Rise of the Lycans: Shadows And Secrets

Chapter 27 – Paris

Rex

“MAEVE!”

“Maeve? Where?” Flaym asked before I rushed out into traffic, moving faster than humanly possible.

It was the same each time I revisited the dream. That long, dark ginger hair of hers blew in the wind. Her back was to me, but I knew it was her. My beast could sense her as if he’d sensed what was his. She bore no mark on her neck, but my lycan had claimed her nonetheless.

The same shadowy figure loomed beside her, holding her, comforting her, and I wanted to rip his throat out. He had taken her away, had stolen what was mine. I could sense her hiding in the shadow with him. My hand reached out, touching her hair, and she evaporated.

“There’s no one here,” Flaym turned his head from side to side, assessing the area.

“She was just standing here with him. I saw her.” My fingertips touched the silky smoothness of her hair. I saw the darkness in his eyes as he took her away.

“Maeve!” I called out as my eyes shot open. My heart thundered in my chest.

It’s been almost eighteen months since that night, and there was no sign of Maeve anywhere.

I spent all night scouring the city looking for her, only to come up empty-handed. She had disconnected her phone number, stopped using all social media, didn’t return any emails, and stopped calling her grandparents. They had received a postcard once a month for the last eighteen months, telling them she was okay and loved them.

I started checking on her grandparents regularly, hoping they would hear something more from her, but it never happened. Maeve had completely disappeared from the shifter and human world. When Alpha Hamish reported that Maeve had not returned, I asked Killian to have LaRue Enterprises security division prepare a portfolio on her.

She had no digital footprint. Her bank account was untouched, her passport inactive, and all traces of Maeve MacDougall in the human world had disappeared in Edinburgh. When the postcards started arriving every month, they were postmarked from different European countries.

For many months, I followed those postcards, looking for her. They were always from charming fairytale towns like Bruges, Strasbourg, Rothenburg, and Cinque Terra. I checked cafes, pubs, and anywhere she could have been working to earn money. I visited libraries, bookstores, and picnic spots by the water where she would have enjoyed reading. There was nothing—no sign of her.

She had walked out of my life, and I hadn’t stopped her. All this pressure to find mates, and no one had found a mate. I doubted anyone would at the mating ball, either.

Wherever she was, she was likely using a new name and living with humans. A sickening, nagging feeling told me she had found him already. The man who would love her and take care of her. The father of her children. Every time I thought about it, I wanted to punch something. It felt like someone had taken the hammer straight to my heart.

Raking my fingers through my hair, I try to forget about the dream and seek out some breakfast. My father, brother, and cousins were all in Paris for the shifter event of the year—the mating ball at Versailles. Storm and I were a few weeks short of our twenty-fifth birthday and able to narrowly escape the obligation. I knew it would be hell on my brother, and I wanted no part of it. Every female at the ball would try to sink her claws into the Lycan King.

I entered the kitchen in time to find Aunt Demeter pacing frustratedly.

“Have you seen Grandma Dori?” She asked.

“No,” I shook my head and tried to find her through the mind link. I couldn’t sense her, which meant she wasn’t on pack territory.

“All of the cars are accounted for,” Storm announced, stepping into the kitchen.

“What about the motorcycles?” Aunt Demeter asked.

“Grandma can’t ride,” even as I said it, I wasn’t convinced it was true.

“Grandma Dori borrowed a Vespa when we were vacationing in Italy when I was a pup. Never underestimate the will of that woman,” Aunt Demeter warned.

“No, all the bikes are there,” Storm told us.

“Maybe she went shopping with a friend?”

“Persephone is missing, too,” Storm replied.

A groan left me… My duty to this pack felt like agony.

With every passing hour, the idea that Grandma and Persephone had managed to sneak away to Paris became more evident to me. It was not long ago that she had convinced us to slip away to Scotland. Reluctantly, I dialed Lukas and confirmed my suspicion. They were in Paris. Aunt Demeter and Uncle Balthazar were airborne within two hours to retrieve the escaped duo.

“Someone needs to take her passport away.”

“How bad can it be?” Storm asked me.

“I told you what she did in Scotland?”

“When she got kicked out of the tavern for looking up kilts?”

“She was dancing on top of the bar and nearly set the place on fire when she kicked over a candle,” I told her. “When the owner asked her to leave, she stole his bagpipes.”

“There’s no way she could have fit the pipes in her purse, right?”

“She has them in her room,” I shook my head. “The point is, Grandma has a knack for mischief.”

A few hours later, I eased my motorcycle around a curve in the road. Maeve had been the only female to ride on the bike with me. Every time I took it out—I thought about her. The way she smiled when she had straddled me on the ride. I thought about the way the sunset danced in the beautiful dark shade of her hair. Her freckles were kisses from the sun, and I wanted to kiss each one of them.

