The next few days were horrid. I refused to give Vale more than three words, two of which included ‘my king’ at the end of everything. More than once had he yelled at me but I took it with a blank, bored expression. This pups anger couldn’t scare me. Goddess, no. I wondered sometimes if he had ever seen Auri truly angry before. She was a force that would leave me breathless with fear.If he required a deeper conversation, I was short, straight to the point and sometimes sarcastic. The change seemed to shift the whole castle in the awkwardness between us.I didn’t give a single shit though. Neither did Rydere. We both sometimes needed time and he would take over, letting me retreat. He treated Vale even more sarcastically that I did. Which, of course, ticked Vale off even more. But I was angry and I felt like I had to bottle all my pain. Bottle everything and even when I tried to reach out to Bryan or Simon, there was nothing. Morgan had called me, giving me a status update on Ezekiel.
Vale didn’t push me after my outburst, didn’t try to seek me out. In fact, he avoided me like the plague. Luna Naomi told me he had called Simon and Bryan but neither of them would give him details. They only said they would speak to use when we got there. This irritated him enough to break his phone as he threw it against the stone. Alpha Evan though was accommodating when he realized the issue. He understood my pain at the loss of my Alpha. That was enough and I didn’t need to explain further.I slammed the trunk shut with our luggage. Turning to the Alpha and Luna who were standing next to the car, I flashed them a smile. “Thank you for allowing us use of the car.”“Please. We brought our own and the pack has quite a few. It’s the least we could do after all this.” Alpha Evan reached out and shook my hand. “Thank you for everything you have done, Beta Hector. We owe you greatly, if you ever need anything, especially with your Alpha, we would be happy to help.”Nodding, I swallowed
All of us sat or stood in the living room. Jax, Simon and Morgan were leaning against the wall with the fireplace, the couch was taken up by Ezekiel, Bryan, and Lucy. I sat on the single chair across from them, closest to the fireplace while Vale sat in the other. AJ was sitting on the arm of the couch. Everyone was shifting uncomfortably, trying to get comfortable in a conversation we knew was impossible. “Really, Pipsqueak should be here but she’s been unreachable for a past few weeks.” Morgan was the first to say something. “It’s fine. I just…I need some of it. Whatever happened.” My knuckles were white as I threaded my fingers together, just trying to hold myself together. Trying to let my emotions consume me. It was Simon who spoke up first. “Alpha…sorry…Auri had been in contact exclusively with Pipsqueak. They were working nonstop. Auri wouldn’t sleep. She wouldn’t eat until she was working on a new lead with her.” AJ nodded. “We took turns making sure she rested or ate. Othe
Turning into Auri’s office, I could see Ezekiel had been working out of it but I turned to one of the bookshelves and pulled out the drawers that were beneath them. Auri had a complicated, yet brilliant filing system that spanned over a ridiculous amount of time. Everything was meticulously ordered and filed. Bryan walked in while I was working through drawer number three. “Hector, what…?”“I know Auri kept records of everything. Where were the lists?”Bryan came closer. “What lists, Hector? There are thousands of them in here.”“The…the ones with the individuals we went after. The BloodHunter coven. When we took down the High Council.” I slammed the third drawer shut, opening the fourth. “I don’t think it’s on that side. It’s older.” Bryan turned and opened up two of the drawers near the door. “Why?”I growled, moving onto the next. “To prove a theory wrong.”Ezekiel came into the doorway next. “Everything okay?”“Apparently, Rydere has a theory that Hector is trying to prove wrong
***Ezekiel’s POV*** I brought the two wooden swords down against Morgan’s block. The sound reverberated in the backyard only to be overshadowed by the waves crashing against the rocks. My body was covered in sweat and I already had discarded my drenched shirt a while ago. Morgan, however, looked completely unperturbed. His button up shirt was just rolled up to his elbows and not even a hair was out of place. Growling, I spun into a kick and then followed up with two strikes, trying to overpower him. Of course though, he blocked my kick with his arm, his one sword blocking both of my hits. Jumping back, I straightened and took a deep breath. “You’re doing much better.” Morgan nodded to me and reached over, throwing me one of the water bottles on the table. Cracking it open, I downed half of it. “I still can’t even get a hit in.” “Don’t worry. It took Auri a long time to even get close. You’re starting to build back up the muscle you lost. You can’t expect to be better right away.
“No Dad, she isn’t. Hector and Pipsqueak have been working nearly non-stop trying to find her but they aren’t able to grasp much. We don’t have a lead or anything. The first time Zeke felt anything was three days ago, she was removed from the pack. It does mean she is still alive but now we don’t have a connection to her.”Logan sighed. “Neither do I.”“Well, maybe you could have helped four months ago when we told you she was missing in the first fucking place.” Morgan grumbled.“Auri goes ‘missing’ all the time. I didn’t think…”Vale balked and his mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me? We told you, explicitly, that the BloodHunter Coven that somehow has been rebuilt was the one who has her and you thought she was on a fucking vacation? She traded her life for my mates. The least you could have done was come and help!”Logan looked up at Vale. “You found your mate? Did you make her Luna?”I winced but Vale held my hand tighter. “Alpha Ezekiel is my mate, Dad. He currently is Alpha
I opened up the door quick enough to grab the flying glass turtle out of the air. Sighing, I put my hand on my hip and looked at Vale. His eyes were wide as he gaped at me and then a sheepish, apologetic look flashed across his face.“This the third time, Vale. The third time. I fixed him the other two times but one of these days I won’t be able to repair the damage you have done.”“I’m sorry, Zeke. He’s just here and so easy to lob.”I growled. “I’ll make you find your own desk if I catch you doing it again. He does not deserve that kind of treatment.” Holding the glass turtle out, I waved it in front of him.Vale tried and failed to keep the smirk off of his face. “Come here and I will give you a proper apology.”Refusing to give Vale the satisfaction of my smile, I walked over to him and gently set down my paperweight on the desk. Vale had taken over the desk and there were papers thrown everywhere. It was a mess and I had to look away before my instincts to organize it kicked in.
The screen before us flickered and showed a typical news layout. A woman of fey descent with bright purple hair with black glasses. She was sitting at a desk, her hands intertwined on top of it. A blue news bar at the bottom ran ‘We interrupt you nightly news for an important segment. We will be back to the nightly news after these messages’. In a box on the right hand side of the screen was a title card as well.“High Council, friend or foe?” Lucy read aloud. “Oh god…no…”Felix shifted and took her hands, holding them tight. In fact, all of us were now holding onto something. For me, I clutched my knees, as did Jax next to me. Simon and Vale were clutching the arms of their chairs while AJ just had his fists balled up.The paused screen started with the scurrying of multiple camera, most likely interns handing the anchorwoman cards. It all felt like an emergency announcement. The fey woman was still putting her earpiece in and adjusting her notecards as quickly as possible.“Hello my