Freeing Starr

Leon’s POV

“Don’t move!”

My voice grew hoarse as I continued to scream over our mind link.

I had just managed to make it back into the Kingdom but the second I had crossed my pack border, I was instantly bombarded with a chaotic pack link and an anxious mate.

Starr’s emotions hit me before anything else. I could feel her anxiety, her fear and her anger. It sparked my anxiety as I reached out and tried stopping her from doing anything rash until I got there. I needed to get there.

I quickly managed to grasp the severity of the situation and had left the car behind, immediately shifting into my wolf and speeding towards the mall. My paws kicked up dirt as I took the route through the forest, and around the housing areas.

My father and brother was already on the scene and all I could do was hope that they had the situation under control. What worried me most was that my link with Starr was fading gradually, as if she was close to slipping unconscious.

My heart was threatening to race out of my chest as I tried and failed to peer into her emotions. Even her thoughts got blocked after she took that detour.

It was the moment that our bond completely disappeared that had my heart dropping.

A growl bubbled out of my chest as I roared over our link.

“PEACH!!!”

My power leaked out of me like a dam that had just collapsed as I pushed against everything I had to cut into the busy streets and towards the mall. People hurriedly moved out of the way to avoid my solo stampede. Wheels screeched as cars swerved to avoid running into me.

As soon as the mall came into view, I could hear the panicked screams as people rushed in and out of it. The crowd quickly stepped out of my vicinity as the dominance that rolled off of me threatened to crush them. I was beyond angry.

I growled and ran into the mall, my eyes taking in the scattered debris, glass, cracked floors and crumbling walls as I leapt up the escalators. My nose sniffed the air for Starr’s familiar scent and I quickly charged in that direction.

I killed a few strays that had wandered into my path with their guns aimed at my head, blood quickly soaking my mouth and driving my bloodlust through the roof. The thought of Starr being knocked out though, kept me sane as I rushed to make sure she was okay.

I hoped she was okay.

When I finally spotted the corner I had seen her take over our link, I slowed down and started strutting over. My heart began to sink as I got a bad feeling about this.

I paused in the spot where her scent ended and looked down at the empty smoke can. I could smell the faint scent of wolfsbane mixed into the air and felt my whole world collapse.

This wasn’t just a simple attack on the Kingdom. It was an abduction.

Time stood still as I stood there staring at the can. My body heat was increasing as my mind scrambled to form coherent thoughts. I could feel the moment I had decided to release all my emotions as my probably red eyes turned to the side and at the people that rapidly approached me.

It was my father, brother, mother, and a few others. My mother’s hands immediately went to her mouth as our eyes clashed. Tears ran down her cheeks as she shook her head and choked out. “I’m so sorry.”

Though I barely heard a word she said over my heavy breathing.

My father took a cautious step in my direction and placed a hand out as if to calm me. I had no idea why his eyes looked so wary.

I was fine.

“Leon, you should shift back into your human form. The beast side of you is feeding off of your emotions. It’ll drive your urge to kill.”

“Where is she?” My voice was unfamiliar to even myself.

My mother wiped at her tears and sniffled, “It’s my fault. I- I should’ve held onto her more tightly.”

My eyes snapped to my mother’s and she took a step back in surprise, my father quickly coming to stand in front of her with narrowed eyes, “Don’t lose your reason over something so futile. If anything happens to her, even if you can’t feel your bond right now, you’re still mates. You’ll know when she dies or is on the verge of dying. Remain calm and find her before it comes to that.”

I heard the command in his voice and took a deep breath to calm the raging emotions in me. He was right. Although I couldn’t feel her, I knew that right now she was simply knocked out. If this was Glacial City making an attack, they wouldn’t carelessly kill her unless they were confident in going up against us and that was impossible. Theo was right. I should’ve been more careful about the city. They were desperate and on the verge of losing this war.

I forced myself to shift back into my human form and a guard quickly stepped out and offered me a pair of pants.

I quickly threw it on and ordered my men, “Send word out to every tracker. I want my mate found by the end of the night or none of you will be going home to see yours.”

I turned to Griffin and said, “Capture one of the men alive and take him to the chambers. Get whatever information you can out of him. I want to know how many men they sent out, how they got this far in, who led them and where they took the queen.”

Griffin nodded. “Alright.” Then took off to get the job done.

I turned and began walking away.

My mother called out anxiously behind me, “Where are you going?”

I called out over my shoulder, “To look for my mate.”

“Don’t worry too much, it’s not your fault. Follow the guards back to the castle. I’ll go with him.” I heard my father murmur to my mother before him and my brother came up beside me.

