The Taken Princess

Chapter 7

Zeke’s pov

I ran over to Jane and quickly flipped her over, her head was bleeding and I could tell her arm was broken. The room smelled of smoke, not smoke from the fireplace but smoke from something else. I stood up and ran to the broken balcony doors, I could see a dragon flying away in the distance and I watched as another one joined it. How? How did two dragons, creatures that were thought to be extinct, manage to infiltrate the castle grounds and kidnap my daughter?

I could feel the anger rising up, I knew we would need help to get Asyra back. Ryken walked in and he looked shocked at the state of the bedroom. There were four guards in the hall unconscious and six in the room as well. I took four large strides to my mate and walked past everyone, “Get these men to the hospital now. Ryken, I need you and the elders to go to the library and begin researching.” He looked at me stunned as I turned and walked away.

“What are we researching?” He shouted after me as I started running out of the room carrying my wife.

I shouted over my shoulder, “Dragons! Everything you can, and keep Luca close to you!” I ran down the stairs and into the west wing of the castle, when I opened the hospital doors a nurse caught sight of me. She ran over to begin her assessment. “She was thrown into the wall or something.” I put her on the bed the nurse led me to.

“Alpha I need to ask you to stay out here while we check her over.” I heard her let out a whimper as I stood up. I held her hand until it was taken from mine as they wheeled her away. I reached out to Zane.

“Are you able to connect with her wolf? See if she is at least alright?” He huffed before I felt our link cut off. I sat on the edge of the tan and green chair and rocked back and forth. My wife is hurt and our daughter is missing. I couldn’t help the tears rolling down my face, Jane getting hurt isn’t new, we had many altercations where Jane has been hurt but we have always made sure our children were safe. Now I don’t have the slightest idea on where she could even be. I felt more traitorous tears leave my eyes, I have to stay strong, the pack cannot see me weakened.

I heard shoes clicking on the floor tiles and looked up to see Jace, “What is wrong with Jane? I can feel something is wrong? What happened? Where-” He rattled questions off at a mile a minute.

I put my one hand up to make him quiet. “Jace, I don’t even know where to begin. First we noticed an odd scent then my wife was hurt and my daughter was missing. Okay, I can’t take anymore bond related anything. I understand you can feel her but I can’t, all I feel is numb at the fact that my daughter is gone. She is gone Jace and I have no f*****g idea on how to get her back!” I started to shout, taking all my emotions out on him. “My wife is in there and she will be devastated when she wakes up to learn that our daughter was taken. Someone came into my territory, into my lands, into my own bedroom and took my daughter right out from under our noses.” His eyes grew even wider the more I ranted on and the louder I became. “I am out of my league, we all are! Do any of you realize what we are up against?” He shook his head stunned by my outburst. I chuckled at him, “Dragons, Jace, we are up against a species we have hardly any information on and that we thought to be extinct. Well guess what folks! They’re not, they are alive and well and have been growing stronger for the last four hundred years!” I took a deep breath as Jace looked at me stunned, I looked around and saw a few more people staring. I dropped my head into my hands and ran my fingers through my hair.

My wolf’s voice echoed through my head. “Well, do you feel better now?” I let out a sigh in response, “Jane will be fine and you would be happy to know that our daughter is extremely strong. She gave herself up to save Jane, she went with them willingly to save her own mother. Also Jane should be awake soon and Chastity is already awake and working hard to heal her as fast as she possibly can.” I let out a sigh of relief as I leaned back in my chair. I turned my head as Jace abruptly stood up.

“Right now is not the time to be coming here and grilling him.” It was an elder walking towards us, his eyes set on me. Jace put his hand up and stopped Elder Thomas from walking any closer.

“Remove your hand from me now,” I nodded at Jace and he removed his hand, “I was just informed you were wanting information about dragons.” I nodded my head again, “What makes you think dragons did this?”

Was this man deaf? “Because I watched them fly away, are you going to question your King further? If so, Elder Thomas, maybe it is time that you retire.” I was in no mood to deal with people questioning me.

He looked at me stunned, normally we get along pretty well. “No it’s not that I just want to make sure the appropriate resources are being put into the appropriate place.” I glared at him questioning his alliance. I have been in the place far too many times before where elders think they can over step their boundaries and I will not have it. Especially not after what just happened tonight, how do I know they weren’t working with someone on the inside?

“How is the Queen?” He asked me with a soft tone and his head bowed.

“According to my wolf she will be awake soon.” I saw the doctor heading towards me and I walked away from Thomas and Jace. “How is she?” I asked hurriedly.

