Chapter 19: The Search

Leviathan

With a semi-clear head and not having to fight Damien every two seconds, I have been able to gather the elite in hopes of searching for the girls. It has been painstaking.

The true witch has vanished, so I cannot use her for help anymore. So now I have to rely on the Ancient Liddia.

She has been back and forth scouting areas where Marcus could be hiding. That demon of a wolf is sneaky.

I decide it’s time I need a drink. It’s hard for me to sleep because I’m riddled with Asa’s pain.

The guilt of sleeping soundly in our bed is too much to bear when I know she is out there hurting.

I go off in search of Zade. Maybe having him with me will ease my mind some. I haven’t seen him much since the witch visited us.

Goddess knows what he has been doing. I’m used to him being at my side.

After an hour of searching and him ignoring my links, I finally find him in the pack library.

The sight before me is distressing to say the least. He is seated at the desk. Hundreds of books have been scattered around the library. All open to this page or another.

It looks like an organized mess.

“Zade, my brother, you have to sleep or at least bathe.” I take a whiff of the air and immediately regret it.

Zade shoots a glare at me.

“How can you do anything knowing they are out there!” he says accusingly.

“Watch your tone, Zade! I am still your king. Yes, they are still out there.

“I am painfully aware of it every time I feel the pain Asa goes through, but I am still king. I am still in charge of every pack.”

“I must still keep order throughout the world. You have ~no idea~ the pain I go through having to push through and do everyday tasks.” My voice is filled with anger.

“You get to sit in here knowing Flora is fine. You haven’t felt the pain. The insufferable torment. Your mate may be weakened, but she hasn’t been hurt.

“I have to live every fucking day and feel every last lash, whip, and hit Asa takes.

“She is putting up barriers so I don’t feel as much or maybe so I don’t feel some of what she is going through, but ~I~ still feel it, dammit!

“Now get your fucking ass up, take a damn shower, and stop wallowing in self-pity, you pathetic piece of shit.

“You are my beta! Now fucking act like it. I don’t even know who this pathetic person you have become is anymore.”

I punch the bookshelf closest to me and watch as it collapses.

I turn and walk away.

Zade

I haven’t heard Leviathan speak to me like that in forever, but he is right. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

I didn’t know how bad he has had it. And here I have been putting myself and my mate first. I never knew he was holding on to so much.

I should be next to him as his friend and his beta.

Finally I get up and walk to my room to shower. He was definitely right there. I fucking stink. As I enter the room, I see Flora’s stuff scattered about.

That girl is messy, but I fell in love with her the moment I saw her. Her wild attitude. Her blunt wording. Her messes. I miss it all.

I still smell her faint scent in the room. This is why I have avoided this room. It hurts not knowing what is going on. Not to feel any change in emotion from her or hear her thoughts.

I have tried linking a thousand times, but I only get a buzzing, faint energy in response.

Flora is a fierce woman, and I need to wake up and be the man I was before to be worthy of her because the man that stands here now…is not.

After my much-needed shower, I change into new clothes and try to suppress my emotions. I need to speak with Leviathan.

All my time locked in the library wasn’t for nothing. I have been researching.

I go down to the bar, and sure enough, I see him perched on a seat drinking his favorite rum.

I place my hand on his shoulder as I take a seat next to him. “Hey, man. Thanks for the ~pep talk~. You were right.”

Leviathan’s gaze softens. “No, I am sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way. I may be known as a monster, but you have always been by my side.”

We sit in silence for a while after that, just drinking.

Finally I speak up. “Yo, Leviathan, Something’s been on my mind.”

“Hit me,” Leviathan replies.

“Has Julia ever talked to you so casually? Something seemed off about her. She was so formal when you spoke to her years ago about speaking to the Goddess,” I question.

“You know, she hasn’t. I didn’t think much of it though. Why?” he responds. His interest is piqued.

“All that time in the library, I was in there for a reason. I was researching her. It says she mated a wolf.”

“Okay?” Leviathan replies, confused.

“Leviathan…I think Flora is her daughter. Didn’t you see how she cried every time she mentioned the girls? Especially when she talked about Flora. How she called me son…”

Leviathan thinks for a moment.

“It explains the power Flora has. She seems to be strong, but I have always sensed the extent of it was being hidden, but why wouldn’t she help her own daughter?

“She is all powerful with direct connections to the Moon Goddess.”

“That’s the thing. When she was talking, she slipped up and said the Goddess told her about this over a millennia ago.

“Then she backtracked and said that she meant that you would call to her again. What if the Goddess told her she can’t interfere?”

There was a brief silence as we mulled over the information.

“It makes sense, but how does this information help us to find the girls?” Leviathan replies grimly.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I say, deflated.

Leviathan

A few days later, just as I finally manage to fall asleep, my bedroom door bursts open. I jump up and see Liddia.

“King, come to the office ~now~!” she exclaims breathlessly.

I get up, pull on some clothes, and rush down to the office. I see Zade is already there, along with my warriors and other elite from around the world.

“What’s going on, Liddia? What have you found?”

“Okay, so first, don’t get mad at me,” she states.

I glare at her. “Speak, woman.”

“Okay, okay, damn. So I overheard you and Zade talking at the bar a few days ago about how Flora may be the true witch’s daughter, so I used that to my benefit.” She pauses.

“Anyway, I took my team and went out to scout and instead of trying to scent the girls’ wolves or a basic scent of a witch, we searched for the specific scent of the true witch.

“It’s extremely faint on Flora but still there.

“You would easily miss it if you didn’t know exactly what to look for. No magic can hide that scent unless the witch herself hides it,” Liddia explains.

My patience is thinning at this point. “Get to the point, Liddia!”

She smiles and catches her breath. “We found them! We couldn’t get to them alone, though. The power that came from that direction was crazy.

“It’s been hidden, but once we were practically on top of it, it hit like a ton of bricks. We need to go now!”

Zade and I look at each other and frantically get up. We start calling to all the warriors and have them assemble to leave.

The girls are located almost ten hours away on foot. Not being able to shift into our wolves made it much longer than it should have been.

We finally approach the vicinity that Liddia spoke about, and sure enough, the power hits us all like a punch to the gut.

I am the strongest Ancient created due to my age, but it even throws me off guard.

It seems the mate madness has hit Marcus, and with his wolf in full control, his power has surpassed what I thought possible.

One of the reasons we keep our human form is to balance out the power we hold. To contain and be able to control it.

I feel my wolf begin to stir again, and I glance over at Zade. He seems to feel it as well. We are close.

We pick up the pace, making our way to the place we feel it the strongest. There is nothing but forest.

My men search the area and look for some way in, and finally, we find a hidden door on the forest floor.

Liddia places her hand and nods, telling me she wants to be the first to open it and for us to hold back.

Liddia crouches and pulls at the latch, bringing the door open.

In that moment the entire pack falls to our knees.

~Nooooo…~

The link to Flora snaps like a rubber band. She’s dead. I hear everyone gasp in pain. All eyes look over to Zade, and he shifts without warning.

You can see the tears pouring down his fur. The blazing fire in his wolf’s eyes.

We go to charge in, but Liddia tells us to let her go in first. She moves slowly into the bunker.

The moment she enters, a sound emits from the tunnel, so loud it’s like a sonic wave bursting. Hitting us like a train. We can’t move.

Every member falls back to the ground, holding their ears in pain.

This sound… It can only be explained as a screech or a scream.

What could cause this sound? I feel like my head is filling with pressure, and it may very well explode at any moment.

In that painful sound I recognize a familiarity. I’d know that voice from anywhere…