Chapter 72

Sebastian

“What?!” Miranda and I bark in unison. We march towards my Beta, towering over him. He holds out his phone that is currently on a call with Evan, Ella, and Noah’s school. I snatch it from him and put it to my ear, walking away. Miranda follows, sticking to my side.

She presses her hip into mine and leans in, trying her best to listen in on the phone call.

“Hello?” The school’s principal voice is shallow from the other end of the call.

“Who took my child?” I growl into the phone’s microphone. My fingers tightly fasten around the phone, the screen threatening to crack from under the pressure. Miranda grabs my wrist and I look at her. She gently shakes her head and the tension I feel in my hands disappears but my fury still remains.

“Uh…well, Evan was taken out of school by his mother Lily—”

“Lily is not his mother!” I scream over their voice, interrupting them. Miranda gasps beside me. Her hands cling over her mouth, covering the lower half of her face as her eyes shoot open from shock. “I thought we informed you of this?! How dare you do something so reckless!”

“W-We know sir! We are just as ashamed as you are!” The principal stammers. They cough and I can hear the faint voices of other office attendants in the background. “We don’t think the information was fully processed in our system…you see, our system is very old and is very slow!”

“You just let the heir of my throne be taken by an enemy of the state! You’re lucky I don’t have you thrown in prison!”

Miranda grabs the phone from me and puts it to her ear. Silent tears roll down her light pink cheeks. Her hands tremble and my heart breaks at the sight.

“Hi, this is their mother, Miranda,” her voice shakes. She gulps a breath of smoky air and reaches for me. I take her hand and guide her away from the chaos. “Are Ella and Noah okay? We appreciate your help in making sure that nobody goes near them. We’ll send a Gamma squad to come pick them up. Okay, thank you so much for your cooperation, we appreciate it so much.”

Her gentleness is admirable. Instead of letting her rage take control over her body like mine does, she instead goes for the high road. I do not know how she was able to thank them, though, since their careless mistake has placed Evan in the direct line of danger.

I’ll make them pay for their mistakes. They’ve reaped what their future has sowed for them.

I take the phone from Miranda’s hand, pocketing it, and pull her into my chest. She wraps her arms around my torso and we melt into each other. I tuck her head under my chin and sigh, holding the back of her head.

“You need to go,” I breathe the words out. Miranda jerks against my touch but I keep her pressed against my chest, not allowing her to move. “Noah and Ella are going to need you. They are going to need their mother.”

“I can’t leave you here!” She tilts her chin up to look at me. Our eyes connect and my heart breaks at the sight of her saddened frown. “What if something bad happens to you?”

“Then it is better that it happens to me instead of you and the kids,” I sigh and look down at her. I brush loose strands of hair out from her face and tuck them behind her ear. She leans into my touch and frowns at me. “Miranda…you know I’m right.”

“No, I won’t leave you!”

“Miranda,” I sigh and cup her cheeks. Miranda holds onto my wrists and we stare into each other’s eyes as if it is our last moment on earth. I wipe away a tear from her cheek, leaning down to press our foreheads against each other. “Go. I’ll be with you all soon. I promise.”

Behind Miranda, a car pulls up. A Delta officer steps out of the vehicle and opens the car door. He shares a look with my Beta then stares at me. I nod and ease Miranda backwards. She peels herself off of my body and I turn her to the car. She gets inside and the window rolls down.

“Come back to me,” she says. I nod and watch as the car pulls away from the burning rubble. I sigh.

My anger has mixed in with a sense of dread and agony. The Rogue King has gone too far and Lily’s antics have only made things worse. The whole situation is enough to leave me bedridden with a migraine for a century.

I must endure. I have to get through this for Miranda and for our family.

My Beta approaches and hands me a tablet. I train my eyes onto the screen, watching as security footage shows Lily dragging Evan to an unmarked van in the school’s parking lot.

Those fucking idiots.

We’ll make them pay. We must find the boy first, my wolf’s growl grounds me back in reality. He’s right. We have to find Evan first. He is the top priority, not just for my sake but for Miranda’s as well.

“Follow street cameras and follow their movements. Find where they have gone!”

“We are on it, sir,” my Beta takes the tablet back from me.

“Send a Gamma patrol after them. Heighten security around the border and have a Delta squadron go to my house with Miranda and the kids,” I hold back my anger, not wanting any of the Rogue King’s prying eyes sending word back to him about my meltdown.

I guess they would have already seen it, though, when I was on the phone with the children’s school.

“May I ask why they would have taken just Evan and not the other two?” My Beta inquires.

“Evan is the heir. Lily also has access to him and not the other two. He’s a bigger and better bargaining chip for the Rogue King to use,” I growl, staring into the roaring flames. Smoke fills the air and covers the sun, shadowing the area and turning the sun into a blood red color.

“Ah. I see. I’ll go inform the troops of your orders, sir.” My Beta bows his head at me. I nod and wave him away, slowly sucking in the smoky air, the heat stinging the inside of my lungs, turning them black.

I turn to face the factory. The burning building finally collapsing in on itself. Animalistic screams tear through the air’s sending chills down my spine. Their cries of agony only make me more angry; they motivate me to take down the Rogue King once and for all.

People will no longer live in fear. No more soldiers will be recklessly killed due to another man’s anger.

My revenge on the Rogue King is not just for me. It is for all of the innocent lives he has taken. It is justice for Evan’s kidnapping and will bring Miranda and I resolution for our family. When the Rogue King falls, a fall that I will ensure, peace will come back to my kingdom.

I will end this once and for all.