“She is doing good, thankfully the blow to the head was where it was, an inch to the right and it would have been a different story. However she is starting to wake up. Her wolf is healing her faster than I have ever seen from her.” I went to walk towards her door when he gently grabbed my arm, if he wasn’t my wifes doctor I would have punched him already. “Be gentle with her, she is suffering emotionally as I know you are. She was whimpering about Asyra while we worked on her. She has some swelling on the brain and I would like to keep her as relaxed as possible for the next few hours. The faster her heart beats the worse the swelling could get.” I nodded my head and made my way to her room.

I took a few deep breaths before I knocked gently and pushed the door open, when I walked in I noticed just how badly injured she really was. Her one eye was swollen and the bruise was already yellow, her arm was no longer bent funny and was just in a sling, I could see cuts from the glass doors and bruising around her neck that was also yellow. “Zeke, come sit with me.” She said her voice was soft and rough.

I did as she asked, I walked over and gently sat on the left side of the bed so she could lean on me without hurting her healing arm. She leaned on me and sucked in a deep breath, she cleared her throat before talking. “She is gone isn’t she?” I felt more tears start to form in my eyes.

“Let’s not talk about that right now. For now let’s just sit in peace and calm down.” She sniffled her nose and snuggled in closer using my scent to calm herself. Mary, the nurse, walked in and checked her vitals. She looked at us and walked out of the room with a smile. After a few minutes she walked back into the room. She was carrying three more pillows and a nurse followed her with two more blankets.

Jane smiled at them as they moved closer, “I know how it is with you two, if one of you is here the other is too.” She smiled while giving me the pillows and helping me adjust Jane so we were both comfortable. “Now I know you will be here for sure overnight, so for now just get some rest your wolf will need it after the rate you are healing.” Jane looked like she was going to argue, “Ah ah. Now we have had this discussion before, out there you are the King and Queen, in the hospital I am the one in charge.” She said with a chuckle and Jane nodded relaxing back into me. “Now I need to go check on some of the guards, yes your majesties they will all live.”

Jane let out a sigh of relief hearing that nobody was killed in this attack. I pulled her closer and we closed our eyes. Ryken linked me, “We are pulling all the books out about dragons tonight, then tomorrow after everyone gets some rest we will dig into them. As long as you are in agreement with it.”

I thought for a minute before I responded. “Yes, get them pulled out so we can start tomorrow, tonight I want everyone well rested. It may be a while before we get some true rest.”

“Yes Alpha.” I closed my link and inhaled her scent deeply.

“Will we ever be able to find her?” She said through our mate link.

“Yes we will, we will talk more of this tomorrow, for now we do as the doctor ordered.” I clicked the button on the bed sending the room into darkness. Soon we both fell asleep to the steady beeping sound and the warmth we bring to each other.

Luca’s pov

She’s gone, I was sitting on her bed taking in her scent. She’s gone, what do I do? My tears had soaked her pillow already, my mom and dad are sleeping in the hospital tonight, I kicked everyone else out of this room, and I feel like I am breaking down completely. Vince has been whimpering in my head since she was taken. I can feel her, it’s extremely faint but I can feel her. I know she is alive so that has to be a good thing, right?

We will get her back, tomorrow they start research into dragons, tomorrow I start training. I will train as hard as I can until I am one of the strongest wolves in the pack. I will fight to bring my sister home. I squeezed her pillow when I heard a soft knock on the door. Vince growled as Grandma Emily and Sara walked in the door. Vince started calming down when he saw them.

“Luca honey, can we join you, please?” Grandma Sara said as she took cautious steps towards me. I looked around the room as I felt fresh tears brimming my eyes. She closed the distance between us, “Oh Luca,” She pulled me onto her lap, “It’s okay to be upset, we all are. It’s especially hard for you because you have a bond.”

There was another soft knock on the door and Emily called out, “You can come in now Claudia.” She walked in carrying a tray that had seven steaming cups of liquid, and a bunch of s’mores on a plate. I smiled, I love my grandparents, they know exactly what I need.

Grandma Claudia walked over to the table and set the tray down, Grandpa Sean walked in with his arms full of pillows followed by Grandpa Zach with a bunch of blankets. I watched as they made a makeshift bed on the floor in front of the fireplace. We all moved and positioned ourselves on the makeshift bed in front of the fireplace in Asyra’s room. Grandpa Sean handed me a cup and I looked inside, hot chocolate with peppermint, whipped cream, and cinnamon. I inhaled deeply taking in the scent before taking a small sip.

There was another soft tap on the door and Grandpa Ryken walked through the door. He didn’t say anything and just sat next to Grandma Sara, I leaned into her as she leaned into Grandpa Ryken. We sat in silence, I could feel sleep beginning to overtake me. I will find you Asyra, I swear I will. “I know Luca, I love you.” I sat bolt upright.

“What’s wrong Luca?” Grandpa Zach asked me, obviously worried.

“I just heard Asyra, I swear I just heard Asyra.” They all looked at me stunned.

