Come for Me 2 (The Hunt #2)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Alaina

I thought most vampires slept during the day since they’re mainly up at night. But it’s six in the morning, and I can hear more commotion than I have any night since I’ve been here.

I can’t seem to adjust to this new sleep schedule either. I tossed and turned all... day? Ugh , add language to the list of things I’ll have to get used to. More shouting, hammering, and doors slamming occurs, and I finally give up trying to go back to sleep.

“What is going on out there?” I mutter to myself. I kick off the covers, grab a silk burgundy robe, tie it around my waist and head for the hallway.

Following the noise, I’m led to the grand staircase. I peer over the banister that overlooks the foyer to see people coming in and out like a revolving door, carrying trays of food, pieces of furniture, flower arrangements, and more.

What the hell?

Running my fingertips across the banister, I move toward the staircase and slowly make my way down. I hear Colin’s voice booming. I follow his voice and stop when I see where I’m being led to.

The great hall.

Where I haven’t been since Dax’s murder.

I shudder and swallow the lump in my throat. I dig my human nails instead of my wolf’s claws into my palm. This way, I don’t go deep enough to draw blood but enough for the euphoria from the pain to set in. Feeling like I’m finally able to breathe again, I take a deep breath. Successfully avoiding a full-blown panic attack, I walk through the threshold.

The room, once seemingly bare, had buffet tables lining the walls, the floor no longer stained of blood.

Dax’s blood.

I prick myself again to shake the thought, not able to think about that right now.

Extravagant chandeliers are being hoisted by a pulley system to the ceiling. The great ballroom no longer had a stone floor but one of hardwood. The thrones appear polished and done up in red upholstery.

I scan the room and find Colin conversing with another over a large book of some sort. As I get closer, I make out enough words to recognize they are talking about a guest list.

“Colin?” I ask. I tighten my robe, not wanting Mr. Crazy to think I’m intentionally trying to embarrass him or flash other people. “What’s going on?”

Colin’s face brightens when he sees me, and he dismisses the man with the guest book to walk over to me. “My love.”

He kisses my forehead, and I have to remind myself I’m playing nice. “We are getting the castle ready for a ball tonight. We have many things to celebrate.”

“A ball? What for?”

He looks at me incredulously. “Your birthday, of course. Among many things. Courtship and introducing the soon-to-be queen, and their king.”

I blink rapidly. “My birthday?”

“Yes.”

With everything going on, I had forgotten. In comparison, it didn’t matter.

“I guess I forgot,” I say.

So much has happened this year it’s like I blinked, and somehow, I managed to go through this spring’s Hunt, blow through summer, and plow my way through fall. Soon, it would be winter. If it weren’t for Colin’s reminder...

“How do you know it’s my birthday?” I ask.

Colin is approached by another servant with a clipboard. Colin signs it, handing it back to him, then turns back to me.

He dips his chin and waits.

I’m about to ask him again when it hits me. “Olivia.”

Colin straightens, and the corner of his lip upturns into a smile, confirming my suspicion.

I roll my eyes. “Is there anything you don’t know about me?” I ask sarcastically.

Like how I still want to kill you.

He looks up, considering my question carefully. His eyes back on me, he shakes his head and says seriously, “No.”

Feeling exposed, I cross my arms. “I find it hardly fair that you know so much about me, and I feel like I barely know anything about you.”

“You have a point. What would you like to know?” He begins walking slowly with his arms behind his back.

I walk beside him.

“Your age and birth year explains the courtship and Victorian era décor, as well as others’ attire within the castle. But I notice you wear modern attire. Why is that?”

“People wear what makes them feel comfortable. Some of us still like holding onto what life was like as humans. We don’t live among the humans, so there isn’t a need to fit in.”

Yet, he makes it a point to. Even as the second most powerful vampire, you would think he wouldn’t care so much.

The human world doesn’t often mix with the supernatural. I can’t remember the last time a human was seen in a pack, but I see groups of humans here all the time. So, I’m not entirely sure what he means.

“What’re the humans doing here? Besides being food.”

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out their primary purpose. I’ve seen many groups pass through here and never saw them again after that.

Colin barks at another servant who isn’t doing their job correctly, according to Colin, then turns his attention back to me. The servant stammers in his response.

“Vampires have been around for the most important moments in history. There are artifacts here historians would drool to get their hands on. All these artifacts are held in the castle, making it a perfect site for a ‘museum’ of sorts.” He air quotes the word museum.

