Page 62 of Owned By Four Alphas

“Castien, what are you doing?” she said slowly, climbing onto unsteady feet, her hands braced on her stomach.

“I thought it would be easy. Give you all the answers, guide you towards the truth, let you ‘discover’ your father’s supposed whereabouts yourself. Get you to ask your mates to go on an expedition to somewhere they weren’t lurking around every corner with a hundred spying eyes.”

His voice was cold, his eyes devoid of any warmth. Selena backed away slowly, looking around the house for any sign of escape. He noticed and rolled his eyes.

“Don’t bother. I’ve sealed off the entire house. When you disappeared, I thought I’d blown it. Months of careful planning, of getting you to trust me, disappeared. But I know you, Selena. I know you very well. When you didn’t immediately reappear in the Palace of Embers, or in any of the wolf’s territories, I knew your idiot mates had decided to keep you hidden. And you, in turn, would find a way to get to your father.”

“Castien,” Selena said again, her heart in her throat, her magic lashing out around her. He looked at her critically, pursing his lips a little.

“Your magic was always going to be a problem.”

The ground rumbled beneath them, the windowpanes rattling as her panic fully set in. Malek. She had to alert Malek.

She screamed, loud and shrieking, trying to direct her magic to shatter the windows, to blow the roof off, to dosomething, anything to get his attention.

As soon as she opened her mouth, all sound was cut off with a lazy wave of Castien’s hand. She gripped her throat, eyes widening.

“We only have a few hours’ head start,” he said, gathering his books and papers up into his satchel. “Thanks to you, we can be sure that all four of your mates will be after you in no time. But that’s no matter. We’ll be long gone by the time Malek gets back.”

Selena scrambled backwards, her back hitting the wall, her hands raised in front of her, her magic crackling but utterlyuseless.

“Time for a nap, don’t you think?” Castien crouched in front of her, opening a small satchel. From there, he withdrew a pinch of a strange gray dust and blew it into her eyes.

She was asleep before she hit the floor.

Chapter 24 - Malek

Malek’s hunt was swift and bloody, several deer falling to his swiping claws. He didn’t waste time, as soon as he had eaten his fill, he raced back towards the village from the rolling fields.

As he padded through the buildings, ears flicking for any strange sounds, he stopped short. There were no sounds. None at all.

With a rumbling growl, he leapt forward, striking down the door of the building where he had left Selena and the male.

It was empty.

He tore through the building, hunting for any sign of her, dread sinking deep into his bones. With every empty room, every silent doorway, his panic increased. As did his madness.

He had half-razed the village to the ground by the time he finally got a grip of himself, chest heaving and heart pounding.

She was gone.

He shouldn’t have left her. Heshouldn’thave left her. He should have stayed, should have insisted, should have ensured her safety.

Snarling, he whipped around, anger and pain and panic tumbling through his head.

There was no sign of her at all, no scent trail, no lingering magic. The male had done his job well. But why? Why risk taking her? He was an omega; as a weak male Fae, he stood to gain nothing from taking another omega. If it was power he was after, influence perhaps, he already had it. Selena had called him his friend.

There was something else going on. Malek knew that in his bones. But he didn’t know what. And he needed help.

It was time to reunite with his brothers.

Looking up at the dark sky, he knew it wouldn’t be long before another patrol would sweep over. He hadn’t recognized Kaelen among any of them so far, but it was better than nothing. He sat, his eyes trained on the stars, ears flickering and nose twitching for any sign of movement.

Come on, Kaelen, come on.

After perhaps twenty minutes, he heard the first sign. Far away, still invisible, but there nonetheless. The beating of leathery wings to the south.

He looked around. If they came across him, would they know who he was? Would they know him to be Malek, or would they assume he was just another Nightwalker prowling through an empty village, hunting for prey? He had to be sure.

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