The Lycan's Slave

Chapter Five

Xander's POV

I was staring outside the window when a knock sounded on the door.

"Enter," I muttered, without turning to see who had entered the room.

"Your Highness," I heard him say and slowly turned around. He was kneeling, a look of terror and uncertainty on his face.

"It's about the slave girl who made an attempt on your life."

His words piqued my interest. "Speak," I urged, giving him my attention.

"Sh-She has escaped, Your Highness," he stuttered whilst bowing his head.

Confusion first flooded through me and then it was replaced by anger. "What? How dare she!" I clenched my fist as anger surged through my veins. "How did a little tiny girl escape the grasp of men two times her size?"

"Forgive us, Alpha. We are still unsure of how she escaped but we know she must have had the key or someone opened the door for her because we didn’t see any form of struggle in the cell or on the door.”

"And Sebastian?"

"The Alpha and his Luna do not have an idea.."

"I'm not surprised, Sebastian remains a dunderhead till the end," I spat in disdain and sat down on the couch.

The thought of being cheated by a mere slave girl filled me with more rage. I didn't want to think about her going scot-free after she tried to kill me.

The guard continued. "I apologize for my incompetence, Alpha, I'll make sure to find her and bring her to you," the guard was saying when the door pushed open and Sebastian rushed in.

On seeing the guard, he let out a sigh. "He must have told you about the b***h. I assure you, Alpha Xander, we will find her as soon as possible. She can't leave that way, not after her evil plot to harm you."

"That won't be necessary," I told him off coldly.

"Excuse me?"

"Leave her to me, I'll take care of it," I stressed.

His forehead creased slightly. "You don't need to bother about her, Your Highness. She isn't worth your time. I'll handle it," he tried to convince me but I ignored him.

"Guards!" I called out and they rushed in almost immediately.

"Alpha, trust me I.."

I interrupted him with a wave of my hand, my eyes fixed on the stern faces of the guards standing in front of me.

"Find her," I said simply and they all bowed before leaving the room.

I stood up after they had left and walked towards the window again.

"Alpha, I bet she hasn't gone far from the pack. We will find and bring her to you, you don't need to go through all the hurdles..." Sebastian began to say again.

"I said enough!" I cut him off angrily, his persistence was starting to tick me off. "I won't be having this conversation with you anymore, leave now."

Without another word, he slowly made his way out, closing the door properly behind him.

In my solitude, I couldn't help but think about the slave girl. I was enthralled by her meekness from the first day I saw her. She had this aura I was drawn to and that was why I decided I was going to have her for myself.

Everything fell into place when Sebastian offered her to me as his token of appreciation. I didn't like the thought of having her for free and that was why I had to drop a bounty even after Sebastian insisted not to.

She had crossed the line by escaping after making an attempt on my life. I would find her at all costs and when I do, I'll make sure she begs for her life.

With that resolution in mind, I turned swiftly and left the room to join the guards in searching for her.

We combed through the forest for any trace of her but found nothing. The thought that she was no longer in the woods crossed my mind but I quickly waived it off as that only succeeded in fueling my anger because I knew that would make my search for her harder than it should be.

I decided to go deeper into the woods by taking a different route from the guards and that was where I found her sprawled on the floor, with a man who was laughing manically on top of her.

The thought of her being defiled filled my mind and without thinking twice, I yanked the man off her body in rage. He collided hard into a tree and fell to the ground with a loud groan.

Without glancing his way, I crouched down to see the girl's body jerking violently with a frothy, whitish substance foaming at her mouth.

I quickly wrapped her small frame in my arms, picking her up from the ground. As I turned around, my eyes landed on the guards who were looking unsure of what to do.

“Get him,” I commanded, staring at the man who was trying to escape.

He was caught and his hand was bound. As we made our way back to the mansion, with the guards and the man in front, I occasionally glanced down at the unconscious fragile frame of the girl in my arms, wondering what the man had done to her.

We got to the pack and I was immediately led to the clinic by one of Sebastian's servants. The slave girl was laid on a stretcher and wheeled into the clinic by the nurses while I tagged along.

The doctor came out of his office as soon as he was told about the case and I quickly grabbed him by the arm.

"Find out what is wrong with her and make sure to treat it. I need her sound and hearty for what I have in store for her," I told him sternly and he bobbed his head.

He hurried after the stretcher and I tried hard to stay back but it seemed like my legs had a mind of their own. I found myself trailing after them as they led the slave girl to a room.

