Chapter 19
NINETEEN
TESS
The laboratory’s fluorescent lights cast harsh shadows as Tess bolted for the door, the damning test results clutched in her trembling hands. The paper felt like it weighed a thousand pounds—proof that everything about King Voran’s illness had been a carefully orchestrated lie.
“Hurry up!” Korran’s voice cracked like a whip, his tall frame radiating lethal intent. The controlled prince she’d come to know had vanished, replaced by something primal and dangerous. “We’re running out of time.”
Kael stumbled behind them, his usually steady hands shaking as he gathered additional evidence from their workstation. The young scientist’s face had gone pale, the weight of their discovery clearly overwhelming him.
Tess’s heart hammered as they burst through the laboratory doors and into the corridor.
Each step echoed like gunshots in the empty medical facility, the sound amplifying her growing dread.
The queen—sweet, intelligent Queen Lysia who’d shown her nothing but kindness—was somewhere out there and possibly in danger.
“Kael!” Korran barked as they reached the building’s exit, his voice carrying the unmistakable authority of a future king. “Take those test results to the vigil. Find Orric and tell the clan their king was murdered by Varix.”
“I thought we were going to present the evidence to the council,” Tess said, breathless from their sprint as she handed over the test results to Kael. Her scientific mind still clung to proper procedure, even as her instincts screamed that something horrible was happening here.
Korran’s laugh was bitter and sharp. “I’m starting to think the council was behind this whole thing. We need to get the clan on our side and find my mother before they murder her too.”
Tess nodded grimly as she climbed into Korran’s SUV. The vehicle roared to life beneath them, tires spinning against the snow-covered pavement as Korran gunned the engine with barely controlled fury.
The winter landscape blurred past them as they raced toward the estate, bare trees reaching toward the darkening sky like skeletal fingers.
Tess’s mind churned with terrible possibilities.
If Varix and the council had been willing to orchestrate such an elaborate deception—slowly poisoning the king while spreading propaganda about human-shifter bonds being dangerous—then they were dealing with people who planned years in advance.
“I don’t think Queen Lysia is at the estate,” she said, voicing the fear that had been growing in her chest since they’d left the lab. Her scientific training demanded she consider all variables, even the ones that terrified her.
Korran’s knuckles were white where they gripped the steering wheel. “We have to check. Malvek said he was taking her home from the burial grounds.”
“Do you really trust Malvek?” The question tasted bitter on her tongue.
“Not anymore.” His voice was steel, but she could hear the fear underneath—the terror of a son who’d already lost his father and might be about to lose his mother too.
Minutes later, the estate loomed before them, its familiar towers and walls now seeming ominous rather than welcoming. Korran brought the SUV to a skidding halt and turned to her, his brown eyes blazing with desperate intensity.
“Wait here,” he commanded, already opening his door.
Tess could see the barely leashed panic in his movements. This was a man on the edge of losing everything, and she wasn’t about to let him face that alone.
She watched him disappear through the estate’s front entrance, her heart pounding as precious seconds ticked by.
The silence stretched endlessly, broken only by the wind howling through the pine trees outside.
Each moment felt like an eternity, and she found herself holding her breath as she waited for any sign of Queen Lysia’s safety.
When Korran burst back through the doors barely two minutes later, his face was a mask of fury and terror that made her stomach drop. He moved with the predatory grace of his bear, but there was something wilder and more uncontrolled in his movements now.
“She never came back,” he snarled as he threw himself into the driver’s seat. “We may be too late.”
Too late.
Just like with her mother, just like with King Voran—always too late to save the people who mattered.
“We have to hold onto hope that she’s still alive and fighting,” Tess said, surprised by the steadiness in her own voice. “She’s strong, brave, and smart. She’s probably doing everything she can to stay alive until we get to her.”
Korran’s breathing was ragged, but her words seemed to anchor him. “You’re right. My mother is the strongest person I know. If she’s fighting for her life right now, then I won’t let her down.”
