Chapter 4: Caught

Cohen

“LET GO OF ME!” The tiny brunette she-wolf screamed and snarled as my unforgiving men dragged her kicking and screaming into Tyr from the wilderness of the dark forest. 

I knew she would be one hell of a specimen to trap, but I was still reeling at the level of behaviors I continued to witness come from this sexy hazel-eyed vixen of a female in front of me. 

“GET OFF OF ME YOU FILTHY ANIMALS!” She proceeded to screech, “LET ME GO!”

I expected her to try the obvious self-defense moves such as trying to kick my men in the nuts. Yawn. Boring. 

I expected her to use her claws and try to scratch, bite, and literally claw her way out of a jam. Again. Yawn. Boring. 

We had her beat in sheer strength alone, although she was much stronger than I would have initially expected her to be, just from her petite frame alone. She got a few good hits in on Desmund and Onyx, but that only fueled them up more. 

I walked proudly as Onyx and Luca continued to pull her into the pack house palace, Desmond, a pack warrior, following right behind them to block her in and force her forward. What had me still so intrigued was the fact that even though she KNEW she was trapped and captured, she STILL had the tenacity and feisty fighting spirit to never give up. She had the attitude of someone going down fighting like hell and taking everyone down with her. 

My kind of girl.

“Holy shit man! Who's the screeching she-banshee?” Thomas, a gamma for our pack, asked me as I walked up to the pack house entrance.

I could feel all the excitement and buzz of power and electricity that began to swirl and circulate through the house, knowing that a breedable she-wolf was on pack grounds, and she was likely their future Alpha King’s mate! 

I gave the gamma a glare to show my dominance, pushing my aura out on him to intimidate him and Thomas quickly corrected himself, “Uh, sorry, Future Royal Beta Cohen, is that Future Alpha King Colt’s mate?”

“I suggest you don’t ask questions that could get you killed,” I growled as I walked past Thomas and into the pack house towards my room. I couldn’t wait for a shower and some time to myself to relax. Even though I did want to see that magnificent creature and watch her feisty spirit unfold into the night, I was exhausted from all the patrols and search parties I’ve headed up in the past week alone. 

I needed sleep, and from the looks I was getting as I passed others in the hallways and corridors, I needed one hell of a shower to remove the stench and grime that covered my body.

I lived for the hunt and I was one of the best trackers in the entire realm, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t exhausted from the constant searching I did until I successfully found Colt’s mate; our mate.

I walked into the main hall of the pack house palace; a grand galley soaked in golds, creams, whites, and of course our pack color - blue.  I felt a gentle tug of pressure building up in my mind, telling me someone was trying to speak to me through the mind-link.

‘Cohen, did you make sure she made it into the pack house safely?’ The familiar voice of my Future Alpha King Colt was unmistakable. 

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Good. See to it that she is settled in her new living quarters.’ Colt stated before cutting the link.

I took a deep sigh before running my hand down my face. I supposed the shower and rest would have to come later. Colt was probably updating his father on the news and also fighting his wolf for dominance. 

Once we find our mate, our wolf wants to mark them immediately. For an alpha, that is a struggle, for a Royal Alpha, it is damn near impossible to do upon first sight. I got to Colt BARELY in time to hold him back from marking her when he first spotted her during the hunt. 

Alpha King Vale didn’t want Colt near the hunt for that exact reason, but we were at an impasse and it was either, invite Colt to help us pin his mate down, or don’t invite him and allow his mate to slip through our search party lines yet again.

I was exhausted; Onyx, our head Delta and pack mate was also worn down and he made the call for me. We had caught her, but almost at the cost of Colt going feral on his future mate.

All our wolves were on the verge of going feral enough as it was without a female she-wolf birth in over 30 years, aside from this miracle she-wolf. Everyone was beginning to lose hope. The last thing we needed was our last chance at a she-wolf mate dying because our Prince couldn’t control his wolf in her sights.

I’m glad he helped with the search and cornering her. He was able to scent her and find her by feeling for her aura just long enough for his wolf to know she was there without him going nuts while we were still out in the city, but if I hadn’t grabbed him when I did while Onyx, Luca and Desmund grabbed the she-wolf, he might have done something irreversible and detrimental to the kingdom.

Then ALL our asses would have been on the line and I couldn’t have that. It was a risky call that almost went south. I sent Colt back to the palace before Renlee, his wolf, and he could really get a good look at her. If Renlee had caught her scent AND locked eyes with her - we would have been so FUCKED. 

Colt and his wolf were stronger than any other wolf in the kingdom. I would even argue that at this point his strength has surpassed his father’s. No one would have been able to stop his wolf from taking his mate in that field if I hadn’t intervened at the exact moment that I did.

