Page 24

Maximus

The void left by Kylie’s bond was an unrelenting pain. I felt a sharp ache in my chest every time I tried to breathe, and dread washed over me.

Alexander wouldn’t welcome me. If anything, he’d immediately slam the door in my face upon seeing me. If he did see me, it could spark a war I had no desire to start.

A female swung the door open, and a wave of calming energy rushed toward me, pressing against my senses. Despite the soothing energy, nothing could quell the chaos raging within me.

My lycan tore through every barrier I had built, every wall I had painstakingly erected, throwing himself forward at every opportunity since Kylie had vanished through that doorway. He refused to accept what had happened—refused to let go, no matter how much I fought against him.

“King Maximus,” the female squeaked before bowing her head. “A pleasure to see you. How can I help?” The female wouldn’t look up at me. I couldn’t blame her.

“Has Kylie Blackthorne returned here?” My voice was layered with growls as I tried to control my lycan from shifting and tearing this place apart to find her.

The acrid scent of smoke reached me first, followed by Alexander emerging from the doorframe. His towering figure cast a shadow over the female. She trembled like Kylie did, putting the fear he instilled in those under his rule on full display.

His smug smirk never wavered as he nudged her shoulder to dismiss her. She took the opportunity to flee without a second thought. Then, it was only us. Two alphas. One was a prey.

“Where’s Kylie? Is she here?” I asked.

He laughed. “Knew the bitch would run from you. She never amounted to anything while she was here. Why would she make a good queen?”

I seized his shirt, yanking him close, my lycan rumbling in satisfaction as I towered over him. Alexander’s eyes widened, and beneath the smoke that clung to him, I caught the faintest trace of fear.

He recovered quickly and let a growl slip free, but he didn’t dare push me further yet.

It was a smart move on his part, but not smart enough to save him if he kept running his mouth about my mate.

My patience was already razor-thin, and he was coming dangerously close to crossing a line he wouldn’t return from.

“If you expect to walk out of this still breathing, you will cut the shit and not speak ill of my mate again.” I lowered my face until my nose touched his. “She took off a few hours ago. That distance could mean she ran here. Is she here?”

Alexander straightened himself, but I didn’t release my grip on him. “Like she would run here. I would have kicked her to the curb if she did.”

Before he knew it, I had him on the ground. His hands clasped tightly to his shattered nose, and blood smeared across the crisp white of his button-up. The sickening crunch of bone beneath my fist satisfied my lycan just enough for the moment. Just enough to keep us from murdering him.

Alexander had earned every bit of this attack, but this wasn’t just about punishment. I needed answers. If Kylie hadn’t stopped here, I had no clue where she would be, and as big of a bastard as Alexander was, he was the only one who might know where she went.

I crouched down to get in Alexander’s face again. My power swirled around me, and I could see his jaw clench as it rolled into him. He was doing his best not to look terrified of what was to come, and it made my lycan happy to see.

“If she isn’t here, where would she go?”

The alpha ran his knuckle under his nose to wipe away the blood. Being an alpha has its perks. Although his broken nose looked healed, he remembered being punched and knocked to the ground.

Kill him. He abused our mate.

Not yet. He may know something about where our mate ran off to.

If he doesn’t?

Then we can kill him.

“Like I would fucking know. Why would I tell you if I did?”

I moved before I could register my own actions.

My body was now responding purely on instinct.

Lycan strength surged through me, fueling my speed and precision.

My boot connected with his knee, crunching the bone and echoing through the air.

Alexander bellowed out a guttural roar as pain ripped through him.

I glared at him with my fists tightly clenched at my sides, ready to pummel him if he displeased me further.

If he wanted to waste my time, I had no problem making him regret it.

He growled in agony, wrapping his bloody hands around his knee.

He was trying to intimidate me with his shattered knee and a broken nose.

As if. Why would I have even the slightest reason to fear this alpha wannabe?

I sensed figures moving through the halls, but none of them mattered right now. I concentrated on Alexander and how he glared up at me without truly meeting my eyes. He played the role of the obedient leader while his pack watched.

