Page 49

Chapter

Forty-Five

K YSON

Everyone frantically searches for Azalea, Tyson, and Tandi as Cedric and I pull up. Trey is in a panic because he can’t feel her through the sire bond, and I can’t feel her through our mate bond either.

Cedric and I race toward where we can see smoke.

I had been trying to force the mindlink, failing to reach her, when all of a sudden, I suddenly feel her pain.

I almost run the car off the road as the pain smashes through our bond.

Despite leaving the entire guard here except for Cedric, trouble still found us, and they weren’t enough to protect her.

Now, all I can think about is finding her.

I order Damian, Gannon, and Dustin to find Tyson and Tandi.

The compulsion from the oath has them frantically caught between their Queen and their mates and children, something I may have to reconsider.

Azalea would be devastated if their desire to help her overruled that of Abbie and Tandi or their children.

“Fire! The stables are on fire!” Trey points to the stables. I can hear Damian shouting orders through the mindlink while I’m trying to reach Azalea. It’s utter chaos.

“Where is Tyson?” Gannon, grabbing my arm.

I see Abbie race across the lawns toward the stables, screaming for her son.

Guards are using hoses and buckets, trying to put the fire out.

I run through the back doors of the stables.

The trapped horses inside their stalls buck and try to break out as the flames draw nearer, licking up the walls and roof.

Liam frantically rips the stall doors open, letting the horses out.

Dustin calls out for Tyson, who I can hear crying, yet the smoke is so thick and the heat so intense the closer we get to the front of the stables.

Black billowing smoke spews out, making it difficult to see, and the fire rages as the doors bang in the wind.

“Got him!” Dustin yells before rushing past me, but I can’t see Azalea anywhere or pick up her scent with the smoke.

Dustin rushes out with Tyson in his arms. I cough and choke on the smoke while checking the stalls for Azalea when I feel her wake.

The mindlink flickers weakly as if she is trying to reach me.

‘Kyson,’ she murmurs through it. Her consciousness is weak through the bond, and I can feel how much pain she is in my own head, throbbing along with hers.

‘Where are you, Azzy?’ I rush out, knowing she won’t be conscious for long.

‘Woods. Tanner,’ she murmurs, and I can feel her slipping away from me.

‘Stay with me, love. Hold on. I need you awake so I can find you,’ I tell her, but the link dissolves no matter how much I try to hold on to it.

‘Get to the woods! It’s Tanner!’ I scream across the link and hear the howls of the Landeena guards outside as they take off through the woods in hunt of their Queen.

“On it!” Liam yells out from somewhere outside.

Liam and Trey rush off the moment Trey feels that sliver of her consciousness, trying to follow his sire bond. I attempt to navigate my way out of the enormous stables when I hear Damian’s voice.

“Tandi!” Damian screams out as he rushes into the stall across from me.

“Kyson, help me!” Damian yells as I am about to run for the door to go after Azalea. With a growl, I move to help him find her top half trapped beneath a trapdoor. He opens the lid, and I rip her out. The trapdoor falls heavily to the ground with a loud thud.

“Tanner, your gardener. He took Azalea,” Tandi gasps as I hear the cracking of the tin roof above us. It is going to cave in any minute, and we need to get out of here.

“Larkin is down there!” she gasps, choking on the smoke. I pass her off to one of the guards, who is helping free the horses. He quickly takes her and runs out with her. My vision burns as the smoke gets thicker. My lungs wheeze with each breath.

“The old tunnels. And I think I figured out who was supplying the Wolfsbane to that witch!” Damian growls as I look into the trapdoor. Larkin wriggles on the ground, shackled by rope and silver chains that I can smell were doused in Wolfsbane.

“Don’t just stand there. Help me!” he chokes out. Damian grits his teeth, and I know he believes if he let him die, all his issues would be solved.

“I need to find Azalea,” I tell him. I couldn’t care less for Larkin right now when my mate is in the woods somewhere. Shifting, my vision adjusts, and my hearing strengthens as I shove out the doors and run for the forest.

I can hear every crunch of the twigs and leaves, even over the raging storm. Sniffing the air as I run, I pick up her scent in minutes, along with the savage sounds of fighting. Bursting through a thicket of trees, I find Azalea unconscious on the ground.

