16. CHAPTER 16
“Grayden, sweetie, open your eyes.”
My soul is being torn in two, leaving me with a horrible feeling of emptiness as one part is significantly out of my reach. I try to call out to it, grab it with whatever thought I can, but there’s nothing. I can’t even feel it anymore.
An unspeakable heaviness settles over my chest, constricting my lungs until I have difficulty breathing. I gasp for breath, but nothing comes in. I just keep gasping and gasping. It’s as if the fresh air is at the tips of my fingers, it’s still too far from me.
A sharp burning pain spreads across my cheek. I startle and open my eyes, seeing seven worried faces looking down at me.
“Grayden,” my mother says gently. Her left hand is caressing the palm of her right one.
I furrow my brows, a mixture of shock and outrage on my face. “Did you slap me?”
“I had to,” she replies with an unapologetic shrug. Her brown eyes are shining with fierceness I’m not used to seeing on her. “You were telling us about Helia when you collapsed.”
“What happened?” Gavin asks, his arm protectively wrapped around Leia and their unborn little baby pup.
“I-I’m not sure,” I stammer and shake my head in an attempt to clear it.
Garren nods at Graham and they both step forward, each grabbing me under one arm and lifting me up to sit on one of the chairs in the conference room. I have a vague recollection of calling them here to tell them something...
Helia texted,my wolf reminds me, sounding weirdly groggy as if whatever knocked me unconscious affected him too.
“You were telling us about Helia’s text,” Garren tells me, confirming what my wolf said.
“Grayden,” Alyssa says, bending her knees slightly to lower herself to my eye level. “Where is Helia?”
“Helia,” I repeat her name as if my brain has stopped working, and I’m trying to figure out who to connect it to.
“Yes, Grayden,” Alyssa confirms gently but firmly. “Where is your girlfriend?”
“Helia is my girlfriend,” I say, grinning like a dork while putting two and two together.
They all exchange worried glances. It’s my father who steps forward and takes the reins. He grabs me roughly by the collar of my shirt and slightly lifts me up. My body is limp, and my brain is functioning with a delayed response. My father lets out a low, warning growl. The Darkness pools in his eyes, its impenetrable shade waking something in me.
“Hekate,” I blurt out, my own eyes widening as my memories begin piecing themselves together. “Helia texted that Hekate came to her apartment. I went there as fast as possible, but I was too late. She’s gone. They both are.”
Garren pats our father’s shoulder, who reluctantly releases my collar. My brother takes a chair and pulls it in front of me, straddling it with his arms leaning on the chair’s backrest.
“You’re going to need to be clearer, Grayden,” Garren tells me. “Is Helia on Hekate’s side now or...?”
“She was kidnapped!” I snap and jump out of my own chair.
My eyes roll backward into my head, and I lose my balance. Two sets of strong arms catch me and help me back into a sitting position, holding me there until I’m able to sit straight by myself.
What the fuck is going on?my wolf wonders, asking a question that’s on both of our minds.
“Grayden, sweetie,” my mother’s gentle voice pushes through my weird state. She’s kneeling in front of me, her brows furrowed with worry. “Did you take anything before coming here?”
“W-what?” I stammer, my own brows furrowing.
“Did you take any drugs?” my mother clarifies, her eyes studying me for any reaction.
“Something from Lord Lincoln’s personal lab maybe?” Graham asks.
My surprised expression turns into anger. I’m appalled at the insinuation. I pull my hands away from my mother’s and hiss, “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’ve been clean for a while now.”
“Maybe your weakness is a side-effect then,” Gavin suggests, absentmindedly scratching his chin in thought. “Like a withdrawal.”
“I’ve been through withdrawal and it’s nothing like that,” Garren says, talking about me as if I’m not in the room. “I’ve done plenty of shit, but my wolf was always able to keep me on my feet.”
“Most of the time,” Alyssa comments, exchanging a small smile with her husband.
I groan in frustration and shake my head. “It’s nothing like that,” I insist. “I feel as if my heart has been ripped apart. A part of me is missing, and I don’t know how to reach it. It’s a horrible and empty feeling.”
I don’t miss the looks exchanged between Garren and Alyssa, and Gavin and Leia. They’re having some silent, wordless communication with their partners.
They know something,my wolf says, catching onto it as well.
“What’s happening to me?” I ask, pushing down an angry growl that threatens to bubble up in my throat.
“It can’t be,” Gavin says out loud as if replying to something Leia said to him.
“We don’t have enough information about it to be sure either way,” Leia insists. “While it’s a unique phenomenon, it doesn’t mean it only affects the wolves.”
“But there are no reported cases,” Gavin argues, glancing at Garren and Alyssa as if asking them for help.
“Maybe because we don’t know of the wolves actively hanging out with the humans,” Alyssa adds, seemingly taking Leia’s side. “Much less with the witches.”
