Come for Me 2 (The Hunt #2)

Chapter Seventeen

Dax

M y men, who I’ve enlisted to help aid me in the search for our queen, are exhausted, and we stop to camp whenever we can. More days have passed since I’ve seen my darling mate or held her in my arms, and we’ve now moved crossed over into the vampire kingdom.

My wolf and I are going mad, and any control I have is dwindling. I’m snapping at everyone, which seems to further the cause of my men to find her, as they know, with her, I’m less likely to start killing them.

I never craved spilled blood quite like I have since knowing of her existence, and it only manifests the longer I am without her.

I didn’t have to convince my men to assist me in my search for Alaina. My pack has come to love and accept her as their queen, an army formed effortlessly.

They would die for her, as would I.

And as I’ve learned, so would the mutt.

With Sam staying behind in my place, Caleb has been a surprisingly sufficient substitute for a right-hand man.

“You’re a lot like your father, you know?” I say to Caleb.

We trek through the forest.

Caleb raises his eyebrows and scoffs in dismission. He probably chalks it up to DNA. His newly acquired powers make him similar to his father. Having power is one thing, but wielding it is another, and Caleb’s father knew how to wield it.

Caleb hasn’t said much of anything about his father since his passing. Caleb is fair and still believes the world to be good, showing me he still has more to learn. His kindness and benefit of the doubt will be his downfall. It also tells me his father allowed Caleb to keep his innocence.

I’ve watched Caleb talk to my men, his leadership and planning worthy of a general and alpha. His ways will easily make him loved instead of feared.

He reminds me of my sister, respectfully, and I can see why Alaina would have enjoyed his company. He fits into any crowd effortlessly.

But my Alaina would’ve never been truly happy with him. She doesn’t look to fit in but allows those who see her choose to gravitate toward her. Caleb, who would operate with love, would be the one inviting Alaina to gatherings with neighboring alphas. There, she’d be encouraged to smile at those who don’t deserve it and play socialite with people she couldn’t care less to please. All to ensure grain, food, and other political alliances.

I, on the other hand, would never make Alaina experience forced social discomfort unless it was the only way to ensure her safety.

I am king—a feared one, at that. People will not make her uncomfortable to ensure their continued comfort. She will bow to no one .

That’s not to say Caleb won’t make a just alpha—he will, just as his father was.

It’s then in my rant I realize I’ve been using his actual name. I guess he’s earned it.

Caleb opens his mouth, about to take the bait. But his eyes glow brightly as he sniffs the air frantically, growling low. He pinpoints, turning his head away from the initial direction we were headed. Veering off the path, he creeps into the forest, pushing aside brush and branches as quietly as possible.

My curiosity piques as I stalk behind the tracker, trying to pick up on what he’s seeing.

Following Caleb in silence for another mile, I exchange glances with my men.

I’m about to say fuck it and turn back around when I finally smell it.

Blood . And not just any blood. The blood of a queen, my queen.

Mate’s hurt.

The scent of her becomes stronger. It practically hits me in the face as we move. My heart is beating, while my wolf is scratching at my insides to be let the fuck out and draw blood of those who’ve harmed her.

Then I see it, the dark-red painting the forest floor as though she’s been dragged.

Following the trail with my eyes, I come across a castle adorned with medieval, gothic features. The dark stone, tall towers, and conical roofs. The windows are stained, while others are covered in steel frames, and a tower puts all others to shame with its height. Its pointed roof is barely visible as it disappears into the clouds.

In my heart, I know she’s up there because that’s where I’d keep her, hidden away from the rest of the world, closest to the heavens.

If I’m right, then I’m close enough now to link her. “Alaina.”

No answer.

“Alaina, it’s Dax. I’m here. Can you hear me?”

My heart thumps faster every second she doesn’t respond.

Out of pure worry, I lose my temper and yell into the mindlink. “Tell me where you are!”

Again, I’m met with silence.

I run my hand over my face and inhale deeply. Shaking my head, I take a step backward. “I can’t reach her.”

