Chapter 24
Viviane’s POV
I have to see Caspian.
If I’m going to end things between us, I have to do it in person. He deserves that much, and I have to make sure he’s okay for my peace of mind. From what I saw on the news, he came out of the games trials last night looking like he’d been doing a lot more fighting than hunting, finishing in second place behind his uncle, James.
I can’t help but think he would have performed better if he hadn’t wasted all his energy attacking the Alpha the night before and been tranquilized. I also wonder if being in heat harmed his chances. I don’t know much about shifter mating, but I know the heat can continue for days if not weeks.
When I knock on the pack house door, I’m surprised to find it’s opened, not by a servant or guard, but by James himself. “Oh,” I say dumbly, taken about. “Hello, I’m Viviane.”
“Yes, I know.” He says with a small smile. “I was here on Thursday night.”
My cheeks flush with heat and I’m finding it suddenly very difficult to look him in the face. “Is Caspian here?”
“Not at the moment.” He reports apologetically, “but you’re welcome to come in and wait in the meantime.”
The hair on the back of my neck stands on end, but the pack house is always crowded with the families of the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and guards. It would be hard to find a more crowded home in Asterion, and I wouldn’t be going anywhere but the common areas anyway. “If you’re sure it’s alright.” I smile hesitantly, not wanting to be rude.
“Of course, it’s no inconvenience at all.” His grin widens as he ushers me inside. “In fact, I’m just dying to learn more about my nephew’s mate.”
Caspian’s POV
The second day of the trials is even worse than the first.
After hours of proving our brute strength by throwing boulders and battling shifters of other species such as bears and tigers, we were assigned squadrons of fighters and told to develop battle plans for combat against the other teams – in order to demonstrate our abilities as military strategists.
As it happened, every fighter assigned to my squadron was scraped from the bottom of the barrel. The other competitors ended up with an even mix of warriors ranging from mediocre to superb, as one would typically find in any random grouping. My team, unfortunately, was far from random. Every last member seemed to be deficient in even the most basic combat requirements, and none seemed interested in making an effort to change that.
In the end, I used pure intimidation to get the troops in line, terrifying them to the point of cruelty in order to eke out the required performance. The Games qualifiers were not allowed to participate in the fight themselves, or my team might have done better. Even so, we miraculously ended the competition in the middle of the pack. It kept me in the competition, but my standing dropped to fourth place, to the delight of James, shock of the media, and disappointment of my father.
Of course, the day would not have been nearly so terrible if I had not come home to a furious Marina Belle on my doorstep.
“Where is she?” She demands, stalking across the drive with her arms crossed over her chest the moment I’m out of Chase’s car.
“Viviane?” I ask, alarm bells sounding in my head.
“Of course Viviane!” Marina exclaims, “Or have you been running around traumatizing other peoples’ daughters as well?”
“Marina, please calm down.” I say, more for my own benefit than hers, “Do you mean to say Viviane is missing?”
Her green eyes narrow, “As if you don’t know, as if you don’t have her holed up here doing the Gods knows what!”
My pulse racing, I take the frantic mermaid by the shoulders, “Marina. I haven’t seen Viviane since Thursday night.” I confer slowly, “When was the last time you saw her?”
The woman’s eyes widen, shifting from anger to fear, “You mean, you really don’t know where she is?”
It takes all my patience to repeat myself without sharpening my tone, instead I take a deep breath and parrot. “Marina, when did you last see Viviane?”
“This morning.” She gulps, “She said she was going to the library but I’ve been there and they never saw her. I’ve been all over town, all her usual haunts – to Kiera’s and the school. Finally I realized she must be with you.” She scowls, mutinously adding, “I knew she wasn’t convinced you aren’t good for her.”
“That’s one thing you and I are in agreement about.” I concede. “But the fact remains I haven’t seen her.” I exchange a meaningful glance with Chase.
Marina follows the exchange with sharp eyes. “What? What aren’t you telling me?”
“There have been some problems at the games,” Chase admits.
“What kinds of problems?” Marina prods, “And what would they have to do with Viviane?”
Take her in. I instruct Chase silently, needing a moment to process this new information alone. Get as much information as you can. I’ll be in shortly.
As requested, my Beta puts his arm around Marina’s shoulders and guides her towards the house, “You’d better come inside.”
Once they’ve disappeared into the house I begin to strip, ripping the clothes off my body with cold disregard. Just before I shift I hear Chase’s voice in my head, She’s been here. Today. And she’s been with James.
“You can’t honestly be going to the arena when “your mate” is still missing?” Marina exclaims, using derisive air quotes to punctuate her frustration.
After a long night of searching with no leads, I can think of only one way to track Viviane, and it begins with her kidnapper. I tried to use our mental link a hundred times, but she must be too far away to hear, that or she’s shut herself off from me. I wouldn’t blame her under normal circumstances, but if that’s the case now it is extremely inconvenient.
“I have to talk to James.” I explain, “I know he has her. Trust me, I want to find my mate just as badly as you do.” I growl, “I might not be good for her but I care about her more than anything, why else do you think I was willing to walk away.”
“Well a lot of good that did!” Marina hisses, her sickly coloring growing paler still as she coughs in between words, “A few weeks with you and it’s already too late to go back, you’ve made her a target for the rest of her life.”
“That isn’t fair.” Chase objects loyally.
“Stop it.” I direct, “Both of you. Arguing like this isn’t productive and it isn’t helping Viviane. Now stay put, I’ll contact you as soon as I have more information.”
I continue mentally calling to Viviane as I drive into town, my hopes abominably low since I crossed the entire city doing the same last night. As usual, I’m greeted only with silence. When I finally reach the arena James is sitting alone in the locker rooms, looking like the cat that ate the canary.
“Took you long enough.” He quips smugly.
“Do you really want to be Alpha that badly?” I growl, “That you’d hold an innocent girl hostage to force me out of the competition?”
“You’re so unimaginative.” James rolls his eyes, “I don’t want you out of the competition. What good would that do me?”
“Then what do you want?” I demand harshly.
“I want you to lose. Badly, and publicly. I want you to look so pathetic in the eyes of the pack that they’ll never be able to scrub the image from their memories.” He rises from his seat, circling me like a vulture, “I want to defeat you in front of all of Asterion.”
“The pack will never buy it.” I rumble confidently, “my reputation may not be good, but it certainly isn’t weak.”
“They’ll buy it if you sell it.” He growls, “And you will sell it, if you ever want to see your little cat shifter again.”
“Where is she?” My wolf pushes to the surface, showing through my eyes.
James only grins, “You know the best part about this?” He goads slyly, “I’m the only one who knows where she is, so you can’t lay a hand on me.”
I stare at him for a long moment, trying to gauge if he’s serious. “You can’t truly be that stupid, can you, uncle?” I question ominously.
A flicker of doubt appears behind his confident mask, and I bend down to bring my face level with his. “I may not be able to kill you, but I can lay as many hands on you as I want.” I growl, “in fact, since you’re the only person who does know, you’re my only target. Isn’t that lucky?” I mimic his, now flagging, smile and pat him on the back. “You’ll get my full attention!”
Just then footsteps sound at our back, and I realize the rest of the competitors must have arrived for the final leg of the Games. James’ expression transforms from daunted to triumphant as he glances over my shoulder. “Actually,” cunning glints in his eyes, “If you want to hurt me, you’ll have to go through them first.”
I follow his gaze, already knowing what I’ll find by their scents. The remaining competitors stand between my body and the door: the largest and strongest wolves in the pack and all allied against me.
