Chapter Twelve

Greyson’s POV.

It had been nearly two weeks since the Biennial Autumn Ball, and Jasper and I hadn’t found my mate. We had gotten a list of packs that had attended the Ball, and one by one, we had been going to each pack and searching for her. 

‘I will NEVER forgive Rick-a for causing us to lose our mate!!’ Koal shouted, causing my already throbbing head to pound even more. ‘And that hotdog water floozy even dared to touch us!’ An involuntary shudder wiggled down my spine, and I absentmindedly covered myself as I recalled the memory of her irritating touch and ogling eyes. ‘I mean, it took over a week to completely wash away the stench of Rick-a!’ 

“Believe me, I know,” I said as my face contorted in disgust.

“You know what?” Jasper questioned as he entered my office.

“Nothing. I was talking to Koal about that shewolf from the Biennial Autumn Ball. You know, the one that caused us to lose our mate,” I said. He handed me the paperwork he had with him. Then, he stretched his arms over his head and plopped down on one of my oversized, black leather chairs. His lumbering frame spilled over the edges of it. 

“What was that shewolves name again? Was it like Ricardo?” He cocked one of his thick brows in question.

I shook my head, “No, her name was Rick-a.” 

“That’s right,” he shouted as he snapped his fingers and pointed at me. “And wasn't her last name something like Dogwater or someone along that line?”

I began to answer when Koal forcibly interrupted me and explained what the Dogwater meant via-pack link to Jasper. “No, no, no, you've got it completely wrong! Her last name wasn't Dogwater, she smelled of stinky, rank hotdog water! And I'm not talking about just any old hotdog water. I am talking about the most vile, disgusting, putrid smell ever!” My body lurched involuntarily forward as Koal continually explained the disgusting smell of Rick-a. ‘I mean, if you look up the word putrid, rank, or vile, I can almost bet you will find a picture of Rick-a.’ Jasper's eyes widened the more Koal explained the shewolves' horrifying scent. ‘I mean, she was so rank that if she happened to walk by a cemetery, her scent would raise the dead!’ 

My overdramatic wolf continued to rant; I walked around my desk and sat down on the black leather couch next to the oversized chair Jasper was lounging in when a knock came on the door. “Okay, Koal, that's enough,” I said as I forced him back, muting him as I did. “You may enter.”

“Your majesty, we just received word that the vampires have begun to move.” Magness, the head of the imperial intelligence, said. 

“How have they begun to move,” I asked as the lanky, tall lycan walked in and set the stack of files he had on the coffee table before us. I nodded for him to sit as I continued, “When did you receive word of them being on the move?”

“We received the report a few days back, but since it hadn’t been confirmed, I didn’t report it to you. I wanted to ensure it wasn’t false information leaked by the Vampires before bringing it to Your Majesty.” He ran his hand back through his blond hair and pushed up his glasses with his finger. 

“Okay, then, what evidence do you have proving this information is credible?” I wandered as he sorted through the files.

“When I received the information, it was from my informants in the area where the vampires were spotted. Upon further investigation, I discovered one thing each place had in common.” He looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. With a nod, he handed me one of the files.

I scanned the documents, “Each place where the Vampires were sighted had a representative that attended the Biennial Autumn Ball.” 

Anger and fear pulsed over me, ‘What if in their search for whatever they are looking for, they hurt our mate?!’ Koal whispered in a shaky, terrified voice. It was the first time Koal had ever shown any fear, even though we had fought countless rogues, which scared me even more. I tightly clenched my jaw as Magness went on.

“Exactly, I believe that the Vampires are searching for something.” 

“Do we know what they are searching for?” I asked as he handed me another file. 

“We don’t know that exactly, but we have narrowed it down.” As I opened the file, he reached across the table and pointed to a shortlist, “It is most likely one of these items.”

I silently read over the list. 

Artifacts (could be a necklace, broach, even a pair of earrings, etc.) 

Relic

Cursed Items 

As I read the last item, my heart felt like it had dropped into my stomach.

A person

‘What if our mates get taken by those crude, dirty vampires?’ Koal said as though he had taken the words directly from my mind.

‘There is nothing to worry about; they're not after our mate,’ I reassured him, and letting out a huff, I turned my attention to Magness. “Okay, dispatch te…” My words caught in my throat as a crushing fear washed over me, but it wasn’t my fear. It was someone else's fear, but whose?

Serenity’s POV

‘Serenity, Serenity, wake up!!’ Artemis frantically called. 

I shook my head, stood up, and wiped the sticks, dirt, and dried leaves from my clothes. “Where ar…” I began questioning, but Artemis interrupted me before I could get two words out.

‘You don't need to worry about that now. What I need to do is run as fast as you can now!’ The dread was thick in her trembling voice.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her as I began to run.

‘They're here for us, Ren, and the only way I could save us is if the part of us that I cannot access were to awaken! We’re still too weak after healing from our injuries.’ I looked over my shoulder to find unfamiliar people moving inhumanly fast towards us. Even for a Werewolf, their movement was irregular and off. They almost seemed to move through the trees like serpents slithering towards us.

“What are they?” I said more to myself than Artemis. My entire body vibrated with fear as the wind changed and brought the scent of the stranger that chased us.

“Vampires,” I whispered. “What do they want with us? Why are they chasing us?”

‘It's because of him!’ Artemis fearfully exclaimed as a flash of the tall, gangly, pale man with long, pin-straight black hair and ice-blue eyes from my nightmares pushed through my mind. My breath caught in my chest, and my pace slowed, stopping in a small clearing. I fell to my knees, clutching my chest in fear of the man in my night terrors. 

‘Ren, you have to keep running before…’ Artemis’ words stopped mid-sentence when the vampires encircled us. 

The vampires stocked around us. As I tried to stand, I slipped and cut my hand on a rough, gagged stone that peaked through the long golden grass. A hiss of pain escaped my lips as growls from the vampires echoed around me, grabbing my attention. Each of the five vampires that prowled around me had glowing red eyes. My breath quickened. There was only one thing that glowing red eyes could mean. I glanced down at the large laceration on my palm. Blood steadily trickled down my arm, dripping onto the golden grass below. The vampires were hungry, and I was the reason that they were. 

Just as they were about to pounce on me, one of them shook his head, “Control yourselves!” He shouted as his eyes returned to a light blue color. All of the vampires stopped in their tracks. Two of the remaining four vampires looked like they were having great difficulty controlling their hunger. 

Now's my chance.

I mustered every ounce of strength and courage and darted between the struggling vampires. I began to race through the trees when the lead Vampire appeared out of nowhere and grabbed me by the throat. I tried to cry out in agony as he tightened his grip, but not a sound could escape my lips. 

“You can’t hurt her. We were told to bring her back alive, Garrick.” A woman said from behind me. 

A sick, evil smile moved across Garrick’s lips, “I know, but he also said to get her to him by any means necessary. So I figured…” He gave a soft, nauseating chuckle before continuing, “Why don’t we have a little fun with her? She is quite alluring, even with dried blood on her face.” He leaned closer to me and sloppily ran his tongue up my cheek. 

Bile bubbled in my stomach, but with nowhere to go, it just painfully churned. ‘I’m s…sorry, Arty. I…w…wasn’t fast en…enough.” My words came out barely audible, even to myself, and I could feel my blood run cold as my heart rate slowed to nothing and the world around me went black.