*Zander*
The tension crackled in the air as Damon’s accusing words pierced through the atmosphere. “See, you made our mate run!” he accused me, his voice laced with anger and frustration.
“She is not your mate,” I snapped back, my own emotions boiling beneath the surface. “And you made her upset and run, you asshole.”
Damon’s eyes flared with fury, and he took a menacing step forward. “Don’t dare to disrespect me in my kingdom and my palace and think you can get away alive,” he threatened, his voice low and dangerous. But I didn’t flinch at his words. I damn care about his threat.
“You think you can threaten the Alpha king?!” I challenged, my voice rising with authority. “Your territory or mine, it doesn’t matter because I only need my two bare hands to rip your head apart from your body, and you’ll be dead,” I declared boldly, Lyon surfacing and trying to take over me to show him who the true alpha was.
“You want to see who is the king!” Damon roared, baring his teeth and picking up his filthy trident.
“Don’t provoke the Alpha King, King Damon, if you want peace in your kingdom and don’t want to start a war,” Maddox intervened before things got worse.
“Leave now!” Damon shouted, making everyone tremble in the room. The audacity of that filthy vampire! I swiftly stood before him, our noses almost touching as we both glared at each other, heaving with anger.
“I won’t leave without my mate!” I gritted out.
“You won’t get her!” Damon ground his teeth. “She is mine!”
My hands grabbed his throat as he spat the words I never wanted to hear.
“She is only mine, and don’t you dare claim her. You fucking liar!” I snarled, throwing him into the adjacent pillar. The impact was loud and thunderous, making the pillar shatter as if it was made of dirt. Damon groaned in pain as he got to his feet.
“You’ve made the worst mistake of your life, Zander!” he bellowed, lifting his trident.
I was ready for his magical strike, my power swirling around me to counterattack. But before he could unleash his strike, a lady hurried in and stopped him.
“No, my king!” she said, shaking her head.
“Stay away, Cassandra,” Damon growled.
“My king, this is not the right time,” she tried to reason with him, her voice laced with urgency.
“Leave my kingdom right now if you don’t want all hell to break loose,” Damon warned Maddox, his tone dripping with authority. Finally, he realized who the true king was.
‘Alpha! We need to leave. We will deal with him later,’ Maddox mindlinked me, and although I wanted to teach that filthy vampire a lesson, I agreed with Maddox. I needed to find Selena first and take her with me before this liar and fraud of a king could manipulate her further.
“This is not over yet, Damon,” I warned him before turning and leaving with my people.
‘I need to find Selena first,’ I told Maddox through the mind link.
‘But Damon’s people are following us, and they will escort us to the border,’ Maddox mindlinked me.
‘I don’t care, do something,’ I ordered through the mindlink.
‘Let me think of something,’ Maddox replied, glancing at the guards and observing our surroundings. After a moment, he mindlinked again, ‘I will distract the guards, Alpha, and you need to take the opportunity to search for Luna.’
‘Okay!’ I replied, determination flooding through me.
“We will go through the forest. It will be a shorter route to our territory,” Maddox told the guards, who looked at each other in confusion.
“We don’t have instructions about that,” one of them said, uncertainty clear in his voice.
Maddox stepped closer, exuding authority. “Look, we’re trying to avoid unnecessary conflict and make this as smooth as possible. Do you want to explain to your king why you delayed us and potentially caused more trouble?”
The guards hesitated, then finally nodded. “Fine, but we’re keeping an eye on you,” one of them muttered.
As we moved towards the forest, Maddox skillfully created a diversion, drawing the guards’ attention away from me. Taking my chance, I slipped into the shadows, determined to find Selena and get her out of Damon’s reach. The dense forest provided the perfect cover, and I moved swiftly, my senses heightened, every fiber of my being focused on locating my mate.
I lifted my head, trying to focus on Selena’s scent. It seemed some magic was in the air, making me lose focus, but I felt myself drawn in a particular direction.
Determined, I moved through the dense underbrush, my senses on high alert. The forest was thick and shadowy, the trees towering above me like silent sentinels. Every rustle of leaves and snap of twigs made my heart race, but I pushed forward, driven by my need to find Selena. But nothing seemed familiar. How could it be possible? I couldn’t even sense her despite using all my powers. But again an invisible force pulled me and I was startled by the intensity.
“What happened, Alpha?” Maddox asked with concern, but I couldn’t reply immediately.
“Alpha,” he repeated, shaking me and grabbing my shoulder. I turned to look at him.
“I don’t know what happened, but it felt like I had been here in the past,” I murmured, almost unconsciously.
“I never remember you coming here, Alpha, and not to this side of the earth,” Maddox said, shaking his head in confusion. He was right. We had been in the vampire kingdom before, but I never came to this mysterious forest.
“I know, Maddox, but why is this land calling me towards it?” I furrowed my brow, the pull so strong that I removed Maddox’s hand from my shoulder and began walking toward an unknown place. My feet seemed to move of their own accord, as if they already knew this place.
‘Lyon, do you know what is going on?’ I asked my alpha wolf through our mind connection.
‘I don’t know, Zander, but I am also curious to find out,’ he replied, equally intrigued.
As I walked deeper into the forest, the sensation of familiarity grew stronger. The trees seemed to whisper secrets, their branches swaying as if pointing the way. The air was thick with an ancient magic, and I could feel its energy humming through my veins.
Maddox followed closely, his concern evident, but he trusted me enough to let me lead. We moved in silence, the only sounds being the crunch of leaves beneath our feet and the occasional rustle of wildlife.
Suddenly, we emerged into a clearing bathed in soft, ethereal light. At the center stood an ancient stone altar, covered in moss and vines. It looked like it had been untouched for centuries, a relic of a forgotten time.
I approached the altar, my heart pounding with a mixture of awe and trepidation. As I laid my hand on the cool stone, a surge of energy coursed through me, and visions flashed before my eyes-images of battles, of rituals, of wolves and men united in purpose. nThen i saw two shaddows intertwined as one. What were they i couldnt understand but it flet they were in love, before one of them fall and then the other fell after that. I was startled as my hand burned making me remove it from the stone.
“What happened, Alpha?” Maddox was instantly beside me.
“I don’t know, Maddox. I saw something so disturbing, but it felt as if I had lived that moment. I need to understand what this means,” I muttered, lost in thought as I stared at the place.
Maddox nodded, his eyes wide with amazement. “What do you want to do, Alpha?”
“I need to investigate this place further. There’s something here, something connected to our past and possibly our future,” I replied, feeling the weight of destiny settle upon my shoulders.