The SUV roared back to life, and they tore away from the estate with desperate urgency. Snow sprayed from their tires as Korran navigated the winding roads with reckless precision, his enhanced reflexes the only thing keeping them from sliding off the mountain path.
Within minutes, the warm glow of the town square came into view, filled with the shapes of clan members gathered for their traditional vigil. Tess could see Kael and Orric rushing toward them even before Korran rolled down his window all the way.
“The clan knows,” Orric called out, his usually steady voice tight with barely controlled rage. “Kael showed them the proof. They’re furious and shocked that their king was slowly poisoned for ten years. And now they’re panicking about the queen.”
Korran was out of the SUV in seconds, his powerful frame commanding immediate attention from the gathered crowd. Tess followed, her boots crunching in the snow as she took in the sea of angry, frightened faces surrounding them.
“The queen is missing!” Korran’s voice boomed across the square, cutting through the murmur of voices. “The last person to be with her was Malvek. We need to shift and split up—search every inch of this territory before another tragedy happens.”
The response was immediate and overwhelming.
A hundred voices rose in agreement, the sound almost feral in its intensity.
Tess watched in fascination and terror as the clan members began removing their outer clothing, preparing for the transformation that would turn them into an army of massive, powerful bears.
Korran turned to her, his eyes blazing with protective intensity. “After I shift, climb on my back. Can you do that?”
Tess’s mouth went dry at the thought of riding a bear—even one that was her mate—but she nodded firmly. “I trust you.”
The transformation was unlike anything she’d ever witnessed.
Korran’s human form seemed to blur and expand, muscles rippling and reshaping as dark brown fur sprouted across his skin.
Within moments, a massive bear stood before her, easily twice the size of any bear she’d seen in nature documentaries.
His deep brown eyes remained the same though, filled with the same fierce intelligence and protective love she’d come to recognize.
The bear lowered his massive body, and Tess approached on trembling legs.
Her hands sank into his thick, warm fur as she climbed onto his back, her thighs gripping his powerful shoulders.
The moment she was secure, they were running, his massive paws eating up the snow-covered ground as he followed some scent trail only he could detect.
The forest flew past them in a blur of white and purple, and Tess held on for dear life as her mate carried her toward whatever fate awaited them.
The massive bear beneath her moved with lethal purpose through the snow-laden forest, each powerful stride carrying them deeper into the wilderness.
Tess gripped Korran’s thick fur with trembling fingers, her thighs aching from maintaining her precarious position on his broad back.
The winter air bit at her exposed skin, but she barely noticed the cold—her entire focus consumed by the emotional storm radiating from her mate.
Through their bond, she could feel everything: his barely leashed fury, the terror clawing at his chest, the primal need to find and protect his mother. It was overwhelming and intimate. She’d never experienced anything like this connection—feeling another person’s emotions as if they were her own.
“Easy,” she whispered against his ear, her voice barely audible over the sound of his heavy breathing and the crunch of snow beneath his massive paws. “We’ll find her. Stay focused.”
The bear’s ears flicked back at her words, and she felt his acknowledgment ripple through the bond.
Even in his shifted form, he understood her perfectly.
The realization should have been scientific fascination—the incredible neural pathways that allowed such communication between species—but there was no time for wonder.
Not when Queen Lysia’s life hung in the balance.
Behind them, Orric’s bear form moved like a deadly shadow, his rich brown fur barely visible against the darkening forest. The loyalty radiating from Korran’s second-in-command was palpable, his determination to protect the royal family absolute.
Suddenly, Korran’s massive head lifted, his nostrils flaring as he caught something on the wind. His entire body went rigid beneath her, his muscles coiling with predatory tension. Through the mate bond, she felt his recognition—a scent trail that sent his protective instincts into overdrive.
The forest blurred past as he changed direction, following some invisible path that only his enhanced senses could detect.
Tess held on desperately, her scientific mind trying to process the incredible speed and agility of such a massive creature while her heart hammered with anticipation and dread.