Discovery of a Queen by Elizabeth Brown
Chapter Twenty-One
Caleb
She’s gone.
The ragethat sweeps through my body is a welcome reprieve from the worry that constantly plagues me. I let them take her. I couldn’t get to her in time to stop them. My fist slams into one of the walls in Ayla’s bedroom. The room that is saturated with her scent. I inhale deeply, allowing her fragrance to fill every cell of my body, longing ripping through me with the action.
That fucking bear that got loose, Kevin, he’s the reason Ayla is gone. We hadn’t been successful in tracking that dick down, and he’d brought back an entire army of demons to take her. Fury floods my system as I recall the last few days.
While Ayla had been recovering from diving into Shane’s mind, Kevin, along with a small army of demons and thefucking mage, attacked the town. I knew that the longer it took us to catch Kevin the more likely he’d come back swinging, but I hadn’t expected him to launch an attack thatquickly. Kevin had been missing for only two days before he returned to town with friends.
The fight had been brutal. We knew why they’d come, knew it wasn’t for Shane, but for Ayla. We knew what would happen if we lost. But I’d still been able to access my dragon, so I didn’t think the damn mage was nearby. Cursing, I slam my fist into the wall again. I should have known better. The mage had been able to slip in without any of us noticing, the battles raging around town creating the best distraction possible. And I’d been dumb enough to step out of Ayla’s room to try and help keep the demons at bay.
Ayla has been gone for four days now. Four fucking days. We’re no closer to finding her than we were that first day. All of our bonds have been severed somehow. Kelly has a theory that they’re actually being blocked using a similar magic that hindered our dragons when we battled Malick. Without those bonds, we seem to be running around in circles. I’ve put the best trackers from the Council, as well as the New England Pack, to work on hunting her down. And everyone who can help is assisting to find any scrap of information that may point us in the right direction. Malcolm told me the reason they’re so damn hard to track is because of that fucking mage. Whoever the hell he is did a damn fine job of making sure they just appeared to vanish into thin air.
I take another deep breath, another pull of Ayla’s sweet scent into my system. Anything to keep her close. My dragon roars its outrage, wanting to rip the world apart to find his mate. I’m hardly able to stop myself from allowing him to do whatever the hell he wants. But that won’t help us find her. That won’t bring her back.
Goddess, just let her come back safely. I will willingly give up the Council. Hell, I’ll disband the thing altogether if I get to have her again.
I shake off my thoughts and head into Ayla’s study. It’s where Kelly, Olivia, Connor, Malcolm, and I have been holding meetings and brainstorming. Malcolm and Olivia are already in the room. I’m surprised to see them cozied up so close together, but I also haven’t been paying any attention to anything but finding my mate for days. I can’t even remember the last time I ate.
“Alpha,” Olivia greets. “We were just talking about a way to try to combine the tracking skills of a shifter with a witch’s ability to track magic. It may help.”
“Oh, good, all of you are already here.” Kelly comes into the study with Connor fast on her heels. “I want to hear what you’ve come up with, Olivia. And I think I may have found a way to get one of us through to Ayla. It won’t last long, and it’ll be dangerous, but I think I have it.” There’s hope ringing through her tone, and at the sound of it, my own hope starts to rise.
“If we tackle both approaches at the same time, we may get lucky,” Connor adds. He’s watching me carefully. I’m sure I look like shit. I haven’t slept since Ayla was taken, and I’ve only been eating when someone forces a meal into my hands. There’s no time for any of that right now, not when I need to focus on finding her. Mate, my dragon rumbles angrily in my head.
Right, big guy. We’re going to find her. I promise.
“Okay. Malcolm, Olivia, and Connor, I want you three to see what you can do about tracking Ayla. Kelly and I will work on reestablishing the bond. The mate bond, even new and not finalized, will be the strongest link to try to reach her.” I have to do something, anything.
