Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Investigate

LUCIUS' POV

I have been sitting here in my office for the past two days thinking about what happened to me in the forest at the no-man's-land. All this thinking was driving me crazy. The only person who could answer my questions was not even saying a word.

She was unconscious for 12 days. When she fainted in front of me, I was anxious. I called the pack doctor to check up on her and my heart broke when she told me about her diagnosis on my mate.

***

FLASHBACK

"King Alpha, she has vasovagal syncope," the pack doctor said.

"What is it and what causes it?" l asked, looking at her unconscious state.

"Vasovagal syncope has something to do with the vagus nerve. Emotional trauma, stress, the sight of blood, or standing for a long period can trigger it. We can also associate it with starvation and dehydration." She explained.

"How is it treated?" I asked, gritting my teeth in anger.

"I can give her food and nutrients she needs through the IV until she regains consciousness. It should help her body heal faster." She replied.

"Whatever it is you have to do, do it," I instructed.

"Yes, King Alpha," she replied.

I turned to leave, but then stopped in my tracks and looked at the doctor.

"If she dies, you die," I warned her.

I glanced at my mate one last time before I left.

***

It disturbed my quiet surroundings when Neal arrived.

"Don't tell me you haven't left your office since yesterday," Neal said as he entered my office.

"What do you want, Neal?" I asked grumpily.

"You've been like this ever since you went on that hunting trip you had. I think there is something more to what you told me," he said, sitting on the chair across my table.

"There is something that I'm missing, Neal. I can't figure it out and she is not talking." I complained.

"Well, you can't expect an unconscious person to talk, Lucius." he replied with a smug look on his face.

"If you are here to just annoy me, then leave before I throw you in the dungeons." I spat, completely annoyed.

"I'm sorry, but I'm just telling the truth, man." he said, chuckling.

I let out a sigh and covered my face with my hands. This stress was eating me up.

"Why don't you send some of our best hunters to that forest and have them investigate? Maybe they will find something that points you in the right direction." He suggested.

My face lit up when he said that.

"Finally! You said something useful." I exclaimed.

"Ouch! You make it sound like I'm useless." he said with a small laugh.

"Sometimes you are." I teased him.

"Whatever! Should I call the trackers now?" he asked.

"No!" I replied.

"Why?" he asked.

"Take care of the castle while I'm gone. I'll be back before the full moon." l instructed.

"You're leaving again? You should at least bring someone with you. What if someone attacks you again?" he suggested, his voice filled with worry.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine and be back as soon as I can." I said, standing up from my chair.

I didn't have to leave him any instructions regarding the pack since he was already used to me leaving for conferences.

I left him at my office and went straight to my room to get changed. Before leaving, I went up to the attic and checked up on Maia.

"I will find out whatever you are hiding from me. Whatever it takes, I will find it." I said to her sleeping self.

I left the room and instructed Emily, one omega, to look after Maia.

"Make sure that she eats and drinks whatever the doctor says. No one may be in that room except you." I said.

"Yes, King Alpha." She replied.

I left the castle and went back to the place where it all began.

A couple of weeks back, one guard caught a rogue trying to sneak into the castle. I had him locked up in the dungeon and interrogated him. He answered none of my questions. All he kept repeating was 'Your curse will be the end of you'.

I had him locked in a secluded cell in the dungeon, where he was just all by himself. A few days later, he escaped the dungeon after killing one of my omegas.

I ran after him and did not stop until I tracked him to the forest in the no-man's-land. I swore to make him suffer for killing an innocent girl in my castle.

Tracking him became harder when the rain started pouring. Even with my very heightened skills, I was finding it difficult to keep track of his scent in the forest. After almost getting lost in the forest a couple of times, I finally found him. I was about to attack him when rogues attacked from behind. I tried fighting them off, but there were about six rogues who were pulling and biting me.

I don't remember how long I was trying to fight against six rogues when one of them suddenly stabbed me in my stomach, the same rogue that escaped from the dungeon. I fell to the ground as I shifted back into my human form. After not knowing how long I was bleeding, I felt the darkness come over me. The next thing I knew, I woke up in a small room with the scent of my mate.

After hours of searching the forest, I found the knife that they stabbed me with. I took out the plastic bag I had and picked the knife up using the plastic. I could bring it back to the castle and have one doctor check the knife for any fingerprints off it.

I checked the lighthouse before heading back to the castle. There was something that Maia was hiding from me, and I needed to find out what it was. I spent the next couple of hours going through her stuff when I found a picture of her with her parents. I was about to leave when a brown notebook fell when I turned her bed over.

I turned the pages and realized that it was her diary. I read the first couple of pages and that's when I found out that her parents died during the storm years ago. As much as I wanted to stop reading her diary because it would invade someone's private thoughts.

I put back her diary and the knife in my bag before leaving the lighthouse. I shifted into my wolf's form so that I could run back to the castle.

After spending a couple of hours in the office reading Maia's diary, I locked it up in my cabinet and stood up to head back to my room. On my way to my room, I saw Maia trying to escape using the stairs. Her back was on me and she looked like she was watching someone from the floor above us. She kept walking backwards until she hit me. I knew she could feel the sparks all over her body.

"Where do you think you are going?" I asked.

When she said nothing, I held by her shoulders and turned her around.

"I asked you a question. Where do you think you are going?" I asked again.

She didn't answer. AGAIN. I carefully pulled her to the elevator and brought her back to the attic.

"Do you really have a death wish?" I asked, anger rising.

What she did next caught me by surprise.

"Please let me go. I promise to never tell a single soul that you are my mate. If it makes you feel any better, you can reject me before I go. Just please let me go." she begged.

"No! You are not leaving this castle!" I growled.

How could she say such a thing? Just the thought of it was already driving me crazy.

She kneeled in front of me and begged.

"What do I have to do for you to let me go? I already told you I do not know about the people who wanted to hurt you. If you will not kill me, then why are you keeping me here?" she cried.

How I wish I could tell her that I believed her, but I couldn't. Not until I had the result from the lab about the knife. I found it on the forest floor.

Without saying a word, I turned around and locked the door. I let out a sigh as I stood behind the wall as she cried.

'When will you stop being such a prick, Lucius? You are hurting our mate!' Lucian asked angrily.

'I don't mean to, Lucian. You know that, but we have a pack to protect. I can't just let her go with no concrete proof that she is innocent.' I replied.

I went back to my room and laid down on my bed. I could still hear Maia's cries in my head and it was breaking my heart into pieces.