Claimed by the Mad Lycan King

”Wait, don’t throw it away; give it to me!” Zephyr made a nice safe when Seara was about to throw the chocolate into the dustbin. ”I love chocolate. This is an expensive brand.”

Zephyr clutched the chocolate box against his chest and checked the inside. They were fine; the chocolates were still good and nice.

”Great.” Zephyr’s eyes lit up because he got it for free. ”I think Chloe only wants to mess with you,” he said to Zade.

”Make sure she never steps inside the residence again,” Zade said grimly.

And not long after, Ace came so they could start their dinner together.

However, whenever Ace was around, Seara would look uncomfortable, though she tried not to show it; Zade could see it clearly.

He was sure Ace had never done anything weird to her, aside from the conversation that they had a few weeks ago, and that was the only moment when his royal beta crossed the line, but it felt as if there was something deeper than that.

Zephyr had had the same conversation with Seara before, yet she didn’t show the same fear as she did with Ace.

From what Zephyr told him, Seara saw Ace as a bad guy, and he was clueless about why Seara thought that way.

***

”Are you sure you want to go?” Zade brushed her hair and detangled the knots as she sat on the edge of the bed because she didn’t want to see her own reflection in the mirror.

”You can’t find her. I think she is hiding. She is a little bit timid.” Seara fidgeted with the hem of her dress; she was clearly anxious to go back to the cell, but she felt the need to save her friend. ”She only talks to me.”

Zade stopped brushing her hair for a moment. His grip on the comb tightened as he tried to control his emotions.

There was no one there, and there was no place to hide. There was nothing. Even if they went there now, they wouldn’t find anyone.

”Zade?” Seara lifted her head to look at Zade, who then kissed her forehead.

”Nothing.” Zade smiled and continued to brush her hair.

”You don’t want... to go?” Seara asked, her voice dripping with worry.

No. Zade didn’t want to go and confirm his suspicion. ”Can we not go?” Zade had to put away the comb, just in case he was going to break it with pure pressure, as he held back his rage.

”Okay...” Seara lowered her head, but from her gesture, you could tell she was uncomfortable. She was jittery and restless.

”Seara.”

”Hm?”

”Look at me.”

Seara did; tears welled up in her eyes when she looked at Zade. ”She is my friend... she is my only friend. She was the only one that I talked to when I was in that cell alone. Can we save her too?”

***

They were on the way to the Blackthorne Pack, and the closer they got, the more Seara looked very restless. She couldn’t stop picking at her nails until Zade held her hand and refused to let go because she was going to hurt herself if she continued doing that.

Ace and Zephyr came along as well. They were as nervous as Seara, but for entirely different reasons. They didn’t think this was the right decision.

However, Zade couldn’t ignore Seara’s request. She wanted to save her ’friend,’ and Zade needed to confirm his suspicion.

When they arrived at the Blackthorne Pack, it was in the afternoon. The warrior at the border looked very tense when they saw the Lycan king and his royal beta and gamma.

The last time he was here, he changed the leadership of the pack, even when King Asher was present. Therefore, they couldn’t imagine what could happen if the king brought along his two trusted people.

”We will inform Alpha Rexton for a while...” One of the warriors said in a very polite tone. They still needed to stop Zade from entering their territory without permission or appointment.

But they hoped the king would wait, since they didn’t want to have a bloody fight again.

Fortunately, they didn’t insist on entering the pack and waited inside the car until the answer from the alpha came.

”Seara?” Zade frowned when he saw the way Seara crouched down on the floor of the car; she was hiding from the warriors outside. ”What is it?”

Seara didn’t answer him; she only shook her head, and when the permission came, Zephyr drove the car toward the pack.

”What happened?” Zade picked her up, but she refused to sit down in the seat; only when the car had moved away and the warriors were no longer in sight did Seara go to sit down next to Zade again. ”What is it?”

”Bad guy. Bad people,” she mumbled to herself, rocking her body back and forth to find some comfort.

Seeing this, Zade pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. ”It’s okay, you are okay. I am here.” He caressed her back and kissed her forehead.

However, Zade noticed how Seara referred to them as the bad guy; she used the same description for Ace. Had they done something to her?

”Is it okay?” Zephyr asked as he looked at them through the rearview mirror. ”Should we continue?”

Zade contemplated for a while; he stared at his mate, who snuggled against his chest. ”Continue.”

Jane and three other warriors were inside the car behind them; if something happened to Seara, at least Jane knew what to do.

However, if something happened to Zade... it would be a disaster.

For Ace and Zephyr, they were more worried about the way Zade would react rather than Seara. They had seen what happened when he lost himself to his beast.

”We are here,” Zephyr said. He stopped the car in front of the new alpha for the pack. Rexton was standing in front of them with some of his warriors.