***

Robyn

I was taken to the palace pack house quickly without ceremony. I put up one hell of a fight but once I arrived at the palace, I was a bit dumbfounded. I wasn’t expecting the treatment that I received.

The fierce green-eyed man that essentially single handedly tracked and cornered me, I learned, was named Cohen. He was tall and always pushed out a strong and proud aura, but it didn’t seem to be as strong as mine. He must be a beta. I held my aura back to protect Zara. No one could know she was an Alpha female.

Their pack house was more like a damn palace. It was so massive! Everything was painted and coated in shimmery and shiny golds, creams, and whites with a royal blue accent throughout. It almost made you feel like you were walking through a haze or a dream-like place. Very ‘fairy-tale-esque’. At least that was all I had to compare it to…the fairy tale books my mother used to read me as a pup. 

There were two sets of giant staircases leading up to the second floor and down two hallways upstairs. Downstairs in the main foyer where we stood as I stopped in utter shock and amazement, was beautiful with a large white round table with a massive vase filled with gorgeous roses, carnations, babies breath, and some other greenery. The roses were a creamy white while the carnations were all a beautiful royal blue. So unnatural and weird.

Two additional hallways appeared to lead to other places in the palace behind the staircases and right at the entrance you could see two hallways, one on each side that led to what I would assume would be guest rooms. 

I was awestruck but not so much that I didn’t continue to try and break free of the guards holding my arms, pulling me through the halls. 

“LET ME GO!” I continued to shout. 

The guards ignored me, continuing to pull me along. As we progressed further into the palace, multiple strange scents caught my attention but I was too distracted to even decipher what they were. 

My attention quickly shifted, when a ton of people that had apparently heard me screaming came to see what all the commotion was all about. I was caught off-guard because they weren’t laughing, they were smiling and looked genuinely happy to see me! Were these creatures delusional?!

Had I misjudged this place before arriving instead of actually using my own two eyes to see for myself what kind of place this was? Had I been a fool to listen to everything my mother told me and accept it all as fact without any proof or detail?

“Follow me,” he stated with a sigh as the guards holding onto me began pulling me towards a set of stairs Cohen began to ascend.

“I’ve done nothing wrong! LET GO OF ME!” I wasn’t giving up! I didn’t care how I looked to everyone that continued gawking and staring from the corridors and hallways we had passed.

“If you’d stop screaming, kicking and thrashing and follow me, my guards would be thrilled to leave you alone and let go of you. In fact, they want nothing more than to run from you,” Cohen stated, looking me up and down looking disapprovingly at me and sounding as if he was a bit annoyed and bored with my behavior. 

I looked to the guards faces. They looked frustrated and helpless. He wasn’t lying. They wanted to get away from me as fast as they could at this point. The taller guard to my left was rubbing at his thigh and adjusting his protective gear he was wearing while the short and stocky one of my right looked like he was bracing himself for the next kick. 

I sighed and conceded, “Fine. I will follow you. For now.”

I heard the guards let out a deep sigh of relief as if they had been holding their breaths hoping I would cooperate so they would no longer be subjected to my presence.

“You are dismissed,” Cohen instructed the guards and they immediately let go of me and left. 

When I finally began walking again, I made my way upstairs with Cohen’s escort. He didn’t look too happy to come back to the entrance to get me earlier and now he just seemed tired as he led me down another hallway.

He took me into a massive room behind a door down two corridors. I was already lost and turned around in this maze. 

Upon going through the door, I realized it was an entrance to someone’s home!

“Welcome to the palace, my lady!” An older she-wolf in her late forties bowed to me, smiling and greeting me.

“Welcome my lady!” The rest of the omega’s bowed and repeated to me in a receiving line as I was gently pulled along by Cohen.

Why was everyone being so nice to me? Why didn’t they throw me into the dungeons as a traitor to the crown? Or immediately kill me? 

I figured I would get this out of the way and start asking all the questions to Cohen, since he apparently knows what is going on.

“What is going on? Why is everyone being so nice to me?” I asked as Cohen continued to walk me into a bedroom to the waiting maids that I assumed were older she-wolves. They could all be my grandma, by the looks of each of them with their age showing through their worn and wrinkled faces and graying hair. 

“These are your personal maids. They are here to help you…get comfortable. If you need anything, ask them and they will get what you need, for you,” Cohen explained to me.

The three older women came up to me and began trying to take my jacket off and take the bag I was clinging to away from me. I looked to Cohen for some kind of indication that what they were trying to do was okay.

Cohen wouldn’t look at me. He was rubbing his eyes, holding the doorknob, leaning against the door frame to the room.

