Chapter 71 Hunting - Aleksandr’s POV
I pushed myself to my feet, unable to remain seated with this knowledge burning through me like wildfire. I paced the length of my office, my footsteps silent despite my size, a predator calculating his hunt.
"The ball is in three days," I said, turning back to face Nora. "We need to find her before then."
"The ball must proceed as planned," Nora said, her tone making it clear this wasn't up for debate. "If we cancel now, or even postpone, whoever took Amelia will know we've discovered their deception. They might move her, or worse."
I knew she was right, but the thought of playing along with this farce while Amelia was being held somewhere, possibly hurt or afraid, made my skin crawl. The curse stirred beneath my control, feeding on my rage, on my fear for her.
"I'll attend their damn ball," I conceded, the words like ash in my mouth. "I'll smile and dance and pretend to consider their candidates. But I want every available guard, every trustworthy wolf we have, searching for her."
"Already in motion," Nora assured me. "I've assembled a team of wolves loyal to you personally, not the crown or the council. They're combing the city as we speak, starting with properties owned by councillors and their allies."
I nodded, some of the tension easing from my shoulders at her efficiency. If anyone could organise a clandestine search operation under the council's nose, it was Nora.
"I should be out there," I said, voicing the frustration that had been building since I first saw the new evidence. "I should be leading the search myself."
'Find mate,' Skoll agreed, his mental voice vibrating with the need to hunt, to track, to recover what was ours. 'Follow scent.'
"You know why you can't," Nora said, her voice gentler than I deserved. "The moment you leave the castle on an unexplained absence, they'll know something's wrong. They're watching you, Aleksandr. Measuring your reactions, gauging your acceptance of their lies."
"So I'm trapped here," I said bitterly, "playing their games while Amelia is..." I couldn't finish the thought, couldn't bear to imagine what might be happening to her.
Nora rose from her chair, approaching me with the fearlessness of someone who had witnessed the rise and fall of kings and remained standing. "You're doing exactly what you need to do to save her," she corrected firmly. "Playing the grieving, resigned king. Letting them believe they've won. It's the only way we find her alive."
The blunt assessment hit home, cutting through my selfish desire to abandon everything and hunt for Amelia myself. She was right. Of course she was right. If I tipped our hand too early, revealed that I knew the truth before we located Amelia, I might lose her forever.
"Three days," I said, the words both promise and threat. "Three days until this ball. We find her before then."
"We'll do our best," Nora said, not making promises she couldn't keep. "In the meantime, you must continue as you have been. Attend council meetings. Review the ball arrangements. Act as if you've accepted her departure, painful as it is."
I nodded, the mask of the resigned king already settling back into place. "And if we haven't found her by the ball?"
"Then we use the event to our advantage," Nora replied, her ancient eyes glinting with calculation. "All the council members will be present, their attention divided. It might give us an opportunity to locate her without their knowledge."
The plan was sound, but the thought of waiting, of continuing this charade while Amelia might be suffering, tore at me. "She's out there somewhere, Nora. Waiting for me to find her."
'Waiting for us,' Skoll corrected, his presence pressing forward with surprising gentleness. 'Mate is strong. Mate survives.'
"We will find her," Nora said, gathering her evidence back into the folder with careful hands. "But we must be smarter than our enemies, more patient, more careful. Rush this, and we lose everything."
I closed my eyes, drawing a deep breath to center myself, to leash the rage and fear that threatened to overwhelm my control. "Thank you," I said finally, opening my eyes to meet her gaze. "For not giving up on her when I nearly did."
"You never truly gave up," she countered with a sad smile. "If you had, you wouldn't be standing here now, planning her rescue."
She was wrong about that. In those darkest moments, I had given up. Had accepted the lie because it was easier than the alternative—that someone had taken her, hurt her, because of her connection to me. That guilt would be something I'd have to reckon with later, once she was safe.
"Three days," I repeated as Nora headed for the door. "Find her."
She paused, her hand on the doorknob, and looked back at me with an expression that had witnessed centuries of triumphs and tragedies. "We will find her," she promised. "And when we do, whoever took her will learn why kings are feared above all others."
After she left, I stood motionless in the center of my office, letting the new reality settle around me like a familiar cloak. Amelia hadn't left me. She had been taken, on her way to share something important, something she believed I needed to see.
And somewhere in this city, she was waiting. Perhaps drugged, certainly confined, possibly frightened—but alive. She had to be alive.
'Find mate,' Skoll repeated, more determined than desperate now. 'Save mate. Punish enemies.'
"Yes," I agreed, turning back to my desk with renewed purpose. "We will."
I had a role to play, a mask to wear for three more days. The grieving, accepting king, preparing to meet potential mates at a ball designed to mock his loss. I would play it perfectly, give the performance of my life.
And then, when Amelia was safe in my arms again, I would show Kane, Blackthorn, and whoever else was involved exactly what happened to those who dared to touch what was mine.