“How?” Grandma Sara asked

“They are twins, now that their wolves are awake they will be able to contact each other no matter what because they both share the same DNA. Their wolves are also related in some way.” Grandpa Ryken said quietly while staring at me in shock. “Do you think you can reach out to her again?”

“I don’t know, I can try.” I sat up and took a deep breath. I relaxed my shoulders and focused solely on our bond. “Asyra, can you hear me?” I didn’t get an answer, I asked through our link nearly a dozen times with no response.

I shook my head as more tears escaped my eyes. “It’s okay, it may take a while for you guys to get it. But that does mean that she is at least alive.” Grandpa Sean said. I nodded my head and walked over to Asyra’s bed. I looked at the purple comforter before yanking it off and grabbing her pillows. I threw the large blanket over all of us and snuggled up on her pillows, I allowed my twin's scent to calm me into a deep sleep.

Asyra’s pov

Anja I don’t know what to do. I just want us to go home, why did they even take us in the first place? All these questions were floating through my head as sleep evaded me. Out of nowhere I heard Luca’s voice “I will find you Asyra, I swear I will.” Our twin bond is weak but it’s there.

I decided even if it didn’t reach him I would at least try, “I know Luca, I love you.” I could feel excitement through our bond then nothing. I sighed as I tried to get warm, even though I am a wolf I don’t give off heat like others do. I get cold very easily and I am freezing. I was sitting on the blanket but now the ragged thing is on me and it’s not helping in the least bit.

Normally wolves don’t get sick but I was known to get sick under certain circumstances. If they knew that then they would have been smart and brought Luca with. The longer I am away from Luca the weaker my wolf gets. Well that was before Luca shifted, it may be different now. I was already starting to shiver from the cold.

“It will be different now that Luca has his wolf, however I don’t know if we will get sick or not.” I knew it, I knew we were in a different place, I don’t know if we are in a different realm or just a different part of the world. I sighed as my frustration grew, I not only had to figure out how to get out of here I also had to figure out how to open the portal to the realms. That’s if I needed a portal.

I know the dragon used smoke and that opened it right up, but how would I get a dragon to help me? I was so lost in thought about everything that I didn’t notice a man standing there until he opened the door to my cell.

“Get up girl! The Dragon King wants to see you.” He smirked as he yanked me up and started dragging me behind him. He was tall and one of his strides equaled four of mine. I huffed as I tried to keep up with him, he rolled his eyes and yanked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I yipped in surprise, still shivering from the cold.

“This is not how you handle a lady!” I shouted at him. He ignored me and continued walking. I looked up and noticed the statues on the castle, they were gargoyles. They were so detailed I thought they could actually be real. He walked through the maze of halls and knocked on a door, somebody opened it and he walked in before abruptly dropping me on the ground.

I groaned in pain and looked up to see the same man I ran into when they first brought me here. His black hair had some grey in it, he had a sharp jawline and a thin face, his eyes were a dark brown that had flames in them from time to time. He smiled at me as if I were a mouse and he was a cat. I swallowed hard and did my best to push my fear down.

He cleared his throat before speaking, “I am Erik, and you are indeed difficult to get, we have been trying for over a year.” My jaw dropped, they have been trying to get me for over a year. I couldn’t believe it. He walked over and roughly yanked my face up by my jaw. Anja let out a little growl that I didn’t hold back. He glared at me then released my face before slapping me. “You will not growl at me. Now, we seemed to have gotten you earlier than I had wanted, I thought you were sixteen not six.” He growled.

“I am ten, is it too young for your liking?” I mocked him, normally I am a pretty carefree person, however I can have a tongue like a knife when I need to. I would say this situation definitely calls for it. I watched as he clenched his fists causing his knuckles to be white.

“Disrespect me one more time and you will get ten lashes.” Okay, maybe I should just keep my mouth shut, for now. “You will be my prisoner, you will do as I bid. Even if that means you are my punching bag for the day.” I swallowed hard, this is a really bad situation.

I heard the creak of a door behind me and watched someone around Zac’s age walk into the room. He looked alot like a younger version of the man in front of me except his eyes were emerald green and his hair was a light brown. I looked between the two before Erik spoke again. “This is my son Endre, you were supposed to be his fourteenth birthday present, but I think we will wait a while. Until then you are mine to do as I please.” He waved his hand at me and the guards drug me away. I glared at him as he sat in his stone throne chair above everyone else.

Before I knew it I was being tossed back into my cell with the little blanket. “What do we do now Anja?” I only got a huff in response. I knew exactly what she meant, we were both totally screwed in this very moment. I dropped onto the cold floor and curled up into a ball. I wish I knew what he had in store for us. I slowly drifted off to sleep, the exhaustion finally taking hold.