I’ve heard and witnessed terrible things in my life, but at the sight of her blood and her silence, my vision goes black. My mind races over the possibilities of what they may have done to her to make her bleed so much. And whether she’s alive... My world will have ended and the rest of the world will follow if she’s not.

My vision comes in and out as my wolf switches between wanting control to take out his rage to letting me regain it as he agonizes. The moments where my wolf is teetering out of anger and into despair, I regain my vision and can see Caleb is in front of me, wide-eyed and panicked.

But he’s blocking my vision of the tower, my vision of her.

Several of my men are restraining me, Caleb’s hands on my shoulders, trying their best to calm me.

My senses return, and Caleb’s calling my name, urging me to calm down, reminding me Alaina needs me at my best.

My chest is heaving with every breath.

Get to Alaina is all I can think of.

I scan the castle more to take note and count the guards.

Ten guards.

I observe the so-called castle guards and analyze my soon-to-be victims.

They aren’t dressed in armor, which leaves a few possibilities. Their ruler is either soulless enough to not care that their men get hurt, is too ignorant to know not to underestimate me, or is too arrogant to believe they don’t need the guards. Which could also leave the alternative—their ruler is more powerful than we know them to be.

Either way, we need to proceed with caution. If it were anyone else, I’d suggest we go back to our castle to plan and create a bigger army to attack, while some stay and observe the enemy.

But this is Alaina.

And I’m not waiting another minute for her to come back with me.

Regardless, we still need a plan to get in. Preferably one without being seen until we can come back with a bigger army and a better strategy.

Right now, the plan is just to kill as many as we can without being seen so I can get to Alaina. In and out.

Then I’ll take my mate, who won’t leave my bed for weeks.

Satiated, filled with my seed and, eventually, my pups. The thought allows me to think rationally again, finding peace in my menacingly calm demeanor. I turn my head to my men, who are still grasping onto me with all their strength.

“Get the fuck off of me . . . now.”

They let go immediately.

“She’s in there,” I say to my men, glaring at the tower.

They’ll have to do better than a tall tower to keep me from her.

I’m in my element. Strategy and warfare, anticipating next moves—it’s where I’m most confident. Except this time, there’s never been a better reward waiting for me at the end. I salivate at the thought of Alaina at my disposal again.

Surveying the castle grounds for a second time, I see there are still too many guards to take head on. We’d have to take them out one by one, and we’ll need a distraction. But not just any distraction . Blood .

And what’s more enticing than the blood of the werewolf king?

I let my claw elongate, dragging the talon across the inside of my palm. My flesh heals faster than before, thanks to the strength from the completion of the mate bond. I cut in the same spot that’s already healed, deeper this time, with hopes I’ll bleed for long enough. I rub traces of my blood on a tree, then hide in a nearby brush, ordering my men through the mindlink to do the same.

It doesn’t take long for the new vampires to get a whiff of the fresh blood sprawled upon the trees surrounding the outskirts of the castle walls in all different directions. Snarling as they near, they separate themselves. Splitting up is always the mistake people seem to make. There’s strength in numbers.

A female vampire stalks toward the trees, hungry for what she anticipates finding is her bleeding prey. While I don’t particularly enjoy killing females, she’s chosen to be an obstacle in my pursuit to get to my mate, and she’ll die for it.

I stealthily move through the trees, careful not to alert my prey.

New vampires struggle with control and focus with the presence of blood. That’s why she fails to hear me when my arm wraps around her, and I tear out her throat with one swipe of my nail.

I’m toying with them. Drawing them into the woods one by one. I almost pity them. They never had a chance against me, and whoever created them should’ve known I’ll drink in their fear, letting it fuel me. Instead, they likely thought taking Alaina would enrage me to the point of making silly mistakes.

My men and I wait for other guards to come out, but none come.

I scoff at this castle’s lack of quality security guards. At this rate, Alaina will, unfortunately, go from one prison to the other. Never leaving my side.

Killing the vampires guarding the castle gates was easy. There wasn’t even a need to shift.

I order my men through mindlink to make their next move.

It didn’t take long for me to realize whose home we’re in and who’s behind the kidnapping of my mate. I smelled the familiar rotting corpse the minute I marched my men through the castle doors.

Olivia.

