Following the scent of the Fox King, Gideon wished for nothing more than to tear his head off. His decapitated head would solve most of Gideon’s problems, as the sly bastard was the brain behind everything and eliminating him would be crucial for the victory.
He sped up, letting Mars take control. Soon they saw a red blur ahead of them. Castiel’s scent was evident. They didn’t hesitate to charge at the fox, knocking him off his feet. His beast was huge, although not a match for a Lycan wolf. Gideon could have overpowered him easily if not for the two bears who joined his enemy. They were extremely massive and aggressive.
Their size took him a little longer to rip their necks off. Now two things worried him. First, he could not see the girl Castiel had taken hostage. Second, they carefully watched this area, and still, these two bears came out of nowhere.
This level of stealth was a bad sign. Very bad. The fox raced off again, but Gideon managed to catch up with him and dig his canines into his side to make him stop. The red beast whimpered, and in no time, the Lycan King managed to submit him. A few slashes of sharp claws here and there, and the fox whimpered in pain from under him, shifting back into his human form.
Gideon snarled in rage.
Before him was a young man in his twenties with red curly hair, who trembled in horror.
It wasn’t Castiel. It wasn’t the Fox King.
“What the hell?!” Gideon gritted his teeth, talking to his wolf. “How did this happen?”
“We’ve been tricked,” Mars snarled furiously. “He has the King’s scent on him! It’s identical! Foxes are the only ones who can do this type of thing!”
He was angry at himself for falling for this. Of course, he shouldn’t have relied on the scent when dealing with this sly creature.
“Reid” he called to his Beta via mind link, “I’ve lost the King. Anything from your side?”
“We have the whole group. I sent them to the dungeon in our Queen’s pack,” his friend replied.
“Good. Keep your eyes open. Don’t trust in their scent too much.” Gideon advised him and then tried to connect to his mate. “Riannon.”
She did not reply, and he grew tense. It wasn’t that far. He was supposed to feel her. Trying to sense his bond, he couldn’t.
“Riannon!” he called again and again, only to receive no reply. Two of his warriors caught up with him, and he left the captured fox to them, running as fast as he could to where he previously saw her.
“Reid! Do you see Riannon?” he asked while taking a huge leap.
“No,” the reply echoed through his ears. Now he was really worried.
“Can you connect to your mate?” the Lycan King asked, striving to think rationally.
“No, I haven’t marked her,” Reid responded, sounding apologetic. “But, I am heading there right now.
If I find anything-“
“Good.” Gideon stopped him.
Yet, nothing was good. He couldn’t feel Riannon nearby.
Finally, he picked up her scent and started foliowing it. It led him to a small ravine, and from there, Ria’s traces moved in five different directions.
A loud growl emerged from the depths of the Lycan King’s lungs. The vibration and volume caused flocks of birds to fly away from the trees into the atmosphere.
They used her scent to cover their tracks. The foxes copied her scent and left it all over this part of the woods. It would be impossible to trace them.
The worst realisation dawned on him that to copy her scent, they had to have her. How did they do it? The plan worked perfectly! She was safe! They won!
He sped all over the forest trying to find her.
Growling loudly, he howled at the loss of his mate.
Desperate, angry, broken.
“I don’t feel her anywhere,” Mars told him, “We are wasting our time here.”
It was true, and Gideon knew this. He raced back to the packhouse, where everyone was waiting for him with stern faces. He shifted in one breath.
“What do you know?” he asked through gritted teeth when he saw Reid walking out of the mansion with Maya, who looked miserable and was bleeding in a few places.
“I am taking her to the infirmary.” his Beta told him, covering her with his body as if to defend her.
“What happened?” he insisted. “Where is Riannon?
Who saw her last?”
“I did,” Maya offered, lowering her head. Gideon instinctively knew he wasn’t going to like what he heard next.
He clenched his fists and growled, making Reid step in front of his mate. Maya gently pushed him away and carefully looked the Lycan King in the eye.
“I was fighting Roxy when I thought I saw her” she said firmly, taking responsibility. “I felt my Alpha’s presence during my battle. Then I saw a man dragging her away. I think it was Castiel.”
“Dragging her away?” Gideon’s breath quickened.
This was the worst thing he could ever imagine. His beautiful Ria was in his enemy’s hands “How the hell did that happen?”
“She seemed unconscious,” Maya admitted. “He held her in his arms. I was in the middle of a battle and couldn’t do anything. By the time I won, they were gone, and her scent was all over the place. This was when Reid found me.”
“She was bleeding heavily, yet still searching for her Alpha,” his Beta chimed in, clearly trying to protect her, which only made Gideon more suspicious.
