Page 103 of A Female Alpha for the Lycan Prince

“Maybe I should have tried harder,” I admit quietly. “Maybe I could—”

“No,” Elden interrupts me. “There are things that are out of your control, Celine. And you are not responsible for Marius’ self-sabotaging actions.” He looks sad. “We all know he is battling with something, but no one has been able to reach him. Maybe none of us tried hard enough, maybe we should have done better. But I promise you, when he wakes up, there is no hiding anymore.”

Something about his words feel oddly comforting to me. He believes he can save Marius.

Part of me wishes to go with Marius when they’ve finally stabilized him enough for the ride to the pack hospital. The bond is pushing me to stay close to him, even though we’ve done nothing but fight with each other. He is my mate, he might not want me, but he is my mate. However, I can’t just drop everything to go with him. Valerie is a member of my pack, I’m her alpha, and while Marius is being attended to right now, Valerie is still missing. We don’t know what her kidnappers will do to her.

Liam leaves with Marius, so at least I know he is in good hands.

Meanwhile, the rest of us have gathered around Jazz. She’s told us everything she saw, she’s described the men and women rogues as best she can, and the special powers they seemed to have. She also explained how Marius appeared suddenly, and how he begged her to stay down and made sure that Jazz remained off their radar.

In a weird way, I feel proud of him. He might have been a douche towards me, but when the shit hit the fan, and they didn’t look like they were going to win, he did his best to defend and protect Jazz.

“They were barely holding him back,” Jazz mutters under tears. “He fought so hard against them, even after they injected him with wolfsbane.”

“Marius is a lycan with alpha blood,” Elden tells her quietly. “My son might strike others as weak, but he isn’t.”

“This is my fault,” Dante says quietly. “He was looking really sick today, so I offered for him to swap shifts with Ella. I should have forced him to take the day off and come here myself instead.” He pauses. “My wolf is strong and healthy now that we found our second chance in Ella.”

“No,” Elden shakes his head. “Everything happens for a reason. And if my son hadn’t been so stupid as to allow his wolf to get this weak, he would have easily overpowered everyone. I love him dearly, but he is responsible for his own choices. It might sound cruel to you, but he needs this wake-up call.”

Dante nods tentatively.

I shift my attention back to Jazz, “You said there was an older man with them?”.

Jazz nods, her fear now turning to anger. “He seemed like their leader. What a scumbag! He wasn’t even doing anything, just standing there, and giving out commands, that coward. I wish I could have kicked him in his stupid face.”

“We will find her, Jazz,” Aryanna rubs over her back. “And then you can kick him in his stupid face.”

“You said he looked shocked when Marius called him a coward for taking Valerie with him?” Elden asks.

She nods.

“He probably thinks he has the moral high ground,” I mutter. “Like his actions are justified.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve feared from the beginning,” Elden mutters. “Someone lost in their grief will think their mission justifies their actions.”

“But Val’s only recently started her training,” Jazz mutters. “What if she can’t help them?”

I exchange a gaze with Elden. “Let’s hope they don’t realize that…” he mutters.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Elias returning. He has been combing the area for traces. We know they teleported away, but you never know if they might have left something behind.

“Did you find anything?”

“I am not sure.” He shows me a necklace with a pendant. “I found this lying on the ground. From what Jazz explained, it must be the spot they captured Valerie. But it could also be from one of the students at the school.”

I open the pendant, eyeing the photo. There is a picture of a man in it with a young girl. He has his arm around her and is smiling at her lovingly, like she is his biggest treasure. “Was this the guy?” I ask Jazz.

Jazz takes a long look at it. “I can’t say for sure, everything happened so fast, and I was out of it for a while,” she admits. “The man in the picture looks a little broader, his face is rounder, but he could be. That scar here… at his neck, I think he had the same.”

“Good enough for me,” I state.

“For me too,” Elden nods.

“I will give it to Jade and Desmona, they are both capable witches. Maybe they have a few tracking spells.”

Elden nods, but before he can say anything, his phone starts ringing. “It’s Liam,” he mutters and walks out of hearing range to talk to him.