Her Broken Alpha Prince (Book 18 of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 23

Caleb Remington stared out the window of the plane quietly. He could vividly remember his first airplane flight. Learning that humans were basically putting wagons with engines in the sky had been both intriguing and scary. He wasn't sure if they were genius or dumbasses. 

It had taken some thought and some convincing on Daniel's part to get him to finally get on a plane. Daniel was his eldest son, his heir, and at the time, had been the current Alpha King. He reminded Caleb many times that they were immortal and while falling from thirty thousand feet in the air would definitely hurt, it wouldn't kill them. Caleb had been less than thrilled with that but after awhile of watching and not hearing of crashes, he gave in. Though the idea of it happening in the ocean was less than thrilling. Unlike the others, he wasn't all into the thrill of trying to kill himself. 

Charlotte, his mate, had been even less thrilled with the idea. But even she had given in after a while and now they didn't think twice about it. Eventually the pack had decided to purchase a plane for the pack. It had made sense given the amount of travel that they did.

One plane had led to two and then two planes to even more. The pack currently had eight planes. They also had two mechanics who kept them in good shape. It was situations like this one they were headed to Virginia pack for, that created the need for more than one plane. Plus, as the werewolf community grew, and more packs came into existence, their own pack was kept busy, especially with the newer packs.

But both Caleb and Daniel had encouraged Knox to go into the family business. He had a good head for it, and he was young enough that he could devote several years to the business before he finally grew tired of it. Daniel had been the CEO for a very long time and was more than willing to step down and turn the reins over to Knox when he thought his brother was ready.

Knox had never really been interested in being a liaison. That was perfectly fine with all of them. But Caleb had been a bit surprised when he informed them that he was doing a liaison job with Zara.

But Knox's first liaison job had resulted in something bad happening. Knox would probably never want to be a liaison again, or he might decide he preferred it. Caleb didn't know many of the details of what all had happened, but he had a feeling deep down in the pit of his stomach that something wasn't right, and that revolved around his son. His gaze darted around the plane. 

Daniel had come with him, along with his great grandson and the current Alpha King, Malachi. Dominic had come as well, along with his eldest son, Dimitri. Dominic was Zara's grandfather and Dimitri was her father. Zara was also Caleb's great, great, great granddaughter. So, it went with immortality. 

They didn't know a lot of information yet regarding what all had gone down. Just that Zara had taken the pack, and the pack leadership was imprisoned, and apparently human trafficking was involved. Caleb sighed softly. He hated human trafficking. He'd like to end anyone involved in it, including humans. It disgusted him to know end, but unfortunately it had happened all the way down through history and was probably even worse now than it had ever been. Unfortunately, most people were completely unaware of how bad it was. 

Caleb's thoughts drifted to Knox, his youngest. He'd been a surprise, but then so had his youngest daughter, Gabby. Both of them were incredibly stubborn like himself, while both Daniel and his eldest daughter, Charity, were much more easy going, like their mother. Charlotte was the light of his life, the one who had saved him at one point and kept him from walking away from life after the loss of his first mate. He loved her dearly and appreciated every pup she'd given him all the way down through the years. 

The plane finally landed, and they all grabbed their bags and headed down the stairs. They always brought bags with them, never knowing how long they would be gone for. The goal was to come home the same day or the next, but with the entire pack leadership guilty of human trafficking, this was not going to be a short trip. The penalty was death, and they didn't mess around. Those responsible would be dead before the end of their visit and the leadership would need to be replaced. That meant a long visit. 

A couple of warriors stood off to the side waiting for the Royal pack with a van. Malachi led the group, both Daniel and Caleb letting him take the lead as he was the current Alpha King. Both of them had been King at one point in their lives, but they knew to stand down and let him do his thing. They were both perfectly content to do so.

The two warriors immediately straightened up and bowed as the King approached them both. "Alpha," they both greeted him. 

"Gentlemen. Let's get going," Malachi ordered. 

The one thing Caleb liked about Malachi was that he didn't put up with bullshit. He could be incredibly ruthless if he needed to be. He was a good King, but he didn't let anyone try to manipulate him or push him around. He was leading this charge and that was just the way it was. 

The two warriors scrambled to open the doors of the van, and the members of Regal Eclipse quickly got inside. The doors were shut and the two warriors got inside as well, closing their doors and starting the van, then headed back to the pack house. Both of them were a bit tense, and Caleb wondered what all they knew, and if they were aware of what all was going on. 

Caleb glanced at Daniel, who was staring out the window. seemingly lost in thought. He wondered if Daniel had been back here since he'd taken down Alpha Jason all of those years ago after Jason had stolen his pup. Have you talked to your brother at all?

Daniel immediately turned to look at him. No. I haven't talked to anyone. 

I have a feeling we're missing some of the story, Caleb told him. I just have a bad feeling about all of this. 

Dimitri said Zara didn't even mention Knox at all, Daniel told him. So maybe everything is fine with him. He's probably just going with the flow. 

Caleb nodded, but didn't say anything else. He highly doubted it. Deep down, he knew something was off. He hoped he was wrong. 

They pulled up to the pack house and they all piled out of the van. Zara stepped outside the front door and stood there with her arms crossed, looking every bit the Alpha Princess she was. While they all wanted to approach her, hug her, and reassure themselves that she was okay, it wasn't the time yet. Instead, Malachi stepped forward and nodded to her. 

Zara stepped forward as well and nodded back to Malachi. "Alpha. Come in."

They all followed her inside the pack house, up the steps and into the Alpha's office. The door closed behind them, giving them privacy, and Caleb glanced around. The room was empty. Where was Knox? He pursed his lips. He could barely catch traces of his pup's scent. 

It took several moments, as they all greeted her, making sure she was okay, before they settled down to talk, and ask what they were all wondering. 

"First off, where's Knox?" Malachi asked her. 

Zara looked pained for a moment, making Caleb's heart drop, before her face cleared. "He's sleeping."

Caleb frowned. Knox was sleeping? Now? "What are you not telling us, Zara?"

She looked at him and sighed. "A lot. So much happened in a very short time." 

"Is Knox okay?" Daniel asked her, asking what was suddenly at the forefront of everyone's minds.

She bit her lip. "No."

Caleb swallowed at her words. That could mean a lot of things. "Physically?"

She sighed. "Probably."

Probably? What the hell did that mean?

"Zara, you need to stop being so vague and tell us what's all happened," Dimitri told her. "We need to know all of the details. Tell us everything you know."

She frowned at her father and then sighed. "Okay."