Chapter 4: The Day I Dread

King Rays Pov

Every year on October 11, I'm forced to go from pack to pack in the kingdom looking for my mate. I spend a whole week doing this when I have more important things to do. I was six when a great battle killed the King and Queen of the Rocky Mountain Kingdom. The queen had given birth to a daughter who mysteriously disappeared during the war. My father was the King's best friend. They grew up together. My father was the King of the Green Valley Kingdom. The queen had given birth to a son around the same time I was born.

We were both 6 when the great battle was taking place. Eric and I grew up as brothers after his parents had been killed in battle. After his parents were dead, the King of the Rocky Mountain Kingdom, in his last moments, asked my father to rule both kingdoms until Eric was of age to take over. Which my father agreed to. When this happened, my father promised to find her someday and bring her back to the kingdom. Before the battle, my father and her father always said we would be mates. At the time, I thought it was a bunch of nonsense.

I was six then, but looking back, I was very protective of the queen when she announced her pregnancy. It only made sense that her father and my father thought we were to be mates. I was deep in thought when there was a knock on the door. It was my beta, Caleb.

" Are you ready, your majesty?" Caleb asked.

"As I'll ever be". I replied,

I gathered my itinerary and headed to the front of the palace. We are visiting the White Water clan. My traveling crew consisted of my beta Caleb, my omega Brittany, my sister and princess of our kingdom, and her mate Randy—also, 4 of my best warriors, Zack, Leon, Mike, and his mate Sierra. I liked to travel in our black hummers; they intimidated the clans as we pulled up, and I wanted them to have a healthy fear of and respect for me. When my wolf Nash started talking, we were traveling to the White River Clan.

" I sure hope we find our mate on this trip," Nash stated.

"Me too, Nash. I'm tired of doing this every year," I replied.

"I am to all the women dress so trashy," Nash replied.

"I know, and it's such a turn-off," I replied.

Nash crawled back into the corner of my mind. It seemed that the trip to the White River clan didn't last that long.

My beta mind-linked and told me, " We are about 20 minutes from the border."

" Thank you, Caleb". I replied.

There are always work orders to sign, building blueprints to approve, and other essential matters. We had a rogue attack two days ago, and we have them in custody. Well, all but one thought it was a good idea to get into a fight with Nash. Let's just say there are pieces of him everywhere. I had the opportunity to interrogate one of them, and he was rambling on about where the lost princess was. That she is among one of the clans in my kingdom. I wondered if King Eric of the Rocky Mountain clan had issues with rogues.

I also wanted to know why, all of a sudden, we are having an increase in rogue attacks. Also, I need to test the new warriors and see where their skills are and how much training they may need to graduate from the academy. In my kingdom, all the clans must send all their people to the academy to train them to defend the kingdom if needed. So, if we are ever at war again, everyone can protect themselves against enemies. That is one of many things King Eric and I agree about. Just as I was thinking about all the important matters I have to deal with,

"Ray, what are you going to do if you find your mate?" My sister mind-linked me.

"I doubt I will find her this year," I replied.

" What if you find her"? Brittany replies.

" If she's alive, I will take her to her brother," I replied.

"What if you find her, and she is your mate?". Brittany asks.

" I will take her back to the palace and notify her brother that I have found her," I replied.

"I hope she's alive and we find her. Her brother, King Eric, needs to know for sure what happened to her," Brittany replied.

"We are near the border of the White River Clan," Caleb states.

I dread going to the clans. As expected, there were guards all over. I wouldn't have expected anything less. As King, I was known to be a strict ruler. As we were pulling up to the first checkpoint, I noticed that there were three new guards. They looked like they were fresh out of the academy. They were shaking. They knew it was their King.

We got an escort to the pack house, where I was to meet with the alpha. Tomorrow morning, I will see if any of the young females are my mate. He's coming from his dungeon. It looks like he just punched someone. I then exited the vehicle.

"I hope whoever you disciplined had it coming," I stated.

He has a reputation among his people for being unfair, and there's a rumor that he has slaves, but I have never seen any.

"Your people at the border failed to ask for proper identification," I stated.

"They looked new, so I will let it slide this time," I stated.

"I want to look around your village, "I stated.

"As you wish," he responded.

Just then, a light breeze picked up. The scent on it is that of pine trees, vanilla, and blood.

Nash screams, "Mate."

I started running towards the dungeon.

"What is the hurry, your majesty?" Alpha Mark asks.

Alpha Mark can barely keep up with me. He stops me at the entrance to the dungeon. I can hear a prisoner who was getting tortured at the end of the hall. That's not an uncommon thing in the dungeon. The scent is so strong by the door to the dungeon. Out the door comes a middle-aged man. He is older than I. But he had someone's blood on him, and it was her blood. Alpha Mark sends Roland back into the dungeon. He continues to try and block my path. I push past him and mind link Caleb to take him into custody.

I pulled open the door to the dungeon. I went to the second cell door. I pull the door off the hinges, and to my surprise, my mate is in chains that are attached to the ceiling, and she's badly beaten.

"He made me do it," he says.

I threw him against the wall.

" Alpha Mark made me do it," Roland says.

"I'll deal with you later," the voice says.

I don't even let him explain himself. Zack has taken him into custody. I ripped the chains off her wrist, took my shirt off, and wrapped her in it. Caleb already has the car waiting, and I jump into the back seat, and he drives to our hospital.

"Take everyone into custody," I ordered.