Chapter 8 8

MAX’S POV

I slipped away from the door, my mind forcing me to repulse their gathering even though there was possibly other information I might be getting. But I couldn't stand there and hear them address Valeria like she was just a pawn, an object to be played with and tossed away at the end of the game.

I thought she would be happy with the twin, I believe she would. If not for anything, then for the fact that they were her mate and would not harm her in any way. But boy, was I wrong!

With a spiralling thought, I rushed down the hallway, thinking back to the memories of Valeria I had tried so hard to tug away. My guilt knew just the right places to look. She had warned me, she complained about how she was being treated. But what did I make of that? She was just a fussy child incapable of acknowledging the blessing she had. If only I had opened my eyes to her pain.

I recalled that faithful day she begged me to run away with her, to start a new life somewhere else. I was so blinded by my responsibility in the pack, the need to impress the Alpha that I turned down her offer without hesitation. Goddess, I was so wrong. How I wish I didn’t. The story could have taken a very different path right now.

I didn’t even realize I had stopped moving forward and was pacing the corridor in circles until one of the guards walked past and gave me a weird look. That didn’t pull me out of my trance though. I was thinking about the best way to approach this, to get Valeria back before any of them could. I might not be aware of a lot of things, but I know a few things for sure. Valeria wasn’t safe with the Lycan and neither will she be safe back with the twin. It was my duty now to step in and get her to safety.

I made up my mind, to pick a horse and ride to the Lycan’s territory as early as tomorrow comes. I will meet with the Alpha and try to reason things through with him without anyone having to raise their sword. We could bargain and reach a compromise. Whatever it will be, I will make sure to take Valeria away from him, away from everyone who doesn't regard her with importance. She doesn't deserve to be treated like a filthy object. If they were going to use her as bait, I would find a way to reach her first.

I was so enraged, focused on getting myself away from them that I nearly missed the beta that passed beside me, seeming to he in his own world, a box at hand. He was headed toward the direction I had just left which only implied one thing, he was taking whatever was in that box to them. He held it as though it held the world within it. My curiosity got scraped at and I followed behind him gradually.

Apparently, I don’t even need to be careful because he was so engrossed in getting the message where it belongs that he barely noticed anything ongoing in his surroundings.

He reached the throne room in no time, barged in without even bothering to knock, and banged the door closed behind him. As my luck was on the bright side, the door hit the door sill with force and reopened slightly instead of remaining closed, just the way it was before I had been able to peep through.

“Your Highness…..a message arrived just now from the Lycan pack. It seemed the king of the Lycans had responded to your own message.” Hearing the content of his speech, I was glad I turned back, at least now I will have a better idea of where to start saving my best friend from.

“In a box?” Godric deadpanned, staring at his beta unimpressed. He definitely wasn’t fond of the enthusiasm the fella walked in with. To him, it was probably as though his beta held the Lycan in high regard.

The room went eerily quiet after he snatched the box from his beta and creaked the lid of the box open. Even from where I stood, the metallic scent of blood hit me before I got to see the contents of the box. It took whatever self-reserve I had to hold myself up and not allow my wobbly legs to give up on me.

Was she hurt? Did he kill her? What the heck was inside that box?

It equally took a larger amount of self-discipline than I care to admit for me to not go in there and snatch the box so I can see for myself what was in it.

Godric’s face was unreadable as he stared. One of the twins reached inside the box and snatched out a bloodied skirt.

“He killed her,” Godric whispered the same words I was thinking.

Ryan scoffed in his usual manner and grabbed the skirt from his brother. “This is interesting.” He chuckled to himself, turning the skirt around.

“Killing her is interesting to you?” Godric’s eyes widened. “That will make our plan even harder to accomplish.”

“Don’t you see? This isn’t the blood of murder. More like the blood of a virgin. They were intimate and he wanted to rub it off our faces.”

I was relieved over the fact that he didn’t kill her but quickly disturbed by the new information

“He is mocking me?” Godric spoke at last, his voice low and filled with fury.

“Clearly.” Knox looked just as annoyed as Godric.

“He is declaring war without saying a word.”

“Well….at least she is alive..” the beta chimed in, earning him a glare from all across the room.

“If the Lycan wishes for a war, I will give him one, let’s go on with the plan.”

Before anyone could turn for the door, I slipped back into the shadows of the hall, my decision burning even brighter than before.

If they can wage a war between themselves all they want, but not before I find Valeria and get her out of there first.