This was my fault. Against my better judgment, I allowed Olivia in my home. Even when I knew sending her away would make my relationship with Alaina a lot easier, I wanted to keep the peace between our kingdoms and Alaina safe.

Now, any incentive not to harm Olivia has gone out the window.

Run, Olivia. Here comes the big bad wolf.

Fuck an alliance with the vampires. There’ll never be peace. Not now, when I no longer want it. I want their screams, their cries, their pain, and their demise. I will take everything from them, since they tried to take my everything from me.

After I’ve destroyed and enslaved her kingdom, I will kill Olivia. Slowly. Better yet, I’ll leave her with no choice but to kill herself.

I’ll starve her to the point where she’ll have no choice but to resort to feeding on herself. Much like a human drinking their own piss in the desert to keep themselves hydrated. She will be what keeps her fed. She’ll drink herself dry until there’s nothing left. In the end, she’d still have a choice in her demise, starve or bleed to death.

And I’ll do all of that just because they’ve taken her. Now if they’ve harmed her... Well, I’ll just have to get more creative with my torture.

I can smell Alaina’s black raspberry vanilla scent, but I don’t see her. I follow it, my men trailing me.

I begin heading north down the hall, careful not to alert anyone. While I send men in groups of four or more to clear the other rooms of guards, Caleb and I search for my queen. We reach a wooden door, with black lines going down it and latches to match. Fitting for a medieval-looking establishment.

I push the door open, the latch creaking and echoing louder than I would like. I tell Caleb to stay down here near the door in case someone hears me. He stands guard, closing it behind me.

Inside the tower, there are no windows or other sources of light aside from candles along the stone walls. The air is as inviting as its architecture. The stairs spiral endlessly upwards. I’m careful, but I struggle to move slowly as my wolf and I are certain Alaina is waiting for me. Her scent grows stronger, assaulting my nostrils with her sweet smell. My wolf howls inside of me from not being in the same room with her for so long.

I finally reach the top of the stairs, where there’s a single wooden door, similar to the one down below, except this one has more locks to maneuver. I listen for any signs of movement, and I don’t hear anything.

Leaning against the door, I know instantly she’s behind it. But I don’t just smell her delectable scent. There are other odors mixed in.

One I recognize all too well. Silver.

Even though I’m panicking, I fight the urge to call out for her and break the door down, not wanting to alert anyone of my presence, not until she’s in my arms. Not until she’s safe.

I frantically search around me to find keys hanging on a nail stuck inside the stone walls. Grabbing them, I hustle to unlock each lock.

My sweet darling groans behind the door. Her terror seeps through, and my heart clenches.

What have they done to her?

My wolf urges me to move faster as I fumble the keys and fuck am I trying.

Finally unlocking the door, I push it open, nearly breaking it off its hinges. My Alaina is lying on her back, head facing toward the wall away from me. Her chest rises and falls, and her leg is chained to the floor.

“Alaina?” I mindlink.

No answer, no movement. Even this close, I still can’t reach her. I hurry toward her and gather her frail body in my arms, her head lolling back.

Her eyes flutter open. Dried blood from a cut is smeared on her lip, and a bruise lines her jaw.

My nostrils flare.

Alaina’s hands dangle at her side as I cradle her, rocking her in my arms. The smell of silver is overpowering, and unfortunately, I know exactly how much silver it takes to smell it on someone this strong.

I inspect her, getting a closer look at her skin.

Someone’s been feeding from her.

A pair of red indentations pepper her skin. Several on her arms, some on her legs, and one that seems deeper than the others on her shoulder. I don’t recognize the scent of this vampire, but I can smell him all over her. My eyes trail up toward her neck, and I scrunch my nose, snarling at what I see next.

Two very shallow fang indentations overlap my mark on her. Whether this was a message or a promise, either way, they’re out of their fucking depths and fucking with the wrong monster.

I lick the bite on her shoulder, taking note of his smell and taste for when I hunt him down later. Whoever did this to her will become the record breaker for who can endure torture the longest. His torture will outlast my lifespan, that my future generations will carry out his beatings. She stirs at my tongue lapping at her skin.

