Book 2 - Chapter 45
Book 2 - Chapter 45
Chapter 45 – The Finding of the Queen
Aero
The annual harvest celebration would have been the perfect way to reintroduce my real mother to my people, but I didn’t bother to invite her or my half-sister. I wasn’t ready to see them again. I needed time to process the truth; that instead of a half-brother, I now have a half-sister and instead of my mother all alone and exiled, she happily lived on Earth with a new partner.
I felt happy for her. Really. She deserved this wonderful second chance at life. It was just me and my juvenile temper that needed to be appeased.
Yesterday’s revelations were too much for me to bear. I was aware it clouded my mind and almost drove me berserk. Luckily, my salvation—Serena—remained by my side and kept me sane. She helped a great deal with my journey through healing. I wouldn’t be in control of myself without her.
Now, as I sat with my alphas and council, and seeing my people with their happy faces, I felt confident we were headed to a promising future. Nobody could ruin this moment. Nobody could—
Fuck.
Then I felt it. Serena’s aura. Her life force. It vanished. I didn’t notice any danger while she was inside the backstage and neither did she, yet this has happened.
‘Serena. Love. I can’t feel your presence anymore,’ I tried to mind-link her, but she didn’t reply. A cold dread washed over me that instant.
No. She can’t just disappear. She just can’t!
Rushing to my feet, I didn’t give a word to my dinner guests. I just gave Elijah a solemn look before I vanished in their midst. I checked the backstage and my hunch was right, there was no sign of her anywhere.
My hands balled into a tight fist until my palm bled. My eyes glowed a bright red. And my brows tightened like it had never tightened before. An all-consuming wrath filled me. It constricted my lungs. It squeezed my beating muscle.
‘Elijah, my alphas, the queen is kidnapped!’ I informed them through clenched teeth. ‘Heighten security and hunt down the culprit. He or she uses a cloaking spell so be on high alert.’ It was the most calm edict I could bark. If it were the uncontrolled me, I would have exploded even more, shout out to them like they were worthless souls.
My people didn’t deserve that kind of treatment, and I had certainly left that side of me a long ago. Plus, an uncontrolled alpha king would be useless on this occasion. I needed to be calm. I needed my mind clear.
With my bones crunching, I turned into my lycan form and honed in on the only clue I had: a smell and it was a smell similar to the faes. Hell. What about them now? Why must it always come back to them?
I howled as loud as I could to alert the rest of my people. Then, I jumped out of the window, breaking glass and metal along the way, and followed the crumbs of smell.
I passed by the amphitheater into the Cirelles town just a kilometer away, but when I reached the town square, the smell was gone. I expected it to lead me to the Baltic Meadows and through the Ehnrelil border, but it didn’t. Instead, I was on a dead end.
Fuck.
This time, my anger really spiked up.
I spread my claws and crouched down, preparing to realm hop to the fae realm. To show myself in this form would likely frighten the other faes in my path, but I care not a damn thing. I only want to see Queen Adna and her alone.
When I appeared in her castle’s throne room, I was the one surprised. Faes were everywhere: some dancing, some eating and laughing. A lively tune was played and it burned my ears that instant.
Then, I heard frightened shouts nearby, and I realized I was the cause of it. Good. I grinned.
“Your Majesty, King Aero!” Queen Adna exclaimed as she stood up from her throne. Her eyes were wide and her face suddenly ashen, probably because she felt suddenly threatened with my beast appearance.
I changed to a friendlier form in front of them, dressed in my earlier royal suit. “Serena is missing. Someone kidnapped her and my sense of smell told me it was done by a fae,” I informed without delay.
Queen Adna’s eyes widened. Around us, the High Elders and other faes in attendance murmured, and using my heightened sense of hearing, I heard their words of worry.
“How can that be? She’s always cautious. You are cautious! Also, no fae would wish her harm. She’s our queen!” Her expression changed to fear. She raised a hand and shifted her attention to High Elder Asherah who quickly kneeled on the base of the dais.
“Place the whole kingdom on high alert! Look for faes who are acting suspicious. Check the houses and all corners of Ehnrelil! I want my niece found and unharmed!”
Adaen neared me, placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a nod before he faced Queen Adna. “My Queen, allow me to do my own search. Adamar will join me too when he is done with his mate business. We vow to find Queen Serena. She is our best friend. We will not allow someone to hurt her or her unborn children.”
“Go ahead. I will allow it,” Queen Adna answered.
Adaen rose to his feet and dipped his head to me before leaving.
“I can’t...I can’t bear to lose Serena, Your Majesty,” Queen Adna stated, catching my attention again. She lowered herself in her throne and rubbed her temples with her now-trembling fingers. From a proud queen, she looked so frail now. So worried. So distressed. And she didn’t care if her subjects saw her like this.
“So do I,” was my simple, but meaningful reply. “I will find her and there will be blood and death, Queen Adna. Whoever took her, I will make them pay. Don’t even think about stopping me just because this culprit is a fae.”
“I won’t. You have my word, King Aero,” she expressed.
After that, I teleported to the highest tower of her castle and felt Serena’s life force from there. My best guess was, if this fae took her, he or she would be hiding in Ehnrelil, and would be using the same cloaking skill to mask the hideout.
I have great faith in Serena. She would find a way back to me in no time, but still I couldn’t help but be worried for her. She was pregnant after all, and there’s no telling when she would give birth.