Chapter 4 - Fade to Black

Having settled down her wolf Adalyn had shifted back in to her human form. Being forced to shift by her wolf was rare but it was still scary when it did happen. She didn't understand how her wolf had so much control when she got riled up like that considering that she lay dormant most of the time.

She padded on bare feet back towards the tree where she originally shifted. Leona had neatly folder up her clothes for her and left her a note asking her to call her later. She'd have a hard time explaining to her what brought this on. Heck, Adalyn hard a hard time understanding it herself. How could she be mated to a prince of all people. Well, even if it was true, it's not like he would ever act on it. She was a commoner, a low level wolf. No common shifter in history had ever mated with nobility let alone royalty. No doubt he would be set up a with a chosen mate like his older brother Matias. Royalty very rarely had the luxury of waiting until their fated mate turned up, if at all.

Adalyn quickly threw on her clothes and folded up the note that Leona had left her. The sun was quickly setting and if she didn’t meet up with her auntie as planned, she was sure that Gabriel would soon send a search party out for her.

--

In town, the bell on the shop dinged and Mya looked up to greet her next customer expectantly. Realizing it was her niece Adalyn she smiled widely.

"Oh hey sweetie! Gabe said you was going to pop in".

"Hey Auntie…" Adalyn pulled out one of the bar stools by the assessment table and then sat down. She started fiddling with some of the glass bottles on the display cabinet directly in front of her. Her aunt sold an array of lotions and potions to shifters. Trade was good in the city and she made a decent living doing it.

Mya couldn't help but noticed that Adalyn was particular quiet today. Sensing that something was troubling her, she came around the counter and plopped down on the bar stool next to her, jolting her out of her trance.

"What's up? Do you need me to quickly whip up a potion for you? What are your symptoms?" she jested.

Adalyn couldn't help breaking out in to a small smile as her aunt lowered her glasses and playfully started examining her.

"Let me see… furrowed brow, excessive sighing, slumped shoulders…. Hmm." Mya pushed her glasses back up to the top of her nose.

"My diagnosis, guy trouble?" Mya rocked back on her chair laughing waiting for Adalyn to join her. Someone how she had accidentally hit the nail on the head. When Mya got no response she abruptly sat back up.

"Wait, is it really guy trouble??" Mya queried.

Startled Adalyn jumped back in her seat nearly falling off the back of the bar stool.

"Err no! Nothing like that!" She waved her hand vigorously in front of her face to try and throw her auntie off.

Unconvinced Mya started inspecting her face closely. "You know you're a very poor liar Ady. You always have been. Your face betrays you every time."

Adalyn eyes darted left and right as she tried to avert her aunt's deep assessing gaze which only raised her suspicions more.

"You know we can always talk to me about it. You’re a woman now so it's only natural you'll start to have these urges and desires. I remember when I was your age…."

"La la la la! Nope I'm not listening!" Adalyn plugged both her ears with her fingers and tried desperately to block out more of 'Aunt Mya's birds and the bees talk'. "What is up with you and Gabe constantly forcing me to hear about your sex lives?"

Mya halted her story and embraced Adalyn in a deep hug. "Well I'm just saying I'm here for you if you want to talk about it." With that Mya pushed up off the bar stool and went back behind the counter. She knew she wasn't going to get anywhere with her until she was ready to talk about it on her own.

Getting back to her work, Mya knelt down to tend to some boxes that had piled up on the floor. "I have just few more boxes to unpack and then we can start heading back," she called out from underneath the counter.

Adalyn suddenly remembered why she came in to town in the first place and jumped off the bar stool. She was so absorbed in her earlier encounter that she completely forgotten.

"That reminds me, I really wanted to go and check out that book store before it closes. Can I meet you back here in 10 minutes?"

Mya waved a hand from behind the counter. "Okay, but hurry up, it's getting dark out there and I don't want you out on your own for long"

Adalyn was already halfway out the door before her aunt could change her mind. "Okay! Will be right back"

The sun had already started to set and the city street lights were already starting to come on. Adalyn checked her phone again to see if she had the correct address for the bookstore.

"Where is this place?" Quickly scanning her phone again and the street sign she spotted a dimly lit alley that looked as though it would take her back to the main street. She thought it would be best to head back there and then follow her directions from the beginning again.

As she started walked through the alley her wolf suddenly pricked up her ears feeling slightly uneasy. Her wolf always had a bit of sixth sense when it came to danger. Before she could try and work out what was going on, she suddenly felt a large thick hairy arm gathering her up by her waist. A second hand swiftly covered her mouth to prevent her from screaming.