“Alaina, open your eyes for me. Please,” I beg, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve ever done so.

Alaina’s brow scrunches, her eyes opening slightly. She looks exhausted from the amount of silver in her body and blood loss, combined with the lack of food and water that’s led to such drastic weight loss.

“Dax?” Alaina croaks.

I exhale. And I thank the Moon Goddess for the most angelic sound there ever was. “I’m here, darling. I’ve got you.”

“You—you’re here,” Alaina stutters, shivering from the cold.

I curl her into me and kiss her forehead.

“I’ll always come for you. Now let’s get you out of here,” I say.

She wraps her tiny arms around my neck. My wolf the calmest it’s been since her disappearance. I curse again at how much lighter she is, as they haven’t been feeding her properly, if at all.

My wolf rallies inside me, but I can’t focus on exacting my revenge. Right now, my queen needs her savior, not her avenger. That will come later. And if I know my queen, she’ll want a say in how Olivia is dealt with.

Once I’ve pried the remaining chains from her legs, I carry her down the stairs with ease and haste, then meet Caleb at the bottom.

He curses when he sees her, but I continue past him. Caleb trots until he’s in front of us, leading as we make our way down the hall.

Caleb stops before a large arched doorway, holding his hand out behind him, signaling for me to stop. I stop, trusting in him, and curl Alaina closer to my chest.

Alaina’s awake but groggy. I don’t know if she even knows what’s happening.

What did they give her?

Caleb makes a slow come-hither motion with his hand, and I glance down at Alaina, wanting to keep whatever Caleb spots from seeing her.

“Can you stand?” I ask Alaina through the mindlink.

She groggily nods.

I carefully place her feet on the ground before I turn to Caleb, then reach behind me to pin Alaina to my back. My wolf and I refuse to let her go.

I creep up behind Caleb, peering out at a grand ballroom. Ash stone walls are draped in bloodred tapestries with a long gold tassel hanging from each. The royal vampire crest adorns the walls between every window, a phoenix draped with flames, meant to symbolize the rising of the undead and Ash’s power of fire. My eyes follow the red runner, which leads to a podium with Olivia perched on a gilded throne, draped in crimson upholstery.

Olivia is annoyingly spastic as always, ordering people around.

I knew I smelled that rotting corpse earlier.

My eyes flash, my wolf recognizing its next kill. I snarl in disgust at the sight of her, itching to tear her throat out.

Ash is standing behind Olivia, with his arms crossed, looking as miserable as always.

“Find them!” Olivia’s eyes flash red as she orders her guard, and they scurry away.

Shit. She knows we’re here.

I examine the other side of the room and notice my men on their knees, beaten and surrounded. My men continue to hold their heads high, refusing to show emotion, not giving Olivia anything. I scan each soldier’s wounds, some with bite marks some barely have a scratch on them. For now.

“We can’t leave them,” Alaina strains.

She’s right, but the selfish side of me says I need to get Alaina safe first and come back for them. I glance back at Alaina, who snarls, knowing exactly what I’m thinking.

“If you think you’re staying here while Caleb and I escape once again, you’re sadly mistaken.”

Fuck, I missed her feisty self. Even in her drugged state, you can’t douse that fire in her.

I look back at Olivia, trying to gauge her intentions. I can see she plans to keep me alive but kill the rest. Including Alaina.

My wolf passes my eyes, wanting to be let out to take down the threat to our mate.

Soon , I soothe my wolf.

Alright, think.

I might be able to use Olivia’s blindness to my advantage. Olivia would rather have me hate her for killing Alaina than let me have her for myself.

To Olivia, Alaina is a threat. Alaina refuses to leave with Caleb, and I don’t want her to either. Not because the idea of Caleb leaving with my mate makes me want to tear my skin off but because I will tear the world apart if she leaves my side again.

Then it hits me.

Olivia doesn’t know Caleb isn’t after Alaina anymore. But I bet she’s rooting for him if it means taking Alaina away from me. And if Caleb can convince her of a false alliance...

“How would you like to help me kill the person responsible for the attack on your pack and, ultimately, your father’s death?” I grin at Caleb.