Hunted by the Alpha King

Ten

Ronan’s black eyes flicked back to the shed. He hadn’t been able to talk to his mate or feel her presence since she had stopped at the rundown structure in the forest. Lavender shouldn’t have been able to mask her aura completely. He had no idea what happened to her. He was starting to worry. But he kept smelling her blood mixed with lavender, so she had to be alive still.

Guilt rushed through him as he thought about the wound he left on her neck. He hadn’t expected his wolf to help his mate get away or else she would’ve already been healed. His saliva could heal any of his mate’s wounds but she had run off before he could take care of her. Now his mate was probably bleeding out in the forest. Alone.

He fisted his hands. The old farmer in front of him smelled younger than he looked. Much younger. Decades younger even. Ronan wasn’t sure why he wasn’t able to get an accurate smell on him.

He had hints of lavender mixed with a spice that Ronan had never smelled before. But he knew the candle story was a lie. There was no wax. Once the old man gave him permission to enter the shed he stepped forward. From the doorway he could see the entire shed. Hay was settled against the west wall and a small fenced area for animals was on the east. There was a slight pool of blood underneath the small window that sat on the back wall. He sniffed deeply, inhaling Willow’s pine and frost scent.

“She had definitely been here,” he said to his Hunters. Xavier, his Beta, walked forward until he was almost to the blood. He didn’t touch the blood but he studied it with narrowed eyes. “She was here recently, it’s fresh. She must be close by.”

“You haven’t seen a woman?” Ronan asked the farmer.

He stepped forward staring at the blood with worry and shock. “Who would do this to someone?”

Ronan narrowed his eyes when the farmer looked back at him. He still looked worried but there was a knowledge in the murky brown eyes. The alpha didn’t need to answer to anyone but his mate. His eyes flicked back to the puddle of blood. His mate was hurt. She was seriously hurt, possibly dying.

Good, the sooner she can get away from you the better. Leif said in his head. Ronan had to force the change on his wolf in order to follow his mate. His wolf had become quite insubordinate, fighting him at every exchange. If Ronan’s will wasn’t so powerful he wouldn’t be able to shift at all.

He needed his mate back. He would do whatever he had to do in order to get her back.

Kill whomever.

Ronan turned towards the old farmer, nostrils flaring, as he took a step closer. “Why are you out here if you haven’t seen a woman here?”

The farmer took a step back for every step Ronan took towards him, “I thought I heard another racoon in my shed.”

Take it easy Alpha. To kill a human is against the High Coven’s laws. Xavier said to him through their mind link.

The High Coven doesn’t dictate laws for all supernaturals.

They do since the Royal Family was killed. There hasn’t been a Wolf Ruler since.

Ronan’s teeth snapped, causing the farmer to jump. He growled deep in his throat. The hierarchy of the supernatural was going to prevent him from catching his mate. He could feel it. It wouldn’t matter that he was the strongest wolf alive at the moment. It didn’t matter that his ties with all of the packs were good because of the training he did with all of them. His nails lengthened as he continued to think of the world preventing him from getting to his mate.

Then, I will become the Wolf King.

He could feel the shock of all of his Hunter’s at his pronouncement. Never before had he shown any aspirations of making himself King. He had always been content hiding with his Hunter’s. For being a mercenary to the other packs. His reputation had continued to grow into something he feared he wouldn’t be able to live up to. But the other wolf’s would swear fealty to him if he asked them to. And if they didn’t, there wasn’t an Alpha out there that could stop him.

His Queen was a rogue now. He would decimate any pack that tried to keep her from him. If he were the Alpha King he could go through pack to pack easily. He could get the other packs to help find his mate. He would build a kingdom for her. Something worthy of her strength and resilience. His mate was proving to be the only wolf in all of the land who could hold her own against him. She was his perfect match.

Willow! He screamed her name in the channel that they had created earlier. A channel between mates. He knew she had severed the channel but he wanted to continue to try. He needed to call to her. She needed to come back to him.

He was stronger than ever due to their mating, but she would continue to be weak. Until he could find her. Only his blood could rejuvinate him.

Ronan looked back to the old farmer. He knew the old man was keeping something from him, but he offered his shed to be searched. There was no evidence that he was holding Willow or helping her. But he might know where she was. Ronan needed her to live.

He grabbed a metal pail that was resting on the floor next to the farmer. While his black gaze watched the old man closely he bit into his wrist and tore the flesh so it would bleed into the pail.

“Only my blood will be able to heal her. She is hurting herself by running away from me.”

The farmer confirmed his suspicions when he didn’t respond to Ronan’s statement. The old man knew where his mate was. But he wouldn’t give her up. He might be the only person alive who knew where his mate was. Ronan ran the risk of losing her again if he killed the farmer. When a good portion of his blood was in the pail he mentally closed the injury on his wrist; holding the pail towards the farmer.

“She needs to drink this.” The farmer’s wrinkled hand grabbed the pail. “She needs to drink this and accept the mating bond.”

“And if she doesn’t accept the bond?”

“Then she will be dead by tomorrow morning.”