I mimic his action. “Museum?”

“We don’t advertise to the human population that it’s a museum. Instead, we recruit a select group about an exclusive museum with a promise of a tour. At the end of the tour, they’re—”

I hold up a hand. “I got it.”

He chuckles, sensing my discomfort. “You’ll get used to it once you’ve transitioned. It’s one of the kinder ways they go.”

“Kinder?”

“They’re seeing artifacts that answer questions and solve mysteries humans have been wondering for years. We can give them closure.”

“Like who killed Tupac?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Crime gone unpunished does not mean it’s unsolved. An injustice does not mean an unanswered question.”

“Point made.”

I’ve asked him plenty of questions to indirectly aid my cause by building rapport. I’m about to ask him more questions, specifically ones that can directly help me find another way out of my circumstance, when Colin says, “Here.” He hands me ear buds. “Try to get some rest. And I’ll see you tonight, ‘Laina.” He grins and walks away.

I shudder at Jemma’s nickname for me. A subtle reminder that he knows of my loved ones to subdue me? Possibly. But coming to know him, I would bet this is one of his ways to try to please me.

Trying to determine how to respond accordingly to his odd behavior so he doesn’t harm me or my loved ones is exhausting. I make a safe assumption he’d expect me to be flattered. I pretend to swoon, giving him an “Aw” and smile.

His eyes light up at my response, and I exhale a sigh of relief when he’s gone.

Bad man. Stay away. Run , my wolf warns.

Thinking the same thing, I make a beeline for the door.

I can’t be here any longer. It’s too painful.

But the pain only lessens so much when I finally make it out of the room. The root of my pain will never go away. Dax is gone. I try to avoid thinking about the tragedy, feeling his loss, or losing my temper with Colin. Now I’m trying to avoid this room. But I know avoiding things that are painful is just delaying a battle, giving me a delusion of control. And it’s only making things worse.

We need to leave. We need to get away from Colin , my wolf states.

But where could I go that he wouldn’t find me? Who could protect me from someone as powerful as him? He knew Jemma’s nickname for me. There’s no telling what else he knows.

I could hide, but I’d be putting others at risk. He’d either find me and kill everyone, whether they helped me or not, or he’d threaten their lives to lure me out.

I can’t escape the feeling of Dax’s absence anymore than I can escape Colin. No matter where I’d go, they’d both find me. My only choices are to keep running, putting myself and everyone else in danger, or to finally stop running from things that scare me.

Do I find a way out or find a way through? I chalk it up to the stages of grief and throw myself at its mercy, as there’s truly no escaping the grief. There’s only the duty to protect myself as best as I can, our people, and what Dax built from here on.

* * *

At the ball, Colin insisted we dance. He dips me back until I’m halfway off the floor and his eyes stare deeply into mine.

“In addition to the ball, I have one more surprise for you.”

I stare at him quizzically. What else could there be?

Colin lifts me and spins until I come face-to-face with a man with slicked-back blonde hair, dressed to the nines in a black tux.

“May I cut in?” Sam asks. Colin and Sam acknowledge each other with a nod. Sam bows to me and then takes my hand, wrapping the other around my waist. I rest my hand in his and the other on his shoulder.

“I’ll leave you two to it,” Colin says before exiting the dance floor and disappearing among the crowd.

Once he is out of earshot, I throw my arms around Sam, embracing him. He hugs me tight, and we stay there for a moment.

I pull away. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

Sam positions me with my hand entwined in his and an arm around my waist, then leads me to the rhythm of the violins. We float across the floor. Putting full trust in him, I don’t even bother paying attention to where we’re going. I’m too focused on what he’s doing here.

“What’re you—how did you?”

I can’t figure out where to start. How is Sam here ?

“Colin invited me.”

Sam says it so calmly. As if none of the shit before ever happened.

“He just let you come here?” It doesn’t make sense. Colin just killed his best friend. Our king. Now, here they are, in proximity to each other like nothing happened. “And you just accepted?”

“I wasn’t going to pass up the chance to check on you. I wanted to make sure you are okay.”

I shrug. How could I begin to express how I’m feeling? “They keep talking about me becoming a hybrid, uniting the kingdoms against the rogues and vampires. I can feel them eying me. They hate me.”

Sam looks around us briefly, then returns his focus to me.

“They don’t want a werewolf as their queen any more than I want to reign over them,” I say. “Especially not alongside him .”

Sam nods, taking everything in. But he doesn’t react. His eyes don’t even flicker gold.

“How are you so calm about this?” I ask.

He sighs. “This is how monarchies work, Alaina. Kings are replaced, queens are bargained. When I became a beta, I knew this was a possibility. Colin is just one of the many who dreamed of killing Dax and taking his throne.”

“And you’re just okay with that? He killed your best friend.”

“Of course I’m not okay with that. I’ll never forgive what he did to my brother ... and to my sister.” He stares at me with intense sincerity. “I’ll never respect him, but I have to adapt. Lives depend on it.”

It isn’t what I would expect to hear from a guy like Sam. One who is practically just as stubborn as I am. I never took him as the logical type as well. Able to put away emotions to avoid feeling them. Just like Dax. Sometimes, I forget how alike they are.

And it makes sense.

That begs the question. Would it be easier to get through this if I looked at it logically? I’ve been focusing on the emotional piece, and it’s brought me only heartache and grief. I can’t forget why I agreed to this in the first place. This political move is keeping my people safe. Including Sam. Would it be better to consider a cordial, peaceful partnership with Colin?

“You may be in the vampire kingdom now, but the werewolves are still yours to lead. Coronation or not, you’re our queen. And as our queen”—Sam lowers his voice— “we still follow you. If you want to go to war, we will go to war for you. But more lives will be lost.”

Fuck, he’s right. I can’t escape. That would kill my subjects. I’m still their queen at this very moment. I have to change my mindset. Dax is gone. I have to rule the best I can, and right now, that means doing everything I can to keep Colin from killing those who I have a duty to protect.

Changing the subject, I swallow as I prepare to ask Sam a question I’m not sure I’m ready to hear the answer to. “Where is Dax now?”

Sam clears his throat. “For now... until arrangements can be made... he’s lying in what was yours and his bed.”

I imagine as hard as it was for me to hear that, it was hard for him to say it.

“What is he doing there?” Surely, arrangements would’ve been made by now. What were they waiting for?

“I didn’t think it was right for such an important decision to be made without your input, and it was hard to think of Dax rotting in a morgue while we found a safe way to enter the vampire kingdom to speak to you...” Sam searches my face for any sign of judgment. When he registers that there is none and only a want for understanding, he sighs and continues. “I know it’s weird, but now, when we’re rotating shifts to guard his body or a physician has to check on him, we’re able to pretend he’s sleeping. Besides, Dax never wanted anyone to disturb him when he was in there with you. So, this feels... more normal somehow? Every time anyone walks by it, I can imagine not only is he in there but...”

“But I’m in there, too.” I sigh.

Sam is missing me.

He nods and averts his eyes. “It’s stupid. I know.”

Regret and uncertainty are written all over his face, so I give Sam a gentle squeeze.

“No, it’s not stupid. I get it,” I say.

I appreciate what he’s done to make sure my mate receives a proper burial, even if it means prolonging his funeral, but I’m not the only one who lost Dax. I can read between the lines that my people, to include Sam, are struggling with the loss. My people deserve the opportunity to heal. And I’m not sure people pretending Dax and I are asleep in our old room is the best way to do that.

It takes me no time at all to come up where Dax should be buried. I’ve had nothing but time to think about it, unfortunately. There is only one place that makes sense to me, and that’s where it all started.

“What do you think about burying him at the boulder in Crescent?”

Sam contemplates this then nods. “Where you and him first met. Fitting.”

I smile softly. “It’s the place where all three of us first met,” I gently remind him.

Sam sniffles and averts his gaze once more, trying to hide the fact that he’s trying not to cry. Sam can be such a softy, and I love that about him. If we were alone, I’d tell him it’s okay to cry. But we aren’t, and the vampire kingdom isn’t a safe place for him to. Instead, I change the subject to something more lighthearted.

“Where’d you learn how to dance?”

Sam twirls me, brings me back around, and our palms meet. I laugh, as I wasn’t expecting it, and he smiles back.

“It’s nice to hear you can still do that.”

I look up at him and grin. “Do what?”

“Laugh,” Sam says. He pushes me out, and I spin down the length of his arm inwards until our palms meet again. “My father taught me. It’s how he got my mother, actually.”

Maneuvering me, bringing us face-to-face again, he lifts and turns me. Something I also wasn’t prepared for. He somehow keeps surprising me.

“How’d you end up being so good?”

“Dancing is a timeless custom all royals have needed to learn.”

“Even Dax?”

“Especially Dax. King of werewolves? He had to know.”

I try to imagine what Dax would’ve been like as a dancer. Would he lead with ease just like everything else? “Was Dax as good as you?”

Sam chuckles softly. “Dax couldn’t dance for shit.”

“Really?” It was hard to imagine Dax not being good at anything. “But I thought all royals had to learn?”

“They do. But Dax’s father didn’t find it to be of any use.”

The song ends, and another begins. We don’t stop dancing, but Sam changes the steps.

I follow his lead.

I can feel the tension of the unspoken words we want to share. I hate that I can’t talk to Sam the way I’d like to. But there are too many eyes on us here, too many supernatural ears.

Sam spins me halfway in one direction, then back the other, then dips me. “What would you do if you were me?”

Sam’s face hardens, his cheekbones flexing. He looks around again and pulls me back up to him, resuming our sway.

“About?”

“This arrangement.”

He sighs. “What I would do would get you killed.”

I giggle. “Probably.”

Sam lifts me and turns me to face the other direction. My back close to his chest, and he whispers in my ear so others can’t hear, “Dax wouldn’t want you to be with... him.”

I knew it.

“But if it meant your survival and a chance at peace... there’s nothing he wouldn’t want you to do.”

I swallow.

But I know he’s right. Royals engage in politics. And politics are a selfish game. If I want my people and myself to survive, I have to be just as disgusting.

Like deciding to go forward in a partnership with Colin.

“Excuse me,” Colin interjects.

Sam doesn’t let me go from his hold. His body tenses with Colin near, but he shows no signs of challenge.

“May I steal my bride away?” Colin asks.

Sam looks to me for assurance, and I nod and give a sympathetic smile.

“It’s okay,” I tell him.

But I really mean that I will be okay.

Sam drops his arms, and the loss of his protective hold is the equivalent to being exposed in an apocalypse in broad daylight. Easy prey to any and all.

Sam bows, and I curtsey back. He gives me one last look and leaves. I watch him leave the ballroom, and I know he was only allocated to be here for this short moment. And he came for me anyway.

I bite back the tears and turn to Colin, hugging him.

My embrace catches him off guard and he tenses.

He pats my back. “Alaina?”

“Thank you,” I say.

I needed Sam more than I realized. But somehow, he knew. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all?

“Happy Birthday,” Colin says.

I let go.

Colin holds out his hand. “Come. It’s time to formally introduce you to the kingdom.”

I place my hand in his, and he escorts me through the crowd, which parts as we move, straight to the throne area Olivia once was. A pair of similar gilded thrones are perched on the stage. One with more rubies than the other. Guards and Ash standby, Andrea in the background.

He leads me to the throne with less rubies. Andrea quickly fixes my dress, then steps out of the way for me to be visible standing in front of the crowd.

Colin stands in front of the throne meant for him, and the crowd hushes. All eyes on us.

“My subjects. Thank you for your attendance. Your support is acknowledged and appreciated.” Colin pauses, as if waiting for someone to correct him on his assumption.

Surely, not everyone supports having a werewolf to rule them.

“My bride, Alaina Grove, and I.” He holds his hand out to me, and I take it. He gently tugs me to his side. “With your support, we promise to ensure vampiric culture is intact, our kingdom at peace, and our unwanted foes demolished.”

Hushed whispers fall over the crowd. Colin ignores it and continues until he’s interrupted by a scream breaking apart the crowd. A man lunges for me, and I prepare myself for his attack. But it never comes. The man is frozen solid, with his silhouette carved out of ice.

The crowd gasps, including me.

Colin steps down from the stage and moves to the man. His footsteps echo throughout the hall, as the room is silent.

Colin scans the frozen attacker’s frame with his hands behind his back and tsks. “Shame.” He addresses the crowd, his voice booming. “Would anyone else like to challenge me?”

No one responds. No one moves, but I know he’s not holding everyone. They’re frozen with fear.

“Let it be known that an attack on your future queen is an attack against me and will be met with a swift death,” he warns. He turns his back to the crowd and walks back to the stage. Back to me. He snaps his fingers and servants begin passing around stemmed glasses with blood inside to Colin, myself, and guests. Colin raises it to the crowd and looks at my glass, gesturing for me to do the same.

I resist the urge to scrunch my nose. I may not mind blood, but that doesn’t mean I want to drink a whole glass of it.

I whisper to Colin, “Is this human blood?”

He leans into my ear and whispers, “All except for yours.”

“If they’re drinking human blood, whose blood am I drinking?”

“Mine,” Colin says. He turns to the crowd and lifts his glass a little higher. “Cheers.”

Colin lifts his glass to his mouth and looks to me to do the same.

I gulp before knocking back his blood with the rest. The crowd erupts in murmurs, and the music resumes, carrying on as they were.

I go to sit, but Colin grabs my arm, tugging me upright, squeezing me hard. “Shit, that hurts,” I hiss.

He shushes me, but at least he doesn’t freeze my mouth shut. “You have to learn not to show pain and not cuss.”

He is more worried about whether I embarrass him more than he is concerned about my pain. I go to tug my arm out of his hold, but he ensures I can’t move with his powers.

“United front, remember?” he whispers. He looks at his iron grip on me and loosens it. “Sorry.”

“What did I do wrong?”

I don’t recognize my own voice with the question. Because I didn’t do anything wrong.

He spazzes when I go to sit down.

“You can’t sit on the throne until we get approval from the board. Otherwise, it makes us look presumptuous and cocky.”

“Cocky?” I lift an eyebrow and fight a smile.

The word seems so misplaced compared to his formal ways. Improper.

Colin doesn’t seem to share this sentiment when he responds with a dry “yes.”

I can still taste his blood and feel it pumping through my bloodstream. I’ve never intentionally gulped down vampire blood before, especially from a live one. Most vampire blood I drank happened naturally from crushing one in my jaws. And by the time their blood reached my throat, they were dead.

“What does it mean when I drink your blood? Will I become addicted like a human would?”

“No. The effects of my blood on a werewolf such as yourself are temporary and not addicting. You may feel like you’ve managed to obtain a slight buzz but nothing more. Unless you die, of course.”

I feel myself starting to get warm. “Die? What happens if I die?”

“You’d start the transition process to become a hybrid.”

My pulse races, and Colin zeros in on my neck, the veins in his appearing and disappearing quickly.

“Don’t worry. There will come a time for us to transition—”

“Us?”

“Yes, a ceremony will be performed, and we will both become hybrids. The first of its kind,” he says, as if I should’ve already been aware.

The idea of being a hybrid, ruling two kingdoms, and alongside him... It’s overwhelming. I feel myself starting to sweat, and my vision starts to become spotty.

Colin’s at my side and turns our backs to the crowd, holding me up but checking on me so no one can see.

“I won’t until you’re ready, of course. You’ve taken on so much, and I’m lucky to rule beside you. I know it’s a lot to process. But it will bring all clans and packs together. It’s the only way to stop the unwanted ones.”

Lives depend on it , as Sam has said. My protective nature and duty grounds me enough for me to stand on my own.

I collect myself and wipe my mouth when no one is looking.

Except for Colin, who crinkles his nose and furrows his brows like I’ve offended him. “That’s unbecoming of a queen, here.” Colin pulls out a white cloth and hands it to me.

My cheeks feel warm again. I don’t care what he thinks. I normally don’t care too much about what anyone thought of me, to be honest. But a sense of terror kicks in whenever he looks at me that way. I don’t know what to expect.

I take the handkerchief he’s offering and dab my mouth. I go to hand it to him, and he again gives me that look of disapproval again.

What did I do wrong now?

He bends his fingers, motioning for Andrea to come hither. She appears beside me, and I think I understand how Colin wants me to behave.

Act like a ruler. Like a queen.

I hold out the handkerchief for Andrea, and she takes it without question, then scurries off.

I’m self-sufficient, and I’ve always taken pride in that. Not to mention it’s no secret I’m stubborn. It’s always been hard allowing someone to take care of me. I don’t love passing off mundane tasks when I could do it myself. But judging by the twinkle in Colin’s eye, he approves.

Why does that matter to me? Do I care what he thinks?

You care to live , my wolf says. Mate would have wanted that. Whatever it takes to be free.

Free. I’m starting to question altogether what that means. I used to think it meant finding a way to kill Colin and get back to Crescent. But now I’m not so sure. What if it takes sacrificing parts of myself to appease a man I could never love? Am I really free, or am I surviving?

Is this freedom? Or is the only true freedom found in death?

But with Colin’s blood in me, that wouldn’t be the case. I’d be bonded to him. His creation.

I dig my nails into my palm. There is no way out for me. There’s only survival and the protection of my people. The truth of my fate is dark and bleak. The only light that can come from this is the peace an alliance against the outcasted ones can bring to my people.