"Please excuse us, your Highness, you need to leave," the doctor said and I gave him a deathly stare.

"Want to switch positions?" I said, gesturing towards the slave girl on the bed. He clamped his mouth shut and got to work while I watched him keenly.

As I watched him instruct the nurses on what to do to resuscitate her, I couldn't help the nagging feeling that something wasn't right.

The girl's life was in danger, I could feel it but I did not understand why.

I glanced down at her face to see that the substance that was coming out of her mouth had stopped and a part of me felt relieved.

The door flung open and Sebastian and his soon-to-be-Luna walked into the room. I didn't catch her name the last time Sebastian tried to introduce her, not like I cared to know who she was.

Her eyes widened as shock registered on her features when she saw the slave girl.

"A-Aria? How come she's here?" She stuttered senselessly, staring at the slave girl like she had seen a ghost.

I found her actions weird and I arched a brow in question. "Why can't she be here?" I demanded coldly and she swallowed harshly, avoiding my gaze.

"Don't keep me waiting, I don't have all day," I gnarled and she smiled sweetly.

"Well, she... I thought she ran away. I-I wasn't expecting her to be b-back so fast," she stuttered incoherently, her voice coming off slightly high-pitched, causing the doctor to turn towards us.

"Please Your Highnesses, I don't appreciate the distraction. I can't seem to concentrate because of the noise. If you would please excuse me and allow me to work efficiently, I'd appreciate that," the doctor uttered with a low bow.

"Come on, Love," Sebastian acknowledged the doctor's request and took his Luna's hand in his, leading her out of the room.

I watched them leave but didn't move from my spot. The doctor turned to me with pleading eyes.

"Your Highness, please I.."

I didn't allow him to finish, I already knew what he wanted and after deliberating in silence, I decided to give in but not without a sound warning.

I grabbed his collar, making his breath hitch in fear. I leaned towards him, bringing my lips close to his ears. "If anything happens to her, I'll take you back with me to my pack as a replacement," I whispered, sending cold shivers down his spine.

He visibly swallowed hard and bowed in respect while I nodded in satisfaction at the effect my message had on him.

With that, I strode to the door and walked out of the room.

I had just shut the door when I saw one of my guards running towards me.

My brows shot up as I watched him approach him. I wondered why he was here and what information he had to deliver.

"Sir!" The guard cried out before I could ask what the matter was.

"The man.." he trailed off, swallowing hard.

My eyes narrowed in splits. "What man?"

"The one that was captured in the woods today. He is dead."

"Dead? What happened?" I asked in surprise.

"I do not know yet, Alpha. We found him dead in his cell, a few minutes after he was locked up. We are not sure if it was suicide or murder."

"Why do you think it was murder?" Sebastian cut into the conversation, staring at the guard with squinted eyes. "Was he not under your care? If truly, he was murdered, it only means that he was killed by one of you!"

"Alpha, I.." the guard tried to defend himself.

But before he could complete his words, Sebastian interrupted once more. "How could you let this happen? It's obvious, one of you guards murdered him, but what I don't understand is why?"

I thought over his words, he had a point. If the strange man had died under the guards' watch, then there was a possibility that they were the ones who murdered him. But I wasn't going to jump to conclusion just yet.

"Did you find any clue? Were you able to find out who he was and where he had come from?" I asked the guard who shook his head.

"Nothing of that sort, your highness, the only thing we found on him was a picture of a woman whose identity we could not decipher."

"Alright. I need the identity of that woman uncovered soon. I need to get to the bottom of this," I said, my voice firm.

The guard nodded and said, “Yes your highness.”

I dismissed him and he bowed slightly before taking his leave.

Sebastian watched him leave before letting out a snort. "Can you believe that? How's it possible that someone got murdered right under their nose?"

I ignored him and only buried my hands deep inside my pocket, staring at the door where the slave girl was being taken care of.

He got the message that I wasn’t interested in having a conversation and kept mute afterward.

A few minutes later, he and his Luna walked up to me.

“We’ll be leaving now,” Sebastian said curtly. “We have other important things to do.”

I nodded and as soon as they turned to leave, the doctor came out of the room.

He bowed lowly. "Your Highness, I have good news and bad news," he uttered and I stared at him quietly.

"You see, sir, the young lady was injected with a very strong poison. She's lucky to have survived the terrible fate that would have befallen her if she hadn't been brought here on time.”

“Thankfully, I've stabilized her and her chances of living are high. But there's a possibility that she would be paralyzed from her waist down because the poison affected her spinal cord."