Chapter 75 Chapter 75
The next morning, the mansion was swarmed by Alpha Wilder’s personal guards, who demanded a search of the grounds for any further clues about where Suki had been taken and how all the night’s events had unfolded.
Machiavelli’s raging emotions had settled into pure distraught as he came to terms with the disappearance of his daughter.
Alpha Wilder and his son, Zale, had also come over to console him and offer their assistance.
Zale placed a coffee in front of Machiavelli.
“She’s powerless, Hemming,” he choked out as he wrapped his hands around the coffee.
The Alpha placed a hand on his shoulders and squeezed tightly. “I know, brother, but I promise you that we will find her. It’ll be our top priority.”
Allowing the Beta to wallow in his sorrows without an audience, Zale made his way over to Reynard and Brendan. He and Brendan nodded to one another before Zale leaned against the wall that they were lingering at, watching all the assigned warriors conduct their thorough search of the ground.
“I can’t believe they just took her,” Zale breathed. “She’s the kindest person ever; everyone loved her. Not to mention she’s been secluded within the pack most of her life. Who the hell would want to take her?”
Reynard’s gaze shifted from warrior to warrior, making sure to look out for anyone he didn’t recognise – he refused to let someone infiltrate them ever again.
Zale turned to Reynard and placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll get her back. My father is making it the top priority.”
He nodded, fighting back the pain lurching in his stomach. “Thank you.”
“You know,” Zale began, leaning back against the wall. “Before you and her became friends, I had a huge crush on Suki.”
“What?!” Brendan snapped.
Reynard looked at Brendan, annoyed, and whispered down their bond, ‘Will you relax?’
Brendan rolled his eyes and looked away.
Furrowing his brows at his friend, Zale continued, “Yeah… We were with each other all the time growing up because of our dads. They would always joke about how they were going to set us up if we never found our fated mates.”
“That’s stupid,” Brendan muttered.
Reynard thwacked his chest.
Zale’s sight shifted between the two men. “When the hell did you two become so chummy?”
‘Shit,’ they both said in unison down their bond.
‘Say something,’ Brendan pushed rapidly.
‘Like what? Isn’t he your best friend?’ Reynard shot back.
Watching the panicked look in both their eyes, Zale hummed. “I see,” he said, crossing his arms and chuckling. “Brendan, are you getting defensive because Suki’s your mate?”
Brendan’s eyes flickered wider.
“Odd,” he coaxed, turning his attention back to Reynard. “I always thought she’d be your mate, you both were so close, and the way she looked at you–”
“Stop,” Reynard squeezed his eyes shut. “I can’t have a casual conversation like this, not while she’s out there all alone, terrified and maybe even being tortured for all we know.” He pushed himself away from the wall and stormed off.
Zale stumbled over his words. “Shit, I was trying to break the tension. I should go and apologise.”
Before he could take a step forward, Brendan stepped forward and held his arm up to stop him. “I’ll talk to him.”
“You?”
He shrugged. “We’ve gotten closer recently.” Without wasting any more time – and to avoid Zale asking any more questions – Brendan hastened after him, following him into Suki’s bedroom and shutting the door behind them. “Jheeze, Mr Perfect, you sure know how to draw attention to our situation more.”
“Don’t call me that,” Reynard cursed. “I hate it when you call me that.”
“You’ve never had any issues with it before,” Brendan teased, crossing his arms and pacing closer. “What’s really bothering you?”
Reynard dragged a palm down his face and released an exhausted sigh. “I’m far from perfect… I couldn’t even protect the girl I love.”
“Don’t you dare do that,” Brendan snarled, stepping right in front of him. Their heights matched, but his energy towered over Rey. “Don’t belittle yourself over something you couldn’t have controlled.” He cupped his hand behind Reynard’s neck and made him look at him. “You took all the precautions you were meant to.”
Rey’s eyes flickered between Brendan’s. “We have no idea how to find her, Brendan.”
He released his hold on Rey and breathed, “Actually, we might.”
“What?”
“Before I left her, she was scared – she felt so powerless. I wanted to make her feel secure, so I embedded a small amount of my shadow magic on her. It wasn’t a lot, but enough for her to shield herself if needed, or–”
“For you to track her down?” Rey finished questioningly.
A nod. “Whether she uses it or not, my shadow power has a magical signature on it. My shadows can find me, and I can find them.”
Rey grinned and moved for the door. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”
But Brendan grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “That’s the problem… That essence of shadow magic is connected to her. When those goons knocked her out, it made the shadow powerless, too. I can’t track her down until she’s awake. I’ve been constantly trying to sense her, but nothing yet.”
“Then we’ll get ourselves ready for when you do.”
“And one of those ways is making sure you rest and eat something.”
“Brendan–”
“You’ve been awake for well over 24 hours. You’re gonna need your strength.” Brendan held his arm. “I promise that I’ll tell you the second I feel the connection to the shadow.”
He said nothing.
“Alright?” Brendan said stubbornly.
“Yes, alright, alright,” he huffed.
Reynard took a moment to examine Brendan’s face – he never allowed enough time to really look at him before, without the filter of a monster hovering over his vision. He couldn’t help but admire the midnight darkness of his eyes.
He sighed, “I want to be close to you right now, but it’s hard…”
“I know,” he exhaled. “I’m feeling guilty thinking about kissing you when we have no idea where Suki is. Everything happened so suddenly.”
Stepping closer, Rey held Brendan’s face and watched him carefully. “When this is all over, when we have Suki back with us, we’ll have all the time in the world to figure out this thing between us. Deal?”
He nodded quickly. “Deal.”
For a split second, Rey peered down at Brendan’s lips. He inched closer and whispered, “How about… a small distraction?”
A smile grew from the corner of his mouth, and he closed the gap between them, landing on Rey’s lips. They both hummed at each other’s touch, grabbing each other roughly with the desire to be closer, even though there was no gap left between them.
Rey gently ground himself against Brendan, feeling his hardness against his own.
Brendan pulled away and purred, “Fuck… and you call me trouble.”
He chuckled softly.
The sound of someone clearing their throat pulled them away from their moment. They both turned to see Zale standing at the door, now wide open, with his hand still gripping the handle. The two stepped away from each other, but it was too late.
“Zale–” Brendan swallowed thickly
“Cassandra is here,” he interrupted, his expression looking unfazed by what he saw. “So is the doctor. They discovered something, said it was urgent, so…” he gestured for them to leave the room.
The pair glanced at each other, but didn’t waste another second and rushed to gather the new information.