Chapter 40: Time To DivulgeRameric's POV:As we traveled in silence, I knew exactly where it was that we were headed. We were headed to a small clearing that was just larger than my bathing basin in my bathing chambers. If you traveled this way, even in the bright sun, you would not soon come upon it unless you knew exactly what you were looking for, and even then, that was challenging. The further along we traveled, you could tell that the air around the trees was getting thicker and almost seemed as if they had a bit of a silver tint to it. Soon, I noticed Galien clear his throat. Granted we were traveling without speaking, but it was not that we could not talk at all. It is just that I knew Galien wanted to ask something of a matter of importance, although he has yet to say anything. It was probably due to my previous statement that I made all before Raiven made me aware of his presence. So I decided to give him the opportunity to ask his question. "Well, go ahead and as
Chapter 41: The Summit BeginsRameric's POV:"Then we must head on as we must discuss this at once," Raiven said as he shook my shoulders before letting go and walking around me. "Come. You will both be seated at my high table in the Inner Ring.Galien walked up, placing one hand on my shoulder as he walked passed me, and let go in his stride. I took in a deep breath and let it out with a bit of a huff before I followed the both of them. Before we knew it, we made our way to a very small clearing that led to Raiven's private entrance. Down on the ground in the center of the clearing, was a large hole. Raiven descended the hole first, clinging onto the sides as he used the runs for support as he disappeared from view. Galien looked over at me and I gestured for him to descend the hole next. I did not mind being the last one to Raiven's high table, as I was sure to be the one spoken about first. I did not mind waiting.Raiven's private pack entrance may have been but a small ho
Chapter 42: Commence The SearchRameric's POV:I was still seated as Raiven remained standing as he gave his introduction to the members now seated around the table here at his Inner Ring. This was an exclusive meeting only held for his top members. They would each command a different section of the pack and had their own members who answered to them. Granted, I had something like this set up in my pack, only, my pack was more set up as a business perspective on the front but we were still a very powerful working pack. However, on the last day of the month, a lot of my pack members, especially my Warrior guards of all things, took this day off before the real work began on the next day, which was the 1st day of the month. However, I did not care much about any of that right now, as there were other things that I needed to tend to, much like finding my mate who was apparently taken from me, again. Galien had other pack members who usually saw to that, but my time was needed righ
Chapter 43: We Found Her!Rameric's POV:When we returned to the exterior door outside my castle where Galien and I followed those talking about us earlier in the corridor, we started looking around for anything. Anything that may have explained what happened earlier during the midday sun. I could not believe what we actually found though. There was evidence of several different paths that the invaders headed off in. It seemed as if they had used carriages or possibly different wagons to take their captives away. What was the reason for the invasion? All they seemed to do was to inoculate my Warrior guards and run off with most of my menials. I ran a slave trade, so what was the point? Was this some setup where I would be forced to get more menials and some of those would be imposters? What was their goal in trying to invade my pack on the last day of the month? Granted most of my pack members were off as they would be here early with the new dawns light. That was right be
Chapter 44: Its The End!Alasia's POV:I can't believe this is actually happening to me. I can't believe this is the end. I have barely begun to live my life and on the day that I am sold to be a slave, it has been put in jeopardy more times than I ever would have thought possible and now I am facing death. I was supposed to be able to rescue my brother from that monster. From the man who has beaten me every time my mother had her back turned up until the day of her unfortunate disappearance. She disappeared and left me here to face him. She's gone and I have nothing to show for it. She left a trust for me and my brother but it was squandered away by the pitiful and selfish use of another, one who had a hand in raising me and my brother. I am so devastated I don't know what to do with myself.I was being swallowed by self-pity. I had to try to bring my thoughts out of this situation but I was literally stuck here. I was stuck in this old covered and broken cage-covered wagon
Chapter 45: My Heart BrokeRameric's POV:All of this was making my head hurt as I started to walk back and forth in the main hall. No one bothered to say a word as I could not take this anymore so I headed for the main entrance. I had to go for a walk as my head was spinning with thoughts about what I was going to do without her. Galien was fast on my heels as was some of my other Warrior guards, making sure no further harm would come to me, not that I was vulnerable in my current state of things. No sooner than I made it out front of my castle and stood there on the top steps, did I hear a very loud and long drawn-out howl? What is happening now?!What is this, I wondered? That howl did not belong to any of my pack members. Did they happen to find something else? Just then, one of the carriages pulled up to the front of the steps as they were back from their apparent search and found some of the menials that had been taken. I did not care about that right now. I cared abou
