The Princess' Mark

CHAPTER FOUR: Luca’s Warning

A piercing howl split the night.

I stilled, blood rushing through my veins.

It wasn’t from Silverfang.

I heard loud footsteps in the hallway followed by loud growling. The pack was preparing.

Something was wrong.

But what were they preparing for?

Rome had left the room so fast I didn’t have time to ask him questions.

I stood frozen, my breath caught in my throat. Luca wouldn’t have given up that easily.

“No, relax. This is Silverfang. Luca doesn’t have any power here. There is nothing to be worried about.”

I told myself, shaking my head violently. Luca couldn’t have found me so soon.

I tried to convince myself that I was right.

Luca hadn’t found me, and it was just something else happening which made everyone on edge.

The door to the room flew open, and the Alpha—Rome—stood there, his expression unreadable.

His Beta, Quinn, followed closely behind. Both looked tense, but their faces didn’t give anything away.

"You need to see something," Rome said grimly.

Quinn rushed over and undid the chains, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me up.

“Come, you want to see this.”

The moment we stepped outside, I knew I had been foolish to think otherwise.

A wolf's body was nailed to a tree, his chest slashed open.

A message carved into his flesh.

Give her back.

Or suffer the consequences.

I went cold.

Luca had found me.

Tears fell from my face and what I had just seen. My feet buckled, but Quinn kept me up.

“No, no, no,” I cried, “he shouldn’t have been able to find me. How did he find me?’

My head was spinning, and I needed to sit down. I need to breathe.

“Leave me alone, I can stand on my own,” I said to Quinn, pushing away from him.

Quinn looked at me skeptical but pushed away from him, rubbing the tears from my face.

“I’ll go back, this is all my fault,” I said, finally coming to terms with what was happening. “I have to go back, or he will kill more of your people and I don’t want any of that.”

Quinn took a step closer, but I held a finger to stop him. I had made up my mind. If I didn’t go back, he was going to kill more innocent wolves and their blood would be on my conscience.

“Where is the way out?” I asked.

I wasn’t thinking, I no longer felt the pain. I was on auto-pilot.

Rome stepped in front of me as I started walking, blocking my path.

“I have to go.”

The voice sounded foreign even to my own ears.

“You aren’t going anywhere,” Rome said coolly. “I’ll handle it.”

I was angry, but not at him. I was angry at myself for being so foolish and thinking that I could get away from him. I had been so stupid to think that the portion had worked, and he couldn’t smell me.

“I have to go, you can’t keep me here,” I said, hitting Rome’s chest as tears continued to fall. “I have to.”

Rome took my hands in his gently and just held them. “I said I’ll handle it,” he said softly, then turned to Quinn, who had been standing there the entire time. “Take her back inside but take her to my office instead.”

“No,” I cried as Quinn stepped forward. “You can’t keep me here. I have to go back, he needs me.”

“Quinn,” Rome said as he let go of my hands.

Quinn picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder. “I’m sorry I have to do this,” he said softly. “But this is for your own protection.”

I pounded on Quinn’s back, thrashing and crying. I had to go back. I just had to go back before Luca killed more wolves. I didn’t mind what he was going to do to me, but if I remained there, he was going to make me pay for it when he finally got me back.

“Take me back Quinn,” I said, crying. The fight in me had died and all that was left was a shell. “You don’t know Luca like I do. He is going to keep on doing this if I don’t go back.”

Quinn didn’t put me down. He just kept walking.

“That’s why you have to listen to me.”

“Kyla, please stop,” Quinn spoke as he finally put me down on a couch. He knelt in front of me and took my hands in his. “I can’t let you go back to someone who would do that to another wolf. I just can’t.”

He gently wiped away the tears from my face. I couldn’t even look at him. I was so sad and angry.

“You know something that I don’t understand,” Quinn said, pulling my attention back to him. “Is how Luca found you, because you have no scent.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, sniffing. “He found me.”

Quinn sighed, “I don’t mean it like that. I think this was an inside job. One of our own betrayed us.”

I stared at him, trying to understand what he was saying but finding it very hard to follow along.

“What?”

Quinn stood up and sat down next to me. “Look,” he began. “Rome only found you because he was out hunting and just so happened to run into you, otherwise you would have gone unnoticed because you have no scent. Are you with me on that?”

I nodded. I didn’t want to say anything and risk exposing myself.

“Good, let me continue. Every wolf has a scent which is unique to each one and the Alpha can easily pick it up and differentiate between wolves but yours just isn’t there,” Quinn sighed and tagged at his hair. “If we couldn’t smell you, then Luca definitely couldn’t unless someone told him about you. But he still wouldn’t have been able to get in because we ramped up our security after you got in.”

“What are you trying to say then?” I asked.

“This was definitely an inside job, but the question is who?”

The door slammed and we both turned to look at a raging Rome.

“Leave us Quinn,” Rome seethed.

Quinn sighed, “Don’t do anything stupid,” he said to Rome, and then turned to me, “I’ll be right outside if you need me,” then he stood up and left.