Page 31

Chapter Thirty-One

T he drive is taking forever as we head for the borders of Landeena Kingdom. Someone has hung rogues along the castle walls so we are going to investigate. My entire body is vibrating from the effects of the bond and Azalea’s heat. The effects are no different, even miles away. If anything, they’re getting worse, as the urge to turn around and go home grows stronger.

Sweat coats my skin. I removed my shirt an hour ago, which hasn’t helped seeing as my temperature continues rising, along with my anger. Poor Damian has remained quiet most of the trip, careful not to disturb me. Just the noise of the tires on the wheels aggravates me.

Not even three hours into the trip, the mindlink opens and Trey’s panicked voice flits through my head.

‘I can’t find her,’ he rushes out, and my stomach plummets to somewhere deep inside me. I fight the urge to immediately shift at his words. My claws sink into the leather seats, and the stuffing sprays everywhere. Damian glances at me nervously out of the corner of his eye .

‘What do you mean you can’t find her?’ I snarl, my voice strained with anger and worry.

‘I mean exactly that,’ Trey replies, his voice shaking slightly.

‘Excuse me?’ I snarl back through the bond.

‘The queen, she ran off with Dustin. He said he was teaching her how to drive, one of the guards said, but it has been an hour and a half, and we cannot find either of them or the car,’ he tells me.

‘Dustin said he was teaching her to drive, and you didn’t think to fucking question that?’ I snap at him, seething. Damian glances at me, and I growl, my fist connecting with the dash, setting off the airbag. My claws slash through it, and Damian jumps, nearly swerving off the road.

I growl low in my throat.

‘I thought she was in her room. She was…I didn’t even know she had climbed out her window until Clarice went to bring her dinner in and found it wide open,’ Trey explains.

Turning to Damian, he glances at me. ‘Damian, turn this car around,’ I order, my voice laced with a dangerous edge.

Damian nods and quickly takes an exit off the highway, turning the car around to head back toward our kingdom. I have no doubt where she has gone, but when I get my hands on Dustin, he is dead.

‘Check the footage to find out which road they took,’ I snap at Trey.

‘Already did. They left out the rear exit that runs along the river and headed for the highway.’

I growl, knowing I am right. Azalea is going after Abbie even after I told her not to. The damn girl can’t fucking listen to save her life. Fucking foolish, and Trey will be in for it when I get back for not paying better attention to his guard.

‘Is Gannon back yet?’ I ask him. Gannon will drop whatever he is doing and go if he knows.

‘No, sir, he shouldn’t be far out, though.’

I cut the link before feeling for Gannon’s link. It opens immediately.

‘Where are you?’ I demand.

‘Ten minutes out. What’s up?’

‘I am on my way back home, but further out, I need you to get Azalea and bring her home.’

‘ Azalea?’ he asks.

‘She ran off with Dustin to go after Abbie. You need to get to her until I get there.’

‘Fuck! That fucking idiot should know better than to take Azalea into hunter’s territory at night,’ Gannon growls. I know the pact he made now would overwhelm him as strongly as a command would. Pacts aren’t taken lightly and require my blood, and hours of orders are forced on them so they can’t break them. The only one who can break it is me.

I can force them to break it, but that would also be extremely difficult and take hours of me breaking their will. They would still run back for her the moment the command would drop. Which is precisely why they all turned on me when I banished her out of the castle. Most that signed up for it passed out and couldn’t pass. Only eleven made it through the process, two of whom are dead now. It works similarly to the council not being able to be commanded, only it is directed to a specific person; I hoped I wouldn’t have to, but Azalea has now left me no choice. I know she won’t like it, but I won’t put her life at risk.

She will be blood-tying herself to her guard; I won’t let this mistake happen again, and Dustin will learn from this mistake. I trusted only Damian, Gannon, Liam, and him with her, completely followed by Trey. They lasted the longest during the trials, and that is exactly why they hold the positions they do.

The urge to protect her will be running through all my royal guards. No doubt, the others will be frantically searching the forests for her and Dustin. However, they wouldn’t have expected Dustin to do something so stupid, and being fourth in command, they wouldn’t have questioned him. I growl. He will pay for betraying me!

‘Which road?’ Gannon asks with an angry edge to his voice. Azalea’s stupidity not only endangers herself, but likely Abbie as well. He will want to kill Dustin, and Dustin will know precisely what he will be coming home to.

‘Highway,’ I answer, and he growls. That is the worst road to travel on at night.

‘Abbie?’ he asks.

‘Perfectly fine, seeing her on the weekend. You can come but bring my fucking mate home!’ I tell him.

‘I will bring the queen back to you. What of Dustin?’

‘Leave him for me,’ I growl, cutting the link.

“What’s going on?” Damian asks. Our entourage follows and spins around after us.

“Azalea has run to go to Abbie,” the moment the words leave my lips, Damian starts flooring it.

“Fuck!” he curses, knowing how bad that area is predominantly at night. Dustin should have known better, and he will pay dearly for his mistake. How he can agree to something like this is beyond me.

My eyes flicker, and I open the bond, feeling for her and what direction she went. Heat smashes into me. She may not be able to feel it, but I indeed do, and its intensity forces the shift in me. Damian slams on the brakes, and I only just rip myself out of the car before destroying it.

Cars screech to a stop, some skidding onto the grass to avoid hitting me, but I have one thing on my mind: to get to my mate. So I head for the forest, running, the trees blurring past me, and I let the bond guide me to her. She will be in serious trouble when I get my fucking hands on her.