“Whoa there.” Kelly reaches out to put her hand on my arm. “Slow your roll, big buy. We need to firm up the plan first.” A low growl works its way up my chest. “Oh, hush yourself. I want her back just as badly as you do. But we can’t walk into anything half-assed. As Ron Swanson would say, ‘Never half-ass two things. Whole ass one thing.’ So this needs to be one cohesive plan.” She nudges me into a seat. “Sit and eat. I have someone bringing us food.”
* * *
After several hours of bickering,we seem to have a plan in place. It’s dodgy at best, but if it works, we’ll be able to find Ayla and form a better attack plan from there. I’m standing in the shower, my hands braced against the wall as the water pelts my back, running through the plan over and over again in my mind. Kelly is going to put me into a magical slumber, one where I should be able to fully connect with my mate bond, even if Ayla’s end is blocked by magic. In theory anyway. I could just go under and never wake up again. But it’s worth the risk, she is worth the risk.
It’s funny. My mother always told me that when I met my queen, she was going to knock me for a loop. I’d grown up with the understanding that my queen would be my leader—after all, that’s what queens were. But when they all died, my hopes of ever finding my mate died with them. And so I took over, assuming the role of leader. I’d become too comfortable in that role it seems, unwilling to give it up when I’d found what I’d thought I would never have.
Ayla is only a single queen. We can’t simply go back to the way things were, but we can’t stay with our current system either. She has a right to take up the helm if she so chooses. And from what I’ve seen around here, she’ll do one hell of a job. The vamps haven’t even officially bonded with her, but they’re doing all they can to find her. I’d forgotten what being around a queen was like. How they pull and tie people together, make our differences our strengths, and create bonds that never fade.
She’s a miracle. And there’s no way in hell I’m going to let that bastard have his way with her.
* * *
I climbinto Ayla’s bed, the very one she was taken from, the one where I first got to feel her skin against mine, where I first got to sink into her warmth. Our scents are mixed here, and Kelly thinks that will help me focus on the mate bond. Little does she know, there’s little else I can focus on. There have been a few times when I thought Ayla’s voice was ringing in my head, but whenever I tried to reach out, there was nothing there.
Kelly is standing at the foot of the bed, her hands wrapped around a glass that holds the sleeping potion. “You’ll need to drink all of this. You’re pretty large, so this is an extra-strong dose. Once you’re under, I’ll guide you to your mate bond, but from there you’re on your own. You’ll need to coax the bond back to life. It won’t be easy since the two of you didn’t get a chance to seal the deal before she was taken.” While I know she doesn’t mean to rub salt in the wound, the reminder of the incomplete bond still stings. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah. Let’s do this.” She hands me the glass, and I down it quickly. It tastes like ass. I rest my head against some pillows and stare up at the ceiling.
* * *
“Okay.”Kelly’s voice blares through my mind. I blink several times, but I realize I’m out cold and there’s no use blinking. That was fast. “I need you to steady your breathing and empty your mind.”
I take several calming breaths, allowing my body to relax and my mind to go blank.
“Good. Keep that up.”After several moments of just breathing, I feel a nudge at the back of my mind. “Now I want you to focus on Ayla. Feel the bond flow through you. You’re her mate, the bond should be close to the core of who you are.”
She’s right. My mate bond makes up the core of who I am. But while I can feel the bond, I can’t see it. I need to be able to see it for this to work. And so, I focus on Ayla, her smile, her laugh. How that damn woman is so sassy she’s going to need me to take her over my knee. She’s passionate, kind, loving, and selfless. She’s stronger than she realizes. The woman has six feet of personality jammed into a tiny little frame. She drives me mad in the bestway. And she’s mine. I’m hers. She’s more than I ever could have hoped for in a mate. All that I hadn’t realized I needed. She is everything.
She’s made me reevaluate what’s truly important. And it sure as shit isn’t power. It’s rolling over in the middle of the night to feel her soft, warm body pressed against mine, seeing her standing naked in front of her closet with that cute look on her face as she decides what to wear for the day. It’s having her stand up to me and demand equal measure. It’s her, plain and simple. Only her.