Liam and Trey have Tanner pinned to the ground as he thrashes and snarls. His brown Lycan form is drenched in blood, yet I race toward Azalea. Rolling her over, I scoop my arms beneath her.

As I hold her in my arms, her head rolls backward. There’s a deep gash across her hairline and into her hair. In addition to that, her chin was also covered in a large bruise.

“Don’t kill him!” I snarl as Liam grabs his head, getting ready to break his neck.

“Get him to the old dungeons. We need answers!” I growl at them. Tanner roars, trying to flail and get free, knowing precisely what the old dungeons are used for.

Tanner is dragged through the woods by them. Dustin comes to help, and as we finally reach the back of the castle near the stables, I find Abbie clutching Tyson up on the hill.

Gannon has Tandi dragging her away from the raging fire of the stables.

My men are still trying to put out the flames, using a pump and pumping water straight out of the lake just as the rain hits.

It pours, making the ground slippery, but it will help to douse the flames before the fire can spread to the surrounding forest.

Running past the stable, Damian smacks Larkin’s back as he hacks and coughs. He looks up as I pass him and nods his head.

‘Lock the place down!’ I call across the mindlink. ‘ And get me the town Doctor!’ I order, hearing a unison of yes return through the mindlink. Just as we step through the threshold into the huge foyer, Azalea begins to wake.

“Tyson?” She mutters.

“We got him, love. Tandi too,” I tell her, hugging her closer and inhaling her scent as I climb the stairs. Dustin is hot on my heels, and I see Liam drag a kicking and screaming Tanner through to the kitchens.

“Dustin, you are to wait with Azalea,” I tell him as I push the door open with my hip. I lay her on the bed before moving her hair to look at the gash, careful not to cut her with my claws.

She drowsily stares up at me, her eyes rolling, and I can see she has a severe concussion. Leaning down, I lick the wound, which looks like it is trying to seal itself. It does take me a few tries to pinch the skin together, but eventually, it seals shut.

“Mindlink me with what the doctor says. Also, when she wakes up,” I tell Dustin, who nods, taking her hand in his hand as he sits with her. Stepping out of my quarters, Abbie rushes past me and into the room. Gannon behind her.

“Need me to handle the gardener?” he asks, but I shake my head.

“No. That bastard is mine!” I growl, moving toward the stairs. Walking back through the corridors, I feel the chaos unfolding around me. The storm was in full swing, and guards and staff rushed around to secure everything and lock us down.

Moving through the kitchen, I head for the pantry. I walk down to the cellar before walking down to the cells. Moving to the back cell, I find the trapdoor already open and descend the stairs to the old dungeons.

I immediately feel the cold draft of the dungeons, the concrete steps making my heavy footsteps echo off the old stone walls.

I hear the clanging of the chains and Tanner’s screams as Liam and Trey chain his arms and legs to the old wooden rack.

The rack has rollers at each end, and once secured, you could turn the leavers, and it would stretch them.

It is a rather painful and gruesome death. Reserved for the worst kinds of people. Tanner is one of those people. He touched my Queen, and he would pay with his life! But not before I tortured the answers out of him.

The old iron-barred door creaks as I pull it open, and Tanner’s cries grow louder when he sees me step into the cell.

Trey snarls and backhands him. His head whips to the side. “Get back to your sire. I will handle him,” I tell Trey, who is all too happy to go back to his Queen.

Moving around the table, Liam clips the silver strap across his head so he can’t lift it while I grab a hose and funnel.

“Get me some wolfsbane,” I tell Liam, who rushes off to get what little supply we have left. Funny how we struggled to source it, and this fucking worm has been growing it beneath our noses this entire time.

“I can explain!” Tanner whimpers as I set the funnel beside him for when Liam comes back. I drag my claws down the side of his face and lean down.

“That you will,” I growl, grabbing his hand and lifting it.

I place it in the vice-grip before twisting the lever.

His screams echoed off the stone walls as I crush his hand slowly.

Listening to each bone break. And this would be just the beginning.

No one wants to be down in the dungeons with me.

You know you fucked up if I bring you here because once down here, you never leave. Or if they do, it’s in pieces.