Page 39 of Loved By The King

My hand trembles as I answer the phone. “Hello?”

“Is this King Soren?” a woman’s voice asks, one so similar to Aubrey’s the resemblance is uncanny. “Hello? It’s Aubrey’s mother,” the woman’s voice grows higher in pitch and comes through, trembling and frantic. I know this conversation isn’t going to be what I want to hear. Some part of me is too scared to hear what she has to say, by her tone, I know it’s bad.

“Hello, King Soren?” she asks again. My mouth goes dry. All the anger of Bree lying and ignoring me evaporates. I keep my voice steady. “Yes, this is King Soren. What’s going on? Is Bree okay?”

Aubrey’s mother immediately breaks down into sobs.

“Where is she?” I demand, my words coming out harsher than intended. I can feel Damian’s eyes on me. “I need to know where she is. If you know you need to tell me!”

The woman quiets to hiccupped sounds before finally regathering herself enough to speak.

“Rhett took her,” she gasps. The moment she speaks the words, it feels like the air has been punched from my lungs. “He took her! I don’t know where, but he has her.” Panic is evident in her tone as she continues. “I couldn’t stop him. He just… he just took her! And that bitch Luna slashed my husband’s throat and I was knocked out cold. I tried, My King, I tried.”

The world around me seems to tilt on its axis. My vision narrows, and for a moment, all I can hear is the rush of blood in my ears. Rhett. That bastard has Bree. My Bree.

Damian slows the car, waiting for a command, overhearing her words. Suddenly we are at a loss because her tracker says we are going in the right direction but if Rhett has her, where do we go from here?

“What do you mean he took her?” I growl. “How could you let that happen?”

I’m dimly aware of Damian beside me, his face a mask of concern. But I can’t focus on him right now. All I can think about is Bree, alone with that monster who tossed her away like she was garbage and now he has kidnapped her.

“Mrs. Blackwood,” I say, fighting to keep my voice level. “I need you to tell me exactly what happened. When did Rhett take her? Where were they going?”

My mind is a whirlwind, a tornado of thoughts and strategies already spinning out of control. I’m formulating plans, mapping out every possible scenario, each more cunning and intricate than the last. If it comes to it, I’ll tear this city apart brick by brick, street by street, until there’s nothing left but rubble and dust.

“I tried,” she sobs, her voice as fragile as a porcelain doll on the edge of shattering. “I promise I tried, but he… he had that vile woman holding my husband. She threatened to kill him, and then she tried!” Her voice breaks, splintering into shards of raw desperation and fear. The sound rips at my heart, a brutal tug-of-war between empathy and rage. “I couldn’t stop him. He threatened to finish what he started. Please, just find her!”

A knot twists in my stomach, tight and unyielding. Finish what he started? The implications ignite an icy chill that races down my spine.

“Did he let anything else slip?” I push, struggling to keep my voice steady. “Any hint, any clue as to where he might be taking her?”

“I’m not sure, he knocked me out. I…”

Images of Bree, hurt and afraid, flash through my mind. I grip the phone tighter, knuckles white and I hear the crack of the screen, as the glass breaks under the pressure.

As I wait for her response, the weight of the world presses down on my chest. Bree is with Rhett—my instincts scream that I need to get to her. I glance at Damian, seeing my own worry reflected in his eyes as he speeds up.

“He said he was going to mark her. That she ruined everything. After that it was a blur, Bianca attacked my husband, then Rhett knocked me out. I woke up to the Beta, trying to stop my husband from bleeding out and they were gone. Two staff members were killed as they escaped. Our Beta locked the pack down. There has been no trace of them.”

“Fuck,” I curse.

“All I know is they are not here on pack territory, our pack is loyal. Even if he succeeded in killing us, they would have hunted him. I know he isn’t in the pack anywhere, no one would hide him, we would have found him by now.” she tells me. “Please, Soren. I know she lied, but you need to find her.”

“I’ll find her, I promise,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady despite the fear and anger swirling inside me. “We’re already on our way, but you need to think, I need some help here, did he mention anything at all besides marking her.”

“He was talking about the ports, I can’t remember, something with the ports.”

Damian stops at the next intersection, blocking traffic behind us as he waits to hear which direction I need him to go in. There is no point going to her mother, Aubrey isn’t there and her mother seems certain he isn’t in their pack limits or the city there. “Head to Salt City,” I tell Damian and he pulls it up in the GPS.

“Please, don’t hurt her!” Mrs. Blackwood’s desperate plea cuts through the air, leaving me momentarily stunned.

My jaw clenches, a mixture of disbelief and indignation surging through me. “Mrs. Blackwood, I would never—” I start, the words catch in my throat, knowing the council put a bounty out for her. She must think that was me, but it was only to catch her—if someone crossed her not to harm her.

“I swear to you, I’ll do everything in my power to keep Bree safe. I would never hurt her. That is not something you ever have to worry about. I love your daughter, Mrs. Blackwood, I just want her home.”

Her mother sighs heavily into the phone, a weariness in her voice I haven’t heard before. “I saw the reports. I heard what the council said, and Rhett told us you put a bounty out on her. He showed us the evidence.”

I clench my jaw, fighting the urge to snap back. “I know, and that wasn’t me,” I say, keeping my tone as calm as I can. “That was the council, hoping to find her location. But I am not the council; I just want her back.”