The Lycan King's Second Chance Mate: Rise of the Traitor's Daughter
Chapter 75: The One Who Got Away

Chapter 75: The One Who Got Away

Griffin~

The chandelier’s soft light flickered against the high ceiling of my living room, stretching shadows along the walls—long, thin fingers like ghosts, reaching, clawing. The room felt smaller, strangling, as if the very air had thickened around me. Even the crackling fireplace seemed to mock me, each pop and hiss a cruel reminder of the silence sinking in from all sides.

Sleep had become a distant memory. Food was nothing but dust on my tongue.

Ever since I learned the truth—that Natalie was the Celestial Princess—nothing had made sense.

I leaned forward, elbows braced on my knees, staring blankly at the fire as my father’s voice cut through my thoughts, his words slamming into me through our mind-link.

"You still haven’t found her?" His irritation curled around every syllable, sharp and unforgiving.

I exhaled through gritted teeth, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I told you," I muttered. "She vanished. Completely. And not just her—Cole Lucky disappeared too."

The line went silent.

Then, my grandfather’s voice seeped into my mind—gruff, aged, and ice-cold. The kind of voice that always felt like a blade against my skin.

"And you’re telling us you haven’t found a single trace of her in over a year?"

My fingers curled into my pants, the fabric twisting under my grip.

I clenched my jaw. "That’s exactly what I’m telling you."

"Pathetic," my grandfather spat, his voice razor-sharp with disappointment. "You had her—and you let her slip through your fingers."

I clenched my jaw, inhaling sharply through my nose. As if I needed the reminder. Every damn day, I lived with the weight of my own stupidity sitting down on me like a curse.

I had rejected Natalie—the mate the goddess hand-delivered to me—because I thought she was tainted by my uncle Darius. Because I believed she was wolfless. Because I had been a blind, arrogant fool.

But now? I didn’t give a damn if she was wolfless. I didn’t care if she had been defiled or not.

I just wanted her back.

"Cole Lucky will latch onto her the second he realizes who she is," my father said, his tone edged with warning. "She’s a free ticket to the throne."

"I know." My voice was hollow, empty.

And I hated Darius.

For everything.

For murdering Natalie’s parents. For making her an outcast. For ensuring she was despised and shunned by the very people who should have protected her. For marking her. For making me believe she was worthless.

For being the reason I threw away the only person who was meant for me.

But I played my role well. On the surface, I remained the obedient nephew, loyal to the man who had shaped so much of my life. In truth, my father had already promised me that Darius would pay for his crimes.

And I trusted my father.

"Leave Darius to me," he had told me once, his voice dark with promise. "I’ll handle my brother. You focus on bringing Natalie back."

And I would.

Even if it killed me.

The sharp sound of heels clicking against the marble floor pulled me from my thoughts. I didn’t even need to look up.

"Lisa," I muttered.

She crossed her arms, a familiar pout on her lips. "Are you going to keep ignoring me?"

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "Lisa—"

"No." She cut me off, her voice sharp. "Ever since we saw Natalie at the Royal Hotel, you’ve been distant. You stopped touching me. You stopped talking to me. You don’t even look at me the same way."

I dragged a hand down my face. "Because I made a mistake, Lisa."

Her gray eyes darkened with anger. "A mistake?"

"I should have never rejected her." I stood, facing her fully. "And I should have never tried to make you my mate."

Lisa flinched, her fingers twitching at her sides as if she were debating whether to slap me. For a split second, I thought she might. But instead, she threw her head back and let out a sharp, bitter laugh.

"You actually think she’ll take you back?" Her eyes gleamed with something vicious—almost triumphant. "Griffin, I heard you rejected her. Publicly."

I didn’t flinch. Didn’t look away. "I don’t know if she will," I admitted, my voice steady. "But I have to try."

Lisa’s expression twisted, something like frustration curling at the edges of her perfectly painted lips. "I won’t let you," she said, her tone suddenly deadly serious. "You can’t throw everything away for a cursed girl like Natalie."

I arched a brow. "And what exactly do you think you can do to stop me, Lisa?"

