Chapter 121

Chapter 121
Lucian's POV

A pool of blood had formed around Samara's foot, and it was spreading fast. I could see a shard of glass lodged into the base of her foot.

I jumped up from my seat and walked toward her immediately, trying to help her get the shard of glass away from her. She said nothing as I carefully pulled the glass out of her foot, and then once she was free, she walked out of the council hall.

I did not care that we had an audience. I followed after her and held onto her arm before she could run away into the expansive hallway. "Where do you think you're going off to? You're just not going to say anything?"

She looked at me, her eyes filling with anger and hurt. "Really? What do you want me to say, Lucian? You had better throw me out of your pack! No, actually... she sold me off to the rogue king—to the damn rogue king!"

She was hurt and angry, and she felt betrayed—and I could understand that.

"I have gotten rid of Freya," I said. "I did not realize just how evil she was then. I'm really sorry for everything. Please come back."

"Never!" she screamed. "I will never go back to your pack! You... you..."

And then she burst into tears. I gathered her into my arms, putting her head on my chest. Why had I been so foolish? Why had I not accepted her when she had come to my pack? I realized something then: we had not spent enough time together, but I was falling hard for Samara.

Then, without warning, she jerked backwards and walked away from me, disappearing into the long hallway.

At least I knew that somehow she had found her way here as a maid. I could find her after the council meeting. I returned to the meeting, and quite honestly, the rest of it was a blur. My mind kept going back to Samara. I kept thinking about her, and more importantly, I needed to be able to convince her to return to me. Surely a life as Luna in my pack was better than a life as a maid here.

It would also mean that I would need to go through the hassle of speaking to Alpha George, perhaps buying back her freedom because it appeared she was just a slave here. I was not comfortable with any of that. I would take Samara back to my pack, restore her freedom, and make her Luna. There she would live the rest of her life in comfort and luxury, commanding an entire pack beside me.

As I fantasized about the ideas in my head, I heard someone shout my name, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Alpha Lucian, you appear rather distracted when we are in the middle of a serious meeting." It was Alpha Dashu who spoke up.

"I apologize," I said. "The matter at hand is rather grave. I guess I got carried away for a second."

I tried to keep my mind in the present while everyone continued to exchange ideas, talking mostly over each other and yet coming to no reasonable conclusion. It was, of course, what the rogue king would have wanted—everyone divided, not being able to agree on anything.

Alpha George suggested we take a break and then reconvene the next day because we were apparently not getting anywhere. As the council hall emptied out, I waited behind because I wanted to speak to Alpha George on behalf of my mate. I knew that there was no love between us, but I was hoping he was sensible enough to allow me to take Samara back to my pack.

"Your Beta has been attended to," Alpha George said, probably believing that was the reason I had stayed behind. "My people told me he has recovered somewhat. I believe he is conscious enough to speak now."

I nodded. "Thank you. You have been very kind in accommodating us."

George nodded half-heartedly. Of course, he was not happy with my presence here, but trying times called for unusual alliances.

"Well, if you would oblige me, there is one matter I must discuss with you."

He looked at me. "What?" he asked.

"It is about Samara."

He raised an eyebrow. "The maid you helped just minutes earlier?"

I nodded. "Yes. I would like her back."

"What do you mean you would like her back?"

"Well, the thing is... she is my mate."

"Your mate?" Alpha George raised an eyebrow at me. "How the hell is she your mate? She is just an ordinary human girl."

I shrugged. I could not understand it either. "I said it, but that is how it seems, and I would like to take her back."

"I am not going to allow that."

I stopped and stared at George too intently. It appeared he and Samara... I shook my head and tried not to think about the two of them together. "What do you mean you will not allow her to leave with me?"

"She is important to me, also. I can't just give her back. She is not some property I can just give back."

"You do not seem to understand," I said to him. "I never sold her off or anything. She's not meant to be a slave. She's my mate and the rightful Luna of my pack!"

"And none of that is my business. I bought her fair and square, and she belongs to me."

I scoffed. "This is why we can never be friends. You are always—"

"Oh, please, spare me. No one wants to be friends with you either, you stuck-up Alpha."

"Stuck-up? Really?"

"Yes, that is what everyone calls you. You always try to behave like you're some righteous hero when you really are not."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Righteous hero? Really? That is what you think of me? Well, if that is what you think of me, then I have no problem with that, and I am saving my mate. I want her back this instant, and I'm not even asking. I'm just going to leave with her because she is mine."

"She is mine, too!”

"No, not 'mine too.' She is mine, and that's that."

"She is not yours! She is mine!"

"She is not yours, she is mine!"

"Enough!"

We turned our heads sharply to see Alpha George's Beta standing behind us. His face looked worried, as though something bad had happened. And I had a feeling that something bad had to do with Samara.

"The girl you are both fighting over," Aeron said, looking between us, "she is gone."

I let the words sink in for a moment. Had it been my fault? Had I come on too strong?

"Gone?" I asked loudly. "What do you mean she's gone?"

"She left," Aeron said. "She and Lilian." He was looking at George when he said this. "They stole one of the guests' cars and just ran away."

Alpha George laughed a little. "That's insane. Those two girls cannot go far with the rogue attacks and all. They are..."

"Well, it seems they believed they could, because they are nowhere to be found. I have sent men to search the pack to chase them down, but hopefully, we will hear something soon."

I marched off toward the grand entrance of the palace. "I cannot wait around and do nothing," I said.

George joined me, too. It seemed that regarding Samara, we agreed that first, we had to find her.

We walked out of the palace and out of the gates, following the freshest tracks of carriage tyres we could find. It led us past the pack, and then as we went further down, it led us past several streets until it just stopped in the middle of nowhere—like it had disappeared completely. We had used our scents, too, and her scent had stopped here. It felt like something had picked her up from here, and she had just vanished into thin air.

"I suspect sorcery of some kind," George commented as he looked around.

I said nothing. He would know about sorcery, because I was certain he dabbled in it from time to time—or perhaps always.

"I will find a powerful witch to search the area better," he said. "If she was taken away by some sort of magic, dark magic, or sorcery, we would know more only if a witch assesses the situation."

My mind immediately went to Azazel. I wondered what she was up to at the moment. And because I was standing in the middle of Alpha George's pack territory, I saw the damage the rogues had done.

"They do not come out during the day, do they?" I asked suddenly.

George followed my gaze to the litter of limbs that had not been cleared away—the brutal work of the rogues.

"No, they usually come out at night," George answered, "but sometimes we do spot them during the day."

"It does not seem like there is much we can do here," I said.

It was painful to admit, but I had Samara in my grasp, and the very next moment I had lost her. It was the most painful sort of feeling in the world.

I looked at George's eyes and I could see somewhat of a semblance to the feeling of loss that wrenched my heart. But George was a complete rake so it was impossible to tell if he cared about Samara as much as I did.

I sniffed the air a bit more, trying to soak in perhaps the last whiff of her scent. I knew though that if I did not find her soon, I would lose my mind.