In her panic she dropped her phone to the floor and the screen shattered and went black. As the panic in her fully set in she flailed her arms and legs wildly in an attempt to loosen herself from his grip. Gabriel had told her that in a situation like this that she should relax and use her lithe figure to find an area in the chest to strike. That would make them loosen their grip and give her a chance to escape. Finding a gap in his hold she drew up her elbow and slammed it in to the side of his ribs.

The thick hairy shifter cried out and instantly released her from his hold. "You little bitch!" he yelled after her. He lurched forward to try and grab her a second time but Adalyn easily dodged him and jumped back. She was so focused on him that she failed to notice the second guy standing directly behind her. He had somehow managed to completely hide his presence. He quickly collared her throat from behind.

"Time to go to sleep" he uttered

He pressed firmly against the artery on the side of her neck and everything faded to black.

--

Back at the palace, Kai had been summoned to his brother Elias' quarters. He had a suspicion that it was discuss what had happened during the procession. As much as he lamented going, he knew that Elias was like a dog with bone when it came to anything that piqued his interest and the more he avoided him, the more likely he was to try and figure it out for himself. He just had to give up enough information to make him lose interest.

Reaching Elias' wing of the palace, Kai knocked on the door and entered.

"El..you wanted to see me?"

As Kai looked up he spotted Matias leaning against the bookcase in the corner of the room. He hadn't expected to see him here and unusually he hadn't felt his presence from outside the door. He tried to hide the surprise in his face but knew he had probably failed looking at Matias'

satisfied expression. Showing any sign of intimidation in front of his siblings, particularly Matias, was like leading a lamb to the slaughter in this place. Spotting his slight unease Elias approached from the other side of the room and gave Kai a soft nudge in the side to shift his focus.

"Hey, little bro. Glad you're here I wanted to talk to you."

Kai quickly regained his composure, realizing what Elias was trying to do.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," Kai questioned as he looked back and forth between Elias and Matias to sense the atmosphere.

"Nope, not all, I think we're done here Elias," Matias answered back. He pushed off the bookcase he was leaning against and went to walk past Kai to leave. As he was leaving he stopped halfway abruptly and rested a firm but heavy hand on Kai's shoulder. "I hope you're keeping out of trouble Kaiden. The last thing we need is more blood on our hands trying to clean up any mess that you make." Matias eyes flashed black as his wolf temporarily took over. He was trying to intimidate him again.

Everything about Matias exuded power and authority, much like their dad back when he was in his prime. From afar with his casual demeanor you could be mistaken in to thinking that he was even-tempered and approachable until you stepped into a room with him. Up close his presence instantly commanded attention.

As the first born son he was raised to lead. Whilst he was probably the strongest out of the four siblings, Kai suspected his speed would give him the edge if they were ever to go one on one and he was quickly starting to outpace him with how fast he was progressing in training, both physically and academically. That and being the child of fated royal mates also gave him particular advantages that his siblings would never have. Matias knew this but the majority of his power came not just from his strength but from his intelligence. Many battles had been won by him without him even having to set foot on enemy territory. Combined with his backing from the council; the royal board that managed the governance of the 8 packs within the southern territory, he was a man to be both feared and respected at all times.

Kai on the other hand excelled in combat and stealth covert operations. He was often drafted in to dissipate any skirmishes on the border pack lands before they began, making him equally by feared by many in the northern territories who were constantly looking for opportunities to expand their land further down south. It was these skills that had kept him alive up until now.

Having regained his composure Kai stared back at Matias dead in the eyes, erasing any signs of intimidation that he might have accidentally shown earlier.

Realizing that he wasn’t having the desired effect Matias’ eyes went back to their original cool arctic blue colour, which was one of he few traits that he and Kai shared. He released his grip from his shoulder and without turning his head, fired back to Elias, "Let me know when you've had a chance to look into what we discussed". With that he left the room. The dense heavy feeling left the room with him.

After a moment or two, Elias's hand replaced the one that Matias had left on Kai's shoulder. "Relax, ignore him. He does it to get a rise out of you. Don't take the bait."

Kai glanced back at the door and then sat down in the vacant chair in front of Elias' desk. " You say that but it feels like he's constantly looking for an opportunity for me to fuck something up. What happened with the Valley Banes pack couldn't be helped. Anybody else would have had their alpha's head for talking about father that way. I was protecting his honor."

