w long it takes,” he sneered.
I should have been afraid, but right now, there was only one thing that mattered.
Esme.
I had to save her from whatever atrocities that the Cult had planned for her.
Chapter Eight
Vikar
Fucking hell.
It felt like I had been chewed up by the gods, spat back out, and trampled by a thousand hooves all at the same time.
Why was I even alive?
Had I angered Odiyen? How had the Cult found us?
I don’t know why they didn’t kill me. Perhaps they needed me to keep me alive for whatever reason or maybe they had forgotten about me once they shot that damn tranquilizer dart into my neck. I groaned, dragging my hand over my face as I fought the last tendrils of whatever concoction had coated the tip of that tiny arrow of misery. I’d been on the receiving end of a dart like it once long ago, simply because a warrior had missed the target he was supposed to be aiming for somehow and sent it straight into my thigh instead. It hadn’t been nearly as bad as this one was turning out to be though.
This one felt far more potent. It left me feeling like I’d drunk an entire barrel of mead last night. My mind felt fuzzy and my limbs were as heavy as a bag of lead. I tried to move my fingers and toes, forcing them to wiggle at least a little bit as the seconds ticked by. Eventually, my arms and legs stopped tingling and I gained control of them once again. I pushed my hands against the ground, only to lean up against the roughened trunk of the tree closest to me.
I shook my head in agony. It was pounding harder than any hangover I’d ever had before. I growled and just sat there for a long moment until the ache lessened the tiniest amount before I climbed to my feet and staggered to the side, eventually catching my balance on another ancient tree.
Fuck. Waking up from a tranquilizer dart was a bitch.
I rubbed my head again and blinked several times as the events of the night finally came back to me. My heart dropped as it all slammed into me at once.
Luna.
They’d come for her and they’d taken her. By the look on their faces, they were not her allies either. I tried to remember exactly how many of them I’d seen, but it was foggy. I’d seen so many of them that it was hard to focus on the hazy images that plagued my memory. There had been at least a dozen of them, but I wasn’t sure exactly how many. One thing I was sure of though was that they were all men based off of their sheer size and the way they strode through the camp like they owned it. There was one man in particular who had stood out in my mind though, simply because of the blatant animosity in his expression. That man had grabbed her, and he looked like he wanted to kill her himself.
He was important. I just didn’t know why yet.
I was her alpha. I should have been able to save her.
I could still feel her. She was alive, I knew that much at least. If they had already killed her, I would be in more pain that I could bear. I could also tell that she was located in the general direction of Ravenrath, but I couldn’t pinpoint her location. I needed to get to her, but I couldn’t do it alone. Not in Ravenrath, not in the stronghold of the Cult.
They were extremely powerful, and I had no doubt that their defenses would be brutally hard to break through. It would be nearly impossible to sneak in the city gates and that didn’t even guarantee that I’d be able to find her in whatever place they kept her captive.
I pushed my fist against the trunk of the tree, trying to rein in the impulse to punch it as hard as I could. Everything in my heart was telling me to go to her, to protect the omega that was mine, but I knew I couldn’t go in alone. I hated everything about it.
I sighed, knowing what had to be done even though it hurt my soul to have to do it. I had to return to Valgertha and when I came back to rescue her from the clutches of the enemy, I’d bring the power of the Brotherhood with me.
It was my best chance to get her back. No. It was my only chance to ensure that the two of us came out of this alive.
I whistled low, the sounds carrying throughout the forest all around me. In the distance, the answering roar of a skotaur rumbled through the air. Bayla would recognize my call and she would come. It wasn’t long before her massive charcoal gray form came slinking through the trees. She sat back on her haunches, waiting for her pup to join her. I smiled when the tiny creature skipped to her side, its movements young and clumsy. He would grow to a size nearly a third bigger than her, but he had a long way to go to get there.
Bayla yawned, clearly a little annoyed that I had awakened her during the day. Skotaurs were typically nocturnal and slept in the safety of their dens while the sun while high in the sky. Hers wasn’t very far from where I was now, and I was exceedingly grateful for that.
I bowed my head toward her, and she growled softly. It made the ground rumble beneath my feet and I was more than thankful that I called her my ally rather than my foe.
“It’s been a long time, Bayla, but I must ask for your help. Will you let me ride with you like we used to together? Will you take me back home?” I asked softly. I lifted my head and smiled gently in her direction. I reached for her and she lowered her thick horns to my level, allowing me to pet her in the way she had enjoyed since she was a pup herself. Her growl deepened to something like a purr as she lowered herself to the ground and looked back at me expectantly. I nodded with understanding. Carefully, I wound my arms around her pup, ensuring that I didn’t hurt him in any way. I was one of the only humans she trusted enough to get near her young, let alone touch him, but she still watched me carefully. I was as gentle with him as possible and he mewled quietly in surprise. At first, he squirmed and wiggled to escape my grasp. Eventually, he settled when he realized I wasn’t going to cause him any harm. Bayla never took her eyes off the two of us the entire time.
When I was situated on her back with her son cradled safely against my belly, she rose up on all fours.
“Thank you, Bayla. I won’t forget this,” I whispered, dragging the backs of my fingers down the line of her throat. Her charcoal skin was hairless, but unbelievably soft, and I could see the hint of her fire pumping through her veins just beneath it. The blaze ignited underneath her flesh as she responded to me and I gently patted her neck in gratitude.