Chapter 9

Axel was in a ring, watching two warriors locked in hand to hand combat, his gaze were scrutinizing and cold. In a fight, there is meant to be a winner and a loser but none of the men wanted to be the loser as the consequences would be frightening.

All of a sudden, he felt uncomfortable and a searing pain overwhelmed him, his cold expression did not crack nor did he whimper or cry out in pain. In his head was a chant from his wolf, ‘I can’t feel mate! Mate is gone! Find mate!’ The words were incomprehensible at first but once he was able to make out the words, his aura became colder, his pheromones were stronger, forcing everyone present to submit. His golden eyes turned red, his claws elongated, he was angry but was trying not to shift. Axel was trying to think rationally and he knew that flying into blind rage would not help.

‘I can’t lose her.’

“THE PRINCESS IS NO LONGER IN OUR GROUNDS. FIND HER!” He ordered and speedily rushed away, he didn’t give any explanation to his warriors as there was no time to waste.

Lucas eyes widened in panic, he was worried that another pack with an ill fate was going to be razed to the ground. He could already foretell the river of blood that would serve as a deterrent to other stubborn packs. The next minute, he was enraged. “Who dare to take the Luna before I could spar with her!”

He arranged the warriors to different groups and repeatedly explained how important the princess was. Even without his explanation, the behavior of their Alpha gave them an hint of her importance.

“What am I hearing about her little highness!” Blaze yelled as he ran into Lucas. Worry was written all over his face.

“We are sorry, we are doing everything to find her.” Lucas tried to remain calm despite being yelled at by a Theta.

“Where is your Alpha! It has not been a day since we arrived and the princess is taken? What am I going to tell His Majesty?” His voice rose as panic sets in.

“We are doing our best to find her-”

“Your best is not good enough, do you know the consequences of this current situation?” Blaze interrupted.

Lucas ignored the theta wolf and began giving instructions to the wolves that were present, then he rushed towards the private pack house to look for clues, leaving Blaze as he continued to throw tantrums. No one could blame him, the fear he had for the king was understandable but he was scared of the queen the most, it was ingrained to his bone and Blaze shivered as he imagined her menacing glare.

“Is the princess playing games with us?” Blaze muttered and prayed to the moon goddess that she is found safe and sound or his precious head might not last on his neck for too long.

Before Axel arrived at the private pack house where they had breakfast with some important figures in the pack, he carefully scouted the area in search of an unfamiliar scent or any clue that might lead to where his mate was but got nothing. He didn’t for once assume that Davina had tried to run from him as his wolf instincts was the best. He saw that she was happy to be with him and he was looking forward to making sure things worked between them. Axel couldn’t help but blame himself for giving in to anger and leaving Davina at the breakfast table. It was supposed to be their first day together as mates but she was taken. He could no longer feel her presence and could only hope that the worst has not happened.

He was about to rush into the house when he noticed a diamond earring on the ground, it was one of the pair he had given Davina. He sensed them before they arrived. “I trusted you guys, why was she all alone?” He asked with a frigid tone of voice.

Shiver ran down their spine as they tried to come up with the best response, knowing that they would not be able escape punishment if their Alpha was enraged. “We are sorry Alpha. It was our mistake.” Cassandra and Kelsey cowered in fear as they responded. No excuse or explanation could save them if Axel wanted them dead. He was the kind to act without thinking most times.

He chuckled but the sound was like chalk scraping the walls of their hearts, there was no funny joke, it was like the grim reaper was present in their midst. “You should better pray that I find her in one piece or even the Moon Goddess would not be able to save you from me.”

Axel trying hard not to harm the two girls behind him, they were the mate to his second and third in command and he had felt a bit of the pain of having to lose his mate. He wouldn’t want one of the pack members to go through the same.

Unknown to both Davina and her abductor, Axel had already discovered her disappearance and half of pack was in complete disarray, a lot of warriors were mobilized to spread the news of the missing princess. The news was controlled from reaching the ears of the normal pack members. As they searched, some of the pack members were worried, Yes, their alpha was strong but no one would stand a chance against the royal pack without paying a dire price and unfortunately, the princess had to go missing within their grounds.

Blaze and Ron were also included in the search party, they felt a bit of displeasure against Alpha Axel but it was not the time to start pushing blames. “Should we inform the king and queen?” Blaze asked Ron as they searched the woods..

“Not yet, this might be some prank of the princess. This isn’t the first time she had caused a pack to worry just for the fun of it.”

*

*

“No one is coming to save you, I already injected you with something that would dull your mate bond . Without his mark, Alpha Axel would not be able to sense your absence for a very long time.” The abductor still had a quirky smirk on his face, he was very sure of his well laid out plans. “I will give you a minute to think of a good response to my question before I shed all from of pretense.”

