Chapter 132 2-4-CAUGHT
\-VANCE'S POV-
Chills prickled my skin as my wolf realized the danger. The sharp, gray dolomite spearhead sliced my hand as I caught it inches from Sianna's face and my blood spilled.
Sianna froze in shock, breathing fast, shallow breaths, staring
aimlessly. Confusion and alarm washed through Sianna as her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.
Red rage. A thunderous growl vented from my chest, shaking the ground so that even the building trembled from my wrathful outburst.
"Elites, your Luna was attacked from the west end of the forest from the ballroom. Find the assassin now!" I commanded through the mind-link. "I want him alive."
A million things ran through my mind that caused me to curse several expletives. The attacker had been in position for a while on a tree branch since the balcony was numerous feet high and it was a straight shot, not slant or curved. He watched me fuck my mate as he waited for a clearing to fire the Dolomite spear.
The target was Sianna, not me. With my back turned, it gave the enemy the perfect opportunity to hit at me, but the shot was clearly aimed at my queen in the hopes that the spear would have been swift enough for me to miss the incoming attack.
My heart clenched at the thought of her being hurt, giving birth to a different type of volcanic rage. The stench of my drying blood and my shaken Luna urged my bones to reap instant vengeance. Sianna crashed her body onto mine with her arms embracing my lower back.
A saline scent wafted from the forest and hinted to my nose that he was on the run. My ears detected padding feet, slight panting, and rustling of bushes. My militant brain and keen searching eyes analyzed the direction from where the weapon was fired. Every species has a particular scent. It was important in discerning what brand of existence the enemy could be.
"Oh goddess, Vance, are you alright?" My queen cam ack to reality and took my arm to tenderly inspect both the weapon and injury.
The wound burned from the harsh sodium and silver infused in the dolomite spearhead, but not enough to be detrimental. Unless it had hit a vital point, we'd be weakened for a few minutes and back to good health in no time. It was a warning. Nevertheless, my masseter muscles clenched as my teeth clamped together from the burning inferno within me. No one fucked with my family and got away with it.
At that moment, I swooped Sianna in my arms carrying her bridal style, kicked the glass doors open, and at my fastest speed up the stairs, I found one of the lounges on the second floor.
Loud gasps erupted from everyone who caught sight of my actions. Murmurs buzzed among the throng as they became frantic.
Ten Alphas rushed to my aid after smelling blood, thinking the Luna Queen had been hurt.
Carefully, I put Sianna on her feet when the Alphas ran inside the lounge.
"Fernando, someone attempted to hurt my queen. I'm going after them." All of this I roared in a hurry as I removed my black tuxedo jacket and wrapped the weapon in it before giving it to Sianna for safekeeping. "Stay here. Fernando is in charge of your safety. I won't be long."
It irked my wolf to leave our mate with a man who was obviously enamored by her. The way he had looked at her all evening clued me on the infatuation beneath his skin. Unfortunately, based on pack history, he was the most reliable person to hold accountable for her protection.
"Be careful," she extended the hold on my arm before letting go. Her icy blue eyes simmered with concern.
nodded and kissed her forehead. She hugged herself, saddened by the unfolding of how the night would end. Karlie and Andrea, both Luna's, rushed to her side to comfort her.
"Luna Sianna, are you hurt?" Luna Andrea tried to get her to sit but she refused.
Swinging a death glare at Fernando, I snarled, "Tighten security and if anything happens to my mate, I'll kill everyone here." Pointing a vigorous forefinger at him, "No one leaves." I walked up to him and grabbed his collar so that his face was very close to mine. The fury in me lifted the Alpha off his feet to growl a severe warning, "And don't fucking touch her." Turning to the other Alphas, "Gavin, Gong, and Holderfield, follow my lead."
I shoved Fernando down to his feet and he almost fell from the imbalanced footing. Constricting fear bunged his heart, resulting in rapid palpitations. Except for the Lunas, who were preoccupied with Sianna, he bowed his head, as did everyone else in the room in a wave of trepidation. My uncontrollable dark menacing aura swirls like an unfolding tornado.
"I won't be long," I promised Sianna and she pursed her lips,
worriedly.
Sparing not a second more, I jerked my head at Gong, Gavin, and Holderfield for us to depart. Faster than lightning, the three of us dashed out of the building. Our bones cracked and rearranged as we shifted into our wolves to trail the hitman. My wolf planned to shred the motherfucker when we caught him.
Blayne's voice replayed in my head. He was adamant about him or Duke coming here with me. Usually, that was the procedure when I left my pack and went out of its territory.
However, I left Beta Duke in charge of Dark Wolverson. Gamma Blayne was assigned to leave for Syncast Fortress in Australia to assess the development of the future Gammas' skillset for their upcoming achievement award ceremony to start their official roles. Delta Raj was celebrating his anniversary and had taken Hailey to Indiana to meet his relatives.
Five of my elite warriors were sent here forty-eight hours ahead to check out Rosewater territory and to stay hidden as added protection.
