The Day I Dread

King Vance's POV

The heavy, reinforced tires of the armored black Hummer devoured the uneven dirt road, spitting gravel in our wake. I sat in the spacious back seat, staring out the tinted window and watching the blur of autumn trees pass by, my jaw set in a tight, unyielding line. It was October 11. Every single year, on this precise date, I was burdened with the mandatory obligation to travel across the vast kingdom, moving from pack to pack in search of my fated mate. For me, this ritual was a heavy frustration and a distraction. I had a kingdom to run, a desk overflowing with work orders and building blueprints that required my immediate approval, and real threats knocking at my borders. Knox, my inner wolf, paced relentlessly in the back of my mind, his claws scraping against the confines of my consciousness.

"I'm tired of this endless parade," I grumbled to him, my voice a low rumble in the quiet cabin. "Every year we go through this, and every year we leave empty-handed."

"We need our mate," Knox growled, his tone thick with instinctual demand and impatience. "I am sick of looking at all these clan women who throw themselves at us, dressing like trash just to get our attention."

"I know. It's a massive turn-off," I replied, rubbing my temples to ward off the building headache. Knox snorted and crawled back into the dark corner of my mind, leaving me to my thoughts.

My mind drifted back, pulling up the blood-soaked memories of when I was just six years old. The great battle had torn the Iron Peak Kingdom apart in a matter of days. Their King and Queen were slaughtered on the front lines, leaving their kingdom in ruins. In the chaotic aftermath of the war, their newborn daughter vanished without a single trace. My father, ruling the Oak Hollow Kingdom and acting as the late King's best friend, took in the orphaned prince, Conrad. We grew up side by side in the palace, brothers forged in the bitter aftermath of tragedy. In his dying moments, the King of Iron Peak had asked my father to rule both kingdoms until Conrad came of age, and my father swore an oath to find the lost princess and bring her home.

Before the carnage and the war, our fathers used to insist that the moon goddess had destined the lost princess and me to be mates. Back then, as a six-year-old boy, I thought it was a bunch of nonsense. Yet, looking back, I remembered how strangely protective I had been of the Queen when she first announced her pregnancy. It made sense why they believed the bond existed. But now, it was just a ghost story haunting my every October.

Right now, my focus needed to be on the rogue attacks. They had been escalating over the past few weeks, a troubling surge in brutal violence that made no sense. Just two days ago, a rogue pack dared to cross our borders. We took them into custody, save for one idiot who thought it was a good idea to challenge Knox directly. I tore him to shreds, leaving pieces of him scattered across the dirt. I personally interrogated one of the survivors in our holding cells. The rogue, bleeding and broken, babbled in a panic, claiming the legendary lost princess wasn't dead. He swore she was hidden away within one of my very own subordinate clans. The thought gnawed at me. Did King Conrad have these rogue issues too? I also needed to test the new warriors, to see where their skills were at and how much training they still needed to graduate from the academy.

My sister, Chloe, pushed her voice through our pack mind-link, breaking through my grim concentration.

"Vance," she called out, her tone pressing. "What are you going to do if you find her this year?"

"I doubt I will find her," I replied stoically, keeping my gaze fixed on the passing forest.

"But what if you find her?" Chloe pressed.

"If she is alive, I will take her back to the palace and notify her brother that I have found her. I will take her straight to Conrad."

"What if you find her, and she is your mate?"

I tightened my grip on the leather armrest. "I will take her back to the palace and notify her brother that I have found her. Conrad needs to know for sure what happened to his sister."

"We are about twenty minutes from the border, your majesty," Declan, my Beta, interrupted through the link, cutting the conversation short.

"Thank you, Declan," I replied.

I dreaded going to these clans. As the imposing fleet of black Hummers pulled up to the Cold Stream Clan's first checkpoint, the fear in the air was palpable. As a King, I was known to be a strict, unforgiving ruler. Three newly-trained guards stood at the gate. They looked fresh out of the academy, their hands shaking as they gripped their weapons. They were terrified, their eyes wide as they took in my royal crest. They failed to ask for proper identification, paralyzed by the sheer presence of their King. I noted their incompetence but let it slide this time.

We bypassed the gates and drove straight to the pack house. Alpha Gareth stood waiting on the front steps, but he looked like a wreck. His clothes were disheveled, his breathing heavy, and his knuckles were bruised red. He had the unmistakable look of a man who had just finished punching someone in the face.

I stepped out of the Hummer, my boots crunching on the gravel. Declan and my top warriors flanked me instantly.

"I hope whoever you disciplined had it coming," I said coldly, not bothering with pleasantries. Gareth carried a notoriously dark reputation among his people for extreme unfairness, compounded by persistent, dark rumors that his pack kept and abused slaves. I had never seen proof, but looking at his sweaty, panicked state, my instincts flared.

