Primal (Alpha Brotherhood 2)

“If I need to tell you to do something twice, I will ensure that you sincerely regret it when I finally have you safely away from the throes of battle,” he warned. “I will punish you, omega, and I promise you that you won’t enjoy it.”

“I understand, Alpha,” I responded. I meant every word. He was my best chance at finally rescuing my daughter and I knew it.

“Good,” he answered.

He grasped a wooden plank that appeared to be placed rather crookedly and yanked it once, then twice before it creaked noisily and the nails holding it in place gave way. He tossed it aside as if it weighed nothing at all and then he grabbed another that had been right beside it. Swiftly, he exposed a hole in the wall that would be just large enough for the four of us to climb through. Ivar rushed to his side and removed a few more wooden planks himself before the four of us slipped inside the city.

It soon became clear that this section was mostly abandoned as much of the action was taking place in the southern half. I noticed that the buildings all around us were dark. A few were burning and as I looked up into the sky, I saw the dragon swooping low overhead. I squeaked nervously and slapped my hand over my lips, not wanting to needlessly give away our position. The whooshing sound of the ginormous wings sent a cold shiver down my spine and I unconsciously moved closer to Vikar.

I felt his palm spread out across my lower back. At once, a small sense of comfort washed over me and I took a deep breath.

“We have to move. I want to get in and out as quickly as possible. If our entry point is found, they might start patrolling the roads,” he said quietly.

“This way,” Ivar offered. “I know the fastest path to the castle from here. Once inside, Ariana can lead the way to the omega chambers.”

Ariana nodded in agreement and both Vikar and I fell behind the other two. We journeyed through the dark, mostly abandoned streets. I kept my eyes open to ensure that no one followed us. Upon closer inspection of the city streets, I saw movements in the shadows, and I realized that this area wasn’t as deserted as I originally thought. There were people moving in and out of the decrepit buildings all along the road. There were some hidden in the dark alleys between them and still more peering out of the broken windows with obvious fear. I caught the eyes of an elderly women crouching low and saw that she was keeping a young child close to her chest. She nodded once before continuing on. There were more refugees sneaking along with her and I hoped that they would all find their way to safety before the night was over.

I stuck close to the group as we ducked along the edges of the streets, into dark alleys and through long abandoned factories that hadn’t been used in at least fifty years. Here on the outskirts of the city seemed to be where the poor and the homeless survived and it saddened me a little, but I didn’t take much time to dwell on it.

Instead, I put my entire focus on slinking through the city unnoticed on my way to finally take back my daughter.

My heart pounded and blood rushed through my veins with every last step. Again, and again, we surged forward in the shadows until at long last, the king’s castle came into view. I wondered who the Cult had instilled as king after Thranar’s death, but it didn’t much matter now.

I sincerely doubted the city would survive the night. If the king was unfortunate enough to still be in the city by dawn, he would likely be as good as dead.

A large booming crash reverberated in the distance and I worried about the tide of battle. Who was winning and how many were dead? I prayed to the gods that the Brotherhood would prevail, but without being in the midst of it, I wouldn’t know until morning.

Ariana took the lead now and guided us through an entryway that was only used by the servants. Tonight though, there was no one guarding it and we slipped inside undetected. We climbed several flights of stairs until we approached the king’s chambers. I didn’t see a single person and I wondered if they had all abandoned their posts in the midst of battle.

The small blonde omega took a right-hand turn, taking us to a dead end with several tall rounded bricked-up decorative entryways that were embellished with several colorful vases of flowers. She moved one aside and pushed down on a single brick at the center. The bricks lurched within the archway and I watched in disbelief as what I once thought was a solid wall clicked open. It was a hidden doorway to a part of the castle that I had never known existed. I swallowed my shock and moved behind her, knowing now was the time to focus on the end goal. Ariana pushed at the doorway and it hardly moved. She struggled to open it, and Ivar joined her in forcing it to move enough so that the four of us could fit through before it clicked shut behind us.

It was dark inside, but my eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light. There was a soft glow not far ahead and as we slowly made our way down the hallway and turned a corner, I saw that there was a series of candles meant to light the way. There were a number of closed doors that lined the hall, but Ariana walked past them all. We followed her until she came to the very end where there was a lone door that was suspiciously cracked open. She pushed it open and the door creaked loudly, revealing our presence to whoever was waiting inside.

There was a single bed and directly in the center was a young girl.

My heart burst with love.

My daughter.

Esme.

Her gorgeous green eyes met mine. She’d grown so much since I saw her last. It had been six years since I’d given birth to her and she’d been taken from me the very next day. I hadn’t been allowed to raise her as my own and I’d only been afforded the chance to visit her from time to time if Thranar was feeling generous. The length between each visit grew as the years went on until he eventually decided not to let me see her at all. It had been at least two years since I’d seen her last and she’d grown several inches since then.

I raced forward, but Vikar caught me by the belt around my waist. He stopped me in my tracks, and I grunted in surprise. Quickly, he pushed me back behind him and instructed me to wait.

Another man cleared his throat and stepped out of the darkness.

I snarled openly when I saw that it was my father.

He laughed at my challenge. I growled even more fiercely after that.

“I knew you’d come for her,” he began, and I struggled to hold back my fury. Vikar pressed his palm against the back of my neck, a silent warning that it wasn’t yet time for me to act and I froze in acquiescence, trusting in him to make that call. His fingers tightened just a bit and I stood entirely still as I evaluated the situation before me.

Esme looked healthy. She was a little pale, likely after being cloistered in the depths of the castle for so long, but otherwise looked perfectly fine. She looked innocently to my father who strode toward her at the same time that he kept his menacing gaze locked on me.

“How did you know I was coming?” I asked him quietly when I finally felt gathered enough to speak without threatening to rip his head from his shoulders.

He cocked his head arrogantly to the side.