For half a second, hesitation flickered across her face, but she recovered fast. She lifted her chin, her posture sharp and unyielding. "I’ll stop you."

A dry chuckle slipped from my lips. "Do whatever you want." I stepped past her, feeling her stare burning into my back. "It won’t change a damn thing."

By the time I reached my office, the adrenaline had faded, leaving only raw frustration in its wake. Lisa wasn’t the problem. She never had been.

Natalie was.

She was gone. Not a trace. Not a whisper of where she might be. And the longer she stayed missing, the worse the paranoia crawled up my spine.

Because if she chose Cole Lucky as her mate, I was done for.

I dropped into my chair, barely acknowledging the stack of documents Darius had left for me. My fingers curled around the pen, but the weight of it felt wrong—too heavy, too suffocating. The words on the papers blurred together, meaningless lines of ink.

Then, without warning, my mind link snapped open again.

"Griffin."

Marcus.

I sat up straight, my pulse kicking up. "What is it? Did you find something?"

There was a pause. Then, Marcus exhaled. "Cole Lucky finally showed up."

The pen slipped from my fingers, clattering against the desk.

"Where?" My voice was sharp, urgent.

"Paris. He was at that event Amelia Louis organized—the one who claimed to be the Celestial Princess."

I forced a slow breath, gripping the edge of the desk until my knuckles ached. "And?"

Marcus let out a low whistle, the kind that made my stomach drop. "You’re not going to believe this. Mist showed up."

Silence stretched between us. My blood turned to ice.

Mist?

As in, The Wolf Spirit?

The goddamn father of all werewolves.

Jacob?

"He—he killed her, didn’t he?" I asked, though I already could guess the answer. The legend of Mist, The Wolf Spirit, always portrayed him as a god who hated lies.

Jacob—the man I had met with Natalie—wasn’t the type to show mercy. When he delivered judgment, it was swift, absolute. Marissa was proof of that. Poor girl. Not a single healer in the pack, or anywhere else, could restore her voice.

Not that she didn’t deserve it. She had lied. She had bullied my Natalie in so many ways.

And now, she was paying the price.

"Oh, he didn’t just kill her," Marcus said, his voice thick with something between amusement and unease. "He obliterated her. But that’s not the interesting part."

My frown deepened. "Then what is?"

Marcus hesitated—just long enough to send a sliver of cold dread through my veins.

"Once Mist was done with the girl Amelia, he turned and took Cole Lucky with him," he said. "They just... vanished. Poof. A cloud of smoke, and they were gone."

A sharp, twisting pressure coiled in my stomach.

Were Mist and Cole... friends?

Goddess, no.

If Mist was involved...

If Mist told Cole who Natalie really was...

I was screwed.

I forced my voice to remain steady. "Marcus... what did Mist look like? Did he seem familiar?"

Marcus made a thoughtful noise. "Now that you mention it... yeah. He looked a lot like that guy—what’s his name? The one who killed two of my men."

My jaw clenched. "Jacob."

Marcus snapped his fingers. "Yeah. That guy."

I leaned back, pressing my fingers against my temples. If Marcus pieced it together, if he realized Jacob and Mist were the same person, then it wouldn’t take long before he uncovered the next truth.

That Natalie wasn’t just some cursed girl.

She was the Celestial Princess.

And I couldn’t let him figure that out yet.

"Marcus," I said smoothly, "you’re overthinking it. Mist and Jacob aren’t the same person."

Marcus hummed in thought. "I don’t know, man. The resemblance was uncanny."

"Maybe you didn’t get a clear look at Mist’s face."

A pause.

Then, finally, "...Yeah. Maybe."

I exhaled quietly.

But I knew the truth.

Jacob was Mist.

And if Jacob was standing by Cole’s side, I needed someone just as powerful standing by mine.

Someone who could help me break through any obstacles in my way.

Someone who could tip the scales in my favor.

A name surfaced in my mind, unbidden.

Cassandra.

The only mortal who had ever shaken the celestial beings.

I stood abruptly, my heart hammering in my chest.

I had to find her.

Before it was too late for me.

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