Page 42 of Lycan King’s Claim (Lycan King’s Reign Duet #2)

“Answer the damn phone,” I mutter, a bitter blend of hope and anger making me pace restlessly as I continue to scour the small apartment.

But it remains silent, amplifying the gnawing dread as the phone rings out.

With a growl, I move back toward the front door to spot Javier entering.

“I spoke with the maintenance man. He said Tasha left this morning and hasn't returned,” he tells me, and I nod, moving past him to head back to the car.

Just as despair begins to take hold, my phone vibrates in my hand. Hope surges when I hear it ring.

“Sienna?” But it's Tasha's name that glares back.

“Where is she, Tasha? What have you done with Sienna?” My voice trembles, straining against the raw emotion threatening to spill. A raspy voice answers, interlaced with fear and pain.

“Xandros…” Tasha groans, and I can hear the sound of her moving, for a second, it falls silent, and I hear what sounds like Tasha dropping the phone.

“Tasha?” I snap angrily before hearing more fumbling and pained groans.

“Isador?” Tasha murmurs. I hear another noise in the background.

“Where is she?” comes a second voice, sounding dazed.

“Sienna?” I hear Tasha call out, and my stomach sinks.

I hear coughing and moving, yet my patience wears thin. “Tasha, answer me! Where is my mate?” I snarl. “Oh gosh, Xandros. You have to help her… He's taken her.”

“Who has, Tasha? Tell me!” Desperation tightens its grip around my throat as I wait for an answer, my heart beating faster with each pacing second as fear envelops me.

“Vin,” she murmurs, the name falling like a death sentence.

King Vin. Cold fury courses through my veins, along with dread.

The mere thought of him laying a hand on Sienna—the mother of my child—ignites a fire of vengeance in my stomach.

My eyes move to Javier, whose eyes dart to me at her words.

I race out of the building and into the winding streets, my mind racing.

“Xandros, please save her,” Tasha's voice is barely above a whisper before the line falls dead.

Racing to my car, I climb in just as Javier does. “Sienna is with King Vin. Gather the elite guards, I want everyone out looking for her, and call the Council and get them here too. And someone needs to locate Tasha and whoever she is with,” Javier nods, pulling his phone from his pocket.

Navigating the city’s labyrinthine streets, shadows of possibilities seem to dance just out of reach.

Desperation mounts like a rising tide threatening to drown me.

As I contemplate my next move, Javier's voice speaks calmly as he organizes search teams and speaks with the Council, “My King, Tasha's been found.

She's hurt but alive. She was found with another woman, I have someone bringing them to the castle,”

Relief washes over me for a moment, but it is overshadowed by Sienna's absence. “We need to move faster. We …. How did he get past the borders unnoticed!” I assert.

Javier nods, his resolve unwavering. “Every informant, every contact, we’ll turn this city upside down if we have to.”

Our search intensifies, delving deeper into the city’s underworld. Every corner turned, every whisper of information, ignites hope and also feeds my despair when nothing turns out as helpful. My very soul feels like it's being torn apart, the shards cutting with every passing second.

Hours feel like lifetimes, but Javier's steadfast presence keeps me grounded. “We'll find her, Xandros,” he affirms.

“I know,” I reply, my voice cracking. “But will it be in time?”

* * *

I stand in the dimly lit chamber of the castle, as Javier has the guards usher Tasha into the room, another woman accompanies her – a witch.

The weight of their anxiety fills the room, a palpable force, as they struggle to meet my gaze.

Their breaths come in short, ragged spurts, betraying the fear they try to hide.

“Why,” I growl, the sound echoing through the chamber, “Why would Sienna visit a witch?” I push off the table I lean against, the creaking wood mirroring the tension in the room. Both women exchange nervous glances, clearly hesitant to answer.

Finally, the witch breaks the silence, her voice shaky. “She… She wanted to break the mate bond.”

“Impossible!” I roar, the force of my anger causing the walls to tremble. “A mate bond cannot be broken!”

She avoids my gaze, shifting nervously. Noticing her hesitancy, my patience snaps. I lunge at her, gripping her throat tightly. “What are you hiding? Is this why I can't feel Sienna? Did you sever our bond?”

Javier intervenes, pulling me away from the terrified witch. She gasps, struggling to catch her breath. “We didn't finish the ritual,” she chokes out. “She didn't consume the second half.”

“Second half of what?” I interrogate, my voice dripping with menace.

“The potion that breaks the bond,” she stammers, her eyes darting to Tasha before settling on me again. “The ritual involves a sacrifice. Even though it’s incomplete, if she doesn’t take the second dose, Sienna's life hangs in the balance.”

The room goes cold as clarity washes over me. “She intended to sacrifice the baby,” I deduce, the sickening realization dawning on me.

Tasha leaps up, eyes filled with raw emotion and panic. “She couldn’t do it! She had second thoughts, but then Vin intervened.” Her attempt to defend Sienna only fuels my anger.

Before I can unleash another tirade, the witch interjects, “You must find her quickly,” she says, urgency evident in her trembling voice. “The potion has weakened her. If she's gravely hurt, the bond might break, and you could lose them both.”

