Strange Love

2 hours earlier

"What are you doing up and about?" Ry asked around a bite of the sandwich he was holding as Russ walked into the kitchen.

Russ nodded toward Giorgos who ate quietly at the large island in the center of the kitchen. "Same as you, I suspect." He walked over and began awkwardly cutting a loaf of bread. When Giorgos slid the mayonnaise toward him, he asked. "How's your family adjusting?"

Giorgos nodded. "A little uneasy but other than that, good. Thanks for asking."

Russ let out a heavy sigh. "They're not the only ones feeling uneasy... at least not tonight..."

Ry furrowed his brows. "What's up kid?"

Russ shrugged as he caused tomato seeds to squirt all over the counter. "I donno... I just have this weird feeling..." He lifted the butchered slice of tomato and tossed it on the sandwich. His attention moved to Ry. "How is training going with the new guards?"

"They have a ways to go still yet. It will take a while to build up their strength and endurance after years of malnutrition and borderline starvation. That aside, they're catching on quickly." He gave Russ a crooked smile. "I mean even the weakest among them is still a wolf after all. Don't worry too much about it, kid. I promise you'll have a good team before I leave." He bit into one of the cookies that had been left out. Tossing it back to the counter, he scoffed. "Now if I can just teach your kitchen staff a few things about baking before I leave..."

"Speaking of which, have you heard anything else on the coronation?" Giorgos asked as he lifted from the stool and slid it back under the counter.

"No, not yet." Russ frowned.

"Keep this between the three of us, but dad suspects whoever helped Marcus has been intentionally sabotaging things. That's at least one other dirty councilman." Ry replied.

"Any ideas of who?" Giorgos asked.

"He's leaning toward Selena, but it's hard to accuse the moon goddess without evidence."

"You ask me, Lamia's a shady bitch as well." Russ threw in as he washed down the last of his sandwich with a glass of milk. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he said. "Alright... now to see if I'm any closer to sleep..."

Ry nodded. "We'll walk ya up. Not like we're not going in the same direction anyway."

Russ didn't object as the two men followed him from the kitchen. The second floor had just come into view when a thud from down the hall caught their attention.

"That's one of the girl's rooms... You think we should check it out?" Giorgos asked, indecision reflecting in his eyes.

Russ shook his head. "Three men busting into their room in the middle of the night would only make things worse." Another thud caused Russ's resolve to waiver. The uneasy feeling from earlier came back twice as strong. Without thinking, Russ took off running down the hall.

The smell of blood caught all three men by surprise as they neared the rooms at the end of the hallway where the noises had come from. Russ knocked loudly on the door, but the muffled scuffles of feet seemed to be moving farther from the door. He raised his hand to knock harder when Ry pushed him out of the way.

"We don't have time for this." He growled as he pushed the door open, causing part of the door frame to splinter. His eyes widened when the scene inside the room caught his attention. "FUCK!" He yelled as he ran forward.

Russ watched in stunned disbelief as a masked man slid a blade across the panicked wolf-girl's throat and tossed her toward Ry as he pushed his way through the debris. Ry screamed out in rage as he watched the ȧssailant smash through the window and escape while he could only watch. He continued to hold pressure to the girl's throat as Giorgos ran toward the window.

"He's gone..." Giorgos muttered in shock. Another thought occurred to him as he searched the room. {There were two girls per room... but where...}

"OH FUCK!" Russ called out as he pulled back the bedding in the scantly lit room. His hand trembled as he reached out toward the glassy, unseeing eyes staring out at him. He pushed the soft, fragile eyelids down over the once warm honey eyes. Unlike the blood currently bubbling around Ry's hands, the cut across this girl's throat was no longer bleeding. The pale blue sheets and pillowcases were all stained, her once tight curls matted together in the hardening blood. His vision blurred as tears flowed freely down his cheeks. "I promised them my protection... I've failed them..."

Ry fought against the tightening in his throat as the frantic, worried eyes that held his closed. The frail fingers gripping the wrist of his hand that clung to the bubbling wound fell away, and the struggled gasps of breaths faded in the quiet night. He carefully lowered her to the soft white carpet now stained with her blood. "Go check on Jaden, leave this one to me." His voice broke with emotion as he forced his concerned eyes to lock on Giorgos instead of Russ, unable to face the devastation on the young wolf's handsome face. "You go round up the guards."

Russ nodded and quickly turned from the room. He didn't waste any time getting to Jaden's door. Finding it locked, he raised his hand and was just about to knock when a crash sounded inside the room. Fear taking over, Russ kicked in the door. "Jaden?!" He yelled out, seeing the disarray of the room. His worried eyes searched the room, the smell of blood thick in the air. "Jaden?" He called out as he walked farther into the room. Movement from the bathroom caught his attention. He carefully pushed the door open and caught his breath. Jaden was crumpled on hands and knees on the tiled floor completely nȧkėd. Blood stained her pale skin. he dropped to the floor beside her. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Jaden fought to regulate her breathing as she nodded toward the bathtub. The curtains and been torn down and a bloody hand hung over the edge. "Couldn't sleep... attacked..." She panted.