That’s when I see it, shimmering softly through the darkness that’s surrounding me. It’s gold and thin, but as I get closer, it appears solid and sturdy despite not being fully formed. It’s pulsing in a reassuring manner. She’s alive.
Slowly, carefully, I reach out and gently grasp the bond in both hands. I’m instantly flooded with visions, I realize, of what Ayla is currently experiencing. She’s tied to a bed with Malick standing over her. She’s scared but determined. That’s my girl. There’s something else too. Something about her has changed. I can’t reach her dragon, and I can’t sense her magic through the bond, which tells me that Kelly’s theory is spot-on. The damn mage is interfering again. But that’s not what’s different. I can’t put my finger on exactly what’s changed, but something close to the core of her has shifted.
“Ayla!”I shout as loudly as possible, knowing she may not even be able to hear me. But to my surprise, I feel her jolt in recognition.
“Caleb!” Her voice is faint, but I cling to it anyway.
“Ayla, I need you to sink into the bond. It’ll help us find you.”
“Oh, Caleb. I wish you were really with me.”I feel her sorrow. “I’m so tired, Caleb. So tired of fighting. So tired of thinking that I hear you.”
She doesn’t think this is real. Dread coils in the pit of my stomach. If I can’t get her to sink into what’s left of the bond on her end, I won’t be able to find her. I’ll only be able to see what she’s experiencing. I may even lose what little ability to communicate with her I currently have.
“It’s really me, Ayla. I’m here. I need you to focus on my voice.”
She pulls away from me and the bond, and once again, I’m surrounded by darkness with only the soft pulsing of our bond in my mind.
* * *
When I wake,it’s to see relief flooding Kelly’s features. I can’t share in her relief, however. Ayla pulled away from me. She didn’t believe I was really there. Small claws of panic start to hook themselves deep into my mind. I’m not going to be able to get to her in time. Whatever Malick is going to do, I’ll be too late to stop it.
“What happened? Were you able to find out where she is?” Kelly’s voice yanks me out of my spiraling thoughts.
“No. I was able to speak to her, but she didn’t believe I was really there. She wouldn’t sink into the bond. She pulled away before I could get any information. All I was able to determine is that she’s bound and with Malick.” I don’t mention the change I felt, because I have no way of answering any questions if asked.
“Damn.” Kelly starts pacing and muttering to herself. I sit up in bed and nudge Connor and Malcolm through our bonds. They have had some luck, but not enough to get us a solid lead. I want to punch the damn wall again.
“What the hell do we do now?” My tone is gruff and laced with frustrated anger. “How the hell are we going to get Ayla back?”
Dante walks into the room, his hair disheveled and eyes wild. “Caleb,” he says frantically, “do you remember when we were training Ayla that first day?” I nod. “She said she’d sensed a large demonic presence in Alaska. She couldn’t be sure, but she felt like that was where Malick was hiding.”
He’s right.
My dragon roars inside me, eager to head out and find his mate.
“Then that’s where we’re going. If there’s even the slightest chance he’s taken her to Alaska, we need to search for her.” I stand, but Kelly comes over and frowns at me.
“Even if we go there, we won’t be able to sense her. We’ll have the same problem.”
“But we may be able to pick up a scent trail,” Dante points out. “It’s better than sitting here and doing nothing.”
“I suppose.” Kelly seems hesitant to head off, not that I blame her.
“Why don’t I pick a small group to scout Alaska? You can stay here with the rest and start getting everyone ready for the battle ahead. He won’t give Ayla up without a fight.” Kelly nods. “Good. I’ll get a task force together. Focus on healing as many as you can and getting everyone ready to fight. The additional councilmen I called in should be here tomorrow.”
“Alpha,” Dante calls, “I would like to be part of this task force.”
“You don’t even need to ask.”