the city limits.”

I slammed my hand on the desk. “Of course it did.”

I stood and paced. My wolf was restless, angry, pushing against my control. I let it simmer. I needed my head clear.

“Who could authorize something like that?” I asked.

‘Someone with inside access,” he said. “Or someone who had help.”

Help.

Cole’s absence came back to me then. I hadn’t wanted to think about it, but it was impossible to ignore

now.

I called his number again. Still unreachable.

By the fifth day, the North was whispering.

Not loudly. Quietly. Questions about leadership. About stability. About whether Amy’s disappearance meant weakness or danger. I shut it down where I could, but rumors moved faster than authority.

I stood in front of the council that evening.

‘Amy Carter has not abandoned her role,” I said plainly. “She has been taken. And we are responding accordingly.”

Murmurs spread through the room.

‘We will find her,” I continued. “Anyone spreading doubt right now is helping whoever did this.”

After the meeting, Selene pulled me aside. “This feels planned,” she said. “Too clean. Too controlled.”

“I know,” I replied.

“Do you have a suspect?”

I hesitated. Saying Clara’s name out loud felt dangerous without proof.

“I have theories,” I said instead.

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