His eyes moved around the room taking in the broken glass of the mirror, the smudges and streaks of blood on the mirror, the counter, and the floor. Puddles of water and wet feet prints glistened on the tile. Realization dawned and he quickly stood and made his way cautiously over to the tub. Flinging back the shower curtain, he examined the partially submerged, masked man. He bent and felt for a pulse but there wasn't one. His neck seemed to be broken and there was a large shard of the broken mirror lodged into his stomach. He grabbed a towel and made his way back over to Jaden. He wrapped it around her and lifted her from the floor. His eyes examined her as he carried her toward the door. There were several shallow cuts on her arms and hands and one on her neck. The beast within clawed to escape, but he had to get her somewhere safe before he could give into the shift. Ry was just stepping out of one of the rooms, his expression cold and angry, when he stepped into the hall. "How are they?"

Ry shook his head, his attention moving to Jaden and sadness replacing the cold anger. "Let's get her somewhere safe first."

"Where?! The whole damn palace is nothing but a bunch of mazes and secret passages." Russ growled as he tilted his head to pop his neck, the beast fighting to be freed.

"You're not going to like this, but the royal suite is going to be the safest place right now." Ry said.

They hadn't made it to the end of the hall when scuffles sounded inside one of the rooms. They had just turned, Russ clutching Jaden even tighter against him, when one of the guards stepped out with two of the girls following sheepishly behind him. "I'm sorry sir I wasn't able to apprehend the attacker. He vanished back into a passage in the walls." The guard informed them.

Russ's lip curled over his upper teeth. "I'm tempted to burn the fuċkɨnġ hell hole to the ground." He growled.

Ry signaled for the girls as he cupped Russ's shoulder with the other hand. "Let's get the girls somewhere safe first." As soon as the girls ran across the hall to him, he directed his attention to the guard. "Have all the occupied rooms checked, bring any survivors to the top floor." The two girls held each other tightly as Ry led them toward the stairs.

Russ's curious eyes moved around the king's quarters as he set Jaden onto the bed. He cupped his hand over her cheek. "I need you to shift, you have several injuries. Can you do that for me?"

Jaden nodded, forcing the trembling in her limbs to still.

Russ watched as her body contorted and beautiful white fur replace bȧrė, pale skin. Once she'd shifted back only the dried blood remained. Without thinking his hand found one of the dried clumps and smudged it away.

Jaden looked away in embarrassment. "It's not all my blood..."

Russ nodded, understanding what she was trying to say. "You did good tonight. I'm sorry I couldn't have been there for you when you needed me most... but I can't tell you how glad I am that you were able to defend yourself tonight." He tugged off his shirt and slipped it over her head, pulling her tightly against him as it fell into place around her hɨps. He buried his face in her damp hair trying his best to hide his own wrecked emotions.

Tears burned her eyes. "But the others... how many..."

Russ frowned. "We're not sure yet. April and Mia are in the attached room, but as for the others the guards are still searching." He turned her face up to meet him. Searching her eyes, he asked. "Will you be alright if I go help them look for the attackers?"

Her eyes widened a new fire burning behind them. "I want to help as well!"

Russ shook his head. "You need to rest. You've been through enough already."

She shot to her feet beside him. "I am fine now. Let me help!"

He let out a long sigh. "Others will be brought up here. If it's not too much, could you help with them?"

She nodded in disappointment but was glad he was willing to let her help in some way.

He smiled down at her. "Thank you." He bent and gave her a light kiss on her forehead. "I'll ask a few of the female guards to stay in the room as you guys get cleaned up."

"Ok... thank you..." She muttered as he guided her toward the connected room.

After seeing to the girls' safety as best as he could, Russ took off back downstairs. He had just stepped into a room when he saw Ry bent over a tiny body. There was a slight glow to his tattoos and the floor was wet around them. "Wha... what's going on in here?"

Tears burned Giorgos's eyes as he cleared his throat. "He's been working on the girl for several minutes now... but it's no use... she's gone..." His voice was no more than a whisper as he watched helplessly.

Russ walked slowly over and bent down beside Ry. "Come on man. You've done all you can..."

Ry set back on his heels with a long string of cusses, covering his face in frustration with his hands. "FUUUUCK!"

Russ watched as the glow of the exposed tattoos faded. "What happened?"

Ry shook his head as he wiped away tears of frustration. "My water magic won't work... it only works on creatures of the sea..."

Russ nodded. "I get ya..." His gaze moved up to Giorgos. "Do we have any idea what's going on?"

Giorgos shook his head. "It seems like the girls were the only ones targeted. Whoever it was, knew enough about the palace and secret passages to get in and out without alerting the guards. Our men are still searching the tunnels, but it's hard to tell if they'll find anyone."

"Jaden killed the one who attacked her. See if you can identify him." Russ growled. He turned his attention to Ry. "You ready for a hunt?"

A determined glint caught Ry's eyes. "Always!"

Giorgos's eyes widened. "Give me a minute, and I'll go with you.

"No, I still don't trust the other guards yet." Russ clasped Giorgos's shoulder and pressed his forehead against the other man's. "You've proven yourself more than once, I trust you to handle this."

Giorgos let out a grown as he shook his head. "You gotta be the only king in history to take all the risks while leaving your second in charge of the easy stuff."

Russ chuckled. "What can I say, I just want to take all the fun stuff for myself." He sent him a wink before turning to see Ry end a call and shove his phone back in his pocket.

"You ready kid? Let's see what a hunting god and an alpha pup can accomplish when we put our heads together."

Russ nodded not even arguing against the stab this time as he stripped off his clothes and let the beast take over.