“Rex?” Xena’s voice came through the mind link.

“I’m here.”

“There’s been a development at the mating ball, and your father wants us there as soon as possible,” she told me.

“I’m on my way,” I reply, circling back around.

I kicked the bike into gear and raced to the mansion. A development could mean many things, and I wondered if someone had found a mate. It was likely that a fight had broken out between Alphas or Grandma Dori had set the Eiffel Tower on fire. Then again… I’d been seeing visions of Paris monuments and the black mist.

“What’s going on?” I asked Uncle Zeus, who was in his office, barking orders to have the jet ready.

“Balthazar is taking Persephone to Nightshade Pack and wants the triplets there while he takes care of business in France.”

“Why? They’re safer here with us.”

“Kairo is going too,” he tells me. “You and Storm are leaving with Xena and Killian to France. We’re hiding the lycan pups with Cyrus until this is all sorted.”

“What exactly is Balthazar doing in France?” Storm asked as she entered the office.

“Alpha Darc and his Beta tried to steal Persephone from the ball. Your father thinks there was a ploy to take you as well.”

“Everyone that tried before ended up dead,” she said as her eyes swirled.

“He’s going to kill everyone involved.” There had been a few attempts to take Storm when she was a pup, but never Lukas or me. At least, none that I was aware of. Anyone who tried to take Persephone was begging for death.

“What the hell is going on in France?” Storm demanded.

“Selena, Cynder, and Sol were given a heat stimulant, and all hell broke loose at the ball,” Uncle Zeus suppressed a low growl. “Lukas may have lost his mind and carried Selena off.”

If Lukas carried Selena off while she was in heat… “Dad couldn’t stop him?”

“Have you ever seen the woman you love go into heat?” He shook his head. “It’s bad enough for werewolves, but lycans are feral… Lukas would have fought everyone to the death, including his father, to have her.”

Storm let out an audible gasp. “You mean to tell me—”

“He’s claimed her,” I said without hesitation.

“My parents will accompany you on the flight to Paris and then continue to Italy to drop off the triplets and Kairo,” Uncle Zeus told us. “Hopefully, Mateo doesn’t lose his head over the situation with both daughters.”

“What happened with Sol?” Storm asked, and I instantly knew the answer.

“Ranger!” He would have reacted the same with Sol.

Uncle Zeus exhaled a deep breath. “Ranger and Sol have been locked away together. They’re both mature werewolves and free to do what they want, with who they want, but—”

“He loves her,” I told them. “He always has, but the five-year age difference held him back.”

“Are we still talking about Ranger?” My sister asked, a smirk pulling on her lips.

Three hours later, the triplets were seated in the back of the jet with Kairo while Xena and Killian discussed plans with my grandparents.

“If there is a breach of our territory, Zeus and Poseidon should be able to take care of it,” Papa Mac assured Xena.

“They must be after lycan venom,” Killian nearly snarled.

“The pups will be safe there. Cyrus and Esme are lycans,” Grammy Cassi reminded them. “Hazel also placed enchantments on their territory. No one will suspect that we’ve moved them.”

“It’s just a precaution,” Papa added.

“I’d like to see someone try to come after me,” Storm scoffed through the mind link. She was seated beside me, but wanted to have a conversation without the others listening.

“I’m surprised Dad didn’t send you into hiding with them,” I chuckled and heard a low snarl from her. Storm was just as strong and possibly more vicious than any of us.

“I have a bad feeling about Paris,” she told me, and she wasn’t the only one.

They say if something feels wrong, it probably is. This was one of those times, and we were both feeling it.

“If Lukas claimed Selena, this could change everything.”

“Yeah, you might just become king after all.”

I had zero interest in being the Lycan King. “No way. I’m not the heir.”

“You’re the spare,” she snickered, and I barked out a humorless laugh. “If he gives up his claim to be with her, you’re next in line.”

“The Goddess gave Lukas control of all four elements for a reason,” I reminded her. “I’m not the next king.”

“Yeah, and where’s the Goddess now?”

I rip my gaze away from her, glaring out the window. There was nothing but darkness as we flew over the Atlantic. I had no idea where the Goddess was or what was happening with the mate bonds. My mind drifted back to Lukas. If he’s able to take a chosen mate and keep her, then there would be nothing stopping me from claiming Maeve… Nothing except that she didn’t want to be found.

She had likely fallen in love with a human and was probably expecting his child. I had stopped seeing her in my dreams and visions, as if she was no longer in this world. But I knew she was, because the postcards would arrive at the start of every month.

Ranger and Caspian dragged me to Las Vegas for a club grand opening a few months ago. I thought I could finally let Maeve go. Bury my feelings and move on, but I couldn’t. Everywhere I turned, I was looking for her. The beast inside of me was repulsed by the idea of touching anyone who wasn’t Maeve, and my cock felt the same. It was a losing battle, and I only found release alone in the shower, thinking about Maeve.

