Kein’s POV
“Wait” I hissed, grabbing prince Alexander by the arm, stopping his advance, I put my index finger on my lips signalling for him to be quiet “I think someone is following us” I whispered
“Are you sure?” the sound of a twig breaking echoed as soon as he spoke, we both turned towards the sound and ducked hiding behind the trees and bushes
It was obvious that whoever was following us was not good at concealing their movements, we heard every step they made, every stumble, it’s like they wanted to be found
“I will attack, stay hidden just in case it’s a trap” I said to the prince as the footsteps got closer and louder, he nodded, and I waited for my moment
I pounced, launching myself on top of the assailant “who are you? What do you want?” I growled releasing my wolfs fangs
“Kein, it’s me April”
“April, what the hell are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here, it’s far too dangerous” I barked
“I get your point, now please get off me”
“Oh, sorry” I jumped up and helped her up “I know that you’re worried about your sister, but you have to go back now”
“No, you don’t tell me what to do, that’s my sister in there, and I’m not going anywhere” she barked standing her ground, to be honest I admired her, but at the same time I couldn’t help but picture Ali’s face when she finds out that I let her little sister come on a covert rescue mission with no backup or any kind of workable plan, she can forgive me for many things but I don’t think she’ll forgive me for that
“I can’t let you come, it’s too dangerous”
“I don’t care, and I told you that I don’t answer to you, you’re not my Alpha”
“But I’m your prince, and I’m telling you to turn back, this is no place for a woman” prince Alexander growled emerging from his hiding spot
April growled in frustration then her face changed, she smirked and said “well your highness, the way I see it, you have two options, you can let me come with you or you can force me to leave, and I’ll just follow you anyway” she stood her ground glaring at him, she looked so much like Alicia
“Are you really going to defy your prince”
“I defied your father; I can certainly defy you”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Let me tag along, and I’ll tell you”
Prince Alexander took a deep breath exhaling in frustration “fine you can come along, but don’t get in our way”
“Awesome” she beamed
“Now tell me what happened with my father?”
“He warned everyone at the palace not to come after you guys and to not try and find Alicia”
“Did he say anything else?”
“No, that’s all he said then he left in quite a hurry”
The prince nodded, growled, and walked in front of us the entire way, grunting and huffing not locking back at us
“I know that to the untrained eye; he might seem upset about his father but in truth he is brooding over something else” April mocked
“I think he’s mad at you” I whispered to April
“Me, why? Because I’m coming with you guys?”
“That’s part of it, but not quite” I chuckled shaking my head
“What is it then?”
“You said that Alicia needed me, he didn’t like that, and to be honest I wouldn’t like it either if I was in his shoes”
“Judging by the look on your face, you liked it a little too much”
“I did, I do, I know she’s married to him, but it’s nice to know that there is a glimpse of hope”
“What are you talking about, you’re her mate, there will always be hope”
“So are you saying that you’re on my side?”
“No, not at all, if I’m on anyone’s side it’s my sisters”
“Okay, I understand, so where does your sister stand?” I held my breath, I think I know the answer, but the way Ali has been acting lately, I’m not quite so sure anymore
“I don’t really know, all I know is that she asked for you when she could have asked for her husband, if that doesn’t speak volumes then I guess I don’t know what does”
I tried to hide my smile, but it was too big to contain, it burst out revealing my heart
“Don’t get ahead of yourself” she hissed responding to my ear-to-ear grin
“What do you mean?”
“She made a commitment, and if I know Alee, and trust me I do, she won’t back out of it, even if it means sacrificing her own happiness”
My smile faded away, and a chill ran down my spine at her words, and I remembered how adamant Ali was when she was insisting that she couldn’t leave with me, even though I tried everything to make her see that I had a life waiting for us
“I want her to come home to me so badly, but right now I don’t know what to do”
“I don’t think there is anything that you can do, you can’t force her to come to you, and you can’t force her to leave him, and besides you want her to be with you because she wants to be with you”
“That’s the thing, I know she wants to be with me, and I feel like I have to force her to see it, I’m afraid she won’t otherwise”
“Maybe, but for that to work you might need to form an alliance with her wolf”
“How do you suggest I do that?”
