Maya's Promise

Part 6

She understood the look of shock on their faces as the same emotions flitted through her chest. Princess Maya Kingsman, she hadn't gone by that name in a very long time, nor had she heard someone call her by her title unless it was being said in a jeering tone. Sebastien's emerald eyes started to glow once again, bringing forth whatever mythical being laid inside of him; no matter how hard she tried to scent him out or sense what he could possibly be. The Alpha clearing his throat brought her attention to him, breaking the strange eye contact she had with Sebastien. 

"We will call the King and Queen shortly, but if you have more information of Vorici we would be appreciative. Do you know where we can find him? How many members does his pride have?" Alpha Johnathan spoke softly towards her, perhaps trying to gain her favor in exchange for information. 

Maya thought back to her escape of the Vorici Pride, of the seemingly endless male voices that screamed after her as she ran for her life into the never ending evergreen forest. She had run in a straight line, never wavering or turning, so it would be quite simply to lead them back to that house, to Lorenzo, to Beren. The noses of the wolves would be stronger than hers, so they should be able to relocate the tree that Mason had discovered her and from there on to Vorici. Maya looked up and relayed that information to the Alpha who nodded his head as she spoke.

"I cannot tell you how many men he has, Alpha Onyx. Lorenzo only ever allowed himself and one other leopard to be around me, but a third was always in the house. A male named Jaxson was his second in command," she took a deep breath to center herself before continuing. "Lorenzo gave him orders to beat me regularly, to bring down my spirit and keep me weak, he would say. He is the reason I escaped..."

"He released you?!" Sebastien interrupted causing Maya to glance his way with a short glare, but a quick snarl in her direction made her eyes hit the floor.

"No, Sebastien... He came down to beat me after I had been starved for seven days and my leopard had finally took me over. She came forward and ripped his trachea from his neck before we tried to save my son and nearly took a bullet to my skull." Maya had no fear looking up at the Alpha wolf so she kept her gaze on him as she continued telling them of her escape, "I had to make the hardest decision of my life to turn away from my little cub and jump through the kitchen window. He is only about 4 to 6 months old, he deserves to be somewhere warm, fun, and safe! I was never even told his birth date," she realized with horror. 

Alpha Onyx leaned forward, "I am sure they have a document of that date, and we will be sure to find it when we go to rescue him." 

"There was more men surrounding the house I escaped from," Maya mentioned. "I could hear them yelling and a few even shifted to follow me into the woods. My leopard has always been very fast and thankfully our imprisonment did not hinder us." 

Sebastien stood suddenly beside her, and to her dismay she jerked and grimaced out of habit. She could not wait till she was somewhere she felt more comfortable, safe, and could retrain her brain away from this trauma, she thought. Sebastien took a step towards the Alpha's desk before placing his hands down on the stained wood covered in paperwork and vanilla folders. "When do we begin our assault Johnathan?" he asked, making Maya wonder why he did not use the Alpha title. 

Alpha Onyx looked up and their eyes met with an unsaid vengeance, "I will send scouts out right away, Sebastien, but we must be patient. Maya said it took her a full days run from here, it should take our team even less time. They must be right outside of the territory in No Mans Land if she got here so quickly." The Alpha stood to his feet, an angry excitement permeating the air between the two males. "He has been so near this whole time and we didn't even know it, Seb." 

Sebastien let out a quiet growl as a response and the two males turned their gazes back to Maya who had slid down slightly in her chair as a way to make herself smaller. Even with her elevated status Maya had always been a quiet and withdrawn leopard, so the powerful male energy the two were throwing off was nauseating to her.