Chapter 46: How Much Longer?Vladic Regime's POV:I stood by the window in my office looking out over the courtyard in the front of my manor as the sun would soon be setting. How much longer till their arrival? I was waiting for the arrival of the ones whom I sent to be captured. They were supposed to be the ones who were mistreated and supported the needs of others. Their overseer shall remain nameless. As I stood there, I could see in the distance a carriage pulling up to the gate. There were supposed to be five different carriages arriving but there was only one. I am assuming they experienced trouble trying to leave the land behind.Just then, there was a knock on my door and I turned around to see it opening up slowly and with a creaking sound. I watched as Emeric entered the room, and closed the door behind him then remained standing by the door till I addressed his presence. I looked over at him and waved in such a manner that he knew to come over to me as I turned bac
Chapter 47: News Not PleasingVladic Regime's POV:I was sitting behind my desk when Brookli walked over and sat down in front of me in one of the chairs opposite my desk. She was looking down at her lap after she was seated there, with a frown on her face. It made me wonder what was the reason for her expression. She was usually pretty cheery, which was a bit much for me if I had to say anything about it. I was more refined and had a sleek disposition. I always wore dark or charcoal-colored attire and made sure that everything was well-trimmed. Even my tailor knew my style and it had never changed. I have had the same look for decades now and I did not see that changing anytime soon."What is with the long face?" I asked her as she had yet to say anything.She finally looked up at me and then opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again. Finally, she opened her mouth and spoke. "Father, I am sorry, but I tried to bring her but she was stuck in the wagon we were taken i
Vladic Regime's POV:When we walked over to the table, I ensured Sir Lavion had her take a seat where her position would be with her back facing Brookli's position. The last thing I wanted was for her to see my daughter before it was the proper time to do so. Until it was absolutely necessary, that is. Once she took her seat and was seemingly comfortable, despite her nervous posture, I took my seat on the opposite side of the table. I then turned my attention to one of the maidservants standing there just inside the doorway of the room they had entered from. They had not been dismissed, so they knew not to leave my presence unless they were told to do so. "You there," I spoke using a tone that I only used when calling the servants. Once I gained all of their attention, I looked back at the young lady and said, "Go and grab her a glass of water." She even turned around to look at all three women to see which one of them would be brave enough to move. When she looked back at
Vladic Regime's POV:I walked into the little cottage and took a quick look around. I was extremely displeased with the fact that not only was she not in sight. She was nowhere to be seen. From my understanding, she was supposed to be waiting here for us. Or, so that is what I understood. When the front door was closed once again, I turned around and looked at Sir Lavion."Where is she?" I questioned him, trying to keep my tone at a lower volume. The last thing that I wanted was to frighten her more with my powerful aura as I was trying to inquire as to her position if she was there somewhere."I understand your frustration, sire. Rest assured, she is in that room over there," Sir Lavion mentioned."What is she doing in the other room?" I asked, turning back to face him once more and furrowing my brows at him."Well Sire, she was injured and quite dirty upon her arrival," he started to say as he walked around me to stand over by the door she was behind. "Even the clothing she
Vladic Regime's POV:I paced back and forth in my office, occasionally, looking out the window. I had wondered how long it was going to take before Balmerian got back to me, letting me know that his work was completed, and we could move forward with my plans. I looked forward to finally ridding myself of a long awaited enemy. However, I would have to wait until the proper time to do it. The question is how exactly would that task be accomplished? I was so lost and thought to the point that I did not hear when someone knocked at my office door. When I had yet to respond, the door suddenly opened slightly, allowing Emeric to poke his head inside, trying to see where I was. As he watched me, he saw that I was still focused and had yet to notice his presence.Just then he cleared his throat as he said, "Sire?"At that moment, I turned around to face him as I was now hovering above the floor before I said gruffly, "What?! Can you not see that I am busy with thought!?""That's just