The idea that lycans could live for hundreds of years and having to possibly live without her was driving me crazy. I was weeks away from my twenty-fifth birthday—from being able to produce venom. Maeve was devastated when she learned she was human, and I wanted to fix that. I wanted to find her, sink my teeth into her, and keep her forever.

We reached Paris just in time to join my father for a meeting with all the Alphas that had attended the mating ball. Nervous glances were thrown my way, and I knew it was because of my lycan aura and my close resemblance to my brother. I’d often been mistaken for Lukas by younger pups who didn’t have their wolf yet.

As uncomfortable as I made the Alphas feel, it was nothing compared to my sister. She sat on the other side of my father, with her lycan eyes swirling, looking like an angry Goddess. Her aura was unlike Aunt Demeter’s, Xena’s, or Esme’s, and we always believed it was because Storm was a born lycan, and the others were turned lycans. Persephone and Valaria are also born lycans, but we’d have to wait another two years for Valaria to shift and over four more years for Persephone to find out if our theory about Storm is correct.

Visions of Storm seated on a throne had floated through my dreams for as long as I could remember. Today, I sat quietly wondering if Lukas would refuse to become king and if Storm would wear the crown. The energy of her aura was enough to make the strongest of Alphas bow.

“I mean no disrespect, Alpha King,” spoke one of the Alphas I recognized from Portugal. “The Moon Goddess appears to have abandoned the mate bond custom, and the younger generation wishes to start selecting chosen mates.”

“Is this why someone resorted to heat stimulants at the ball and attempted to kidnap my niece?” My father nearly snarled.

“Perhaps the females took the stimulants to attract an Alpha and force a mating?” Alpha Becker from a small German pack accused, and the room fell silent.

Storm sprang to her feet with a deadly growl. “You dare to make such a shameless accusation against my cousin and friends?” His flushed face started to turn a deep shade of red, and her aura became dangerous.

My sister was a storm that could not be contained. Alpha Becker grasped at his throat, desperate for air. His eyes turned to our father, pleading for mercy as Storm extracted the air from his lungs. Her eyes swirled faster, and her hands shifted into long lycan claws. Another low snarl from her, and the Alphas around the room dropped their heads, exposing their necks.

“That’s enough,” my father whispered softly, and Storm released him.

Alpha Becker fell to the ground, coughing and greedily sucking in oxygen.

“Does anyone else have any other concerns?” I asked, leveling the room with my gaze and allowing my beast to surface.

“The mating ball was unsuccessful,” Alpha Volkov found the courage to speak. “I don’t approve of chosen matings and do not wish to offend the Goddess, but our numbers are shrinking without the birth of new pups.”

“This is a concern for all in the Kingdom,” my father said. “I have a few suspicions and hope to have answers soon.”

“The Goddess dishonors us by leaving us mateless,” Alpha Hasan said.

“The Goddess allowed lycans to go extinct a thousand years ago when they ignored mate bonds,” my father warned. “Do you wish to displease her and suffer the same consequences?”

Once the meeting was over, we retreated to the rooftop terrace for lunch with the rest of the family.

“Where’s Mateo?” I asked Flaym through the mind link. His daughters were locked away with Lukas and Ranger, and I had no doubt he’d envisioned castrating both of them hundreds of times.

“Your father sent Mateo and my dad out to the Darc Pack to investigate and interrogate,” Flaym told me. “It should keep them busy and away for a few days until the heat passes.”

“I was just telling Eudora we should find a clairvoyant or something,” Grandma Dori told my father.

“We visited Tameka just last month,” he grumbled. “She said the Moon Goddess would restore the bonds before the wolf moon arrives.”

“That’s over six months away,” Storm said.

“We’re not even sure which wolf moon,” my father told her. “Next year, the year after, or ten years from now.”

“She can’t see who our future mates are,” I said, remembering my last visit.

“That’s because the Goddess has blocked or stopped the mate bonds,” Storm sighed.

“We should see about finding Ursula Shipton,” Grandma suggested. “Haven’t seen her since Mac was a pup, and her gift is different from Tameka’s.”

“Mother Shipton?” My mother questioned. “Isn’t she a vampire?”

“That’s the one,” Grandma said, ladling stew into her bowl. “A little cranky but otherwise pleasant. She was about seventy years old when she was turned and doesn’t look a day over ninety.”

“I thought vampires didn’t age,” Flaym said, sitting beside her.

“They don’t,” she told him. “Did you try the cassoulet? These beans are creamy smooth.”

“Are those the beans that cause gas?” Flaym asked.

“Gas isn’t a bad thing,” Grandma shrugged. “No one listens to me until I fart.”