The King's Prey (Unedited Edition)

Chapter 36 : King of Wolves

Selcouth • [sell-kooth]
Unfamiliar, rare, strange, and yet marvelous.

🖤

~+~

~ Samuel ~

Once I return home, I waste no time contacting every pack leader about the situation we're facing, informing them of every detail that will lead up to tomorrow's search. Most backfire on the mere idea of wasting such resources and warriors on a single human—but this isn't just about Anastasia, this is about Sterling too. Liam will be devastated if this is the fate of their relationship. He will never recover from such a loss.

I shut down every comment said through my phone though, telling them that the plan is finalized. It takes almost two hours to arrange everything and by that point, I've lost the will to think about it further.

Releasing a long sigh, I grip the edge of the island and stare at my fifth empty glass of alcohol, unable to feel the liquor pumping through my body. I thought a drink would do my wolf some kind of good—relax his wild nature—but he's been on a raging rampage since we left the scene of the accident. Every instinct in my body--every instinct of his own soul—has commanded me to run after her right now with no backup. As if I could withstand an army of thousands of rogues.

I'm forced to remind him of the rationality of it all—what we'll lose if we go by his ways. We'll be better off going into this fight prepared than following his impulses.

I run at hand down my face, attempting to wipe away the insomnia I know will consume me tonight. The house feels so empty without her here and it hasn't even been a day since I last saw her. But the lack of her voice—her beautiful face...It simply drives me insane.

I grab the open decanter of vodka and chug another mouthful straight without even considering pouring it into a glass. It burns slightly, but I'm used to the feeling as it dissipates quickly. I chug a bit more before putting away the glasses. I finally decide to head to bed, realizing I'll need every ounce of sleep I can get before tomorrow.

Normally, I'm adjusted to such silence roaming through my home. But Anastasia's forced me to become attached to her company—to the mere scent of her. My thoughts are out of control by the time I find my room and strip from my clothes. Such new feelings of loneliness have never affected me so much before, even with previous flings I've had. Ever since my parent's death, I was ok with living by myself. I was ok with doing so for the rest of my life. Finding a mate never became a priority as it did for Liam and many other wolves in Phantomridge.

But Anastasia's different in so many ways. She's headstrong, she's feisty, but most importantly, she's fucking relentless. Whether it has to do with my own emotions or deriving every goddamn secret out of me, she's determined to get the job done. I don't rely on people often—I try not to, at least—but Anastasia's nature is unnatural. It's why I've had my suspicions from the start—why I'm so eager to hear about what happened at Lukalla with her and Sterling.

I flop onto my king-size bed after turning all of the lights off. Working through my ramble of thoughts, I'm forced to worry about how vulnerable Anastasia and Sterling are out there—how those woods were only meant for the strong. I know the rogues won't kill them, not with such a price on Anastasia's head. But the task of finding them and getting them back in one piece will be tricky. And all of this bullshit still doesn't mean they won't hurt them—try to derive any information out of them.

My hands grip my tousled hair as I try to push every worrying thought down. Sleep, you need sleep right now. Not this.

It takes me nearly two hours of restless tossing and turning—attempting to find a sense of comfort among this mess—until I find a sense of peace. And by then, my exhaustion has taken over my mind, settling the nerves in my body.