A Queen's Dark Prison

Chapter 3: Refusing To Eat

-Valerio-

The shower did little to calm my nerves, but I knew nothing would ever truly calm them. Not as long as Octavia was out there, still vulnerable to all sorts of threats. My wolf had been quite silent since she was taken, except for the constant growling, but he wasn’t really speaking. He was angry and pissed off, just like me, and he hated the fact that we had not been able to keep our mate safe.

That guilt we would carry with us forever. Now I am not saying Octavia couldn’t take care of herself. I didn’t know a female more badass than her, but as her mate, it was still my job to keep her safe, and I had failed at that.

I was going to rectify it and not just bring her home, but also find a way to bring her back. I would not fail. I could not because if Octavia died, then so did I. I could not live without her. I knew that in my heart. It was why I hadn’t been able to get rid of her to begin with. My heart had been hers, the first time our eyes met, right before she shoved that silver knife into my chest…

After I got out of the shower, I quickly dressed in a white shirt and a pair of dark blue pants. We weren’t leaving right away, even though I wanted to. I had left the job of leading this pack and this community to everyone else, because I hadn’t been myself. In many ways, I still wasn’t, but some things had to be taken care of. Garrett found me on my way to the office, though. He looked at me worried.

“Have you eaten anything?” he asked.

“Food can wait. I slept a little.”

“Food cannot wait. You need the strength if you are going to chase your queen around the world,” he said.

“I last saw her in France.”

“Yes, and she could be in Germany now or Poland. Who the heck knows? You need the food, Valerio. You know you do. Take some time—”

“I don’t have freaking time!” I told him. “I dissolved the council and then went to isolate myself. I have not taken care of anything for months! Months! And Octavia is still out there where Connor can get her. I don’t have f*****g time, Garrett. Forget food!”

I walked a little faster and into my office again. Garrett wasn’t very happy with me, though, and as my beta, it was his job to make sure I was taking care of myself too. All the burden of leading not just this pack but everything fell on him.

As my beta, he was the beta of betas. His responsibilities weren’t just to this pack. They were to every wolf out there, and he did a heck of a good job, but he was not the king. He was not an alpha, and therefore he couldn’t keep doing this all the time. