Chapter Twenty-Six
Dax
B oom. Boom. Boom.
Who the fuck is playing the drums? I’m going to kill them. My head can’t take it.
I sit up from my bed to find the source, and I must be on autopilot because I don’t remember walking to my bedroom door.
The drumming is closer, and my head feels like it’s going to explode.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
I howl a warning for the poor soul about to meet their end. My wolf locates the source—or, rather, two noise makers. My presence couldn’t convince them to stop the banging. Why do they insist on being so fucking loud?
Whatever it takes, I need silence and this headache to go away.
Then something hellish inside of me takes over, as my wolf and I sit back. My canines, which have developed a point, tear into the necks of my two guards. The pulse weakens, becoming more tolerable.
Thank fucking Goddess.
I’m sweeping my tongue across my canines, fascinated by its newly pointed end, when I taste the equivalent of a liquid drug. The metallic from the sources of my frustration dripping down my throat created a new kind of sensation. Hunger. My throat feels like it’s on fire, and only the thick liquid seems to douse it. My eyes glow apricot, which startles my guards. They make the mistake of letting out annoyingly piercing screams.
I push them against my bedroom door, wanting them to stop screaming. I’m cranky, hungry, and I have a massive headache. They need to shut the fuck up.
So, I silence them. I sink my teeth into one while pinning the other in place on the door. I gulped down his blood, and it’s not enough, but it was satisfying to drink theirs, their pain, cries, and screams. Each gulp and kill a source of power, strengthening me but leaving me wanting more.
“Ah,” I exhale as I drink the last drop of my guards.
My out-of-body experience ends, and I’m back in my own skin. I glare at the pale, drained body of my guard’s skin, their shirts balled up in my fists. I drop them on the floor.
What did I just do? What have I become?
I storm through the castle halls, and details of my family portraits come into view more than they ever did before. Each individual stroke, each line is emphasized from the brush’s bristles.
And I think about how there’s going to be details of Alaina I’ve never explored before and will get to now.
Alaina!
“Sam. Where the fuck are you?”
There’s a pause on the other end, but he’s heard me. The line was open.
“No fucking way,” Sam beams.
I howl into the mindlink, letting my pack know their king still lives. I smack vases off their pedestals, not out of anger but wanting everyone to be aware of my presence. To have a presence again after being dead... and I remember everything .
My pack yips and howls back at me. I’m laughing hysterically because their king not only has returned but as a hybrid.
Sam looks like he’s seen a ghost and embraces me, patting me on the back, dapping me up. My pack stops and kneels before me, and while the fact that they have not lost faith in me fills me with great pride, the one I want most isn’t among them.
“Where’s Alaina?”
Sam gulps.
A combination of a hiss and a growl emit from my throat. “Where. Is. She?”
“She’s with Colin.”
Grave rage and fear erupt inside of me, but I swallow my bile before it can surface.
Mate’s in trouble. Mate is with him . My wolf and vampire personas echo frantically with disgust in my brain.
“Round up the warriors. We’re leaving for the vampire kingdom. Now,” I command. I walk out the bedroom door and make my way to the front entrance.
Sam follows. “Dax, man, you’re not thinking clearly.”
“I’m thinking my mate, your queen ,” I seethe, “is in need of rescuing.”
I make it down the stairs and almost to the front door when Sam appears in front of me, holding his hands out.
“Sam,” I warn. “If you don’t move out of my way—”
“I can’t let you do this,” Sam blurts.
Simultaneously, I’m yelling over him, “I’ll use your body to bust through that door.”
“You’ll get slaughtered,” Sam yells.
I stare at him, and my nostrils flare. His assumption I’ll lose, especially when it comes to my mate, is insulting. No matter how right he may be. It pisses me off all the same.
I pick Sam up by the collar and use his body to push him and myself through the double doors. Sam is growling at me in my hold.
Once through the doors, I drop him to the ground, stepping over him to make my way to the gate, when Sam shouts after me, “We’ve lost you twice!”
The pain in Sam’s voice stops me. I haven’t heard it since his father died, and before that, his mother.
“We’ve grieved you twice ,” he yells.
I swallow and look up at the sky.
“Look at me, you fucking coward!”
I turn around to face Sam, who is standing barefoot in the grass, exhausted, and weighing less than I remember. The Sam before me is one I’ve met before but haven’t seen since he was a child. The one who’s terrified because he knows his loved one is knocking on death’s door.
“I have to go, Sam. Alaina needs me,” I tell him.
He points a finger at me. “If you go now, don’t bother coming back. I can’t do it again.”
“What am I supposed to do, hm? Let her go? I can’t. I won’t .”
Sam shakes his head. “That’s not what I’m saying, and you know it. That’s my fucking sister you’re talking about.”
“Then, come with me.”
I know it’s killing him knowing she’s out there, too.
“We need a plan. And a damn good one. He has one of the topmost lethal powers and has managed to kill you once already. You go in there now, and you’ll get killed. This time, you won’t come back.”
I wipe my face in frustration. I clench and unclench my fists. He’s right. “So, what do you suggest? Even with a plan and a whole army, how do you expect us to take him on?”
We’re both silently pleading for the other to have an answer. Our biggest fear is we’ve lost her before we’ve gotten the chance to save her.
Rotting flesh of a familiar live corpse hits our noses, and I whip my head toward the gate to find none other than the king himself standing at my gate.
Ash.
Sam and I growl.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Sam takes the words right out of my mouth. “I’m not here to start problems. I just want to help,” Ash says, standing at my borders, arms up in surrender.
I’m not buying it. This man had a hand in my death and my separation from my mate.
“I don’t need your help, but I appreciate you hand-delivering yourself to my borders, saving me the trouble of having to hunt and kill you,” I say.
“Respectfully, you do. I overheard your conversation, but what I didn’t hear was a plan. You can’t freeze fire. Which means if you want to kill Colin, you’ll need me to do so.”
Contemplating his words, I stare at Ash. He’s right. But why the sudden change of sides?
I use my powers to glean what his intentions are. Ash wants to have the chance to get to know Alaina. I expected him to have a plan to get close to me but not this. It enrages me more to think he is attempting to use me to get to Alaina.
“What do you want with Alaina?”
“I want to help save her.”
Save her? He’s a big part of the reason she even needs saving.
“Why?”
“Because I think she might be my daughter.”
“Your daughter? What makes you think Alaina is your daughter?”
“I noticed the necklace Alaina had that time I visited here with Olivia. I gave it to my mate, Emilia, shortly after I met her,” Ash says.
His mate has the same name as my mate’s mother. But that could just be a coincidence.
“I didn’t think too much of it. It was just nostalgic to see it again. But then, Alaina’s eyes increased my curiosity. Her mother and I used to think about if we had a child, if their eyes would be violet since hers were sapphire and mine are red.”
“When I saw Alaina’s, at first, I told myself she probably had a birth defect of some kind.”
For Ash to suggest that Alaina’s eyes were defective was out of line.
I send a warning growl his way.
“But then, before dinner tonight, she told me who her mother was, and I knew this had to be more than just a coincidence.” He shifted his weight between his feet and took a deep breath, speaking his suspicion aloud for the first time.
“Twenty-one years ago, I felt a shift in my powers and knew my mate must’ve died, but I didn’t know how or where she was.”
The timing and circumstance checks out.
“Believe me, I didn’t know my mate was pregnant, let alone where she was, or I would’ve... I never would’ve...” Ash rubs his hands over his face, reliving his biggest regrets.
“There was a time I thought Emilia would be safer without me, but I was wrong. I should’ve gone after her. I figured she was better off, but in the end, I killed us both.” Ash bounces his leg. “Times have obviously changed. Back then, the royal council would never have considered the arrangement you and Olivia had. Vampires and werewolves, mates or not, were not allowed to be together, let alone conceive.” Ash rants in disbelief, much like a man would after finding out he is a father.
Flashbacks of Alaina not being bothered by blood flood my mind, along with her speed. Ash’s story aligns with Emilia’s file.
“If what you’re saying is true, that would make Alaina...”
“Technically, the first hybrid to exist. Well, she would be once she would die,” Ash says without concern.
My blood runs cold.
“What do you mean . . . die?”
“The moment you and Alaina completed your mating bond, your species merged; giving you a vampire gene that was lying dormant inside of you, much like Alaina’s is right now. Once Alaina dies, her vampire identity will be born.”
Just when I didn’t think I could love my mate any more ... Alaina gave me life. Alaina’s the reason I lived— figuratively and literally. She keeps rescuing me.
“How else did you think you became a vampire?” Ash snorts.
I wish I could say that’s the only explanation. Alaina would have a successful, fail-safe if my rescue mission fails again. It also would mean Alaina could have a parent and a closer connection to her mother—something she’s always wanted.
Ash seems to be hopeful Alaina is, in fact, his. And it doesn’t hurt to have a guy with his powers as an ally.
“I drank vampire blood before I got to the castle in case something went wrong,” I confess.
Ash lifts an eyebrow, and he seems disappointed.
“I’m a leader, which means I’ve always been prepared to die with my men. I consider it an honor. Which is why I never used to drink vampire blood before. At least not until I met Alaina.”
And I don’t regret it. I remember how I almost died when I went over the cliff on Bloodhound’s grounds and how thankful I was for the extra healing properties. It brought me back to Alaina. Being Alaina’s mate is the highest honor I have ever possessed.
“If that’s the case, why didn’t you wake up bonded to a vampire?”
“I kill them after I’ve fed from them. No life source to bond to.”
Ash rubs his chin, pondering the evidence before letting out a big sigh.
He’s not disappointed because he thinks I’m a coward trying to cheat the Moon Goddess but because this may mean Alaina is not his daughter. Seems Alaina is not the only one hoping for a connection to family.
“There’s no way of knowing then unless she dies,” Ash says.
I groan, turning my back toward him, trying to calm my wolf. I find gratitude that my wolf is still around. But he wants his mate and calming him down is always more difficult without her.
“If Alaina’s my daughter, she’ll come back as a vampire, and Alaina is the reason for your transition as well. If she’s not mine, then yes, the blood you drank is, without a doubt, the only reason you came back.”
I’m starting to like Ash’s company less and less.
I face Ash. “We won’t ever know because in no scenario is Alaina dying.”
“Then, we agree. Which is why I’m here.”
Oh?
“Colin plans to make Alaina into a vampire, to bond her to him. Taking over the throne of both the werewolf and vampire kingdoms, ruling together as hybrid mates. He plans to kill her after the announcement of her as the vampire queen to his vampire kingdom. If Alaina is not my daughter, she will wake up with an eternal bond to Colin, and you’ll never get her back.”
Ash is void of any emotion. He must be Alaina’s father. They’re the only two in this world who aren’t afraid of my wrath to tell me everything I don’t want to hear.
“What does Alaina think of this?”
It’s likely she will kill him. My girl doesn’t like having her hand forced.
“She agreed.”
What? My lip snarls.
“Explain.”
I’m trying to remind my wolf that Alaina still believes me to be dead. The thought of her moving on with anyone else enrages me nonetheless.
“Colin didn’t leave her with much of a choice. He has threatened to kill someone by the name of Taya, currently being held in the dungeon.”
Is that all I had to do to get Alaina to mate with me the first time? I could’ve done that!
“As well as he threatened to kill everyone else, starting with hers and your pack.”
My jealousy is met with a mix of pride. The pack is lucky to have such a selfless queen ruling in my absence. Willing to do what’s necessary to bring peace to the kingdom. I wouldn’t have been as compromising, not if it meant giving up Alaina.
“When is this mating ceremony supposed to happen?”
“Tomorrow at sundown. Which means you’ll be needing a crash course on navigating your vampire ways,” Ash says.
In truth, it’d be nice for the two voices in my head to become one. There’s no time to raise an army . We’ll have to go ourselves.
“We’ll start now.”
* * *
Ash, Sam, and I have been scheming until late afternoon the next day, just hours before sundown, and we make our way to the castle where Alaina’s being held. Ash informed us Alaina’s best friend, Taya, is also a prisoner. Our plan is simple: Sam and I will work to rescue Taya, while Ash works his way back inside to get close to Alaina. When Sam secures Taya, I will join Ash, who will block Colin as Alaina and I escape.
I checked for Ash’s intentions and loyalty about a hundred times before I sent him.
Sam and I locate the doorway leading to the keep. It was placed so casually without a door. It was easy and obvious to find. The malodor practically lead me right to it like Jemma’s homemade bread.
Recalling Jemma’s cooking, my stomach rumbles, and my throat starts to burn. Maybe I can find a snack while I’m down here.
The stench is nowhere near as impressive as the one mine emits. This one reeked of more blood and rotting carcass and not enough fear. The vampire kingdom’s dungeon tends to serve a different purpose than that of a werewolf’s. Mine is meant for prolonged torture and extraction, theirs to cage in their next meal. Their prisoners aren’t alive long enough to experience true terror.
No amount of Febreze could cover up the stench down here. Even I wouldn’t have been able to detect Alaina’s sweet smell.
It was foul, and if I weren’t so desensitized, surely, my stomach would churn, but it wasn’t strong enough to make me vomit.
Meanwhile, Sam gags behind me.
He and I slowly descend the staircase with our backs against the frigid wall. We stop before reaching the final step, and I peer out from behind the corner.
The stone floor might as well be reddish brown with its stains. Drag and pour marks lead out and stop in front of cells. The energy of here gives off more peace of a final resting place than the impending doom of an eternal damning.
There’s one doorway leading into a narrow hallway being guarded by two men. And I’d bet Sam’s life that, at the end of it, Taya is being held in a cell.
The cell’s gate isn’t closed like the rest. I know this method. It’s the mind game of false hope. Being taunted with your ticket to freedom with no chance to reach it. Which means whoever is in there is likely restrained or is incapacitated enough not to escape.
I disappear again behind the wall, rest my head, and look toward Sam. “There’s two guards. I think they’re guarding her.”
“How will we know it’s her?”
There wasn’t enough time to explain.
I wanted to learn everything about her. That included the company she keeps. Unlike Alaina, Taya wasn’t a troublemaker. Taya had no problems with anyone. Although, she did with this Tyler guy, who was mentioned in her report.
She liked typical feminine activities and was close with her family. Taya’s trainers described her as one who didn’t ever have to try to stand out but somehow always managed to—except for all of her tardies. She could never be on time for anything. But Taya being late didn’t matter to Alaina, as Taya always showed up. Being there and staying until the end meant more to my mate than everything. She could always push my buttons, but I’d never leave. I’d fight for her and with her every day and punish her when she crossed the line, sure. But I never needed her to be perfect, just for her to stay mine.
I nod to Sam. “You ready to rescue a damsel?”
He nods back.
“In and out, minimal noise,” I remind myself more than him.
I am starving .
In a flash, I appear in front of a guard. Spinning him so his back is to me, I cover his fanged mouth with my hand, tearing into the flesh on his neck. Drinking from a vampire was the equivalent of eating a hot meal turned cold. Still tastes good but not as fresh or delicious as it was when it was warm.
His muffled screams begin to die down, and his blood supply dwindles. I release my hold on his shoulder, decapitating him with one swipe of my talons, then stomp on his twitching jaw.
At Sam’s hand, the other guard’s lifeless body thuds.
“I could’ve eaten that,” I half joke.
A soft voice catches my attention. “Hello?”
Sam and I turn to the voice. Staring into the dark corridor, I can’t see anything, but a faint smell of infection hits my nose.
“Stay here and keep watch. I’ll go check it out.”
Sam barely seems to register what I’m saying. His face is scrunched, but he nods. “Yeah, yeah, go.”
My eyes adjust as I creep my way further into the long hallway. Minutes seem to pass. A blonde woman fitting the photos and description of Taya’s file, only more bloodied and bruised, is displayed like a sitting scarecrow and detained in silver chains.
Fuck, she looks almost as bad as Alaina when I found her. Fed on and beaten, never allowing her to heal. Bruises in different stages of healing piling on top of one another.
I move to Taya, and even in her state, she’s found the strength to lift her head and speak. “Who are you?”
She’s nervous but not quite afraid of me. It takes everything in me to move slowly so as not to alarm her. I have to be quick.
“I’m Dax. And you must be Taya. Sorry to meet you this way.”
Her eyes bug. “We thought you were dead. How are you alive?” She coughs.
I indulge her question while I use my bare hands to tear apart the silver chains holding her. Taya slumps and sighs. She rubs her raw pink wrists. Like Alaina, she fights to stay alive.
“Either Alaina’s a vampire, and our bond turned me when I died, or I turned myself into one when I drank vampire blood.”
Still soothing her wrists, she looks up at me with furrowed brows. I’ve only confused her more with my explanation.
That didn’t clear anything up for her, but there’s no time to explain everything. Alaina needs me.
“We’ve gotta go. Can you walk?”
She shakes her head.
I squat next to her, moving to scoop her up in my arms, when a growl rumbles. Pivoting toward the direction it came from, I find Sam lurking in the shadows.
Sam’s intent screams ready to kill .
I raise my eyebrow, thinking I must be mistaken. Despite Sam’s fighting abilities, he still wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Did you just growl at me?” I ask.
If he were anybody else, I would’ve killed him for such a challenge.
When Sam emerges from the dark, his glowing eyes are locked in on Taya.
Taya’s eyes water.
“Mate,” Sam growls.
No. Fucking. Way.
I won’t have to kill him for challenging me. Alaina will be doing it herself once she finds out.
Understanding exactly what Sam is feeling, I know the only appropriate response is for me to back away from Taya immediately and never touch her again.
Sam follows me with his golden orbs intently until he’s satisfied with the distance I’ve created between myself and his mate.
Sam falls to his knees in front of her beaten body. “How long?” He bites back a sob, staring at the damage done to her. The room’s odor adds a new scent, one of guilt and agony. “How long have you been here?”
“I don’t know,” she says softly.
He curses under his breath, wiping his eyes. He then scoops Taya up.
With her cradled in his arms, they don’t say a word, but their trance is impenetrable. Instantly, this playboy was no more.
At first, I feel bad I’ll have to ruin it. But then I recall moments interrupted with my mate when I first met her.
“We’ve gotta go,” I urge.
Sam nods, having now found his mate. A new level of understanding clicks for him.
We make our way back out when trumpets stop us all in our tracks.
I turn to Taya, her arms wrapped around Sam’s neck.
“What was that?”
Taya’s expression is all too familiar. I’ve seen the same look on prisoners when they have information they’re scared to tell me.
My eyes narrow in on Taya. “What do you know?”
She averts her gaze from mine, hiding her face in Sam’s chest.
I take one step closer.
“Taya... You know something. Is it about Alaina?”
She swallows, then slowly nods her head, curling into Sam.
I snarl at her.
Recognizing my threat, Sam gently and cautiously sets Taya down, his eyes remaining locked in on me. He guides her to follow him and holds her close to his back, clasping her hand. He growls back at me, already willing to die fighting for her.
As the best friend of my mate, I won’t harm her.
But my beta, on the other hand . . .
I snatch him by his collar, and Taya falls to the floor without him to stabilize her. I swing him around and slam Sam’s face up against the stone wall, holding him there by digging my forearm into his shoulder blades.
Sam’s fury is seeping out of his pores as Taya starts to cry. He struggles against my strength. He wasn’t a match for me then. Now, it is laughable how easy it is to throw him and everyone else around. I understand just how fragile even immortality can be.
And crushable.
I dig farther into Sam’s shoulder, and something cracks under my weight. “Taya, I swear I’ll kill Sam right here and now. Tell me. What. You know!”
My threat effective, Taya blurts, “The bonding ceremony has started.”
“ What? ” I say over my shoulder to her.
No, she’d never agree to that.
Would she?
No. Someone must’ve forced her.
I press further into Sam, who grunts and shuts his eyes tightly as I increase pressure. The wall unyielding, causing him to be crushed and sandwiched between us.
Taya pleads for him. “No, stop! Stop!”
I pause.
She lets out the breath she was holding and frantically rambles. “She didn’t have a choice. Colin threatened to kill me and everyone else if she didn’t agree to bond herself and marry him.”
Relieved that I was right and my mate did not truly want to move on from me, another fear consumes me.
We know practically nothing about hybrids, just ancient stories needing to be destroyed by the old gods as they were an abomination and threat to the species. But this is only storytelling.
Which means Colin might actually kill my mate trying.
I have to get to her before he can.
I let go of Sam, who rolls out his shoulder. In pain, he winces, but it doesn’t stop him from rushing back to scoop Taya up into his arms.
“How much time do we have?” I ask.
* * *
Eyes from the large crowd of vampires feast upon the high balcony set as the stage for the ceremony. Its extended outward and expansive space allows for an unobstructed view of moonlight reflecting off the mountains.
Conjoined, the balcony connects in three directions. Two archways from the side and one large from the back. Alaina crosses the archway, and my cock hardens.
It’s been too long since I’ve laid eyes on her. Her skirt exposes her sexy, smooth legs with slits up to her creamy thighs, along with her swollen breasts, is too much for me to bear. The crown on her head is fitting, but she’s being crowned by the wrong man.
Colin crosses to the other side, meeting Alaina halfway, extending his hand for her.
Alaina gracefully places her hand in his. She hides it well, but she’s scared. I want to let her know I’m here, that I’ve come for her. But Alaina won’t be able to hide her reaction to seeing me, not when it’s been this long.
And Colin may try to kill her before then.
Clans from all over cheer at their entrance and joining. Colin and Alaina turn to walk closer to the front. Colin’s smiling and Alaina remains emotionless.
Alaina scans the roaring crowd from, and I’m lurking in the shadows, waiting for Ash to give me the signal. Even though she watched me die, she’s still looking for me. And when she doesn’t see me, a vision of her planning to throw herself over the balcony plays out.
“Don’t you fucking dare think about ending yourself. I’m right here,” I say but curse when I realize there’s no longer a mark to link us.
The survivor’s guilt doesn’t suit my mate, and I hate to see her carry a burden that’s not hers. I hate seeing my stubborn, bratty mate be out of fight and so broken.
Colin raises his hand to the crowd, and silence blankets the sea of people. It’s as if the world has shown up for this bonding ceremony, including my pack, who I encouraged to show up given she’s the reason they’re alive. And in case clans try to stop us. My people will always be expected to support Alaina, with or without me around. Not that I ever needed to convince them. She earned their respect a long time ago.
The devil’s creation, who doesn’t deserve to hold a goddess’s angel, thanks everyone for coming to witness the joining of two species, the dawn of a new rule.
It’s then that a priest emerges wearing red robes with gold details for the occasion. The priest holds a singular goblet out to the crowd.
Colin makes a big show of tearing into his wrist, letting the blood from his self-inflicted wound dribble into the goblet. The priest blesses the blood before handing the goblet to Alaina. She stares at the contents inside.
A prayer wishing the queen a swift crossover into the undead is spoken, and the vampires in the crowd repeat the priest’s words. He motions Alaina to drink.
She closes her eyes and tilts the goblet up like she’s taking a shot, exposing her throat.
And it was then I almost blew my cover.
The fucker’s left bruises around her neck. My mind is toxified with all possible scenarios as to how she would have handprint-like bruises around the sides of her throat.
I’ll fucking kill him.
He’s mine to kill. A death for a death.
But in due time.
If I act now with Colin’s blood in her system, I’d be playing right into Colin’s plan. She dies, transitions to a vampire, and could wake up bonded to her abuser, forever.
No, for now, I need to get her out safely and the blood out of her system. Once she’s back and safe in my arms, Ash and I will come back, finishing the job.
Alaina and Colin wave to the crowd before Colin escorts her back inside the back archway.
When I can’t see her any longer, panic sets in. I look to Ash, who finally nods his head, signaling it’s time to move.
I’m coming for you, mate.