Chapter 12
1166 Words
Chapter 12
KIERAN
Seraphina lay unconscious on the bed, her clothes half-removed, her skin too pale. A man I recognized as Marcus Sullivan was positioned over her, his canines extended, clearly preparing to mark her against her will. A blonde woman sat in a chair beside the bed, watching with obvious anticipation.
I saw red.
The sound that came out of my throat wasn't human. It was the roar of a king whose mate was under threat, the howl of a wolf whose territory had been violated. Marcus looked up just in time to see me coming, his eyes widening with terror as he finally understood exactly who he'd been threatening.
I hit him with the force of a freight train, sending him flying across the room to crash into the far wall. Plaster cracked and rained down as he slumped to the floor, but I wasn't done. Not even close.
"You dare," I snarled, hauling him up by his throat. "You dare touch what's mine?"
He tried to speak, tried to explain or plead or something, but I squeezed harder. His face was turning purple when Lucas's voice cut through my rage.
"Kieran! She needs help!"
I dropped Marcus like a sack of garbage and spun toward the bed. Lucas was kneeling beside his sister, his hands hovering over her still form as if he didn't know where to start.
"What did you do to her?" I demanded, crossing to the bed in two strides.
The blonde woman—Elena, I remembered from the phone call—pressed herself back in her chair as if she could disappear into the upholstery. "We... we gave her silver," she stammered. "Just a little, to keep her calm while—"
She never finished the sentence. My backhand sent her flying across the room to land in a crumpled heap beside Marcus. I might have killed her if Lucas hadn't grabbed my arm.
"Focus," he said urgently. "Help me figure out how much they gave her."
I forced myself to examine Seraphina properly, though every instinct screamed at me to continue destroying the people who'd hurt her. She was breathing, but it was shallow and labored. Her skin had the grayish pallor that came with silver poisoning, and I could smell the metallic scent of it in her blood.
"Look," Lucas said, pointing to a small puncture wound on her arm. "Injection site. And there's blood on the back of her head—they hit her with something."
The fury that rose in me at this discovery was beyond anything I'd ever experienced. They hadn't just threatened to mark her against her will—they'd drugged her, injured her, rendered her helpless.
I turned back to Marcus, who was struggling to sit up against the wall. "How much silver?" I asked, my voice deadly quiet.
"Not... not enough to kill her," he gasped. "Just enough to keep her compliant."
"Compliant for what?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.
"The marking," Elena croaked from her position on the floor. "We knew you were coming. We had to... had to make sure she couldn't leave with you."
"You were going to r**e her," Lucas said flatly, his own voice carrying deadly intent. "You were going to force a marking on an unconscious woman."
"It's not r**e!" Marcus protested. "She's my wife! I have every right to—"
I was across the room before he could finish, my claws extended and pressed against his throat. "You have no rights," I said softly. "Not to her. Not anymore."
"Kieran," Lucas said urgently. "We need to get her out of here. The silver needs to be flushed from her system, and she needs medical attention for the head injury."
He was right, of course. As much as I wanted to tear both of them apart with my bare hands, Seraphina's welfare came first. It always had.
"Get her things," I ordered, not taking my eyes off Marcus. "Passport, clothes, anything important."
Lucas was already moving, pulling items from drawers and the closet with efficient haste. I pulled out my phone and dialed my pilot with one hand while keeping Marcus pinned with the other.
"I need immediate extraction," I said when he answered. "Prepare for medical emergency. ETA fifteen minutes."
"Where should I land, Your Majesty?"
"Find the largest clear space near Millbrook city center," I said. "We'll find you."
I ended the call and focused my attention back on the two pathetic excuses for werewolves cowering against the wall.
"You're going to listen very carefully," I said, my voice carrying the authority of centuries of royal bloodline. "You're going to stay exactly where you are until we're gone. You're not going to follow us. You're not going to contact anyone about what happened here. And you're going to pray to whatever deity you believe in that she recovers completely."
"You can't just take her," Marcus protested weakly. "She's legally my wife. The human authorities—"
"Will find very little left to investigate if anything permanent happens to her," I finished coldly. "The human legal system has no authority over me, and it certainly has no power to protect you from what I'll do if she doesn't recover."
I leaned closer, making sure he could see the promise of violence in my eyes. "I know where you live. I know where you work. I know every member of your pack and every business you own. If she dies, if she suffers any lasting damage from what you've done, I will come back and I will erase you from existence so thoroughly that future generations will forget your pack ever existed."
Lucas appeared at my shoulder, carrying a hastily packed bag. "I've got everything I could find," he said. "We need to go."
I stood, releasing Marcus but not stepping back. "This isn't over," I told them both. "What you've done tonight—attempting to force a marking, drugging an unconscious woman, assault—these are crimes that demand justice. I will be back to collect that debt."
Elena whimpered from her position on the floor, finally understanding that they'd made enemies of forces far beyond their ability to handle.
I turned away from them and carefully gathered Seraphina into my arms. She was so light, so fragile, nothing like the fierce girl who'd once declared war on me with honey and dead fish. The silver had stolen her strength, her fire, everything that made her uniquely herself.
"I've got you," I whispered against her hair as I carried her from the room. "I've got you, and I'm never letting you go again."
The helicopter was waiting in a field on the outskirts of town, rotors already spinning. As we lifted off into the night sky, I held my mate close and promised myself that Marcus Sullivan and his mistress would pay for what they'd done.
But first, I had to make sure Seraphina survived to see that justice served.
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