Bailey POV
"The elders are here" Thomas's voice was soft as he addressed me, my body tense as I stared out at the window, motionless, my thoughts on Riley.
We had immediately gone to Jaxon's pack, but Riley wasn't there. There was no sign of her and unless we started a war, we couldn't just start grabbing pack members and interrogating them. This situation was serious enough that the elders had been contacted, not by me but by another Alpha who feared what actions might be taken if I didn't find my mate soon. I had already lost control of shifting back from my Lycan form once, there were concerns that it could happen again as my anger and rage increased and my separation from Riley continued.
"Let them in" my voice was wooden.
I heard footsteps behind me. Soft, gentle, and polite as they walked into the room. I turned a ferocious scowl on my face. The last thing I needed was to deal with these people while Riley needed me. Every minute she was gone, I dreaded to think what she might be enduring, what that bastard might be doing to her and the other sirens. This was an interruption I did not need, no matter that they were the elders and as such even more important than I, the Lycan King was.
"King Bailey" one greeted me cautiously, his wizened eyes upon my face, a grim expression on his face "first of let me offer my condolences on the kidnapping of your mate. We, the elders take the forcible removal and taking of another's mate seriously and when the perpetrator is found they will be punished to the full extent of the law and by yourself as you are the victim in this instance."
I continued to eye them, resenting their presence. Another cleared their throat. "We have been informed that your mate is part siren. Can you confirm if this is true?" he asked.
I gritted my teeth "She is, she is also part shifter and pregnant with my unborn child" I snarled "do you have a problem with any of that?"
The elders shook their heads "on the contrary" the first one said quietly "I admire your courage in attempting to establish relations between the siren race and the shifter race. Long has it been strained and fear the primary result of so many sirens being killed by our hands" his tone was filled with grief.
"You could have ended that," I said accusingly "you could have made a decree to stop it from happening. Made it illegal, why didn't you" my voice was heated.
"It is not in our preview to protect another race," the third elder said stiffly "our concern lies with shifters only."
I wanted to hit him. I clenched my hands into fists, while Thomas's eyes widened in the background as he tried subtly to shake his head at me, recognizing how close I was to losing my composure and doing something that would be unforgivable.
"Calm yourself," the first one said soothingly.
"Calm down" I repeated incredulously "my mate is missing. The Luna Queen has been taken. She could be getting tortured or worse and you want me to calm down" I sneered, moving closer "be thankful that I haven't shifted into my Lycan form" I snapped.
"That is another concern. We know about your inability to shift back to human form before and we are concerned it might happen again. We are here to observe that it doesn't."
"It won't" I snapped in frustration.
A knock on the door had me turning my head so fast I almost gave myself whip lash. Thankful for the interruption, I motioned for Damien to enter. He stepped in hesitantly, eyeing the elders who were staring at him in fascination. He cleared his throat "I was wondering how the search for my sister was going. I've been successful in contacting the packs near Alpha Jaxon's" he said nervously "nobody saw anything approaching his pack that would have been carrying her. They've willingly let me search their packs but there was no sign of Riley there" he added with an upset expression on his face "none of them had reason to lie to me. They all appeared to be loyal to you."
I opened my mouth to answer but one of the elders interrupted first. "Are you the brother of the Luna Queen?" he asked, peering intently at Damien who looked at me nervously.
"I am," Damien said warily.
"Fascinating. Your hair" one elder breathed, reaching out to touch it while Damien stiffened "I believe you have the ability to control the element of water" he added with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Yes, but I'm not a damn puppet that does things on command" Damien surprised me by responding to them angrily.
I fought back my smile. It appeared Damien was not enamored with the elders either. Contrary to being insulted by Damien's comments one of the elders grinned, chuckling to himself.
"I like your spirit," he said approvingly.
Damien rolled his eyes.
"The search is not going well" I bit out. "Thomas and Cody have failed to find anything. Callum is still out searching but her scent disappeared with the cars. We searched Jaxon's pack and came up with nothing. I have men with eyes on his pack in case he comes back but until we find him, our hands are tied" I growled, running a hand across my forehead "I don't understand where he could have gone. He didn't have time to disappear so quickly" I added, frowning "we were quick to spread out in search of them. He didn't have a huge lead" I added scowling.
"The pack has to know something," Damien said, "we have to question them."
"You are forbidden to question innocent pack members that are not your own" an elder interjected "you know that is not the correct protocol. One of us must go and question them. That is the law," he said.
"So why aren't you there" I demanded, "instead of here bothering me?"
"Mind your tongue" an elder snapped, drawing himself up straight "and show us the proper respect. We have come as a courtesy to you and to prevent all-out war. The taking of the Luna Queen is a serious offense and must be showed that the elders are taking it seriously. We came here first to inform you that we were here and about to start our own investigation."
I bit my lip. Damien looked unimpressed. Thomas was silent. We glanced at one another silently communicating.
"I am elder James, this is elder Michael and this is elder Jacob" James introduced them "now we can continue to argue, or you can allow us to go about our business."
"Do what you have to" my tone was dismissive "I won't stop you. But I warn you now" my eyes flashed a warning "I will not be bringing Alpha Jaxon back alive, not after this. I intend for him to die by my hand and you will not interfere unless you want to die as well. Elder or not, there will be no stopping me."
The elders glanced at each other, but Elder Michael merely nodded tightly, recognizing the truth of my words. He exhaled. "We will go now and see about this pack."
"I wish you luck" my tone was sardonic "because if I discover they are lying about his whereabouts..." my voice dripped with maliciousness.
"I have a feeling they will be more willing to come forward when faced with the seriousness of the situation and the gravity of elders descending upon their pack" Elder James was confident.
I almost snorted. These men were delusional. Still, if they left to go to the pack, it would mean that they would be out of my hair. I glanced at Thomas. "Organize some cars and some escorts for the elders" I instructed softly as he nodded at me "anything they need, or require, ensure they have it."
"Of course Sir," he said turning to the elders "follow me" he added and the elders began to file out, while I watched, letting out a large exhale of relief as they left.
"Are they always that irritating" Damien's voice interrupted.
"I'm afraid so. Damien, can you link with your sister? Is there something more that connects you, with you two being sirens" I almost pleaded with him, grasping at straws.
He shook his head "I've tried. I can't reach her. It's like I'm hitting a brick wall and there's no connection just because we're sirens." \
His tone was defeated. My lycan growled in my mind, its anger barely contained. The longer I spent away from Riley, the more his anger grew. Despite what I had told the elders, I was growing fearful that my Lycan side would take over, his desperation to get to Riley overtaking all logic and rationale. I was about to answer Damien again when the most excrutiating pain I had ever felt in my life, shot through my neck, causing me to give a shout as I sank to my knees, clutching at it and screaming out loud.