“A King must keep a level head in situations like these, Leon. We’ll get Starr back.” My father placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

My entire body was heating up as I tried to contain my anger and panic. I knew he was right but at the same time, this wasn’t a situation I could be calm about. I shrugged his hand off my shoulder, the urge to attack something, anything at that point was strong and I was afraid that it’d be him once I lost that last strand of control.

I couldn’t help but retaliate. “Would you have kept a level head if it was mom that was kidnapped?”

He remained silent, knowing I was right. He’d also be on the verge of losing his shit.

I continued, my voice cracking, “If I lose her...”

A light punch to my shoulder had me glancing over at Lomar, who was rolling his eyes. “Why are you so gloomy already? We’ll literally have her back by tomorrow. A mere city have you trembling? Man up before I take your spot.”

I shook my head at his poor excuse of a joke and said, “Shut up.”

I took a deep breath and calmed myself down, closing my eyes and feeling for any trace of Starr after we lost contact. I should be able to feel her presence if she was just in the area.

It took a while but eventually, I could faintly smell her scent that was quickly dissipating.

“This way,” I muttered as I followed the scent down a corridor. I spotted a fabric laying on the floor up ahead and picked it up.

Though when I did, I couldn’t help the shudder that racked my entire body. My eyes instantly began glowing as my anger came bursting out of me.

Written on the fabric, that I noticed was a torn up shirt were the words, ‘Ryan was here’. The worse part about this was the fact that this shirt was drowning with Starr’s scent, meaning that this was what she was wearing before she got taken.

I saw red.

Lomar frowned, “Who’s Ryan?”

My voice came out as a guttural growl, “Starr’s bastard father.”

So he was behind this.

The thought of Starr once again being near him sent me wild. I completely lost it. My last strand of reason evaporated as my body began morphing into my wolf.

I was going to march straight into Glacial City and tear everything apart to uproot the bastard and get to Starr.

Something knocked into me, causing me to tumble to the floor but I refused to be restrained. I wanted blood.

“Dad! A little help here!” I heard Leon shout as he struggled to hold me down. My limbs were already twisted, fur sprouting from my skin as I tried to shift into my wolf.

I didn’t care about anything anymore. All that mattered was that Starr could very likely be getting tortured while I was here doing nothing. I needed to get to her. Now.

My father quickly came in to help but it was futile. I was berserk. They couldn’t stop me from shifting and instead, had to call in a few more guards to keep me from breaking loose.

My growls kept growing louder as I tried ordering them to release me. Though with my father around, my orders were completely overlooked. That didn’t stop them from trembling at the sheer power that leaked from me though. It was enough to cripple them yet they were forced to endure.

I snapped my jaws at anyone who came close enough, relishing in the blood that invaded my mouth.

“Fuck,” Lomar cursed, “The bastard is going crazy!”

“He’s not going to stop until we let him go.” My father grunted.

“But he’ll recklessly run straight to Glacial City! This is an obvious trap!”

“I know. Is the doctor here yet?”

I roared as I shook my body to try and throw off the pesky guards that latched onto me, annoyed that they wouldn’t allow me to go to my mate.

She was mine!

I had to save her!

Something sharp pierced my back and I growled in surprise and knocked my head into my brother, who was currently taking a syringe out of me. The scent of wolfsbane tickled my nose and I immediately felt my limbs start to get heavy. Though, this wasn’t enough to knock me out.

That bastard.

Now that him and my father had stopped holding me down, I finally shook the guards off and lunged at him but my father was prepared. A harsh blow to my face had me immediately seeing stars as my vision darkened.

Starr’s POV

Silence.

A groan escaped my lips as I slowly returned to consciousness. My limbs felt heavy, irritation running along my arms like static.

Chains rattled as I tried to move, but the movement caused my arms to spark with pain. I blinked my eyes open and groggily viewed my surroundings, the events from before I lost consciousness playing in my mind.

I was in a cell. Moss and grime covered the concrete walls while hay decorated the floors. There was dried blood seeping through the hay. Heavy metal chains bound to the wall kept my arms hanging above my head as I slouched over. I couldn’t feel my legs. I looked down and a startled yelp escaped my lips when I found that I was completely naked.

Why?

What happened to my clothing?

My heart was racing with panic. I could feel wolfsbane scattered throughout my system and weighing heavy on my body, especially in my legs. Despite being awake, my eyes still struggled to concentrate as if I was on the verge of losing consciousness again. How much wolfsbane did they inject me with?

I could barely hear, barely see and most of all, I barely felt anything besides the chills that paralyzed my body. My consciousness was slipping in and out and I had no idea how long had passed before I heard the cell door open up in front of me.

I felt his presence before I saw him. My heart trembled as I weakly lifted my eyes to connect them with the ones that were oh so similar to my own. The man who continued to haunt me to this day.

My father.