He wanted to appear fearless and stand his ground, but I saw the fear buried beneath the bravado. He knew the stakes. One wrong word or misstep, and I would tear through him and his pack before he had the chance to beg for mercy.

“I don’t know why you fucking came here!

Kylie sure as shit wouldn’t. She would know better than to come back.

” I lifted my leg to stomp down on his other knee, and he pulled it to his chest. Alexander winced in pain but still growled to warn me not to try that again.

Like I fucking cared; his pack was around.

A good alpha would have made enough connections with his pack to make them want to fight on his behalf.

No one seemed to come to his aid. “Why don’t you ask her friend where she went?

You took her from me when you took my diligent omega. ”

Friend. Kylie had a friend. Why didn’t I think about talking to Amara? In a fit of blind rage to find her, I just focused on where she would run to and thought of her old pack. It didn’t occur to me that I had the one person who might know in my pack all along.

Now, I had to travel back to my pack and ask Amara what she knew.

Having to go back to the pack would set me further behind, but I didn’t know where to start.

Kylie didn’t travel the kingdom, and I knew she didn’t have allies anywhere either.

She didn’t have time to build up resources to run from me.

So where the hell would she have gone?

“Why are you wasting your time on her, anyhow? Kylie isn’t worth it. If you brought her back, she would just run away again.”

This time, I didn’t care. He wasn’t any use to me, and it didn’t look like he would be in my kingdom, either.

My fingers wrapped around his throat and lifted him to his feet, leaving his feet dangling.

My grip tightened, and his skin turned red as he struggled against me.

I waited. The man needed to understand that he shouldn’t dare speak to me or my mate like this.

“I don’t care that she was your daughter or that you had her for the first twenty-one years of her life.

She is your queen, and you will not speak of her in any way other than with respect.

” I looked out at the pack members. “Let this be a lesson to you on manners. Don’t even think about speaking like this to your king or about your queen.

It will end your life more swiftly than I am about to do to him.

” Alexander struggled again, beating his hands against my arms to free himself.

It didn’t work. My grip on him was too strong, and no one matched my power—especially not in this small pack.

“Bring me your beta. He will ascend to alpha today.”

Someone scurried off while my hands gripped his head and I gave a quick jerk.

The bones cracked, and his head bent at an odd angle, his body slumping in my grip before I let it drop to the ground.

It should have been a bloodier kill, but I didn’t have time for that.

I needed answers, and the only person who could provide me with those answers belonged to my pack.

I needed to go home.

***

The talk with Amara didn’t go as planned. Eli stood beside her, hugging her close as if I would hurt his mate. The beast must have been showing in my eyes from the way he looked at me.

“I’m sorry, Max. I don’t know how she could have gone, and it’s not like her to run, either.

I’m not sure why she would have done that.

If she were a runner, she would have run away long ago.

” Amara’s lip trembled, and with teary eyes, she shakily said, “I assure you that I would tell you if I knew anything. Kylie is too sweet and innocent to be out there fending for herself.”

My body shook with rage. It wasn’t directed at Amara; it was more at myself. If I hadn’t rejected her, Kylie wouldn’t have run off in the first place.

“Please, Max… find her. I don’t know how to help.” She wiped tears away from her eyes. “I will let you know if she reaches out to me. I promise.”

I feared that she thought my anger was aimed at her, and I could see how they both didn’t want to look at me.

I sensed the swell of power I had caused in the room.

I paced back and forth. The lack of information was driving me insane.

Amara yelped, and I turned to see Eli pulling her out of my office.

He didn’t need to fear for her safety, but that didn’t matter.

Protecting mates was in our nature, and I could not fault him for what is instinctual.

We need to find our mate. She is without protection. We are the only ones who can protect her!

While I paced in the office, my lycan paced inside me. He kept chanting the word “mate” over and over, driving me mad. It had only been a few hours, and he hadn’t settled down. If this went on for days or weeks, I’d be driven to madness just from his chanting alone.

Do you not see me trying to find her?

Not doing enough. Find her.