Elias sat down in the chair opposite him. "I'm not disputing that. I would have done the same thing. Like I said, ignore him. He knows he would have done the same too." Elias slammed shut the book he had opened in front of him and rested it back on his desk. "Well enough about politics and sibling rivalry, lets talk about what happened with you today."

"Great!" Kai thought and sighed inwardly. Elias was getting straight down to business as always.

Kai attempted to feign ignorance "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about."

Elias hunched forward in his seat. "Oh don't give me that Kai, I saw the face you were making in the square earlier. You saw your mate in that crowd today didn't you?"

"Shit!" Kai accidentally mumbled under his breath. Kai predicted that if anyone was going to find out about Adalyn, Elias would have been the first. He was always incredibly perceptive and if there was anything worth knowing he’d be the first to hear about it. He had spies and associates planted in every major group or organization. This gave him access to all kinds of information. In the palace, a skill such as that meant that he knew everyone’s dirty little secrets and how to manipulate the owners of those secrets to get whatever he wanted. Despite the wealth of information that he held about corrupted members of the upper class, he very rarely used it to his own advantage unless it threatened his family or simply provided him entertainment to pass the time. Despite this he was usually easy to be around and Kai knew that he could trust him, unlike his oldest brother Matias.

"I knew it!" Elias shot up out of his seat in excitement at guessing correctly. "Well.. have you claimed her yet? How was she? Lord knows you could do with a decent fuck to get that stoic look off your face. You're too young to be looking that serious all the time. I was starting to question your preferences."

He started circling his chair waiting for a response but stopped suddenly when all he got back was a wall of silence. "Hello?? Earth to Kai." Seeing that Kai was starting to clam up Elias tried a more soft approach. "Well..what happened? Don't tell me that she rejected you?"

"No.." Kai replied curtly

"Then what?"

"It's complicated.." Kai was not in the mood for this conversation.

"It's complicated? What could be complicated about it? You meet, you fuck, you claim her. Job done."

Kai started massaging his temples with his fingers in frustration. He knew he'd have to give Elias some more information or he wouldn't let it go.

"Come on Kai, give me something," Elias probed further. "Is she a commoner? Is she an omega? Fuck me, some of the best lays I've ever had were with omegas."

"She ran off okay."

"She ran off??" Getting no response Elias took that as confirmation. There was a slight pause before Elias erupted in to a booming laugh and his knees buckled beneath him. After taking a moment to catch his breath. He looped his arm around his brother's neck in a loose headlock.

"Oh, little brother, with that expression you made earlier I can't be surprised"

Kai pushed him off. He always had that annoying habit of play fighting with him.

Elias pulled Kai out of the chair. "Some females have a habit of wanting to be chased". He leaned in to his ear and whispered. "That makes claiming the final prize so much more thrilling."

Elias pulled back from his ear then grabbed Kai firmly by both of his shoulders. "Come, lets go lets go visit Randua, if you have any chance with this girl I think you're going to need to re-familiarize yourself with the female form, otherwise she won't hang around for long. What do you say?"

Kai was no amateur when it came to his sex life but as he wasn't as flamboyant about it as Elias, Elias always assumed that Kai was inexperienced. Whilst Kai was never particularly fond of these gentleman clubs, like Randua, that Elias loved so much he had no trouble finding a woman to keep him warm at night. Women had often thrown themselves at the youngest prince and he occasionally indulged in their advances, but since discovering Adalyn he never felt interested in sleeping with anyone else, and any attempt to do so felt more like a chore.

At Randua a man could enjoy the finest food, drink and the finest women that worked there, for a fee. What went on in Randua stayed in Randua. That was the strict code that all its members and staff had to adhere to. This made it a natural safe haven for nobility to enjoy its exotic delights in complete anonymity. Elias usually used a potion to die his long dark hair blonde when he visited there but everyone knew it was him. As a frequent patron the ladies always loved it when he visited.

Whilst visiting Randua was the last thing that Kai wanted to do, he knew that if he went it would most likely keep him off his back for now. If he was lucky Elias would quickly get drunk and find a woman or two to spend the night with, then lose all interest in trying to set Kai up. Then he could sneak out before the night was over.

"Well?" Elias prompted again. Kai knew that a 'yes' was the only response that would appease him and get him to drop the interrogation.

"Okay, okay…" Kai conceded

"Fantastic!" Elias boomed triumphantly

Once outside of the place gates, Elias passed a glass vial over to Kai to drink, to change his hair to blonde. He downed it quickly then they both set off in to the night.