4: Welcome to Blackfang

LEVI

SEVEN YEARS LATER

Reject her publicly, Levi, or risk getting her killed.

Those were my father's words to me seven years ago, after he received a prophecy about what my fated mate was capable of doing to the royal family. And like a fool, I obliged him because I thought I was protecting her.

I rejected my mate publicly. Scorned the only woman that ever made me come alive, and I made the absolute fucking mistake of my life in the process. Back then, I had a plan. My beta, Theo, was supposed to go after her and get her to my contact in the next city, who'd take her out of the country so she could get a new life and live till I figured out a way to outsmart the damned prophecy.

But Theo just had to lose her. According to him, my father's men held him back, and when he could finally slip away, Brooks was nowhere to be found. She wasn't at the foster home. She wasn't in her favorite. She wasn't anywhere.

She just vanished from the surface of the earth like she never existed. At first, I thought my father had gone against our agreement and hurt her, but I could still feel her through the mate bond, and so, we searched for her

Theo and I looked everywhere. We searched every nook and cranny. We turned the country upside down, but Brooks simply didn't want to be found. It's been seven years of looking for her, of chasing leads that always amount to nothing, and in those seven years, I haven't had a day of peace.

Her wounded expression always replayed itself in my mind. The way her lips quivered, the way she repeatedly tried to blink back her tears. It broke my heart every time I thought about it, which was literally every minute of my life. I lived through that pain, desperate to find her, desperate to make things right with her.

So much had happened over the last seven years: Father's health had dissipated completely, and I had to take over as the acting alpha king. I got busy running the pack, conquering new territories, and acting like a king. Still, with all my busy schedules, I go to bed thinking of Brooks, and I woke up regretting my foolish decision to oblige my father seven years ago.

That was the reason why I was in this hellhole. It was the reason why I lost my mate. It was the reason why there was a gaping hole in my heart that was sucking away my strength, sanity and alpha energy because I haven't marked my mate. It was a royal family curse that stated that all alphas must mark their mate, fated or chosen, before the age of 30 or risk losing their sanity completely.

The council was already whispering about the curse and worried that I'd be unfit to rule for the next three years because of it. They've compiled lists of eligible shewolves and sent them to me for me to make my choice, and when I turned all of them down, they narrowed the list down and picked who they felt was the most compatible and befitting Luna for me. And I was tasked with marking her by the next full moon.

How could I even think of marking another shewolf when Brooks was still out there? When I was incapable of wanting any other woman but her, mate bond or not.

My phone vibrated, and the suddenness of the sound jolted me out of my reverie. I realized I had zoned out again while staring at the computer screen in my office. I glared at the phone, my anger spiking a little when I saw who was calling.

He was the reason why I was in this mess. If only he had stuck to the plan, if only he had outsmarted Father's men, then Brooks wouldn't have disappeared just like that.

“What the hell do you want, Theo?”

“Good evening to you, too, Alpha Levi.” I could hear the smile in his voice, and that annoyed me more than anything. What the hell was he excited about? Losing my mate? Putting me in this hellhole?

“What is it, Theo? The only reason why you should sound this excited is if you've found Brooks.” I sat up suddenly, and when I spoke again, my voice trembled, “Wait, don't tell me you've found her.”

A second of silence passed, “I'm sorry, Levi.”

“Fuck you.” I slumped back against my chair, that sense of disappointment settling on my body like a second skin. Was I ever going to find her? I knew she was alive through the mate bond, but was she fine? How has she lived all these years? Does she hate me?

Of course, she hates you.

“I got a report of a security breach near the rogue territory at Blackfang. I was wondering if you'd like to check it out.”

“You want me to go and check some ridiculous breach out? Have you forgotten that you're talking to your alpha?”

“I'm talking to my friend right now, Levi. You've been holed up for months in the castle and your study. You need to go out. You need the sun. You need to feel alive.”

“Maybe I'll do all these things when you bring Brooks back.”

“I'll bring her back someday soon, I promise.”

“Someday soon, really? You mean after the council forces me to mark my chosen mate? Or you mean after I lose my mind because I haven't marked my mate.”

“Levi…”

“Do your job, Theo, and stop requesting things like this from me.”

I cut the call before he could reply, my anger now shimmering within me. I stood from the chair to pace the length of my office, fangs extracting and retracting, my wolf straining to burst free from the agitation that I felt.

How was Brooks? Was she fine? Why haven't we found her in seven good years? Was she intentionally hiding from me? Was she… My phone vibrated from where I had dumped it on the table. It was a text message from Theo with the address of the security breach.

Please go, Levi. There's a new lead on Brooks’ whereabouts. I'll share the details with you later, but you don't want her to come and meet an older man when she finally returns, right? Just go out and do something, Levi. Trust me, you won't regret it.

I frowned at the tone of his message, wondering why the hell he was so serious about me going to the rogue's territory. The news about the new lead on Brooks’ whereabouts didn't faze me. They've always been false, so the probability of this being false too was 99%, but still, a hope flared in my chest.

The possibility of this lead leading us to her made me gather security officers, and we started our 2-hour ride to Blackfang.

Even though the territory was just a two-hour drive from the capital and from the palace, it was basically a slum with small houses made of warped timber and rusted sheet metal. The houses were illogically arranged. You could open your door onto your neighbor’s living room, and there was a smell in the air, from the open gutters, mixed with the distinct smell that marked the rogues as different from normal wolves. The rogues here were the logical rogues, they were the ones who didn't go feral and were condemned to roaming the forest. But they couldn't live among the normal wolves, either, so they made a place surrounded by hills, nearest to the forest and their homes, and they called it Blackfang.

It didn't take long for my men to find the reason Theo called in for a security breach. There were three dead bodies, and they were people who weren't from Blackfang.

“We didn't want to stress the royal police force,” Zeke, the leader of the rogue, told me, “we just wanted to take care of it within ourselves.”

I chuckled, “You wanted to take care of it within yourself? Or are you trying to cover up for the crime your men committed?”

“Of course not, alpha,” he replied with a petulant smile, “We’re gentle rogues. Their bodies were dumped here, and we intend on finding out…”

“So, do you have a lead? A suspect? A…”

I trailed off mid-sentence, a sudden sweet scent hitting my nostrils and blurring the pungent smell of the territory. I whirled around as the scent grew overpowering.

“Alpha Levi, are you looking for something?”

I held out my hand to stop him as I moved in a trance towards the direction of the scent. This was a scent that I haven't smelt in seven years. My wolf was growing agitated and trying to fight his way out. I could feel my fangs trying to pop out, could feel my eyes changing colors as my wolf fought to take over.

It couldn't be. She couldn't be here. I've turned the whole country upside down. Heck, I've turned the world upside down searching for her within the last seven years, and she was here? Just two hours’ drive away from where I lived? No fucking way.

I shook my head in denial but I also couldn't deny the happiness I was feeling. My hands shook and my heart pounded as I walked closer into a clearing where some women were gathered around a large bowl and washing in it. They all stopped when they saw me and then bowed in greeting when my alpha energy reached them.

Her back was to me and she stiffened when she registered my presence. I'd recognize her even if she was in a sack bag so I knew she was the one even though her hair was shorter and she had lost considerable weight.

“Brooks,” I choked out, my word torn between a plea and a prayer and even though it was just a word, my voice had never trembled so badly.