Rejected by Her Mate Claimed by Four Alphas novel Chapter 57

Alpha Ronan’s POV

Days passed in a blur. I was yet to get word from Darius concerning when I could establish control over the western ridge. Despite that, pack duties kept me busy from dawn until dusk. I had to work on new patrol schedules in preparation for the most awaited event, which I actually dreaded.

A week after our return, I called Kane to join me for our routine border inspection. The formality helped ground me, the familiar ritual of checking boundaries and speaking with patrol guards a welcome distraction from the thoughts that plagued me.

We were checking the northern perimeter when Kane’s phone buzzed. He checked it, his expression changing instantly.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Information about that… matter you asked me to look into.” His eyes flicked to the nearby guards. “Perhaps we should discuss it back in my office.”

I nodded, suddenly impatient to return. We finished the inspection in record time, the guards no doubt puzzled by their Alpha’s hurried review of their posts.

Back in my office, Kane excused himself briefly. “I need to collect the reports from the intelligence team.”

He returned minutes later with several folders and laid them out on my

desk.

“We’ve been searching for days,” he began, “using every contact we have. And Alpha…” He hesitated. “We can’t find anything.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean there’s nothing to find.” Kane sat heavily in the chair across from my desk. “It’s like she doesn’t

exist.”

“That’s impossible. Everyone leaves trails. Birth records. Pack affiliations. School records. Something.” Kane shook his head. “Not her. We’ve searched every database, contacted every informant we have. No one knows anything about a Clara connected to Darius’s pack before six months ago.”

“What about before that? Where was she born? Which pack did she come from?”

“That’s just it.” Kane leaned forward, lowering his voice despite the privacy of my office. “There’s nothing. No birth records in any of the central packs. No mention of a female wolf matching her description in any

pack registry.”

I stood, pacing to the window and back. “That’s not possible. Everyone has a past. Everyone comes from

somewhere.”

“The only hint we found was a rumor.” Kane hesitated. “Supposedly, Darius found her half–dead at his

CHAPTER S4

border about six months ago. Running from something. Or someone.”

“Which border?” I pressed, hoping to piece together the puzzle. “East? West?”

+25 Points

“The southern border,” Kane replied. “The one that borders the unclaimed land between his territory and Shadowcrest.”

That got my attention. Shadowcrest was Jaden’s territory. My lifelong enemy, a man I’d give anything to see his downfall.

“There has to be more,” I insisted, my voice rising. “Search harder. Check other packs. Contact every informant we have.”

Kane watched me carefully. “Why are you so interested in this fighter, Alpha? You defeated her. The matter should be closed.”

My reaction had given too much away. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down.

“I didn’t defeat her, Kane. Not really.”

“What do you mean?”

“You recall she was hospitalized right? She was drugged.” I sat heavily in my chair. “Darius drugged his own fighter. The pack healer found enough ketamine in her system to knock out three warriors her size. She should have been unconscious before the fight even began.”

Kane’s eyes widened. “And yet she still fought you to a standstill?”

I nodded grimly. “Until the very end, when the drugs finally took full effect. That’s why I need to know who she is. What she is. No ordinary wolf could have fought like that while drugged.”

“Alpha…” Kane hesitated, processing this revelation. “What about the western ridge? If the fight wasn’t fair

स

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Darius has been ignoring my calls. The agreement was that I’d get the territory if

I won, but he knows as well as I do that it wasn’t a true victory.”

Kane’s expression hardened. “He tricked you. He set you up to win a hollow victory.”

“The question is why,” I said. “What game is he playing?”

“Could she be from one of the rogue factions in the north? You know rogues don’t keep records.”

Kane shook his head. “We checked. Even the rogues have some kind of documentation. You can trace

their roots and family lines. But with Clara, there’s nothing about her anywhere.”

I sat back down, the implications settling like stones in my gut. “So either someone has gone to extraordinary lengths to erase every trace of her existence…”

“Or she’s not who she appears to be,” Kane finished.

The memory of her fighting, even drugged, flashed through my mind. The way she moved. The strength

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CHAPTER 58

behind her strikes. Too strong for a normal wolf. Too skilled for someone without extensive training. “Keep looking,” I ordered. “Dig deeper. Someone must know something.”

Kane nodded, but his expression remained doubtful. “And if we find nothing?”

“That’s not an option.” I stood, dismissing him with the gesture. “Everyone has a past, Kane. Even ghosts leave footprints.”

After he left, I stared at the maps spread across my desk with territory lines, pack boundaries, and political alliances that had stood for generations.

And somewhere in the middle of it all, a woman with no history who could fight an Alpha while drugged. Who might be my mate yet belonged to another Alpha. Who appeared from nowhere six months ago and now stood at Darius’s side.

None of it made sense.

I pulled out my phone, scrolled to a number I rarely used. Darius would never give me straight answers. But there were other ways to get information.

Before I could make the call, Kane burst back into my office, face pale.

“Alpha, you need to see this.”

He laid a photo on my desk. A surveillance still from a neighboring pack’s security system, grainy but clear

enough.

Clara. Walking with another woman who looked vaguely familiar.

“Where was this taken?” I asked, studying the image.

“Shadowcrest territory. A week before she showed up in Darius’s pack.”

Shadowcrest. Jaden’s pack.

“Who’s the woman with her?”

Kane’s voice dropped to almost a whisper. “According to our sources, that’s Liana Ashburn. Jaden’s new

mate.”

The pieces suddenly shifted, forming a picture I hadn’t seen before. Clara may be from the Shadowcrest pack. Yet there were no records of her existence anywhere.

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