Chapter 4 The Hunt begins
RAVNEHALL PARKING GARAGE
Halloway stepped into a dark corner away from the flashing lights. He took out his phone and dialed a number.
“Boss,” Halloway said quietly over the line.
“Did he take the bait?” a deep voice asked.
“Yes he did.”
“And the girl?”
“Sadly she was killed in the process.”
“She served her purpose. We will send her mother what was promised and make her believe the Prince did this. Now ensure he returns to London. So the next piece can move.”
“Understood.”
Halloway ended the call and stepped back into the light. His face showed nothing. But the plan was moving exactly as intended.
LYRA
The harsh stench of antiseptic was the first thing that filtered through my haze.
My eyes snapped open. Every bone in my body felt pulverized. I tried to sit up but a sharp gasp escaped my throat as my bruised ribs protested.
The memories surged back all at once. The suffocating pain of the severed bond. Tearing blindly into the winding mountain roads. The blinding headlights. The explosive crunch of metal folding in on itself.
And then the boy. He had kicked his way out of his overturned car bleeding in the rain. Our eyes had met through my shattered windshield. He had clutched his chest staring at me like I was a ghost right before his legs gave out.
The hospital door swung open.
My mother rushed to the bedside throwing her arms around my neck. Her eyes were red and wet.
“Lyra,” she breathed her hands trembling as she checked my face my shoulders every visible part of me. “Oh Goddess. You scared me half to death.”
She pulled back searching my eyes her thumb hovering an extra second over my cheek before she finally let her hand fall.
“I know what happened with Kaelen. I know you were hurting. But you cannot disappear into those mountains like that.”
“I was not trying to die,” I whispered.
Her expression softened but the fear remained in her eyes.
Alpha Vane stepped into the room.
The temperature instantly plummeted. I shrank back against the pillows my heart hammering against my fractured ribs.
“Vane,” my mother said quietly rising to her feet. “She just woke up. Give her a moment.”
“She has had three years of moments,” Vane said not looking at her.
Tears spilled over my cheeks. “I am sorry Dad,” I whispered clutching the sheets.
Vane did not flinch. He did not offer a sliver of comfort.
“Three years ago I warned you what would happen if you chose that boy over your bloodline.” His gaze settled on me cold and unyielding. “You refused to listen and now you finally discovered why I objected. When he showed you the true colors I promised he would you drove recklessly into the mountains and tried to kill yourself.”
“No,” I choked out. My fingers dug into the sheet the rest of the sentence catching somewhere behind my teeth. “I was not trying to…”
“Silence!” he roared. His voice was a lethal command his eyes devoid of any warmth. “A Thorne Chen who tries to end her life over a boy is a Thorne Chen I have no need for.”
“Vane that is enough,” my mother interrupted her voice sharper than I had ever heard her use with him. “She almost died.”
“She almost died running from a mistake I told her not to make.”
“She is still your daughter.”
Vane said nothing to that. He simply turned toward the door as it clicked open.
A doctor in a crisp white coat stepped inside carrying a medical tablet. The earthy scent of pine and musk gave his identity away immediately. A pack wolf.
“Alpha Vane,” the doctor bowed deeply. “Her vehicle’s distress tracker signaled a crash. I extracted her before the human emergency units arrived. Her wolf is already healing the tissue damage. She can be discharged today.”
“Good,” Vane nodded sharply.
“Was anyone else hurt?” I asked before I could stop myself.
The doctor’s eyes flicked to Vane waiting for permission. Vane gave him none so he answered anyway.
“There was a second vehicle Alpha. I found the other driver unconscious on the asphalt.”
“What about him?” Vane snapped.
“He is a vampire.”
Vane’s countenance changed in an instant. His posture shifted the air around him growing heavy.
“You treated a vampire?”
The doctor hesitated but he replied anyway. “Yes Alpha. He was dying. I could not leave him on the road.”
Vane crossed the room in two strides and seized him by the throat. He slammed the doctor into the wall wrapping his hand around the man’s neck and lifting him completely off the floor. His claws extended digging deep into the doctor’s skin.
“You saved a vampire that nearly killed my heir?” Vane roared.
“Vane!” my mother shouted stepping forward. “You will kill him!”
The doctor clawed frantically at my father’s iron grip. “Alpha please!” he choked out. “I treated him and locked him in the secure ward! I saved him so you could execute him yourself!”
Vane stared at him for a long moment watching the doctor’s eyes dart everywhere but his face. Slowly he released his grip. The doctor dropped to the floor coughing and gasping for air.
“Where is he now?” Vane demanded.
“The secure ward. Third door on the left.”
“Lead the way.”
The doctor scrambled to his feet and hurried down the hall. Ignoring the agonizing pain in my ribs I slid out of bed and trailed nervously behind them. I needed to see the person who had survived that horrific impact. I needed to know if he was alive.
“Lyra get back in bed,” my mother called over her shoulder.
“I am coming too.”
She did not argue further. I think some part of her already knew I was not going to listen.
The doctor stopped in front of the ward and pushed the door open.
The room was icy cold.
The large glass window had been smashed off its hinges letting the rain pour inside. The hospital bed was empty the pristine white sheets soaked in fresh blood.
The vampire was gone.
“I locked him in here!” the doctor cried backing away in panic. “I swear it Alpha he was unconscious when I left him!”
“Clearly not unconscious enough,” Vane said coldly.
Vane did not look at him again. His rage ignited into something catastrophic.
My father’s eyes burned with a terrifying amber light. The force of his Alpha aura exploded outward cracking the linoleum floor beneath his boots. He was not just speaking to us. He was opening the grand Alpha link broadcasting his command directly into the mind of every single werewolf in Oslo.
“A vampire has threatened my bloodline,” Vane thundered inside my head a psychic weight that demanded submission. “He is injured and bleeding. Lock down the perimeter. I want his head".