Garren pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and his index finger and murmurs, “Oh, God, please tell me this isn’t true.”
“What?” I yell, desperately needing to get some questions answered. “What’s not true? What’s happening to me?”
Leia takes a step toward me, but Gavin grabs her arm, pulling her back as if afraid I might hurt her. Leia glances at her husband. “It’s okay,” she assures him.
Gavin reluctantly lets her go, but his body is tense and his eyes alert. He narrows his eyes at me in a silent warning. Garren gets up and offers Leia his chair. She sits down, her blue eyes shining with unparalleled sympathy.
“This is something completely new to us, too, and if we’re right, your case is unprecedented,” Leia starts, glancing over her shoulder at Gavin, Garren, and Alyssa who all give her their own version of an encouraging nod or smile. “The feeling that you described is how we feel when we’re away from our mates.”
“Please, stop speaking in riddles,” I beg, my eyes desperately searching hers for answers. “What are you saying?”
“We’re not sure about this,” she warns, then sighs before continuing, “But we believe that somehow, you and Helia are fated mates.”
My father punches the wall, his fists making a hole straight through it. My mother covers her mouth when she begins to cry, and Graham pulls her into a hug. Alyssa takes Garren’s hand in hers as he closes his eyes and takes deep breaths. Gavin sets his own hand on his wife’s shoulder. They’re the only two who look at me with sympathy in their eyes.
Our mate?my wolf whimpers, aching coloring his tone.
It would explain a lot,I reply, thinking of the way I feel when I’m with her, and of how I can’t get enough of her.
How do we know for sure? he asks, not daring to let himself believe just yet.
We have to find her first,I tell him, a wave of determination washing over me.
I slightly lift my chin, allowing my family to see the steel and power in my expression. Now that this piece has fallen into place, I’m starting to decipher the rest.
“I think I saw her,” I tell them, sounding more coherent than I had throughout the whole day. Once I start speaking, the words come rushing out of me, my mind connecting them by itself as I ride the flow. “I thought it was some weird dream, but if this thing with us being mates is true, then it could be that she somehow established a telepathic link between us.”
“Impossible. This doesn’t exist,” my father argues, shutting it down. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“With all due respect, Father, but you haven’t heard of a lot of things, so kindly shut up and listen,” I growl at the person who used to be my king and my tormentor both wrapped into one. I hold his eyes in a challenge, willing to try to fight him if he keeps me away from Helia for another second.
“Let him speak,” Gavin says with the tone of an alpha. He was king-material long before he married Leia. Despite being the fourth in line to inherit a throne, he was always by far the most obvious choice to lead the family. Fortunately, Garren got his shit together just in time to give us a fighting chance.
I glance over Leia’s shoulder, giving Gavin a barely perceptible nod. When I continue, I focus my attention on Leia, finding the sympathy in her bright blue eyes to be soothing.
“I was in my wolf form. A shadow of some sort,” I say, trying my best to describe what even I don’t understand. “Helia was hanging from the ceiling, her arms chained up and her toes barely touching the ground. She was weak and barely conscious. Her spirit seemed to be dimming.”
Leia reaches forward, taking my hand into hers and giving me a comforting squeeze. I fix my eyes on where she made contact, reflexively comparing The Ice Queen’s cold touch to Helia’s warm one. I swallow hard, pushing the fear and emotion deep down. Now’s not the time for that.
“Did she say anything?” Leia asks gently.
“A lot of things but nothing that could help us find her,” I admit and shake my head. I look at Leia with naked desperation in my eyes, silently begging her to help.
To everyone’s apparent surprise, it’s Graham who clears his throat, glancing up from a phone in his hand. “I’ve been working up on a very complex facial recognition software that might help us create a timeline for Helia’s whereabouts and eventually, hopefully, lead us to her.”
“That’s good,” Gavin confirms, his eyes shining with a hint of pride. Despite being in the Grey Manor where the leadership falls under Garren, King Lafayette can’t help himself but take the lead. “Can you add Hekate and her last known associates to the list?”
“I’ll use F-Rec to scour the web for pictures,” Graham says, his eyes already glued on his phone and his fingers furiously typing away. “It might take a while though.”
“The sooner we start, the better,” Gavin tells him, then turns to Garren, but he doesn’t need to assign a task to the Grey King.
“The members of other kingdoms along with their military convoys and certain special units have been set up in our country house,” Garren says to Gavin. “I’ll head there and tell them that things are moving faster than expected.”
“Who knew that getting captured would be good for something?” Alyssa comments, referring to the fact that if she and Garren weren’t taken, the other royal houses wouldn’t even consider making an alliance to stop the witches.
“Sounds good,” Gavin agrees, politely ignoring Alyssa’s comment. “I will get the Pack of Survivors and what’s left of the Lafayette pack. I’m sure they’ll want to avenge their fallen members.”