“Miss, we are just going to get these washed and cleaned up for you…if you would follow us this way into the washroom, please?” One of the older she-wolves with kind eyes smiled gently at me as if asking for my permission. It seemed like this woman was the one in charge of the three and was already trying to walk me into the bathroom.

“I’ll leave you ladies to your work,” Cohen said as he turned to leave the room.

I looked at him, panicked, “Why am I here? Where are you going? What do you want with me?!” 

“Come, come, miss, this way. Everything will be just fine,” Cooed the second omega. She seemed a bit younger, but still very much an omega, just trying to serve her Alpha and follow her orders.

I stopped moving, waiting for Cohen to respond. When he realized I wasn’t budging without an answer from him, he looked up and directly into my eyes. Why was his intense stare so sexy? Was he thinking about what to say?

“Everything will be explained to you in time. Just…do as your maids ask of you for now. Dinner will be in two hours,” Cohen stated with a tired smile as he left the room. I could tell he was trying not to get too personal with me and tell me anything before he was supposed to, damn betas - always following orders! 

I spent the next two hours with the three old omegas. They scrubbed my skin until it was almost raw to clean all the dirt and debris away. They washed my hair, combed, and dried it, before putting it up into a delicate and beautiful up-do. Then, they dressed me in some of the most exquisite clothes I think I have ever seen in my entire life. 

I felt overwhelmed by this unusual treatment. I mean, who hunts a bitch down to then take them to the nicest part of the palace, where they wait on you hand and foot, only to kill you hours later when you finally meet the Alpha King?! I couldn’t help but continue to grow suspicious and decided that I should continue to proceed with caution.

“Dinner will be in fifteen minutes, my lady,” the third and eldest looking she-wolf omega stated with a smile across her face. 

“My, my, my she does look SO pretty! OOOO…ladies we haven’t helped a young lady in waiting in SO many years! This is such a treat!” Squealed the second omega. She had long curly gray hair that almost looked wiry but was still soft. She had many wrinkles, or what they liked to refer to as - “wise-year lines”. They were nice and were quickly growing on me. They weren’t Oma or Mom, that was for sure, but at least they weren’t she-bitches.

I took note of the three omega’s names as I continued to observe them as they busied themselves with helping me get cleaned up, grooming, and dressing me all to present me to someone I had to assume. Why else would they announce dinner and dress me up like a princess?

The more I thought about every detail of the way everyone was behaving and treating me had me completely baffled. I was the daughter of the Alpha that betrayed the Alpha King. I was branded a traitor alongside my mother. But here, I felt like they were treating me like I was the next in line to the throne for goddess’s sake!

“Oh! Well! She is the most beautiful of all those before her, that is for sure, Barb!” the first she-wolf omega giggled. Barb. The eldest omega’s name was Barb. I continued to listen and observe.

“What’s your name sweetie?” Barb asked me as she spritzed some scent in my face making me cough before I could answer.

I considered not telling the omegas my name. I thought long and hard about remaining mute until I got some answers; but ultimately, I always ended up losing in the end on that track with every scenario I played out in my mind. I sighed and let out all my frustrations as I exhaled. These omegas were sweet, old she-wolves that have probably gone through some horrible things in their time. I don’t need to be any more difficult than I already have been to them. 

“Robyn, ma’am. Who are you and where am I?” I tried the nice and mannered approach.

“Oh dear, my, where have our manners been ladies?” Barb spoke for the three of them.

The first omega smiled, wiping her hands from finishing up doing my hair, “I’m Jazlyn, but they all call me Jazzy.” I smiled and said hello to her politely.

“I am Barbara. I do all your meal preparations and bring you your needs from the kitchens. Jazzy is responsible for helping you maintain your hair and all your favorite styles and fashions, and that there,” she pointed to the second omega, who was filing her nails, and continued, “is Nina! She is in charge of your schedule and wardrobe needs.”

Well, that answered one of my two questions. This was going to take some time if I was ever going to get anywhere with these three old omegas. I was beginning to get frustrated.

Had the Alpha King captured me? No, he would execute me on the spot for being my father’s daughter. The traitor’s daughter. My mother made sure I knew exactly who was responsible for my father’s untimely death, and the seizure of our pack members. He would have every reason to want me dead. Not being treated like a literal princess, parading around a fancy palace. 

No.

I was scared at the realization that hit me. Who the FUCK was trying to control ME? Who was trying to trap me? Who DID trap me?

“Okay, Barb, Jazzy, and Nina. It’s nice to meet you all. Can you please tell me where I am?” I begged them.

They looked at each other and Nina quickly spoke, “It is time for you to go to dinner my lady! Let me show you the way!”