Chapter 53 The Price of Failure pt 2
Alpha Brian
King Mikhail roared so loudly that the chandelier in the foyer broke and fell, crashing down behind us. His fangs flashed as he raged. “You had the princess within your grasp and failed to secure her?”
“My liege, I tried, truly. She was already on Crescent Moon pack lands by the time my group left Blood Moon. James’s warriors had been taken, and she was admitted to the hospital. The last update I had, she was still in a coma. They don’t know whether or when she will wake.”
At that, his eyes narrowed, and he calmed slightly. “You have someone in that pack,” he surmised.
I nodded. “I do. My sister mated with one of their warriors years ago. Since she was just a bastard daughter of my father, he allowed her to go.”
Calculation gleamed as he considered how he could use this information. He turned, signalling to us to follow. We were permitted to stand and walked down the hallway, through the main part of the building, and into a well-maintained lawn area that was surrounded by other wings of the manor. You could look out of any wing and see what was happening here. There were two poles placed in the middle. Alpha James was strung up with silver to one, and Tobias was bound to the other. They were both naked, covered in cuts and bruises.
King Mikhail sneered as he approached them. “You had the princess, and you let her get away. You abandoned your pack. You put our entire operation at risk.” He snapped out the statements as if he were delivering a sentence. “Any one of these things would be cause for punishment. And I am not a merciful king.”
The courtyard was quiet. There was not so much as a whisper from anyone as we didn’t want to attract his wrath. Even James and Tobias seemed to realize that any noise they made would only cause them more pain.
“Let’s see how long you can last here, chained with silver. How many nights you can tolerate being fed off of as the troops here get hungry. How high your tolerance is to the silver that binds you. And maybe after we’ve tested those limits, we’ll finally bless you with release,” he pronounced to them, and turned back to us.
His red eyes glowed. “Come. We have much to discuss. This breach has the potential to derail everything.” He turned and headed back into the building. As we followed, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and checked the name. When I saw who it was, I sighed. I didn’t want to deal with her dramatics right now, but if I didn’t answer, she’d likely just keep calling.
“What is it?”
“Uncle Brian, please, you have to help! It’s not fair! He brings some bitch back from another pack and expects her to be Luna? I’m supposed to be Luna!”
“What are you talking about, child?” I really don’t have time for this.
“Duncan! He brought some bitch back who’s been stuck in the hospital for the past three days, and now she’s up walking around like there was nothing wrong! They’re saying she’s going to be his Luna, and there are even rumors that she’s royal! I’m supposed to be Luna, damn it!”
Seren’s awake and healed? “Lenore, tell me everything.”