Broken Bond: Claimed by My Ex-Husband's Alpha Billionaire Uncle-Chapter 141: Hostage At Sea (1)

"HELP! HELP! SOMEONE’S BEEN SHOT!"

Damon instantly pulled Charlotte into his arms, his hand never leaving her waist. His body was tense, ready to shield her from whatever danger was coming.

"W-what happened?" Charlotte’s face turned pale. She never thought something terrible would happen out here in the middle of the ocean, especially not when she had only wanted a peaceful vacation with Damon.

"I don’t know." Damon swept his gaze across the deck and suddenly saw several people dressed in black, carrying rifles in their hands.

Without wasting a second, he tried to contact Louis or Diana, but the signal on his phone was gone, a clear sign that the satellite Wi-Fi had been shut down.

"Throw your phones into the ocean now!" one of the masked men shouted.

Damon’s eyes sharpened as he finally caught their scent. "They’re werewolves," he growled under his breath. "Rogues."

Charlotte’s fingers curled into Damon’s shirt, her breath caught in her throat. "Julian?"

Damon’s teeth clenched, and the fury blazing in his eyes made her stomach twist. "I think so."

"Maybe we can jump into the ocean?" Charlotte glanced down, only to see small boats circling the cruise ship like sharks. Her hope dropped. "Or ... maybe not."

No wonder neither of them had sensed any werewolves when they first boarded. These bastards must have sneaked in after the ship set sail.

"They’ve even blocked off the ocean." Damon narrowed his eyes, catching sight of a tattoo on one man’s arm, the mark of the Silverfang Pack, Ronan Warren’s pack. His voice was low with anger. "This is why I told the Elders to disband them. But they didn’t listen."

Still, Damon knew it wasn’t entirely the Elders’ fault. Normally, when an Alpha was in trouble or unable to lead, the second-in-command—the Beta—would step in to take charge.

As long as the Beta wasn’t tied to the Alpha’s crimes, the pack was allowed to continue.

But that never sat right with Damon.

The Beta of the Silverfang Pack had been so close to Ronan that it seemed impossible for him to know nothing about the crimes his Alpha had committed.

The Elders probably didn’t want to disband the pack because they thought it would be easier to keep them under the Nocturnal Order’s control rather than letting them roam free.

But in the end, whether they were left free or kept under the Nocturnal Order’s watch, they still managed to cause chaos.

"Hey, you! Throw away your phone!" one of the men shouted, pointing his rifle at Damon. "Do it, or I’ll shoot this woman!"

But he wasn’t aiming at Charlotte. His gun was pointed at a terrified mother clutching her baby boy in her arms.

Charlotte’s heart sank. That was when she realized that they were being targeted. These men would use the innocent passengers as hostages to force Damon and her into obeying.

It was a sick, disgusting move.

"Throw it, Damon," Charlotte whispered.

Damon’s jaw clenched. He took her phone along with his and hurled them both into the ocean. "Are you satisfied now?" he asked coldly.

"Now, on your knees!" the man barked. "Don’t even think about fighting back, or our Alpha will blow this ship sky high! Every human here will die because of you!"

Since most of the people on the ship were families, there were so many children aboard, and Damon knew well that Charlotte had a soft spot for kids; even he himself couldn’t bring himself to let those men hurt them.

"Where’s your Alpha?" Damon growled as he and Charlotte slowly sank to their knees.

The man with the rifle sneered, his eyes narrowing at Damon’s question. "You’ll see him soon enough. For now, keep your mouth shut and obey."

Charlotte could feel Damon’s fury radiating through his body, his muscles taut like a coiled spring. His eyes burned with a deadly glow, but he held himself back for her sake, and for the terrified families around them.

The rogues spread out across the deck, herding the passengers into a corner like cattle. Mothers clutched their children, men tried to shield their wives, and the cries of frightened kids pierced the heavy night air.

Not long after, two men stepped out from inside the ship onto the deck. Their faces were familiar to Charlotte, so familiar that it made her sick to her stomach.

The Nocturnal Order had hunted them for so long, but somehow, Ronan and Julian always managed to slip away. They had learned how to hide their scent so well that no one—not even the Order—could track them.

"My wife," Julian said, a wide smile spreading across his face, his eyes locked onto her. "We finally meet again."

Charlotte’s chest tightened, but before she could even react, Damon outstretched his arm protectively in front of her, blocking Julian’s view of her.

"I’m your ex-wife, Julian," Charlotte replied coldly, her eyes sharp as ice. "We’re divorced."

Julian’s smile faltered for a moment before twisting into something darker, something that made a shiver run down Charlotte’s spine. "Ex-wife?" he repeated, his tone dripping with mockery. "Charlotte, you can’t erase me that easily. A piece of paper doesn’t change the bond we share."

This man ... he was like chewing gum stuck in her hair, no matter how hard Charlotte tried to tear him out of her life, he clung on, showing up again and again.

Julian leaned forward, his voice lowering with cruel delight. "I heard a rumor ... that you had a miscarriage after our night together?"

Charlotte gritted her teeth as he suddenly brought up the night he kidnapped her and hid her in an underground tunnel.

Months had passed since then, but she could still hear the doctor’s voice as if it were yesterday, telling her that her baby was gone.

"Shut your mouth, Julian," Damon snarled, his tone cold and dangerous. "Or I’ll rip it off your face."

BANG!

The gunshot split the air. Damon and Charlotte’s eyes flew wide as they saw Julian fire at a young boy who had been crouching between his parents.

"My baby! Nooo!" the mother’s scream tore through the deck.

Julian only smiled, unfazed by the horror around him. "I guess my men didn’t make it clear enough, dear uncle ...." His eyes gleamed with cruel delight. "If you keep acting so arrogant, I’ll just have to teach you a lesson."