He did not wait for her response before leaving the room. Davina’s eyes darted around, looking for something, a sort of weapon for protection. She knew that Axel would come for her once he discovered her disappearance but she had to stay alive before he showed up. She discovered that it wasn’t easy to be the princess, the shoe was too big for her and the crown was many times as heavy.

She didn’t care to think of how her abductor got to know that she wasn’t the deal as her eyes fell on a used syringe. A scenario appeared in her mind, leaving faster than it came but left a deep impression on her. For the first time in a while, she smiled. It wasn’t as dazzling as the ones she gave Axel but it was still a smile.

Wrapping her around it, a new source of hope. Her heart thumped fast in anticipation of what was to come. ‘If I have to find the princess, I must first survive this.’ She settled back in the bed like she had done nothing, as soon as she did, the door to the room was pushed open and once again, her abductor entered. This time, the smile in his face showed disdain and disgust. “How dare you try to take her place, you are weak, too weak.” He spat out.

I know! No need to rub it in’ Davina cried out inwardly, she wasn’t bold enough to tell at him knowing fully well that he could easily kill her without breaking a sweat. In her mind, scenes of the man being murdered instead took root. He couldn’t be kept alive. He knew the truth and that had just signed his bill of death.

The man slowly approached the bed that she laid on, one step at a time. “Now let’s do this again, where is the princess?”

“If I tell you where she is, would you let me go?” She had a thought of negotiating with the man.

Suddenly taken aback by her question, he looked at her a few times but saw nothing different. Her hair was sprawled out on the bed and fear was written all over her face. It was a last minute attempt of survival. “On one condition.” He smirked.

“What condition?” Instincts told her nothing good would come from this line of conversation but she forged on, to buy more time for Axel.

“That you become my mate.” He announced.

“What? But I belong to Alpha Axel?” Her voice came out in a whisper, She tried her best to look innocent and harmless to make him let down his guard. Davina had to make him think that she was desperate to survive.

“He has not marked you yet so you are still unclaimed.”

“So if you make me yours, then you won’t kill me?”

“No, but the main priority is getting the princess. She is your bargaining chip.”

“You can mark me first, I’ll take you to where the princess is.” She bared her neck to him.

The man dropped all guard at the sight of her being submissive, he restrained his laughter as he imagined Alpha Axel’s reaction when he found out that his fated mate belonged to someone else. Once he was close enough, the look on Davina’s face swiftly changed to a sneer, she brought out the syringe from underneath the blanket and stabbed straight to one of his eyes.

He had no time to dodge and his eye was struck. He howled out in pain, his hand thrashed wildly, unfortunately striking Davina who was still slightly slow and sluggish thanks to a bit of toxins still in her bloodstream. She rolled from the bed and fell to the ground with a loud bang. An attempt to get up to escape was made but it proved futile, her legs felt like jelly.

Her abductor had already taken out the syringe and had a hand placed on his eye that was bleeding profusely. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!” Before he could utter another word, the door was smashed open and he was lifted to the air like a sack of rice grains. He was face to face with a man whose eyes were red and filled with madness with his claws out, ready to reap a life.

“WHO SENT YOU?” Axel growled before throwing a punch on the man’s face.

“You don’t deserve to know.” The man let out a maniacal laugh, not in the slightest bit worried of the blood that was dripping from his nose. “I will only tell you over my dead body.”

“Then you can say hello to the devil on my behalf.” Axel swiftly clawed out the man’s throat followed by his heart to ensure that he remain dead.

After that display of madness, his face reverted to being cold and expressionless like he had not killed a man a few seconds ago. Meanwhile, Davina felt her stomach churn and all the contents in her stomach wanted out. Her face became pale at the sight of the man’s dead body. She could not harm a fly not to speak of hurting a person but a man was just killed by her mate and he didn’t even get the chance to struggle for his life.

All thoughts in her mind disappeared and Davina found herself vomiting the contents in her stomach. Axel noticed this, he instantly retracted his claws before wiping his hands. He gently patter Davina’s back until she was done. “Feel better now?”

His voice alone moved her to tears and she nodded. “I’m sorry. I’m too weak.” She still hard to fix her image to dispel all suspicions.

“It’s fine, we’ll talk about it when we get back.” He said reassuringly.

His words made her confused, Davina thought he knew the truth but when she looked at Axel, his face was not displaying a sign of his inner thoughts. Axel was thinking of how close he came to losing Davina, the conversation he heard also replayed in his mind, causing him to look at Davina a bit differently.

Oops.