Chapter 3: A Strange Tantalizing Smell

Chapter 3: A Strange Tantalizing Smell

Alpha King Caspian's POV:

"Your Highness, if you would kindly follow me," said the woman, trying once again to gain my attention away from the intended direction I had planned on traveling.  "Our Alpha is in his study if you would follow me to go and speak with him. We can start the business conversation early until breakfast is ready."

I looked over at her and slightly squinted my eyes a bit. Then, I suddenly moved toward the lower set of stairs. She did not seem all that pleased with the choice of my direction. Next thing, Maxwell finally reached the top of the stairs with four other Warriors, as he saw me start to walk down the stairs at a rather swift pace. She was right on my heels and closely followed by my Beta. I was not sure what I was looking for, but I knew I would know what it was when I found it. Once I got to the bottom level, there was a long and dark hall with minimal lighting. I do not recall it being like this the last time I was down here.

Then I noticed that the scent I was following was much stronger now. I knew we were getting close, although I still did not know what it was that we were looking for exactly. As I recall, I had never come across that scent before and we were here about six months ago. What could it mean?! I started walking down the dark hall as I pondered my thoughts about the reasons and possibilities of what it could mean. Then, all at once, I was interrupted by Cash once again.

'Here! The scent is here! Open the door, hurry!' (Cash insisted.)

I tried for the handle when I reached one of the rooms where the scent was most robust, as the scent came from the other side of this particular door. I was angered to find that the door was locked and I growled harshly as I turned to face the woman who followed me all this way. What was she trying to hide? I wanted an answer, but instead of trying to ask her, I was going to find out the answer for myself and then ask questions later. I turned back to face the door once more as I was mad that I had originally found it locked in the first place. What was behind this door that my wolf was desperate to get to, I wondered.

'Break it down! You have to get in there NOW! Hurry!' (Cash was demanding me now.)

I leaned back and burst in through the door, which caused the door to literally split in two and even come off its hinges. I rushed into the room to find a man holding a whip. He quickly turned around to face me as my entrance had caught him off guard and he even took a few steps back upon seeing me. I looked at what he was using the whip on and I couldn't believe what I saw. There was a seemingly young woman who was hanging from a chain that was located in the center of the room. She was hanging there by her wrists and she was barely awake at that point. I was furious and growled harshly, which caused the room to shake.

'Mate! MATE! Found MATE! Must Kill. KILL HIM for hurting MATE!!' (Cash was screaming and demanding to be released.)

As I looked at her in shock, she tried to peer up at me in fear and even whimpered a bit at the sound of my roar. As I took a step toward her, she winced and then, lost all consciousness due to her frail condition. I stopped walking as I studied her face a bit, which was bleeding, and her clothes were torn and barely hanging on her body. I could not believe what I was looking at. I was even more furious at this point. That was when I turned back around to face the woman who was standing directly in front of Maxwell.

"This is a servant, Your Highness," the woman said as if that was going to help her out of this situation. "She is being punished for her insolence and lack of respect for the other members of the house. We are tending to her."

'Grab her!' (I said via Mind Link and I almost yelled it out loud as I tried to contain my anger, let alone my Wolf.) 'Take the man there too!'

"This is what you call punishment?!" I growled and the very walls themselves shook even more than before.

At that, the dirt fell from the very walls themselves as I walked over to her. I then continued my rant. I have been known to topple smaller buildings with the sound of my roar and even more so when Cash was out and got the chance to roar himself. No one has ever tested me before and lived to tell about it to this degree. The fact they think this is the right way to handle any kind of punishment makes me ever so furious. All my packs knew how I previously told them things would be handled and this was not that. If they were not able to take care, then they should have brought the issue to me.

"This is the kind of punishment you would show a grown man. She looks like a girl, not even a woman yet! What could she have possibly done to deserve this kind of punishment?!"

"Well, she..." she tried to say as I turned back around to reach for the chain that held my mate in place, as I was determined to get her down and free from that position.

"It was rhetorical!" I growled, snapping my head back around to face the woman once more, as I had just removed the leather-bound cuffs free from the hanging chain.

'Get them out of here!' (I demanded via Mind Link.)

'Promptly, Your Highness.' (I heard them all say in unison.)

I had to get them out of the room as my wolf was pressing on the barrier pretty hard so that he could take care of his own business. Once I had her lying in my arms, I touched her chin and lifted it ever so gently so that I could finally look at her face. Her eyes were closed and swollen and I noticed that her nose was broken and still bleeding. I reached into my suit pocket and pulled out a handkerchief and placed it ever so gently on her nose. When I lifted her, she whimpered and winced in pain as if she was still out of it.

"It's okay, baby, you're safe now," I said as I tried to talk in a calm tone when the matter of fact was that I was beyond furious at that point.

'Bring the car around front NOW!' (I sent a message via Mink Link.)

'Promptly, Your Highness.' (I heard a response say.) 'Two minutes out.'

'Let me out!' (Cash demanded at me.)

'She needs me to carry her, Cash. There is no way she can walk on her own.'

'I know. I just want the ones responsible to pay for what they did to Mate!'

'You mean our Mate. She belongs to me just as much as she belongs to you.'

When I turned around, Maxwell was standing there. He had a blanket in his arms this time. He started to walk over to me and I could not help the growl that was emitted from deep within my throat, where Maxwell stopped walking altogether. He looked up at me and I nodded for him to continue to walk to me and gently place the blanket on top of her. I knew the growl was a possessive growl for our Mate as Cash wanted to protect her from further injury. I knew what Maxwell's intent was and that was to place a cover over her so she would not be seen by all the others once we left this room.

The fact she was being tortured was one thing, but being seen in this state, I would not allow it, hence the cover laid over her. However, considering the current state of our Mate, Cash was not wanting anyone to come near her at that moment, including my Beta, Maxwell. When he placed the blanket on top of our mate in my arms, she winced with the weight of the blanket that was placed on top of her. I frowned intently. I held her as carefully as I could in my arms as I walked out of the room she was in. I swiftly headed for the stairs that we used to come down here in the first place.

When I finally reached the top of the stairs, as I walked up them two by two, there were numerous people in the hallway now. I guess they heard the commotion and came to check it out, as it was now time for breakfast. Food was the furthest thing on my mind at that point. My one and only concern was getting her to the Imperial Clinic so we could see to her injuries. My only problem was whether we were going to arrive there in time to be able to save her life. She seemed to be hanging on by a thread and I was not going to lose her as we had just found her.