Chapter 1

Third Person's POV 

The ground is so cold. Every bone in his body hurts. He has no concept of time, nor day or night. He doesn't know what year it is or how long he's been kept in this dark, damp cell. His body is so weak he barely has the strength to roll over. It's been so long since he's had blood. They give him just enough to keep him alive. They wait until he's on the brink of death, and before he fades away, they give him just enough to barely keep him alive. 

The wounds from the beating hours ago won't heal. Blood trickles down his body, pooling on the floor around him. 

Nadja coughs and then hisses at the pain in his broken ribs. The Elder spits out blood that he coughed up from his lungs. He wishes there was at least a sliver of light, but only darkness surrounds him. 

The Elder closes his eyes and pictures her face for the millionth time. He sees her beautiful, long blonde hair bouncing as she runs toward him. Her bright blue eyes sparkle as she smiles. He remembers the warmth of her skin against him when she jumped into his arms. 

He wonders how different she looks now. He wishes he knew how much time has passed. It feels like an eternity. Sometimes, he swears he can hear her voice as if it were a prayer to him from far away. Sometimes, he feels as though she's close, and he tries to reach out to her, but it's like reaching out to a ghost. 

He wonders if maybe too much time has passed. Maybe she gave up and moved on. After all, she was only 13 when he went missing. Way before she ever felt the mate bond with him. 

He wonders how her life has turned out. He hoped it turned out beautiful. He wonders if she found someone who treats her like a queen and took her as a chosen mate. Maybe they even adopted children, maybe a dozen.  

Tears rolled down the elder's cold skin as he lay on the cold floor. The Elder is surprised he has any tears left. 

Nadja wonders how his son and Blake are doing. He wonders how old his grandson is and hates that he wasn't there to see him grow up. The Elder lets out a shaky breath as he closes his eyes, wishing for his end. 

                                                         ~

The ice flows through his hands as he creates a dagger that flies from his hand when released. The soon-to-be Alpha King swiftly moves through the room as his ice dances around him in the wind that swirls. Grayson's red eyes glow, and he smirks when he catches the vampire's hand reaching for his chest. Grayson clicks his tongue as he slowly shakes his head. 

The Vampire screams as his body begins to glow blue from the electricity pulsing through it. Grayson's eyes glow brighter, and the hybrid flinches when the vampire's head explodes. 

“Oh, fucking gross!” Ezra said, a look of disgust on his face. 

Grayson laughs as he wipes the bloody chunks from his face and then reaches out to his left, catching the knife that was thrown at him. 

Grayson turns, and his eyes meet the vampire that threw it. Grayson smirks when he takes the blade and presses it against his cheek. The sound of skin burning sizzles, and the smell is foul. The vampire's eyes widen.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” The Vampire couldn't believe what he was seeing. What werewolf would want to permanently scar their face with silver? 

Grayson laughs as he pulls the blade away from his face and then begins twirling it in his hand. The vampire watches in shock as Grayson's skin begins to heal before his eyes. 

“How is that possible? That's not possible! That blade is silver, you shouldn't be healing!” 

“And you shouldn't be breathing!” Grayson said, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of the vampire with his hand through his chest. The vampire's mouth opens, and his eyes widen. 

“I'm not just any werewolf, and I'm not just any hybrid. I have royal blood from the Vampire King's bloodline and the Alpha King's bloodline running through my veins. Silver isn't permanent for me!” Grayson said before pulling his hand back and ripping out the vampire's heart. 

“Where's Evelyn?” Ezra asks when he looks around and doesn't see her.

They look at each other wide-eyed when they realize she's not there. They quickly exit the room and race down the hall. The brothers slide to a stop and see white hair bouncing as she dances around the room. Her body moves as she dances circles around the vampires, who almost look dizzy trying to catch her.  

Her long, razor-sharp claws slice through their skin when she brings herself close enough. Their bodies drop one by one, and then she comes to a stop after the last one falls. 

“Did you find anything?” Evelyn asked, raising an eyebrow when Grayson picked up a head that rolled toward him. 

The soon-to-be Alpha King grabbed a handful of hair and lifted the head, looking at the vampire's face with curiosity. 

“He's an ugly fucker!” Grayson said, then chucked it at Ezra. Ezra's eyes widened, and with the flick of a wrist, the head went flying in the opposite direction. 

“Will you fucking grow up!” Ezra scolds.

“Will you quit acting like you're a 100-year-old man with a stick up his ass!” Grayson said as he walked toward the head that was still rolling and then kicked it toward Ezra. 