“Why were you far away from other warriors? None of us should have been alone!” Gideon narrowed his eyes at the girl, who lowered her head yet again in submission. “Who were you fighting?”
“Roxanne,” her voice was barely a whisper, but he heard it loud and clear.
“Roxanne, the fake mate?” he snarled. “You went for her alone, and Ria followed you. lsn’t that right?!”
“That’s correct, my King.” She acknowledged his title for the first time since they had known each other.
“You didn’t follow the plan! She went to help you, and because of that got herself captured!” Mars struggled to get out. For a Lycan wolf of his rank, he wanted to punish the Beta. Reid protectively covered her with himself.
“Gideon! She made a mistake! It happens” He pleaded.
“This mistake cost me my queen!” the King roared, unable to hold his anger. “Your best friend!”
“I know-” Maya muttered under her breath, shaking visibly.
“We need to clear our heads to get her back!” Reid reasoned with his Alpha. “Get yourself cleaned and we’ll get to work. This is not the end. It’s only the beginning.
They will not hurt her. Not with the current situation. We need to find her as soon as possible. Luckily, we captured many of our enemies today. Roxy is one of them. She sure as hell has some valuable information for us.”
Gideon stormed past the two of them, growling, “I expect you two in the dungeons within the hour!” Riannon slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times as she tried to adjust to the light. Her head was pounding, and she tried to remember where she was.
The room seemed unfamiliar, and for a few seconds, she thought perhaps Gideon had taken her back to his mansion. Maybe this was a surprise, and he had prepared a new room for her.
However, when the door opened, she was thrown back to reality as her eyes locked with Castiel’s. He had a smug grin plastered on his face which told her that this was his house. He was way too comfortable here.
Another thing she realised quickly was there were cameras installed in this room. Otherwise, how would he know she was awake?
“Dear Riannon, it’s such a pleasure to see you are up and feeling well.” He carefully closed the doors behind them, and she heard the lock click.
“That would be an overstatement,” she lifted her chin high, assessing her clothes. To her relief, she was fully dressed. Only her beautiful leather jacket and boots were missing. At least that was good news, no one had violated her in her sleep. A realisation which gave her hope. “You drugged me, remember?” She moved to the edge of the bed and sat on it.
“I do recall, and I am sorry,” he offered, shrugging his shoulders. He wasn’t sorry at the least. Still, he was definitely in a good mood. It was as if he didn’t just lose a battle.
“You are not.” Riannon stated plainly, rubbing her forehead. She had never had a headache this bad.
“True,” the fox smirked. “I would have brought you here differently if there was a chance. However, there was not, so don’t blame me. I have wanted us to talk for a while now.”
“We live during sad times if men have to drug women to simply talk to them,” she scoffed, but he did not give her a reaction, instead he walked deeper into the room and took a seat in an armchair next to the window.
Ria decided not to waste any time and stood up, pacing slowly around the room and looking about. Any detail here could be an important piece of information to use in the future. Nonetheless, the more she looked, the more disappointed she became. This room had no character to it. Everything was posh, yet it looked like a picture from a magazine.
“This is all brand new,” she murmured before hearing the Fox King chuckle behind her. “I had it prępared specially for you after our first in-person meeting. You will not find anything of use to you here.”
“Who said I am looking for such a thing?” she countered, raising her brow at him and moving to sit in the chair positioned opposite to him, placing one of her legs on top of the other. “Maybe I am just admiring the design.”
“Yeah. Sure,” he teased, letting out a little laugh, tapping the armrest with his long fingers while eyeing her. He enjoyed this banter, and she hated the fact that she provided this satisfaction for him.
“You seem happy for someone who just lost a lot of men,” she stated, attempting to spoil his chirper mood.
The arrogant smile dropped off his lips.
“The question is whether I lost them or simply sacrificed them?” He was back to sneering in less than a second. However, this time she knew it was clearly an act.
“Why don’t we get to the point, and you tell me what you want from me?” Ria said, cutting straight to the chase. Foxes hated that. They loved their mind games.
“Who said I want anything?” Castiel winked at her as if they were good friends.
“Well, you did prepare a room for me.” She gestured to everything surrounding them. He nodded in silent confession, giving up on that one little lie.
“Oh, Riannon,” he sighed, looking her straight in the eyes. “I want so many things from you! You have no idea.”
She cringed a bit hearing that but did her best not to show it.
“l am not sure I want to hear this,” she parried and heard another chuckle escape him. Menacing this time.
He clicked his fingers. A chill travelled down Riannon’s spine when the doors opened again.