The Shriek That Changed Everything

[lvan's POV]

I stepped out of the carriage in front of Isaac's castle and looked around as Hans and the others

unloaded behind me. The sun was beginning to set and I could only hope that Isaac was around for

questioning.

As I began to move forward, I watched Isaac's guards make their way towards me with their

weapons at the ready. Leave it to that idiot to be cautious at all times, even of his brother. That was

definitely something that he had managed to inherit from our father.

Lifting my arms, I showed that I wasn't armed once the guards reached me. Despite my show of

compliance, they still stabbed the tips of their spears into my flesh while their eyes took me in.

"How dare you!" Hans snarled, beginning to move forward.

"Stand down. " I warned, stopping him in his tracks. "We didn’t come here to cause any trouble,

remember?”

Not yet anyway. Only if I discovered he was responsible for Arissa’s kidnapping would I attack

without any hesitation.

"Who are you and what is your purpose for coming here unannounced?" One of the guards

demanded

"I'm your alpha's dearest brother.” I sighed, feigning hurt at not being recognized. "I didn't think

that I would need to arrange a visit to simply see my older brother.”

"You say you're his brother?" The guard repeated, narrowing his gaze.

I had to hold back my irritation at the guard's question. Almost all of Isaac's men were aware of who

I was, and I was beginning to grow slightly suspicious of this fellow.

"Why don't you send him a message to confirm?" I huffed, crossing my arms below where the tip of

the guard's sword still stabbed my flesh. "Wouldn't that be the easiest way to end this?"

“Right.”

I waited as the guard disappeared into his own head, clearly doing exactly what I had said. When he

came back to the present, he immediately dropped his weapon and looked sheepish.

"I do apologize for that, sir." He said quickly, backing up and standing at attention. "We have had

suspicious men roaming the grounds recently, so Alpha has upped our security.”

Suspicious men? Did that mean that Isaac wasn't involved in my father's suspicious dealings?

Interesting.

"If you'll follow me." The guard continued, pulling my attention back to him.

"Lead the way."

Nodding, the guard began to move, leaving his partner to continue to watch the entrance to Isaac's

packlands.

Inside the walls of the complex, I found that everyone we passed seemed to be on edge and jumpy.

Despite not caring much for my idiot brother, I found myself growing more and more concerned

with what could possibly be going on outside his walls.

When we reached the entrance to the castle, the guard that was leading gave us a bow and left us

to enter on our own. After thanking him, I led the way through the entryway of Isaac's overly

luxurious home and made my way upstairs to where his office was located.

Inside, I could hear people talking and decided to wait until whoever he was speaking with left

before entering. After a few moments, a much too familiar man exited the office with a frazzled look

on his face.

Despite my sudden need to rip him to shreds, I stayed put as his eyes met mine in confusion due to

my clear hostility.

"Who are you?" He asked, attempting to intimidate me.

"Don’t worry about that." I smirked, stepping forward, so I hovered over him. "You'll know who I am

soon enough.”

With that, I turned and headed into Isaac's office to find him rubbing his temples. His usually calm

face was taut and his lips dipped into a much too deep frown. It seemed that whatever the two were

talking about wasn’t something pleasant, and it was leaving Isaac with a good deal of stress.

"Ivan," he sighed, once he spotted me entering the room. "What brings you here all of a sudden?"

Instead of responding, I continued to watch, trying to see if there was any hint of nervousness from

the man sitting in front of me.

"I came to ask you something." I began, preparing to get straight to the point.

"Ask me? " Isaac repeated in confusion. "Go ahead.”

"Do you know where Arissa is?"

I made sure to watch Isaac carefully as I asked my question. Despite his skill at keeping a poker face,

I knew that he was prone to slipping up if caught off guard. However, he didn’t seem to be the

slightest bit nervous, and I knew in that moment that she wasn't here.

"Arissa?" He spat, grimacing with disgust over simply saying the name. "Why the hell would I know

where that bitch is?"

I bit back my instant response to Isaac insulting her and tried to remain calm. If Isaac didn’t have

Arissa, then there was truly no reason for me to stay any longer.

"Sorry, it seems that I assumed wrong." I began, only to stop as an odd force slammed into me,

causing me to stumble.

Looking around the room, I realized that the others had felt the same thing. What the hell was that

and where did it come from?

I didn't have to wonder for very long as what could only be described as a banshee shriek ripped

through the air, causing the entire castle to shake from its force.

Rushing forward, I looked out the only window in Isaac's office towards the area of land where

omegas were brought for breeding. There, I found a bright light shining from between the trees,

lighting the sky like the sun itself.

I didn't know how I knew, but in that instant, Arissa’s face popped into my head, and I was sure that

she was the one causing it.

"Found you." I smirked, before turning and running at full speed out of the castle and towards

where my lady was waiting for me.

"Where are you going?" Hans called from close behind. "ALPHA!"

"No time to explain.” I called over my shoulder.

There was no time to discuss this with Hans or the others. I was positive that something had

triggered Arissa, and that was what caused this sudden explosion of power. If I was right, she was in

serious danger and I needed to get to her as quickly as I could. I could only hope that her

kidnappers were present when I arrived so that I could slowly torture and kill them with my bare

hands. They would be sure to discover just why I was deemed the ultimate alpha.