Noah (POV)
The clinic steps were still warm under Noah's shoes when Aiden pulled him aside, away from the entrance, away from startled pedestrians who hesitated but didn't intervene.
"Aiden-stop-" Noah whispered, trying to tug his wrist free.
"Pregnant," Aiden repeated, his voice soft but venomous. "You really thought you could run off and play house with a dominant alpha?"
Noah's stomach twisted-not from the nausea this time, but from fear.
Aiden glanced at the folded report again, then shoved it into his pocket.
"You think Diamant can protect you from everything?" he sneered. "If he's not even in the city?"
Noah's heart lurched.
He didn't know.
Noah didn't even have time to react before Aiden pushed him into a parked car and slid in behind him. The doors locked instantly. Aiden leaned back, tapping the steering wheel with an almost bored expression.
"Diamant has left the city," Aiden whispered, eyes glinting, "soon, you'll be mine again."
The car started.
Noah's pulse hammered.
The city blurred outside the windows as the car drove toward empty, industrial outskirts.
"Aiden... please," Noah tried again, voice trembling. "I'm pregnant. Don't involve-"
"Exactly why I'm doing this," Aiden cut in sharply. "I'm not letting another alpha claim you completely."
Noah pressed a hand to his stomach, panic rising.
This wasn't Aiden being jealous.
This was something planned.
Calculated.
Aiden reached into his coat and pulled out a small silver case.
Noah's breath caught.
"A claim reductant," Aiden said calmly. "A prototype. Helps erase dominant marks. My company's been working on it for months." He snapped the case shut. "It's not perfect yet, but on someone like you-weak, exhausted-it should work."
Noah felt his throat close.
He didn't know how long the car drove.
The world blurred into metal warehouses and empty lots.
All he knew was that Diamant-
was not here.
EVAN'S POV
Evan's car screeched to a halt in front of Diamant's estate, gravel dust lifting into the warm evening air. His jaw was tight, hands clenched around the steering wheel. The entire drive, his phone had remained silent, stubbornly refusing to give him an update from his field team. Noah was still nowhere to be found.
The butler had confirmed it-
Noah had left the house that morning, cheerful, polite, unaware of the nightmare waiting for him...
...and he hadn't returned.
As Evan stepped out of the car, a message finally buzzed in.
-Location found. Industrial District. Old Wexford Factory.
His pulse dropped to ice.
He moved fast.
Diamant had already read the pregnancy message from Noah earlier, and Evan could imagine how he must have felt-confused, startled, maybe even hopeful. But now? With Noah missing?
There was no time to waste.
Evan immediately dialed him. Diamant answered on the first ring.
"Diamant-Noah's missing."
There was silence on the other end. A silence so sharp Evan felt it in his bones.
Then Diamant's voice came, low and lethal:
"Send me the location. I'm booking the next flight. Keep them tracking-don't lose him."
Evan didn't waste breath.
He sent the pin.
He mobilized every member of his underground network.
He got into the car again, speeding toward the factory, his chest tight with dread.
He didn't know what Noah had been going through these past few days.
Didn't know Noah had been nauseous, eating less.
Didn't know Noah had taken a pregnancy test-positive.
Didn't know Noah had called Diamant, testing the waters, terrified and hopeful at once.
He didn't know Noah had gone to the hospital that morning to confirm it.
All Evan knew was this:
Noah was in danger.
And wherever Noah was...
Aiden Frost was involved.
Evan hit the gas harder.
He remembered Noah saying the last time Aiden had stared at him with something ugly in his eyes.
Possession.
Desperation.
A twisted sort of craving.
If Aiden truly believed Noah "belonged to him," then Noah's disappearance...
No. He refused to imagine the worst.
He gripped the wheel.
"Hold on, Noah," he whispered, voice breaking despite himself.
"We're coming."
---
When Diamant landed hours later, he didn't bother with luggage or greetings. His team met him at the gate, and he was already walking fast, his coat whipping behind him like a storm front.
Evan met him outside the car, breath uneven.
"His signal is coming from the center of the factory. My guys are surrounding the building now."
Diamant nodded once-sharp and deadly.
He had read Noah's text minutes earlier.
About the pregnancy.
Something he hadn't expected-but something that hit him deeply.
And now Noah was missing.
His mark on Noah...
He could still feel it earlier.
Weak, faint, but present.
Now?
It was gone.
Diamant Reed had never felt fear like this.
He wasn't losing Noah.
He wasn't losing their child.
Not to Aiden.
Not to anyone.
"Move," he growled.
They advanced toward the factory-its rusted walls towering like a graveyard monument. Diamant's scent flickered through the air, sharp and overwhelming, his Alpha dominance breaking through any attempt at restraint.
Evan kept pace beside him.
Both Alphas in sync.
Both lethal when cornered.
But neither could prepare for what they were about to see.
Inside the factory-just beyond the broken doors-
Diamant froze.
Noah lay collapsed on the cracked floor, barely conscious, trembling with pain, his hands weakly curled over his stomach as if he were trying to protect something that was no longer there.
His clothes were wrinkled, dusty as if stomped on, his breathing shallow.
A faint chemical scent clung to him.
And Diamant's mark-
The one that should've been unbreakable-
The one no Alpha could erase-
The one symbolizing their bond-
Was gone.
Diamant's vision blurred with fury.
His team rushed forward, lifting Noah carefully, speaking urgently into radios, securing an exit route.
But Diamant didn't move.
Not yet.
Because across the room, frozen at the sight of him, was Aiden Frost.
And Aiden...
Aiden smiled.
Diamant's world snapped.
He stepped forward, his dominance crashing over the room like a tidal wave. Even Evan felt the ground shift beneath them.
Aiden stumbled back, choking on the scent, the air crackling.
Diamant's voice was low.
Cold.
Inhuman.
"You touched him."
Aiden swallowed, then tried to smirk, forcing courage he didn't have.
"He was mine first. You stole him. And now? Now he's free of your mark, isn't he?"
He leaned forward, voice turning sickeningly soft.
"Did he tell you he was pregnant?"
Diamant went still.
Aiden's grin widened.
"I did you a favor and got rid of the little bastard."
Evan's breath caught.
Diamant didn't move, but the temperature of the air plummeted.
Aiden continued, voice dripping venom:
"And your mark? Guess what-gone."
Diamant's pheromones exploded.
Aiden collapsed to his knees instantly, shaking, unable to breathe under the crushing pressure.
Diamant stepped closer-step by step-each step a promise of destruction.
"You," Diamant said, voice trembling with barely contained rage,
"touched what belongs to me."
Aiden tried to crawl backward.
Diamant's foot came down in front of him.
"You stomped on the life I created."
Aiden began to whimper.
Diamant leaned down, eyes cold enough to kill.
"You think erasing my mark frees you?"
His voice dropped to a whisper more terrifying than a scream.
"No one touches my Omega. No one hurts Noah. No one takes from me."
He straightened.
"Take him," he ordered his team.
"Cut off the hands he used.
The feet he stepped on Noah with.
And destroy the eyes he dared to look at Noah with."
Aiden's screams echoed as Diamant turned away.
He didn't look back.
He only ran-faster, harder-toward the medical van where Noah lay.
"Drive," Diamant barked, climbing inside, grabbing Noah's cold hand.
The van sped toward the hospital.
Diamant held Noah's hand tightly against his chest, lowering his forehead to it.
His voice broke for the first time.
"Noah... don't leave me."
And the lights of the city blurred past them as the world held its breath.