“Your wolf is a good start”
“Quiet, we’re here” prince Alexander barked
We crouched down concealing ourselves, while assessing the situation, when we noticed something strange, “during the day this camp was buzzing with people, they were all over the place, but now it looks deserted”
I looked at the prince and the look on his face told me that he had the same thought that I did, “this could be a trap” I whispered
“No more talking from now on, if you want to talk, use the mind link” the prince boomed in my head
April and I nodded and followed him to the edge of the camp border, making our way through by sticking to the base of the mountain at the far end, a faint drumming sound hissed in the air as we entered the camp
The closer we got to the centre of the camp the louder the drumbeat got, and the louder the drumming got the louder the screaming, chanting, and singing got
“What is that?” April questioned in mind link
“No idea” prince Alexander and I responded at the same time “it might be some kind of celebration” I added
They both stopped and looked at me, and I realised immediately what my words meant, that they were celebrating capturing our princess, they were celebrating their victory over us, celebrating capturing Ali
We hurried, racing deeper into the camp, sticking to the border. When we got to the centre of the camp, we all stopped forgetting ourselves, and our mission for a moment looking at the huge bonfire in the middle of the wide-open space
The fire was perched on barren land, and it was surrounded by well-cut grass, the entire aura of this place seamed ritualistic
A small group of naked people danced around the fire, while another group that was about six metres away from the dancing crowd, laid on blankets in groups on the grass surrounding the fire having hot passionate group sex with each other
The ones beating the drums were at the edge of the grass line, with naked people dancing and chanting around them as well
We watched as they drank and ate, the more the food, wine, and drink flowed the wilder the sex became, and the more promiscuous, they were more adventurous, and rougher with each other
The men laid on their backs while the women moved from man to man riding them wildly, the chanting, and singing stopped, and we watched in amazement as the men that were playing the drums by the fire launched themselves on top of the women, taking whoever they wanted, in whatever position they wanted
The screams and moans echoed in the air as the women wailed at the feel of the double penetration
The men that had their fill of the wild sex, left the erotic scene and restarted the music by beating the drum again
It was a den of sex, lust, and promiscuity, there was sex everywhere, their bodies moved to the beat of the drum as they devoured each other, when the beat quickened so did they, when it slowed so did they
“The air around them is filled with lust, and desire, they only care about satisfying their hunger and nothing more, they have no boundaries, they’re not worried about being true to their mate or even finding their, it seems as though they’re each other’s mates” April hissed
Watching them stirred up desire within me, but it was not to join them or to be part of the erotic scene they’ve created, I only had one desire, one craving, Ali, only she can satisfy me
Then it hit me, I realised that they couldn’t break out of the state they were in because they didn’t have mates, “they have no idea how it feels to be with one’s true mate, they have no idea how to channel their energy to connect even with their wolves let alone find their mates”
“That is so sad” April whined
“Let’s get the hell out of here” I growled in the mind link, both Alex and April nodded and followed close behind me
I moved cautiously following Ali’s faint passion fruit scent, the closer we got to finding her the stronger it got, it led us to a makeshift cell at the foot of the mountain
“She must be in there” I notified the others
“But there are no guards here” April whispered
“It might be a trap” Prince Alexander barked
“I thought so too, but then I remembered that everyone is probably down by the bonfire” I said as a matter of fact
I peeked inside the cell and saw Ali folded up into herself on the floor wrapped in a purple robe, and my heart sank. I hate seeing her like this, she is the princess, my princess, my treasured Alicia, she is not supposed to be here, she looked cold and alone, it just broke my heart
I summoned my wolf’s paws, grabbed the rails, and pulled with all my strength, the ridges were lodged deep inside the rock, I summoned more of my wolf’s strength and pulled again, the metal bars shifted causing the ground to shake
“Kein, oh my goodness, you have no idea how happy I am to see you” she crawled towards me and placed her hands on mine, with a faint smile on her face. I stared into her teary green eyes “I can’t believe you came” she whispered as tears ran down her face
“What are you talking about? It’s you, I’ll flip this whole world over if I have to”
“How can you be so... after everything I’ve done”
“All you did was try to be happy, that’s you’re only crime really, move back, it just needs one more pull to get it open, she crawled back into the small prison, and watched me as I pulled the rail one last time
I gave it all I had, and the bars came crashing down, she rushed out and wrapped her arms around me resting her head on my chest, I buried my nose in her hair breathing in her fruity scent
“Dude, your husband is standing right there” April leaned in and whispered, making Alicia jump back, tearing herself away from my embrace
“Did they hurt you?” I asked running my hand down her face and tugging her hair behind her ear
“He hem” prince Alexander groaned clearly unamused, I ignored him, and it seemed that Alicia didn’t hear him at all
“Come Alee, let’s get you out of here” April grabbed Ali’s arm, and started to walk back the way we came
I turned and met the prince’s brooding gaze
“Are you going back on our deal?” I questioned
“You have another thing coming, if you think that I’m going to let her go that easily”
“I wouldn’t either if I were in your shoes, you can feel it can’t you, she’s slowly slipping away from you” I smirked
“You will never have her”
“Judging by her actions, I already do”
“What do we have here” a naked man with missing front teeth stood in front of us with questioning eyes
“Who are you” I barked, the prince and I looked at him ready for anything that he might throw at us, after what we witnessed tonight, it was clear that these people are capable of anything
“I’m the guard assigned to this post” The man barked
“And who assigned you this post?” the prince barked
“Our leader of cause” the man chuckled
“And who is your leader?” I asked
His confused questioning face turned to one of realisation “oh, you know him very well” he said looking at prince Alexander
“Really, how?” April chimed
“He’s your dad, the king” Alicia whispered in a frail fatigued voice
“What?” April, the prince, and I barked
“Yes, he’s the guy in charge, oh man, I’ll probably get promoted if I bring you to him, he’s been looking everywhere for you”
“Good, take me to him”
“Of cause, right this way sir"