Every word hits me like a dagger, adding weight to the already crushing burden on my chest. “Find her,” my voice quivers with a combination of rage and desperation. “Whatever it takes. Find her.”

A heavy silence falls, every breath, every heartbeat seeming to scream my panic loudly, I need to find her, but where would King Vin have taken her, he has nowhere to hide.

He can't go home because the Council is there scouring the city; he can't hide out in the open here. The entire city is searching for him.

As the reality of Sienna's situation unravels, it feels like the very fabric of my being is tearing apart. Without her, the world loses its colors, its meaning.

“Neither of you leaves here until I find my mate,” I warn them; I have no idea whom to trust, though, from what I know of Tasha.

She and Sienna are close, but you never know.

Perhaps she has a hand in all this too. Turning on my heel, I leave the underground dungeons, moving toward the stairs.

“Locate Carina. We need to know if she has any clue where her father may have gone,” I tell Javier as he follows closely.

---Hours Later---

The cold bite of the night air feels sharp against my skin as I barrel through the castle grounds, having just come back from yet another dead-end lead. The luminescent moon casts an eerie light, painting an otherworldly hue over the cobblestones.

“Javier, any updates?” The edge in my voice betrays my growing impatience.

I'm haunted by images of Sienna in distress, worried about what condition she is in, madness creeping in faster the longer I spend without her, my mind conjuring situations of losing her, situations where I fail to find her. It's absolute torment.

Javier glances at me, “Nothing, Xandros. But we’re not giving up.”

Every ticking second feels like an eternity. As I grapple with Sienna’s decision to leave, making herself vulnerable. She knew Vin was out there, yet she put herself at risk. Despite what has happened between us, she should have stayed, if not for me, but for her own safety.

My emotions whirl between anger and empathy. I issue a command, “Search every nook and cranny of this city. Every alley, every building. I want her found. How is it possible he can keep evading us!” I snarl.

Hours seem to stretch into days, and just when despair starts its relentless creep into my heart, Javier's voice resonates in my mind. He has gone to check the new information received, but still, we are no closer to finding Sienna. “Xandros, we have a lead. Come to the old warehouse by the river.”

Heart pounding, I make my way to the location, each stride heavy with anticipation and hope. The dilapidated building stands eerily silent, but within its walls might lie the answers to my desperate quest.

Stepping into the warehouse, I instantly smell King Vin’s scent, strong like he has been here recently, at least over the past day or so. He was watching us all this time, not fleeing as I had hoped.

As the hours ticked away, I can feel my sanity slipping through my fingers like sand. The bond between Sienna and me has always been a double-edged sword, but now it is turning me into a monster. My patience wears thin, and I snap and snarl at everyone who dares approach me.

Every fiber of my being screamed for me to find her, to protect her, but she remains elusive. The moon hangs heavy in the sky as King Vin's call comes in, his laughter echoing like a sinister serpent slithering around my heart. “Ah, Xandros,” he taunts,

“What a lovely mate you have. My guards will surely enjoy her company.”

“Vin, you bastard! Do not harm her!” I growl through gritted teeth, my blood boiling with rage. “Perhaps this will give you some incentive,” he chuckles, sending a picture straight to my phone.

My heart shatters like glass when I see Sienna unconscious in a car trunk. Her face is bruised, and there is a trickle of blood running from the corner of her mouth. The sight of her in such a vulnerable state fills me with despair so profound that I am willing to do anything to save her.

“Your vendetta is with me, Vin. Let her go, and I will exchange myself for Sienna's safe return,” I propose, my voice cracking with desperation.

“Take me instead, and let her go.” He laughs, a cruel and cold sound that sends shivers down my spine.

“Oh, Xandros, your devotion is touching, but no.

I want something else. I want Carina. Give me my daughter, and perhaps I'll consider letting your precious mate go unharmed. Oh, and one more thing—I want immunity from the Council.”

“Carina? Immunity?” I hiss, my mind racing with the implications of his demand.

Carina, who had once been my wife, now sought happiness with her true mate, Toby.

How could I condemn her to a life under Vin's control?

And how could I convince the Council to grant him immunity?

But what choice do I have if it means saving Sienna?

Pressing my lips in a line, I growl because we haven't been able to get a hold of Carina.

“I will need time,” I answer as I try to figure out how I can do this.

“I want my daughter, and I want immunity. Manage that. I will hand her back,” Vin states while I glance at Javier, who taps away on his laptop, trying to track the call. He shakes his head, urging me to stay on the phone longer.

“Very well,” I whisper, the words like poison on my tongue. “I will give you what you want. But Sienna must be returned to me unharmed.”

“Ticktock, Xandros, time is running out.

I'll check back in later to check on progress, make sure there is progress, Xandros,” he croons before hanging up, leaving me to wrestle with the demons that claw at my soul.

The night holds its breath as I contemplate the terrible bargain I just made.

Will I be able to live with myself if I give in to Vin's demands?

The answer is of little consequence when weighed against the love that binds me to Sienna.

I would walk through fire and hell if it meant bringing her back to me.