"Your people at the border failed to ask for proper identification," I added, stepping closer. "They looked new, so I will let it slide today. But I want to look around your village."

Gareth swallowed hard, masking his underlying panic with a stiff nod. "As you wish."

Just at that moment, a light, shifting breeze picked up across the grounds. It swept over the dirt courtyard and hit me right in the chest.

Pine trees. Rich vanilla. And the sharp, metallic tang of fresh blood.

"MATE!"

Knox didn't just speak. He screamed with deafening intensity inside my mind, his roar shaking the very foundations of my consciousness. My eyes flashed gold. Operating on pure, unrestrained instinct, I didn't say a word. I broke into a dead sprint.

The intoxicating scent pulled me away from the main house, leading me straight toward the stone structure dug deep into the earth. The dungeon.

"What is the hurry, your majesty?" Alpha Gareth scrambled behind me, his heavy boots stumbling over the dirt, desperately trying to keep up.

I ignored him, my chest heaving as the scent of blood grew stronger, drowning out the vanilla. My mate was bleeding.

Gareth threw himself in front of the heavy wooden doors leading down to the underground cells. He was panting, foolishly attempting to block the entrance with his body.

I didn't even slow down. I grabbed his shoulder and shoved past the lesser Alpha, sending him stumbling into the dirt.

"Declan!" I mind-linked my Beta, my voice a lethal growl. "Take Alpha Gareth into custody immediately!"

I tore open the doors and plunged into the dark, damp corridor of the dungeon. The air down here was suffocating, thick with rot and the horrifying stench of agony. I could hear a prisoner getting tortured at the far end of the hall. The scent was overpowering by the second cell.

A bloodied, middle-aged man suddenly exited the holding area, stepping out into the dark corridor. He was older than me, but his clothes and hands were stained crimson with fresh blood. Her blood.

He froze, his eyes widening in shock as he saw me descending upon him. Alpha Gareth had sent this man, Braddock, down here to do his dirty work.

Without missing a beat, I pushed past the torturer. I didn't bother with the keys. I grabbed the cold metal bars of the second cell door and used my immense Lycan strength to rip the heavy iron door right off its reinforced hinges. Stone crumbled and dusted my shoulders as the massive crash echoed through the dungeon.

The sight that greeted me inside paralyzed me with pure horror.

My fated mate.

She was hanging suspended from heavy chains attached to the ceiling. Her fragile body was brutally beaten, broken, and covered in deep, bleeding wounds. Her wrists were bound, stretching her arms upward, and her skin was sliced open. She hung there lifeless, a ragged breath rattling in her destroyed throat.

The shock hit me first, freezing the blood in my veins. Then, the protective rage boiled over. Knox snarled, a blinding fury that demanded blood for blood.

Behind me in the hallway, Braddock cowered in terror. The sheer aura of my lethal power pressed him to his knees. The bloody whip slipped from his hands, hitting the stone floor.

"He made me do it!" Braddock stammered, his voice cracking with pathetic terror. "Alpha Gareth made me do it!"

I turned my head, my fangs fully extended, my eyes glowing a bright, lethal gold.

"I'll deal with you later," I snarled, my voice dripping with lethal intent.

I lunged forward, grabbed him by the throat, and hurled the torturer against the solid stone wall. His skull cracked against the rock, and he crumpled in a heap. I didn't even let him explain himself.

"Brock!" I yelled, hearing my trusted warrior rushing down the stairs. I left Brock to arrest the cowering monster and rushed back to my mate.

My hands shook as I reached up to the chains. I didn't care about the locks. I gripped the thick, unforgiving iron links and pulled. The metal groaned and snapped, freeing her shattered wrists.

She fell forward, and I caught her before she could hit the cold stone floor. She was so light. Her skin was freezing, her breathing barely a whisper against my chest. I quickly stripped off my shirt, the cool dungeon air hitting my bare skin. I gently wrapped her broken, naked form within the fabric, ensuring her exposed skin was covered and protected.

Cradling her fragile body to my chest, I turned my back on the nightmare cell and rushed out of the dungeon. I took the stairs two at a time, sprinting straight back into the daylight.

The courtyard was in chaos. Declan already had his men securing the perimeter. He saw me charging toward him and immediately pulled the door of the Hummer open.

I climbed into the back seat, holding her securely in my lap, refusing to let her go. Declan slammed the door shut and jumped into the driver's seat, shifting the vehicle into gear.

My final, furious command rang out across the pack mind-link, echoing across the grounds for all my warriors to hear.

"Take everyone into custody!"