CHAPTER 91: _YOU DON’T CALL THE SHOTS

Lucian’s POV

*****

"There are no signs of Princess Aurora and the Prince’s mate either."

Hearing those words felt like two bombs had activated in his mind simultaneously. His fingers twitched beside him, his wolf growling with protective need and almost causing his claws to come out.

Almost.

He’ll rather save those for when he sees Magnus and Estella so he can dig their hearts out.

"This is..." His mother got on her feet, her chest heaving with confusion. "This is unacceptable! What do they want with Aurora? What—"

"We’ll know once we find them and drag them out of whatever pit they’ve crawled into," Lucian said with a cold tone, his gaze lingering briefly on his father.

His old man seemed conflicted, as if he was struggling to believe his soon to be son in law was behind this.

But the signs were too glaring for Lucian to ignore and he needed to act quickly.

"You two." The Alpha king called out to the two guards who gave the report. "Send scouts to search the palace grounds and all of Moon Haven. They couldn’t have gone out of the city."

The two of them nodded, giving one last bow before scurrying out of the throne room.

"Lucian." His father blurted, stepping down the dais with slow steps. "We have to handle this delicately. We don’t know for sure if Estella and Magnus—"

"Save the crap for someone who wishes to listen, father." Lucian raised his right hand, signalling he had no interest in listening. He turned away from his parents, heading toward the exit.

"If you want enough proof to blacklist your deranged son-in-law as a wanted fugitive, go to the tech experts. They should still have the recording device Elian retrieved."

Without another word, he opened the large throne room doors and walked out, closing them behind him and ignoring the gazes of his parents on his back.

.

.

He headed to Elian’s room door, about to open it when he realised something.

It was partially opened.

He remembered just then that they had left two traitor guards tied up inside the bathroom.

Had they escaped?

"P–Please! That’s... That’s all we know!" A terrified scream coming from inside made a cold shiver run down his spine.

That was one of the guards!

He barged into the room, curling his fists in preparation... But paused abruptly when he spotted Beta Axel sitting on Elian’s bed, a silver dagger in his right hand.

He twirled the dagger around his fingers while the two guards were in front of him.

One was lying on the floor with several cuts and bruises on his clothes and body, his blood pooling slightly on the marble floor. But his groans of pain and faint beating heart showed he was still alive, just barely.

The metallic smell of blood lingered in the air.

As for the second guard, he was kneeling in front of Axel, shivering with terror with his hands raised in front of his face. His back faced Lucian so he couldn’t see his face... But he could tell the man was at his wits’ end.

And Axel?

He just sat there, using a rag to wipe off the blood on the silver dagger with a stoic expression on his face.

Suddenly, Axel’s golden eyes flicked to Lucian as he tilted his head. "Unless you want people to know about this, I suggest you close the door."

His tone was calm, calculated, like a predator plotting his next kill.

Lucian has never seen him like this and that was saying a lot.

With a breath, Lucian shut the door behind him before walking toward Axel. "And what is THIS exactly? When did you come back from Silvervale?"

Axel didn’t look at him, placing his attention on the guard. "Some minutes ago. I felt something... Off while I was there and had to rush back as soon as I could. Elian, his emotions..."

The Beta slowly rose on his feet, raising his head so he could stare into Lucian’s eyes.

The latter didn’t flinch even with the blood on the Beta’s hands.

"Ever since I... Knotted our mate this morning, I’ve discovered I can feel his emotions. Literally." Axel continued much to Lucian’s agitation. "That’s beside the point... I came to his room, but couldn’t find him so I decided to question these..."

He grabbed the jaw of the guard kneeling in front of him, forcing him to lift his chin.

"... Gentlemen." Axel finally added before shoving the man aside, waltzing toward Lucian.

"You call this questioning?" Lucian asked with a scoff but Axel shrugged.

"What would you have had me do? I guessed they were enemies so I treated them accordingly." Axel sounded unremorseful, squinting. "Besides, as much as you try hiding your feelings, you might’ve done the same."

Not the same...

Probably worse.

Lucian’s original reason for coming back to this room was to threaten the families of the guards. Maybe bring them in to "convince" them to cooperate.

And if they didn’t? Well...

"Aurora is also missing." Lucian brushed his right hand through his hair with a heavy sigh. "And your sister is behind this whole mess to begin with. Estella has—"

"Yes. I agree." Axel nodded, his eyes solemn. "I had hoped she would come around eventually but her obsession with you... It’s unsettling."

Yeah, yeah... Lucian didn’t care.

He’ll drag that bitch by the hair if Elian gets hurt.

"The guards are useless," Axel remarked, brushing past Lucian and heading to the door. "Magnus brought them from a secret organisation or something that he runs here in Moonhaven. But they’ve never been to any bases or hideouts."

Lucian shook his head. "Clever bastard. Now what? I swear, Axel if they do anything to my mate or my sister I’ll rip—"

Before he could finish that sentence, he felt a tug in his mind. His communication ring began making a beep sound alongside lighting up with red just then, a signal of an incoming call.

Lucian hesitated at first, glancing at Axel who gave him a silent nod.

When Lucian picked up, a distorted voice echoed from the other end:

"As you’ve been able to guess, Alpha Prince, we have your mate and your dearest little sister."

Lucian’s fists curled until his nails dug into his palms.

"I’ll ask this only once... Where are they?" Lucian asked with a cold growl, his chest heaving with barely contained anger.

But there was another emotion masked by that anger. One that he couldn’t deny any longer.

Fear.

Not for himself but for two people he cared about.

"Still as arrogant as ever." The distorted voice remarked with a snigger. "You don’t call the shots here, Alpha Prince. So I’ll suggest you keep calm... Or we’ll send them to you. In pieces."