The Escape

Duncan

“Alpha James, excuse me. May I have a moment?” I asked, approaching him.

“Of course, Alpha Duncan. Have you met Alpha Brian from Silver Rain Pack yet?” he asked, indicating the older gentleman beside him.

“Briefly, at the last Alpha summit. Good evening, Alpha Brian. It’s nice to see you again,” I greeted him. He nodded, then made his excuses and left me with Alpha James.

“I apologize, but I just received a message from my pack. There’s a situation that I need to head back and handle personally. My group will be leaving shortly.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I hope it’s nothing serious?” he asked.

“Nothing life-threatening, but you know how it can be. Sometimes, the only one able to handle it is the Alpha,” I replied. I didn’t want him thinking that we were open for attack, but I needed to be vague enough that he believed the excuse and didn’t look deeper. An alpha with his ego would take that excuse at face value, and he did.

He laughed. “Of course, of course. Before you go, I have to ask—did you or your men meet your mates while you were here? I’ve seen quite a few beautiful she-wolves wandering around.”

“Unfortunately not, though your hospitality has been excellent. Maybe next time. I’m sorry, I really must go to coordinate our departure with my men. Thank you again for hosting us.”

“Anytime. Good luck back at your pack.” He shook my hand and then looked over my shoulder. “Ah, my son appears to need me. Safe travels, Alpha Duncan.” He headed off across the ballroom.

I looked around for Lucian, then nodded at him when I saw him. He turned to the warriors with him, and they started heading towards the door a few at a time.

Lucian came over to me, and we exited the ballroom together, then turned towards the kitchen. Slipping through the door as quietly as we could, the only people we saw were Louise and Kayla. Julian was standing by the counter, close enough to reach Kayla but not touching her.

“The door to the dungeons is right over there,” Kayla whispered, pointing to a door that looked no different from any of the others. It was well camouflaged and would likely be taken for a pantry by anyone entering the kitchen who didn’t know better. “The festivities have worked in our favor tonight. There’s only one guard on duty. I guess they figured no one would be bothering with the kitchen, and since we’re staffed here all night, we’d see anyone trying to go in. We can call him out here. Mom has some coffee and cake waiting for him.”

“He’ll know she’s involved if she’s the one who calls him out. Will it be safe for her?” I asked. I wasn’t willing to put anyone in danger.

“Don’t worry about me, Alpha. I’m past my prime, anyway. I’m happy to do whatever it takes to help. Please understand, I would have done something sooner if I could.” She looked at me, and I realized then that she knew precisely who Seren was. She gave a slight nod.

“Louise, do you want to come with us to Crescent Moon?” I asked. Kayla gasped; Julian smiled a little. Louise’s eyes filled with tears. She took a moment to compose herself.

“Alpha Duncan, if you’re sure, I’d be honored. I don’t want to leave Kayla if I don’t have to, and I never wanted to stay in Blood Moon after my mate died in the first place.” She pressed her lips together. “My requests to return to the Royal Pack have always been denied due to my ‘importance to the running of the pack’ here as head omega, but…” she trailed off. “Anyhow, yes.”

“Do you have anything that you need packed? Things are going to happen pretty quickly once we call that guard out, and while Kayla’s had time to pack things up, I want to make sure you have anything you may need to take with you.”

“I’m okay with what I have here, Alpha. Kayla has all of our sentimental items already; I wanted her to keep them.” She fingered the chain around her neck. “This is the only thing that really matters, and I only have a second uniform back in my room as it stands. I’m not leaving much.”

Lucian cursed under his breath. Julian fisted his hands. I understood their anger. Two sets of clothes for the omegas was tantamount to treating them as slaves. None of us were happy with what we were seeing and hearing.

“Ok then. In that case, let’s get this moving. Call the guard,” I told her, then my team moved to hide just outside the exit to the outdoors. With the door open, the breeze would muddle our scents so the guard wouldn’t know we were right there. It would seem like we had just walked through, or the scent was just being carried through the open door.

She checked that we were in place. Kayla was in front of the sink, washing dishes with her head down. Louise knocked on the door to the dungeon, then smiled at the guard when he opened it. “Hello, Warrior Ethan. I thought you might want a break, and I’ve got some coffee and cake prepared here for you,” she said, then pointed at a place set at the kitchen island. If he sat, his back would be to us.

“You’re always so thoughtful, Louise. It is getting quite boring tonight with no one on duty with me.” He glanced around the kitchen, eyes falling on Kayla. He smiled. “And such a lovely view while I snack.”

Julian clenched his fists again and started towards the door. I placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘Patience, Julian. We won’t let him do anything. Calm.’ I said to him. He nodded and stilled.

Warrior Ethan moved to the island and sat down, exactly as planned. The place setting not only kept his back to us, but put him where he had a direct view of Kayla. That’s when I realized that Louise and Kayla had set it up that way. Louise proved to be smarter than I thought.

He took a drink of the coffee, his eyes never leaving Kayla as she continued to wash dishes quietly. Louise bustled around the kitchen, cleaning up and generally getting things in order after the whirlwind of banquet preparations. As Ethan picked up his fork, he wobbled a bit. Next thing we knew, he was face down in his cake.

“What did you guys do? We were going to knock him out, but this is so much better.” Julian said as he rushed in and grabbed Kayla.

“Sleeping pills in his coffee. When they put Seren down there this time, I knew we’d need to help her get out, which meant getting past the guards. I asked the pack doctor for some sleeping pills—told him I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately. He wrote me a prescription without a second thought. I dropped a triple dose in there. He should be out for a while. I thought it was best if he wasn’t able to mindlink anyone for help if he put up a struggle,” Louise said, looking at me.

I smiled, thankful for the unexpected omega. “You’re brilliant, Louise. Let’s get moving.” She reached down and grabbed the dungeon keys from his belt, handing them to me.

The three of us headed down the stairs, and Conn started going crazy. Under the basement must and old blood, the scent of funnel cakes by the ocean reached me. ‘Mate. She’s our mate. Move, Duncan. Get to her.’ I was stunned. Seren was our mate? This day just keeps delivering surprise after surprise. I pushed to the front of the group and started running down the corridors.

“Duncan! Slow down! You don’t know what may be down here!” Julian hissed from behind me. I ignored him. I heard their footsteps pick up just as I turned the corner and found her cell. She was barely breathing.

The rest of the group came up behind me. I was shaking, fumbling with the key in the lock, and Julian noticed it.

“What’s gotten into you?” he whispered.

“She’s my mate.”