Chapter 62 The Search
Adrian’s POV
The courtyard was alive with restless energy when I stormed out…over twenty warriors already shifted or mid-shift, massive wolves pacing in tight circles, ears pricked, hackles half-raised. No armor, no swords, no horses. We didn’t need them. Claws, teeth, speed, and raw pack fury were more than enough.
I spotted Thomas near the front gate, directing a line of trackers who were nose-to-ground, memorizing Kira’s scent from the robe she’d worn yesterday.
“Thomas,” I barked, voice cutting through the low growls. “Change of plans. King Ariston and his family leave today. Full royal escort…ten of our fastest runners should accompany them. Also, make arrangements for gifts that scream gratitude. Gold bars, winter pelts, those jeweled daggers from the vault, and every cask of northern honey wine we’ve got left. Make it generous. Make it obvious. I want every border patrol from here to his kingdom talking about how well I treated my in-laws.”
Thomas shifted back to human form in a ripple of muscle and fur, standing naked and unbothered like the rest of us would be soon. “Hold on, your majesty…didn’t you swear yesterday they weren’t leaving until the princess herself said so?”
I dragged a hand through my still-damp hair, frustration burning hot. “Yeah, I did. But have you forgotten what Ariston did for this throne? I owe the man. If not forever, then at least this one time.”
Thomas frowned, arms crossing. “Owe him for what, exactly? Remind me, your majesty. What do we possibly owe that monster of a father?”
I stared in the direction leading towards the Dark Zone, that thick wall of black pines where Kira was lost, and the old wound ripped open all over again.
“Six years ago,” I started, voice low and rough. “The night the rogues hit us like a tidal wave.
Coordinated. Vicious like they had been planning for months. They came from three directions at once. My mother held the eastern gate alone so the pups and elders could get out. She died there, torn apart. My father saw it happen from the entrance. Something inside him just…snapped. After that, he barely spoke. Sat on the throne staring at nothing until the madness took over him.”
The courtyard had gone quiet around us…even the wind seemed to still.
“The whole kingdom went dark for months. Packs accused each other of helping the rogues. Borders fell apart. Every night felt like another attack waiting to happen. Our warriors hunted the bastard responsible for years…raided camps, tortured informants, burned whole rogue nests to the ground. Got nothing. He was smoke.”
“Then, the morning of my coronation… when I was nineteen, still smelling like funeral smoke…Ariston rode up to the palace gates with his whole army…dragging a chained wolf behind him like trash.”
Thomas’s eyes went wide. He knew the story, but not like this.
“Tristen Ravenwood,” I said, the name tasting like rust and blood. “The Rogue King. First wolf ever banished to the Outlands. The one who started it all…who turned every exile and psycho into an army. He planned the ambush that killed my mother and drove my father mad. And Ariston delivered him. Alive. Broken. Begging.”
I still remember the roar that went up from the crowds that day. People cried in the streets. For the first time in years, we had justice.
“Ariston didn’t brag. Didn’t demand land or gold. Just said, ‘A king keeps his word.’ Then he looked me in the eye and said I owed him three wishes…anything except the throne or inner court matters. I swore it on my mother’s blood.”
Thomas exhaled slowly, realization settling. “If I remember correctly, years ago when I asked you why you agreed to marry the Wolfless princess…could it be that he used the first wish years back? When he forced the mating alliance talk with his daughter?”
“Yes. That promise made me consider her seriously instead of kicking them out. It wasn’t just the council and their political alliance deal…it was majorly because of the promise. And now,” I gave a short, bitter laugh, “he just used the second wish…let him and his family leave immediately. No waiting for Kira’s permission. My word is my bond.”
Thomas scratched his jaw. “That’s kind of a waste of a big wish, isn’t it? He’s only got one left. Why are they in such a rush to get out of here? What are those bastards cooking up?”
“That’s exactly what’s eating at me,” I muttered. “But a debt’s a debt. We pay it. And honestly? It’s better this way.”
I just hope that his last wish shouldn’t be for me to ‘hand over my mate.’ Because if he tried, I’d kill him before the words left his mouth.
Thomas nodded sharply. “I’ll get the escort and carts ready now.”
“Good. What’s the hold-up? Why aren’t they moving?”
“Waiting on Philip. Late again.”
Right on cue, Philip came jogging into the courtyard, buckling his belt, hair sticking up, skin flushed. The sharp, unmistakable stink of sex rolled off him like fog.
Half the warriors turned to look. A couple of the younger ones snorted. My vision went red.
I crossed the space in two seconds, shifted one clawed hand mid-stride, and slammed him against the stone wall by the throat, lifting him until his boots dangled.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I roared, fangs dropping. “My mate..,your princess…is missing. Maybe hurt. Maybe starting her heat alone in rogue territory. And you’re off screwing some kitchen girl?”
Philip choked, face turning purple. “S-sorry, Your Majesty…it won’t happen again…I swear. Something unavoidable came up.”
“Unavoidable?” I snarled, shaking him. “What was so goddamn important you couldn’t wait?”
He dropped his eyes, mumbling another pathetic apology.
I dropped him hard. He hit the ground coughing, rubbing his neck.
“Get in formation,” I snapped. “Next time, I let Derek rip a chunk out of you.”
He scrambled up and fell in line without a word.
I turned to the pack…rows of massive wolves and the last few still shifting, clothes shredding and falling away.
I threw the mindlink wide open, voice booming into every head.
‘Every wolf on high alert. We sweep the entire Dark Zone…every den, every ravine, every rogue hideout. You bring Princess Kira back alive and breathing, or none of you come home. That’s a direct order from your Alpha King. Fail me, and I’ll hunt you myself.’
The answering howl that rose up shook the ground.
Then we shifted as one.
Fur burst across skin, bones cracked and lengthened, muscles swelled. In heartbeats, the courtyard was empty of men and packed with wolves…huge, lethal, eyes glowing gold and silver in the dawn light.
I let Derek fully take the front, my massive black wolf towering over the rest, scars silver across my flanks. I threw my head back and loosed a howl that carried for miles…rage, promise, and pure terror for anyone who’d touched her.
Then we ran.
A hundred wolves exploding out of the gates like a black tide, paws thundering over frozen earth, breath steaming, bodies low and fast.
‘Kira,’ I thought as I leaped the outer wall in one bound, claws raking stone. I’m coming, princess.
‘Hold on.’
We hit the tree line and vanished into the shadows, a storm of fangs and fury tearing toward the heart of the Dark Zone.