81. Leo

81. Leo
I paced that room, hands buried in my hair as a million thoughts raced through my mind. She was dead. The she-wolf was dead. She had no wounds, and there weren't any traces of her possibly being poisoned. Yet she had somehow stopped breathing. Just like that.
"You say that there was no one else who entered this room, besides you?" I questioned Orina again.
"Yes, Alpha," she answered quietly with a sniffle. Her eyes were raw with tears, and she was wringing her hands together, trembling softly as she stood before me.
"I was the only one. We did as instructed. No one came in. Alec and Caius were here the whole time, and they didn't see anyone," she swore.
"We...reported to Alisha as you told us to, and..." I raised a hand, and she stopped talking altogether, bowing her head again.
Fuck. This was turning out to be a way bigger problem than I had initially thought. I could see it now. There was something else at play here. Somebody was trying to make a point. A statement. And I did not like being threatened like this. It was making me angry.
Somebody had murdered my asset. My only lead to finally getting my hands on that scheming whore. And I had a feeling that they were the very same ones who had tried to harm Calla. That was why we had to keep her safe. We needed to protect her, from anything and anyone. My Queen. My precious, beautiful Goddess. I could feel her through that tether. I could feel her beating heart. Even from a distance. I could feel her very soul, and it was bringing me so much comfort. I still couldn't believe that she was here, that she had returned to our castle. Home, as she had called it. Yes, this was her home. And it was always going to be. Right now, I just needed to make it safer for her. And I was willing to do anything. Anything for her.
"You are all dismissed," I told them quickly. I needed to be alone. I needed to think this through.
I raided the room once again, looking for anything that I may have missed. A clue. A scent. Anything. I sniffed around carefully. All I could feel was the she-wolf's potent scent, Orina's...and maybe a faint hint of Alisha's.
My brows drew together, staring at the empty bed. There was something amiss here. Something that wasn't quite right. I took one of the throw pillows in my hand, sniffing it closely. It smelled of the wolf, and Alisha as well. Huh...I put it back, intending to go and search for her. Maybe I should question her too, maybe—
I stopped in my tracks, as a sudden wave of lust hit me out of nowhere. Hot. Fierce. And unyielding. Calla. I could feel my skin warming, and my cock stir in my pants. I breathed slowly, forcing myself not to give in. Not to reach out, or even try to get a taste. No matter how much I actually yearned to. I needed to let her be, respect her privacy.
I exited the room quickly, driving myself away from that certain part of the castle. Mine and Athos' wing. I was too close, and I did not want to feel tempted.
I stalked down the halls, rushing further and further away from her as those sinful sensations continued to taunt me. I needed to get away. I needed to—
I let out a groan, my feet stumbling as a stronger wave hit me. My beast rumbled from within, yearning to answer the call of his mate. Fuck. No. We need to show restraint, I warned him. We needed to let her make her own choices, for once. I was still wounded by those words that she'd spat at me earlier in that hallway, and that tremble in her voice was still haunting me. I did not want her to feel trapped by the bond that we shared. I'd learned my lesson. I was done trying to force her to love me.
I walked faster, rushing down the steps. I needed to run. Preferably, before she...
"Fuck..." I let out a soft moan, panting as another wave of her pleasure reached me. It felt so...enchanting. Incredibly delightful. I almost stopped in my tracks. Shit. No. Bad boy, I scolded myself and my beast. I needed to think about something else, and draw up that wall already, gods damnit!
I broke into a run, rushing past those open doors. I'd ended up outside, and it was still proving to be too close to her. I could hear the ghost of her sensual moans in my ears, the shiver that crawled up her spine. Oh, Goddess. I discarded my pants hastily, taking my beast's form. We need to fucking run. Now, I commanded.
He did not hesitate. He darted straight to the woods, his large and clawed feet disturbing the soil with the force of their grip. We ran. We ran like crazy. And we did not stop until we were far, far away, and the feel of her was but a gentle hum at the back of our mind.



I waited for as long as possible. Surrounding myself with the peace and quiet of the forest. I kept my walls up the entire time, until I was sure that it was safe to return. That's when we felt it. That anguish, the pain that radiated from her end of the bond. It tugged at the strings of our heart. She was hurting so much. And it was breaking our soul.
We sang. We sang at the rising moon, crying for her pain. Mourning with her. We let ourselves feel her loss, her sorrow. We took it and made it ours.
We did not return until dawn. I spent the whole night trapped in my beast form, letting the forest lull me. Soothe our shared pain.
I shifted back into my human form as soon as I reached the castle. And when I contacted Athos through the bond, I was not surprised to find that we could read each other's thoughts now. Spoken words rather than mere sensations and muddled images. She really was a one of a kind, our precious Queen. With her healing, she had gifted us with this new and improved ability. And now she was resting, still lost in the land of dreams after hours of mourning last night.
I informed Athos about what happened, how I had found the she-wolf breathless last night, and that her murderer was still at large. I did not need to tell him more. He already knew what had to be done. We needed to be fierce. Relentless. We were going to protect our Queen until our very last breath, Goddess forbid. And we weren't going to stop, not until we had found whoever did this, whoever dared trifle with the Lycan King.