The Hunt [Malfie Fanfiction]

Chapter 39

One month later
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(Alfie's POV)
We'd discovered 'the human' was called Jake, and Marcus and I watched as he was lead out of the throne room, fully healed. "Where did he live, again?" Marcus glanced over at me.
"Southampton." I kissed him while no one was looking. Even though we could do whatever we liked, as kings, it didn't portray the best message if we weren't concentrating on Jake.
"Careful." He smiled at me, linking his fingers through mine.
"I love you."
"Love you, too." Marcus kissed the top of my head as I lent my head against his shoulder, watching the group preparing to depart to take Jake back, opening the doors.
"Alfie! Marcus!" Zoe skipped into the throne room, side-stepping the small group around Jake and waltzing up to us.
"Zoe... What's up?" Marcus drawled.
"You'll never guess what happened at the bakery, right? So, like, I'm-"
"Zoe?" The human shouted, and everything fell silent. Jake's eyes were squinted at Zoe, and I narrowed my eyes, sending a meaningful look to the closest messenger.
"Get Luc here, now."
"Yes, Your Highness." They bowed and shot off, as I stood, brushing my robes off and preceding slowly towards Jake, Marcus remaining seated.
"Please refrain from raising your voice in this room." I said cooly. "Must you have had a particular reason to?"
"I know her!"
"Seeing as you were born at least one hundred and fifty years after her, her being here, that's impossible. Anything else?" Something seemed off about the situation, and I turned to check that Zoe was still standing safely behind me, hearing the doors open.
Jake sprang with inhuman speed and agility, landing flat against Zoe even as we all lunged to stop him. It wasn't us who stopped him.
Just as Jake got his teeth at Zoe's neck, a petrified scream leaving her mouth, Luc barrelled into them, snarling ferociously. Zoe dragged herself away, shaking, as Luc tore into Jake.
Blood spattered across the ground, everyone watching quietly as Luc shredded Jake's skin, pulling out organs and ripping them into small chunks. When nothing but fragmented bone and a heap of bloodied guts remained, he stood, silently crossing to Zoe and pulling her into his arms.
We knew better than to approach them, as Luc's vampiric side had taken total control, if the blood on his face from where he'd torn skin with fangs was anything to go by. "So much for sending Jake back to the human world." Marcus murmured in my ear.
"He's not human, anyway."
"Your Highness, do you recommend we leave Mister Luc and his bond mate alone a while?" One vampire curtsied in front of us.
"Unless you wish to reach the same fate, yes." I snorted humourlessly. "Can we get that cleaned?"
"Yes, Your Highness." People either bowed or curtsied before two approached the remains.
Luc turned on them, growling low in the back of his throat from where he stood, still with a protective grip on Zoe. They stalled, backing away until Luc seemed to loose interest.
"Or, we could keep a respectable distance." Marcus sighed heavily. "Everyone, vacate! Leave them two for a bit, give Luc time to calm down." Immediately, people were leaving the room, and we waited until it was clear save for the two guards standing by the doors.
"Now, the best part of two centuries ago, I would have asked if Zoe would be okay... But I think she might just have some serious protection." A smile drifted across my face as I turned to look at Marcus, still eternally preserved as youthful.
Zoe peeked up at me from where she had her arms wrapped around Luc's waist, head in his shoulder. She smiled softly, making a face at the blood that had smeared from Luc's shirt onto her skin.
"C'mon." Tugging on my hand, Marcus lead me from the room to where Andy and James were talking. They glanced up at us and mockingly swept into low bows. "What?"
"Jake was a, ah, werewolf." James shrugged. "We've got a problem."
"Are you telling me," I seethed slowly, feeling rage building in the pit of my stomach, "I have to deal with werewolves, because they aren't extinct?"
"That is exactly what I'm telling you." James said, albeit a little warily.
Marcus wrapped his arms around me, comforting me, as I stood there, smouldering. "Get the goddamn team together!" I yelled, turning with a swish of my robes and stalking down the corridor.
"Oi." Magik temporarily blocked my path and I froze, steam practically pouring out of my ears.
"What."
"Calm the hell down, we'll deal with it. We're both in charge here, but you throwing a tantrum won't help." Marcus said bluntly. "Think logically, like you're supposed to. We can't afford to flip out."
"I don't care." Pouting, I folded my arms at him, finally stopping my brisk walk.
"Tough." He gently smiled. "C'mon, let's get down to security then we can sort this out."
"You can talk." I muttered through gritted teeth, forcing as much of my frustration in as possible.
"I figured as much." Marcus commented conversationally as we continued down the corridor at a much more elegant pace.
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"Basically, we need to figure out how many, how, and where they are. It's fundamental, otherwise we could be facing a very serious problem." Marcus said quietly, yet his voice rang through the room.
"Understood, boss." Nathan smirked.