Chapter 51

Soren

“She escaped?!” my voice immediately rises above a normal volume and I have to tell myself to calm down and to not take my anger out on my Beta. He is simply doing his job and I can’t crucify him for something that he did not do.

“Yes, sir, her jail cell was empty this morning and the guards were late to inform us,” my Beta’s voice is much more calm than mine.

“They wanted to cover their asses, didn’t they they?” I ask and pinch the bridge of my nose, letting out an annoyed huff of air.

“It appears so, sir,” my Beta nods his head and walks around my desk, passing off a tablet to me. “We have acquired security footage from outside the jail as well as footage from nearby cameras. However, we lost track of her when she reached the tree line near the prison.”

I swipe the tablet from him and look at the footage as well as pictures from CCTV that clearly show Bianca’s face. She wears a smug smirk, one that gives off the impression that she knows exactly what she is doing. It is as if she has someone inside the Werewolf pack helping her at every single turn.

It is sickening to think about.

How can Bianca allow her jealousy and anger towards Celia to put the Werewolf and Lycan packs in danger?

I can’t help but think that this has been her plan all along, or rather the Lycan’s plans. I know the Duke means well, seeing how Celia’s grandmother has vouched for him and he has been nothing short of useful when it comes to finding Bianca and keeping tensions down, but beyond him I know nobody from inside the Lycans beside him, Bianca, and her parents.

Even then, her parents have been less than ideal. From a young age, they were only ever interested in my parents and what the Werewolf pack had to offer to them. While Bianca and I played in the sandbox, it seems as if her parents were planning for her to join my world, the most powerful pack to belong to.

Perhaps what people have said about the Lycans are true. Maybe they are people whose sole purpose in life is to claim and grab as much power as they can, to earn and harness all of the wealth and influence, and be the masters who control the game of life.

As soon as Bianca moved into my home, she began changing it, molding it into the image of her own likes and desires rather than making it a home for us as husband and wife. Everything screams Lycan, it screams a life and culture that is unknown to me and yet it has dominated my life for so long since I have been in love with Bianca for so long.

Have I been made a fool? What does this mean for the future of my pack? What does this mean for the Lycans who are oblivious of Bianca’s plan?

And most importantly, what does this mean for Celia and her well-being?

“Heighten security around all of my properties and alert the Lycan Duke about Bianca’s escape,” I pass the tablet back to my Beta and narrow my eyes at him, anger and irritation flooding throughout my veins.

“Yes, sir,” he nods his head and begins to type away on the screen, fulfilling my orders as soon as I said them. His fingers pause, though, and he turns to look up at me. “Will security be enough?”

I raise my eyebrow at him. I cross my arms over my chest and tilt my head to the side, trying to understand what he is getting at. He lets out a soft sigh and lowers the tablet in his hands, placing it on the desk beside us.

“You should be smart about this,” my Beta begins, “Bianca is coming after both you and Celia. You are the Alpha King and Celia is just a princess, one that did not even know she was a princess to begin with. Your death would be much greater than hers. Maybe the two of you should split up—”

“No,” my answer is firm and decisive.

“Why not?” he responds after a few seconds of contemplation.

“Because she is a princess…the Lycan princess. Her death will be the blood on our hands and the Lycans will point the blame to us for being unable to protect her.”

“Well, yes, but—”

“And she is my fated mate. Why would I risk putting the one person made for me, the one person that fate has decided I should be with, in danger?” I take a step forward and my Beta moves back.

He is unable to respond, scratching the back of his neck as his eyes move everywhere around the room but at me, his Alpha King, the one person he is supposed to serve. He holds no power in the decisions that I make, he is simply the person who completes the tasks for me. He should remember his place.

“Bianca knows me and she knows every single move that I will make. She will know that Celia and I will be together, yes, and that is a risk that I am willing to take. Bianca, however, does not know of all of the locations and properties that the Alpha King owns,” I breathe out.

I turn around and look out the window, overlooking the grand vastness of the rolling green grass. It is calming to me. I can sit out there for hours and feel the weight of the world fall from my shoulders, the responsibility of the pack’s livelihood leaving me along for a small amount of time.

I am not the Alpha King when I am out there. I am not the man who is in charge of the Werewolf pack nor am I the man who people look to for guidance in their times of need.

I am simply Soren.

I turn around and look at my Beta, my body relaxing and the irritation slipping from my body. My eyes flicker towards the door, a quiet creak from outside catching my attention.

“So, would you like to head to one of those properties then, sir? I can send people out to tidy one of them up for you if you would like me to do that,” my Beta picks up the tablet once again and begins to type away.

I move around the desk, my eyes still trained on the cracked open door, another creak filling my ears. My posture straightens and I step to the side, slowly inching towards the door.

“There is one—” my Beta’s voice goes silent. “Sir, what are you doing?”

I wave him away and approach the door. From the outside, footsteps quickly rush away from the office and make their way down the hall. I push the door open and notice Celia’s familiar head of hair, the way her fists remain at her sides, balled up like she is trying to not get caught.

“What is it?”

“Stay here,” I respond, pushing through the barrier of the door, a small smile tugging at the corner of my lips as I quickly follow Celia down the long hallway.