Page 104 of The CEO Alpha’s Substitute Mate

The shock and betrayal are coursing through me, and for the first time in my life, I wonder if I’m wrong. Maybe this video is doctored. Maybe—

Isabella, Damien, and I grew up together. She would never betray me. She can’t.

The grief is a hard ball in my throat, and this time it’s my wolf who forces down my emotion, my wolf who snarls at the viper living in my den. I collect myself or try to.

“Isabella—Her family has business dealings with the Thornes, don’t they?” My wolf is too close to the surface right now.

Damien has gone white to the lips. “The Thorne family and Isabella’s family have had very strong financial dealings for decades. In fact, Isabella’s family gets along well with every family. They’ve always been well-positioned.”

“Isabella was the one who volunteered to help with Maya.” My head is reeling. I trusted her because we were all friends. She and Damien stood by me through everything that happened. They had my back. How could she do this?

Damien seems to echo my thoughts. “No. She wouldn’t do this. She would never.”

But the more he denies it, the more the fog in my head begins to clear, and I begin seeing a pattern I had never acknowledged before.

“Isabella was the one who suggested I have no contact with Maya,” I say slowly. “She is the one who told me the money had been emptied and that Maya had taken the code from her earlier. She was the one who checked the systems first after they crashed.”

Damien makes a strangled sound. “But why? Why would she do that?”

I have no answer for him. Not yet.

I should have been suspicious when Isabella started spending time with Luca, when she reluctantly began to befriend Ariela. I’ve always known Isabella’s nature. She doesn’t do anything unless there’s a purpose behind it. My mistake was thinking she believed that since Ariela was important to me, she should try to stay on her good side. If Isabella got rid of Maya, then there is no guarantee she won’t go after Ariela. The only problem is her reasoning. Ariela is no threat to her. Isabella has never been romantically interested in me. So why do all this?

“Isabella knew of the disease. She visited when Luca was sick,” Damien utters. “I never checked her devices. I never thought we would have to. She was one of us.”

One of us.

The three of us who had weathered every storm together, who had shielded each other from the worst of everything. My human side is wrapped in a blanket of grief and anger. I reach for my phone, my movements sluggish. Ariela doesn’t answer her phone, so I call the house line. Reid answers after the first ring. I don’t give him a chance to speak. “Make sure Isabella isn’t allowed in the estate and tell Luca and Ariela to stay inside.”

My neck goes tight during a pause that lasts a second longer than it should. “The young madam and the young master haven’t gotten home yet.”

“What? Where are they?” I demand.

“I called the school,” Reid says hesitantly. “They say Master Luca already left.”

“Call again.” I’m already walking to my car. “Marchmont keeps guards on their gates. Tell them to find out who my son left with. Now!”

I cut the call, and my fingers hesitate on Isabella’s name. Then I call her. She doesn’t answer. I try Ariela’s number again, and there’s still no response. “Call Marek,” I tell Damien.

“Already am,” he replies, his phone pressed against his ear. After a moment, he shakes his head.

“Track their phones,” I order, my stomach churning. “All three of them. Send men to the Crane family estate. I want Isabella brought before me!”

I don’t shift because I need to have my phone with me. Getting in my car, I take off. I drive like a man possessed. Reid’s number shows up on my car screen, and when I answer, he says quickly, “The young madam and master left with Miss Crane. They were heading in the direction of the city.”

The city.

I try to calm down. There’s no reason for Isabella to attack them today. But why would she take them to the city? And what possessed Ariela to say yes?

I call Damien. He’s in his car when he answers. “I’m on my way to the Crane estate. I contacted her father, but he was acting strangely. I had my family ask around. There’s a pack elders meeting today, and something is happening. My family has been stonewalled.”

A pack elders meeting without the alpha? The last time that happened, my father was ambushed and killed by the Thorne family’s head.

“Does Isabella have any properties in the city?”

I hear screeching. Damien has stopped his car. “Let me check.”

After a few minutes, he replies, “She has no listed property there.”