Let Me Live

Chapter 4: King Titan's POV

King Tiatn’s POV 

I made my way to the office the next morning at 0530. I wanted to check in with Forester before the alpha got there. Not that I had gotten much sleep with the activities on the third floor going on. Sometimes Lycan hearing could be a real b***h. I hoped I saw the Luna today to try and gauge whether or not that was totally concensual. It sounded like it at some points, but some of those lashes had sounded a little too hard. I am all for everyone enjoying their kink, especially between a man and wife. I have my own after all, but only if both parties were fully on board of their own free will. I also had to remind myself that I was here to investigate trafficking and possible abductions from the past war. Not the alpha’s marital affairs. I knocked on the door and mind linked my man inside that it was me. He opened the door and Forester was sitting at the desk with his laptop open, the alpha’s computer going and papers scattered across the desk. 

“Anything yet?’ I asked, coming up behind him and glancing at the papers. He sighed and removed his glasses. 

“Yeah, a whole lot of years of perfectly documented and totally legal business.” He rubbed his eyes and I could tell he had been up all night. His greying afro, that he usually kept in perfect shape, was frayed and bunched and I was fairly certain he was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday. I had requested to have Forester on this one because if there was anything to find as far as a paper trail, he would be the one to find it. His statement caused some discouragement in me when it should have caused relief. I couldn’t quite tell why, but I really despised this alpha and wanted to get something on him. My wolf had quieted but was still restless and it seemed to get worse when that alpha was around. I’m not saying I have been fast friends with every alpha I’ve ever met. Goddess knows I haven’t but there's something about him that makes me want to crush his face into the ground. Calm down, Titan I tell myself.    

“In fact, it’s almost what I’m not finding that is compelling to me.” He said as he put his glasses back on and stared back at the screen. 

“What do you mean?” I asked. 

“I’ve gone back 7 years so far and in 7 years, I can’t find one miscalculation. Not one lost invoice, not one misplaced item. Not one weight discrepancy. Not one mispunched time. Not one rouge 0 at the end of a number. Not one missing receipt. Nothing. This record keeping is better than ours at the council.” He finished.

“I must admit that I am a bit of a stickler when it comes to my money and my books.” Alpha Drake walked in. Followed shortly by Beta Derek. He grinned and the urge to punch him was almost overwhelming!

“Forgive me, I thought we had agreed on 0600 as the time to meet?” He asked. 

“Early rising habits.” I said off-handedly. “Exceptional bookkeeping skills.” I complimented flatly. “That will go a long way in helping wrap this up quickly.” I finished.

“Why thank you, your Highness. As a rule; I always review all transactions 3 to 4 times before committing them to record. Tedious but exact.” He gloated. 

“Well, since it seems Forester has things handled here, shall we observe operations.” I ventured, scoping his reaction. 

“ Absolutely, your Highness, and afterwards we could stop at a little diner in town for some brunch.” He said without a care in the world. Obviously he was completely at ease which again should have caused relief but instead, irritated me.

We met up with Ryker and headed out to the north side of the property where the furniture shop, warehouse and trucking lot were located. I had to admit, they were in well working condition and fully functioning. We toured all the buildings and nothing even remotely suspicious was apparent. When we went for brunch, I questioned him about the lack of civilians around. He had a simple answer: they are a small pack and most work on or in the furniture stores so everyone was at work. I had never felt like I was being served the biggest piece of s**t to dine on, yet couldn’t taste one morsel of it because of all the perfect spices on top. I had to be missing something. My gut was sure of it. 

We returned to the mansion and Ryker and I excused the alpha and beta’s company to go for a run around the property. Just to stretch our legs. He informed me that he would let his men know to give us room and we parted. Ryker and I shifted into our wolves. Mine was solid black, the same color as my hair and Ryker’s matched his sandy brown. We headed along the west side looking for anything out of the ordinary. A tunnel inside a cave, a door hidden by brush, anything where someone might imprison someone. Nothing, just like everything else. Maybe the tip had been false after all. However, this was only the first full day and I fully intended to scour the entire territory. 

As we were making our way back, I got the distinct feeling we were being followed but I couldn’t pick up a scent, as we were facing into the wind. Ryker did as well. The Alpha was supposed to order his men to steer clear as sometimes, when in wolf form, tensions could rise very quickly and fights could start easily. Not that Ryker or I were afraid of a few wares. After all, we were 3 times their size, faster, stronger and with better senses. Still this presence didn’t lift, and persisted as we pressed on. When we reached a clearing, we both turned to see if we could determine the whereabouts of the pursuer. We honed in on his scent immediately when the wind shifted and began stalking towards his location, growling warnings! A black wolf with white feet stepped out and at once dropped his head to the ground in submission. We backed up and he shifted to his human form. He pulled some shorts from the bag around his ankle and put up his hands. He was a young man, maybe early to mid 20s. Well built with dark brown skin, black hair and brown eyes. 

“Please forgive me, but are you King Titan?” He asked nervously. Ryker and I shifted back and both put on our own shorts from our ankle bags. 

“I am.” I answered. He seemed relieved and terrified at the same time. 

“Forgive me, your Highness, but it is not safe for me to speak in town. Really, it is not safe for me to speak at all which is why I must be quick. I have put up a temporary mental block to my alpha but he will get suspicious if it lasts too long so please listen carefully.” He whispered quickly. I nodded to let him know he had my undivided attention. 

“On the first floor of the mansion there is a long corridor of guest rooms on the east wing. In the very last room on the right, in the closet, there is a picture of a dog on the back wall. Flip the picture to the side and it will open to a set of stairs. There is only one down there now but there have been others. He sold the rest off when he found out you were coming, but that one has been there for as long as I can remember. It may be dead already but if not, please save it. Her. All of us.”

“What…” But before I could finish he shifted and disappeared into the woods. Not even bothering with his shorts. Ryker and I looked at each other and immediately shifted and headed straight back to the mansion. Luckily the alpha wasn’t there to greet us. We shifted, threw on our shorts and went straight to the east wing. When we found the room I went straight to the closet stopping just outside of it to listen. We heard only one faint heartbeat and although it was steady; it was growing weaker by the minute. Oddly enough we couldn’t smell anyone from outside the door and once we opened it, I knew why. The door seal had wolfsbane made into it which would block any scent from coming through! As soon as I did get the scent though, my wolf roared to life! 

“MATE!” I growled and flew down the stairs without another thought! Rushing to reach the owner of that intoxicating vanilla and cinnamon scent that was sending me and my wolf through the roof! However as we reached the bottom and got closer to a row of cages, my heart became even more frantic when I caught the distinct smell of blood mixed with the scent and a lot of it! The cells were made into the earth under the house and all of them were empty! There were faint scents left, just as the male wolf had said, these cells were occupied just days ago! I looked in each one like a madman! The vanilla scent was too strong, she had to be here! Small lights were fixed into the walls of the cages but that was the only light. Luckily lycan vision was much keener and just past the last cell there was a small opening in the wall that looked like just another shadow at first glance, We walked in to find another smaller set of stairs. The scent was strong and that faint heart was coming up from there! I ran down them and at the bottom was another cage. I noticed a string hanging from the ceiling and pulled it. A light turned on inside the cage and what I saw made me and my wolf howl in anger and pain!