“I’ll talk to our royal advisors to see which packs can be called in too,” Leia says. “Duke Green can be a pain in the ass, but his old-school traditional beliefs will work in our favor here. No one hates witches more than the older generations.”
“I’ll call my mother and have her put the packs in the camp on alert and ready to go,” Alyssa says, her phone already in hand to dial her mother’s number who is also one of our military’s commanders. “I know for sure that Lightbringers are in New York, so Malia should be able to join us.”
“Make sure that Esme is ready before pulling her into this,” Garren tells her, and Alyssa replies something along the lines of confirming it with Blaine.
You should pay better attention to your brothers’ lives,my wolf criticizes. At least, we’d know what’s happening.
I know,I agree, not even bothering to argue with him. Whatever fight’s left in me, I’m saving it for Hekate.
“I’ll call Tiana,” I say, wanting to do something and needing to feel useful.
Garren’s head abruptly turns my way, his eyes darkening with shadows of barely contained power. “No,” he says simply, the word forced out through gritted teeth.
“We need all the help we can get,” I insist. “Tiana is the Alpha of the Pack of Shadows. The Dark Hunters and Lightbringers are good, but you know as well as I do that the Pack of Shadows is the best.”
“Tiana tried to kill my mate,” Garren hisses. “I’m not fighting by her side.”
“Then she’ll fight by mine,” I growl.
“You’re not fighting at all,” Gavin tells me, and though his voice is calm, there’s an order behind his tone.
“You’re in no position to give me orders,” I tell him just as calmly, narrowing my eyes at him. Before Garren can say anything, I turn to him. “You better not try either. Helia is my mate and I’ll do what it takes to find her.”
Gavin takes a step forward, and I stand up, my muscles reflexively tensing as if preparing for a fight. Gavin slowly lifts his arms in a surrender-like gesture. He fixes his eyes on me as if wanting me to really hear him.
“I understand your need to fight. I also understand that the void in your soul doesn’t let you think clearly. Your whole being is aching to get back to your mate,” he says gently, speaking to me like a brother. “Right now, I need you to put all that aside and listen to me with your head for a moment. Can you do that?”
I furrow my brows and bite my lower lip, his words hitting something in my chest. Gavin’s waiting for my reply, so I force myself to nod.
“Okay,” Gavin says with a low voice and gently puts his hands on my arms, locking his eyes on mine. “You’re not a trained fighter, which means you’d be a liability out there in the field. To save Helia, we can’t allow for any distractions. I promise on my unborn son that I’ll do everything in my power to save your mate.”
This is massive,my wolf warns me, forcing me to process the meaning of Gavin’s words before I instinctively start to argue.
“I’ll personally call Tiana and get the Pack of Shadows on board,” he adds as if sensing my inner turmoil. Without taking his eyes off me, he says to Garren, “I’ll make sure she stays by my side, where I’ll keep an eye on her.”
“I can’t just sit on the sidelines and do nothing while Helia is probably being tortured,” I argue, needing a job to do.
“I could use another set of eyes,” Graham tells me. “There’ll be a lot of footage to sort through and while I have my own people to help me, there’s always space for more.”
Chances are that Graham’s software will be the first to find her,my wolf says. He doesn’t need to continue for me to be able to understand what he’s hinting at.
“Okay,” I agree, glancing at Graham before turning back to Gavin. “I’ll hold you to your promise.”
Gavin gives me a small smile and winks. He turns around to Leia, Garren, and Alyssa. “We have work to do.”
“This is madness!” my father growls before anyone can leave the room. “Are you seriously going to put your lives on the line for a witch?”
Blinding anger makes my muscles tense in preparation to strike him for insulting my mate. Before I can make a step that would sink me knee-deep in shit, Garren lets out a deafening growl. It’s one of pure power, letting his subjects know who the real alpha is. The true king.
Except for Gavin, who stands tall though his jaw twitches, we all instinctively cower. Some more than others, but the urge to show submission is real and powerful. While I don’t fall on my knees like I used to when my father was king, I do slightly bend my neck to bow my head. It will take a while to realize it was a gesture of respect instead of fear. It’s something that my father never learned to demand. He never truly earned it as his reign was through fear and power.
“You will do well to remember your place,” Garren reminds him. Despite the straightforwardness of his words, he doesn’t make it sound harsh or threatening. He’s simply bringing to light the fact that there’s been a change in the hierarchy. “The orders have been given and the jobs assigned. If you don’t have anything to contribute, then kindly fuck off.”
My father’s eyes widen in shock, but he keeps his mouth closed. His lips are pressed into a thin line. His body only relaxes when my mother takes his hand into hers, wordlessly communicating something to him with that simple gesture.
We’re wasting time,my wolf growls. Helia’s in danger while this prick is having his ego soothed.
I meet Graham’s eyes and nod at the door. “Let’s go.”
It seems that those are the magic words that made everyone spring to action. It’s the first time ever that the royal wolf families will work together to bring an end to the threat of the witches.