Alasia's POV:This little cottage was even cuter on the inside. I have to say, from the outside, you would not expect it to look like this on the inside. Whoever did their carpentry work did an immaculate job on it. They definitely had some skills if they managed to do all of this. If I compared the little hut I used to live in with this one, this one would be a complete castle compared to the nature of that little hut. This little cottage even had nicely made wooden floors too. It was very well done and very well tended."Good afternoon, Sir Lavion," said a young woman who opened up the door when he got close enough. "It is a pleasure seeing you again. What brings you ..." "Fetch hot water," said the man as he walked in the door. He even made sure to take extra care in turning me to the side, making sure I would not hit the posts of the door. "I had already sent for Balmerian. He should be here before too long.""Very good, sir," she said as she closed the door again. "I
Alasia's POV:I'm just not sure what to say at this point. Why is everything happening to me? First of all, why did that lady do what she did? And why did the horse bring me here? However, should I stop this man from trying to help calm it down? It did seem to get out of control, and I was to the point where I didn't know what to do. I sat there on the seat holding on to the reins as this man came up and placed his hands on either shoulder of the horse, helping to soothe its temper."Here now, easy boy," the man said, rubbing his hand gently along the horse's neck. I still held the reins very tightly as I was in complete shock at what just happened. My arms and legs felt like they were on fire with the sensation of being thrown onto the rocks on the side of the path. When the man had finished with the horse, he grabbed hold of the reins from the side and walked up to me. "Here, let me help you with that," he said gently while using a reassuring tone. "Where did yo
Rameric's POV:"Take them away," an older man said loudly enough as he walked to the edge of the crowd, coming into view. Everyone stopped talking when they heard him speak. He seemed as if he could be the oldest man in this village. When he got close enough, he looked directly at me as he said, "You sir, I do know you. I may not like what you do, but I understand there has to be business, or else there will be chaos. There has been enough bloodshed here in our little village. We have enough to tend to after the fires are extinguished. All thanks to the likes of those who take from others that they view as less fortunate than themselves. We do not wish to deal with the remaining few all on our own. Take the remaining invaders away. I only ask one thing of you and those of the company you may keep. Ensure that they never come back here."At the conclusion of his words, Raiven walked over to the old man and placed a hand on his shoulder as he said, "It shall be done
Rameric's POV: "The good people of Sorghum!" I projected my voice as I walked over to the village square. I was trying to gain the attention of the villagers as they were yelling at the invaders. They chanted at the men being held in the center of their village encircled by wolves. "Hear me!" I exclaimed. Finally, after a moment, it was quiet enough for me to continue. "As many of you may know me. You also may not agree with the business I conduct myself, but you do know me. You know that I run the business of the slave trade in these lands. However, these men here," I said as I pointed to all of them encircled. "They do not come with the appreciation of civil exchange. They also choose to be reckless over the civil barter system. They choose torment over talking peacefully. Today this all ends!"At that moment, I turned around to look at them, the men still hovering on their knees. Some were holding onto their injured limbs with the ones less injured if th
Rameric's POV:We went around the opposite side of the building, not having to worry about being seen, as most of the villagers were already in the central part of the village. They were trying to put out some of the fires these invaders started. At least there were not a lot of children in this particular village. It was run by older, more experienced farmers. Rager made sure to keep the young woman close, as he would nudge her with his nose periodically to keep her moving along the path we were headed. She was sobbing lightly as we went along. I was pleased that she was not too loud with her sobs as the last thing I wanted was to draw any more unnecessary attention as to our presence. When we got to where we could see what was going on in the central part of the village, I noticed that there were only two more guards standing there next to the caged wagon. One was standing on the ground by the back, and the other one was still sitting on the front seat, waiting
Rameric's POV:This was not the first time Rager and I had set up an ambush for an enemy that was about to lose their lives. The one thing that I knew he really enjoyed was being able to sever the head from the rest of the body. He was so clean about it too. As they would walk by, he could just pluck their head right off their shoulders. They would fall silent in the pile right where they were standing at the time. Rager would chomp on the head a couple of times before spitting it out too."All right now," I said as I pointed in a particular direction. "I want you to go over there and do as I told you. However, if you do not do as you are told, then you know the consequences of what your actions will bring."With that last statement, I used my Alpha tone, but I spoke softly enough that only she could hear me, while the rest of the men around the corner would not be aware of our position. I watched as she did what she was told, walking over to the end of the build