A Queen Among Snakes: Chapter Twenty-Seven - Chris

I roll up my sleeves, head over to the kitchen area and get to work on making chorizo carbonara. It’s one of my specialties and I know for a fact Mei loves it. She usually goes through three or four helpings, so I always make sure I make a large amount of it. I think nagatas have high metabolisms just like a mutolupus, which I think makes sense.

I check the time and know she should be finishing up with Setia right about now and through the bond I can feel that her adrenaline is calming down, so she should be at the cool-down portion of her training. With just enough time, I set the table, transfer the food to a large dish and take it over to the table. I then serve up two plates and garnish them – not that it’s needed, but I want it to look fancy.

“Should we go with scented or unscented candles with dinner?” I ask Axel.

“Definitely unscented. It would only distract from the smell of the food.”

“Excellent point, good looking out as always, Axel,” I commend him.

“Always a pleasure, Chris,” he says while managing an awkward salute with his paw. I can’t help but laugh. Points for effort though.

I grab some white candles from the kitchen drawer, place them in some candle holders – not silver ones – and set them on the table. I step back and smile at my presentation feeling very proud of myself.

Mei loves simplicity since even the simplest things are more than what she’s used to, but I love spoiling my woman. The smile that comes over her face when I do things like this… there’s nothing in this world that can describe it.

I head over to dim the lights when I start to feel shock, which quickly turns to panic. I know immediately where it’s coming from.

“Is Mei having another panic attack?” Axel whines.

This doesn’t feel like a panic attack, this feels like something else. This isn’t panic that comes from anxiety. I can feel her adrenaline starting to spike and my entire body is on alert. An alarm bell practically sounds in my head when pure terror catapults through me. The second I feel it I’m out the door moving as fast as I possibly can, following my bond with Mei.

“Mei?! Mei what’s happening?!” I shout through the link.

Just as I hit the backdoor of the packhouse I’m knocked off my feet, clutching my neck as agonising pain spreads through my neck and body, at the same moment I can hear screams coming from the forest.

“Someone’s hurting Mei!” Axel growls as I try to get to my feet. Fear and adrenaline like I’ve never felt are coursing through me; my only thoughts on finding Mei.

“Chris! Chris, what’s wrong?!” Shouts Vitali coming from behind me.

“Mei!” I yell at him as I let Axel take over the shift. My clothes are torn from my body, and after a moment of searing heat Axel is bolting off into the forest. We can hear Vitali’s wolf Blaise quickly catching up to us, but I pay him no attention because I’m suddenly painfully aware that I can’t feel Mei anymore.

Axel picks up the pace, and I feel like someone has my heart in a vice. She’s not dead, I’d feel it if she were, but something is blocking her from me. We make it to a path that leads to the Temple of Morrtemis when Axel catches Mei and Setia’s scents. Axel skids to a halt, snarling and sniffing the air wildly. Setia is on the ground, badly injured and writhing and crying in pain, but Mei is nowhere to be seen.

Setia reaches out, clutching Axel’s paw, “He has… Mei,” she struggles to say and at that moment I feel all the blood leave my body.

“Go find Mei, I’ll take care of Setia. I’ve already alerted Amelia,” Vitali’s voice says in my mind.

Axel doesn’t hesitate. He takes off, following Mei’s scent. It’s different though, it smells tainted. There’s a single set of footprints in the earth, so whatever fucker took her is carrying her, but there’s no scent for this mystery person.

Axel continues to follow Mei’s scent while I shout through our link, begging and hoping she’ll reply, but I get nothing but silence on the other end. I don’t know what to do, so I just keep screaming for her.

Before I know it Axel has hit the road where we stumble upon a set of tire tracks in the dirt. The tracks fade as soon as they reach the road and Mei’s scent disappears along with the tracks. Axel lets out an agonised howl of despair and I feel like my soul was just ripped from my body.

She’s gone.

Someone took her.

I promised Mei I would always protect her, that I would never let anyone hurt her again and I failed. I should have been there. Axel is inconsolable and is now running aimlessly just hoping to catch a whiff of her scent, but there’s nothing.

I feel numb. Like every ounce of hope and happiness was just sucked out of me. I wasn’t even aware where Axel was going or what he was doing until out of nowhere Zara jumps right in his path. He pushes his paws out to halt himself to keep from crashing into his Alpha and then proceeds to try and move around her, but she blocks him off.

“Chris, listen to me. Come back to the packhouse. We need to find out what happened so we can figure out how to get Mei back,” Amelia calmly says in my head.

I know Zara is probably talking to Axel, but he’s not calming down. He’s snarling and full of rage. I don’t have the strength to even try and calm him down. What’s the point?

My depressive thoughts are interrupted when Zara’s large paw swipes Axel across his muzzle drawing blood. It fucking hurt!

“Dammit, Chris, snap the fuck out of it! I understand you and Axel are hurting, but if you want to find Mei I need you with us. We won’t stop until we find her, I swear to you. The warriors and patrols are out searching the territory and our best trackers are trying to follow her trail. That’s all we can do for now. So please, come back with me so we can talk to Setia and find out what happened, okay?” She says gently as Zara nuzzles Axel. I can feel Axel starting to calm down.

“Amelia’s right. If we’re going to get her back we need to be smart about this, we can’t just go running around aimlessly. We need to be a team and we need the pack’s help,” I try to tell Axel.

He whines as his despair merges with my own, “We have to find her, Chris. We can’t lose her,” he says brokenly.

“I know,” I say as I try to comfort him through our bond as best I can. “We’re going to get her back. I don’t know how, but we’ll find a way. We’re not giving up,” I swear to him, and to me. I’ll give up when I’m dead.

“I’m holding you to that,” he nods, and soon he’s following Zara back to the packhouse. Our first step is to talk to Setia and find out what happened.