ROME
The sound of the door opening drew my attention from my murderous train of thoughts. I looked up to see Teriel and Higuain, one of our top trackers.
“What did you find?” I asked impatiently.
“Your majesty.” Higuain greeted bowing before going to the map. “We found tracks leading west but later curved south starting behind the castle walls by the lake.”
“South?” He asked, fisting his hand on the table. “How far along before it curved south?”
“About 10 miles.”
“Alkarod.” He stated rising from his seat, murder singing in his blood.
“Yes, your majesty.” He nodded. “The first tracks appeared masculine but were deep. Either he’s a heavy weight or he was carrying someone else. Then it changed to horse hooves. Single horse. A few miles out. We almost missed it because it was deep in the tree line. I had my men follow the trail as far south as they went. They should be sending a bird any minute now.”
His beast stirred violently within him and in the far reaches of his consciousness, he could hear his bones breaking and joints popping as he transformed into his beast. He was vaguely aware of Teriel telling him to be calm but all he was seeing was red.
He released an angry bellow into the air to summon his elite Lycan soldiers.
Answering bellows echoed over the castle, rattling the walls of the castle.
Higuain had bent the knee as a member of his elite that knew when it was time for war and if he pushed, he was sure he could hear footsteps heading towards his study.
“We await your orders, Your Majesty,” Higuain stated still on bended knee.
The bastard was taking her to Alkarod.
Alkarod where she’d been tortured severally.
Alkarod where the men whose blood he craved to taste lay.
The thrill of the coming battle had him clearing his mind enough to transform back to his human form, accepting the robe Teriel handed him.
“Gather the men in the courtyard, Higuain. We ride out in five minutes.” He ordered tying the sash of the robe.
The Lycan nodded, stepping out of the room.
He walked over to the map of his lands, charting his course to Alkarod.
They would need to ride hard and fast if they were to arrive before
“Your majesty…”
“Teriel, I’ll have none of your arguments today.” He warned.
“What about mine?” Skye asked barging into the room with a hot glare directed at him. “What are you doing calling in your elites? You’re not going to war, Rome?”
“I have warned you about telling me what to do, haven’t I?” He glared back. “I am going to rain down hell on those bastards that have hurt Elora.”
“I get your need for bloody revenge. I am as angry as you but you’re a king. You serve justice not take revenge like a barbarian lord. How are you any different from them?”
“I’m not different from them, Skye.” He answered her squaring his shoulders. “I’m a thousand times worse. And even if you don’t agree with my methods unfortunately for you, I’m the King. You have to obey me.”
She yelled and punched a hole in the wall beside his.
“Anything else, General?” He asked her rubbing his words in.
“That will be all, my king.” She spat.
“Good.” He answered ignoring her anger. “Have you talked to your contact?”
A light blush stained her cheeks, ruining the image of the angry Lycan she had before.
“Yes.” She answered clearing her throat. “He’s had no strange visitors. I suspect that he would have…”
“Chosen to go to Alkarod.” He finished for her.
He glared at the map of the werewolf land again as if it were the source of his problems.
Why would that bastard have taken her to Alkarod when he’d been a slave there too?
Could he really have been what he said he was?
What if he was working for those bastards?
Would he really be so dumb as to take her to a place where she could be easily identified?
Questions plagued his mind the more he tried to come up with a reasonable explanation. His fear for Elora kept creeping into his mind obstructing any form of sensible ideas from coming forth.
His beast kept warring for dominance inside him, needing to kill the man that had dared touch what was his.
He had taken her almost a whole day now, he reasoned looking at the now dark sky outside.
What could he be doing to her right now?
“Do you think he’d have left any clues as to his final destination?” Skye asked just as Teriel returned with a change of clothes in hand, handing them to Rome.
“That’s true. Someone might have overheard him talking about his plans once he left the castle.” Teriel added nodding. “But who would have been privy to all his conversations with Elora?”
Their eyes widened in one accord as the answer came with lightning speed.
“I’ll send for her now.”
Hope burned brightly in his heart, temporarily calming his erratic beast. His anxiety for good news had him paving the room till Elora’s maid finally arrived.
“Your majesty.” She greeted bowing, looking anxious at the grim looks on his and Skye’s faces.
He hoped Teriel had been wise enough to fill her in before they arrived.
“I don’t know if anything I could say will be helpful, Your Majesty.” She started.
Good. He thought. He did fill her in.
“How do you mean?” Skye asked.
“Whenever Gael and Elora spoke, they only talked of the past and their childhood in Alkarod before…” She coughed. “He only also talked about how he’d watched her from afar. Your majesty, I don’t know of you’d like what else I’d have to say.”
“Go on.” He ordered, steeling himself for the worst.
She nodded.
“Elora confided in me that she felt Gael harbored feelings for her which she knew wasn’t proper seeing as she was your mistress.”
He gripped the edge of his table so tight it cracked.
It wasn’t news to him but hearing someone else say it annoyed him to his core.
“What else did she say?”
Her eyes darted uneasily between all of them.
“She also mentioned once that he had spoken of them running away together towards the South. Further than anyone’s ever travelled before.” At his growl, she added quickly. “Not that she ever considered it, Your Majesty. She was loyal to you despite her wanting her freedom. She was sure to soundly refuse him.”
“You may go.” He growled out, not trusting himself to control his beast any longer.
“Your majesty, I…”
“Leave us, Lucy.” Skye reiterated, sensing another outburst.
She had barely slammed the door when he slammed a hand on the table.
“Right under my nose.” He spat. “He’d been trying to steal her right under my nose.”
“He couldn’t have travelled far if he only had one horse.” Skye reasoned. “Our trackers should easily catch up to him.”
“No.” He refused. “I want the satisfaction of finding and killing the bastard myself.”
“But…”
He didn’t let her finish her argument but stormed out of his study towards the courtyard where he had asked his Elite to assemble.
“Your majesty! Your majesty!” Someone cried running up to meet him.
It was Lord Dowadry, one of the members of his council who had been nothing more than a pain in his arse.
“Surely you don’t mean to ride out with the Elite after that slave girl?” He asked incredulously, taking his silence as encouragement. “I assure you, come morning the council will ngggh…”
Rome squeezed the man’s throat harder and slammed him against the wall, lifting him till they were face to face.
A small crowd had gathered around them but he was way past caring.
Too long had he let those unworthy weak excuses for Lycans tell him what to do.
It was time he put them in their places.
“The council will do nothing. What I choose to do and where I choose to go are none of your concerns.” He warned. “I want you to take this message to them. If anyone dares to say anything about Elora, my mate, again, not only will they be stripped of their titles but they will also be exiled from all the lands under my control along with their families. Have I made myself clear?”
The man surprisingly was able to nod even though he had gone bright purple.
Rome dropped him to the floor and wiped his hands on his shirt, not wanting the grime of the irritating man to be on his hands.
The crowd parted as he walked by, some bowing with their faces to the ground as they did.
He had purposefully mentioned Elora was his mate to shut those useless tongues up.
Come morning, he’d have found her and returned her to her rightful place by his side then he’d show her just how much she meant to him.