“You're ridiculous!” Ezra said before punting the head as hard as he could back towards Grayson and then laughing when it hit his shin. 

“Ow! That shit hurts!” Grayson complained as he lifted his leg and held his shin. 

Evelyn stormed back into the room, shaking her head at the brothers. 

All three heads look toward the door at the back of the room when it bursts open, and more vampires flood in. 

“He's not here, so let's get out of here,” Evelyn said as she grabbed Grayson and then reached out and grabbed Ezra. 

Ezra's lip tugged up when he felt something he'd been looking for but had stayed just out of grasp until this moment. His eyes began to glow red as he raised his hand and snapped his fingers. Evelyn took a sharp breath in when the 10 vampires who flooded into the room suddenly dropped to the floor. 

Evelyn slowly turned her head to look at Ezra. 

“You mean to tell me you could have done that the entire time we've been here, and you're just now doing it?” Evelyn looked at Ezra, shocked. The Vampire shrugged his shoulders casually, and the Omega rolled her eyes. 

“Unbelievable!” Evelyn said before the ground underneath her feet disappeared.

When the ground reappeared under their feet, all three froze at the many eyes glaring at them. 

Reid, Noah, Michael, Asher, Lexon, and Aero stood before them, their arms folded, waiting for the three. 

Evelyn's mouth opened, but Michael silenced it when he raised his hand. Lexon stepped past Michael, coming to a stop in front of the two boys. His eyes went to Ezra and locked on him. 

“I thought we had this conversation… several times! You three are not ready to take on the vampires running these underground rinks by yourselves!”

“We took them down with no problem!” Ezra stated with his head held high. He hated it when they treated him like he was still a child. He was 18, and soon, his powers would be at full strength. When that happens, he'll be above the elders, and he'll take his place on the throne. 

“You might have taken this one down with no problem, but what happens if you encounter something unexpected and one of you gets hurt? Everything doesn't always happen as you think it should. Look at us; 10 years ago, we were bringing down one of these joints almost weekly. We thought we had them because we had the same weapons: an ancient Elder, myself, who is even now still considered a young Elder, and Aero, who at the time was in training to be an elder. But you know what? They had something we didn't know about, and it caused us to lose Nadja. Things change and don't always go as planned.” Lexon said, trying to get Ezra to see reason.

Evelyn’s lip trembled when she heard Lexon talk about that day. She tries not to think about it, pushing it away whenever it comes to her mind. But she couldn't push this away. It made her remember begging him not to go. Everything in her screamed something was going to happen to him, and it did. She finds herself once again wishing she would have held onto him and forced him to stay. She wishes she had held onto her Nadja as tight as she could and never let him go. 

A tear broke free and rolled down her cheek. Noah's heart broke, and he stepped forward, reaching for his daughter, but she rushed past them.

Noah turned toward the door. He wanted to go after her, but he didn't. He knew where she was going. She was going to the person she turns to these days, her little brother, who turns 18 soon. 

Somewhere during the past six months, the two Omegas connected on a different level. Noah was always the one she ran to, but now it's her Omega brother, Luke. It's bittersweet for Noah. He's sad that he's no longer the one she runs to, but he loves the bond his two children have formed.

Large, strong arms wrap around Noah, lifting him off the ground. Noah turns in the strong cage of his mate's arms and wraps his arms and legs around Asher. The Omega buries his face in his Alpha's neck and then takes a deep breath in. His eyes close as the strong, dominant scent wraps around him, calming the Omega. 

“You two are coming with me,” Lexon said as he grabbed Grayson and Ezra. Grayson opened his mouth to protest but stopped and groaned when the Elders' black mist swirled around them. 

Alpha Reid pinched the bridge of his nose as the room cleared out. The Alpha King lets out a breath and swears his sons will cause him to grow gray sooner than he wants to.

A hand on his arm turns the Alpha, and he smiles when Julian reaches up and pulls on his shirt, forcing Reid to lean down. Julian places his hand on Reid's face and the Alpha King closes his eyes. Tingles dance along the Alpha King's face as Julian caresses his cheek. 

Reid lets out a breath as he reaches down and grabs the back of Julian's thighs, lifting his mate into his arms. Julian smiles as his arms and legs wrap around Reid. The Omega tilts his head to the side as he pulls Reid's face toward his neck. 

“You always know when I need you,” Reid said softly as he nuzzled the Omega's neck, pressing his nose against Julian's scent gland before taking a deep breath in. The Omega's sweet scent fills his nose, and his body relaxes. The Alpha King's worries disappear as he drowns himself in his mate’s scent.