"Chad, how far away are you from the target?" I reached through the mind-link, sprinting through the thick foliage. His assignment was to be Sianna's covert guardian.
The bright moon remained still to look down on Earth's activities against the backdrop of a dark serenity sprinkled with polka-dotted stars. Our paws pounded the ground as we thudded through the shadowy forest. Trees whizzed by. The cool wind ruffled through our furs. The saline scent lingered in the air. My wolf kept his tongue sealed in his mouth since the briny aroma disgusted us.
The scumbag was not a wolf or a Vampire, since his movement was rather slow and on foot. This pleased my wolf. Additionally, a witch would have used one of the elements of either earth, wind, fire, or water to attack us. The dolomite spearhead gave me an inkling of what species the attacker was, but the reason blew my mind.
"I've ordered Wade to get to the coast. The target seemed to be on
his way there." Chad reported. "We are closing in on the target at different points around him."
"Good. Give me the exact location." I demanded, jumping over a boulder and galloping along.
"She's sixty-five degrees south of you, Alpha," he conveyed.
With that information, I accelerated my prance. "I want him alive. Do
not lose him." And to the three dark grey Alpha wolves behind me, I growled. "Keep up. Stop lagging behind."
"Aye Alpha." They responded and elevated their velocity.
This was surely pissing me off. Sianna and I had intended to reach home before midnight. I hoped that Vaheed and Venus, my super mischievous twins, were not breaking curfew or sneaking out of the house to have my firstborn son, Valen, hunting them down. Within four seconds, another mind-linked barged in my head from Elite Elias, "Alpha, we've got the target but...." his strained voice trailed off, and struggling sounds filtered in. "... she's trying to...."
"Keep her away from the water!" Rohan shouted while maintaining an open link until I got there.
"Tranquilize her and cover your ears," Wade instructed the others.
As we approached the last grove that lined the clearing of the shore, a soft melody tapped at our eardrums. The allure of it mellowed our minds and almost caused our feet to weaken, nearly tumbling from the gnarly roots of trees splayed out like an old witch's crooked fingers. It was Gong who ran straight into a tree bark which briefly stupefied his wolf.
"Fellas, put your siren guards up," I commanded them to activate their defensive skillset to deal with this species. My alpha tone promptly orientated his mind. Gong recovered his bearing and caught up behind Holderfield.
By the time our paws hit the sand, we shifted. Seaweed garlands were spread over the region as a result of the giant, lacy waves that slammed onto the shore's barnacle-covered rocks.
The bewitching music in the air halted to leave the crashing waves in
their own beat. All eight of us nakedly circled the quivering black- haired woman slouched on her butt, bracing up her body with her hands digging into the sand. Her bitter orange eyes flitted with traces of fear, swinging from one male face to another. Her reckless flight through the overcrowded forest left her tangerine dress with angry rips and scrapes along one side of her diamond-shaped face,
arms and legs.
The tranquilizers in her system rendered her immobile. A sadistic grin was plastered across the woman's face, showing serrated teeth. A final step landed me at her side.
With chilly perspiration on her forehead, she looked up at me in a
failed attempt to hide the absolute horror in her eyes, biting down on her bottom lip. Mercenaries in this position would smartly be calculating their next move.
Decisively, I squatted and extended a long claw from my right index finger and rammed it inside her navel to get to her cloacal respiratory before she could summon the waves against us.
"Ah!" She shrieked, clutching her abdomen as her fishy blood seeped
onto the beige sand. The sea became more violent and its waves rose higher. Nonetheless, she was not close enough for the briny water to get to her. Impaling her made her powers weak, and from the looks of it, she was alone on this assignment. Weak and untrained, what personal grudge did she hold against my queen?
"Why is a mermaid trying to create a war with land walkers?" I
snarled. "Do you think because you are below the sea, we cannot send missiles to obliterate your kind?"
Gong and Holderfield gasped in awe. Hypnotic, Gavin gawked at her glowing face in the moonlight that had sucked him in. Obviously, they had never seen her kind before. Elite Levi slapped the Alpha's hard chest to smack him out of the trance. Starled by the impact, Gavin jerked backwards, bringing a hand to his hammering chest and shaking his head as though fighting to get the mermaid's beguiling clasp from his mind.
Elite Elias quickly handed me a kunai knife which I jammed into her coccyx because that was the place where her tail would stem from when she shifted.
"Aaaaahhhhhh!" She screeched, lifting her chin as her head flipped back, heavenward.
We covered our ears to dull the piercing scream. A mermaid's cry is
known to anger the sea and, most importantly, to summon help.
Risking a bleeding eardrum by removing my hand from my ear, I gripped her neck, killing the treble coming from her throat. "Shut the fuck up!" I barked, "Try to seduce my men again and I'll
kill you."
After releasing her neck, she gaped vehemently, coughed, and spat
blood at my feet.
"Now answer my questions." I gritted, "Why did you attack my
queen?"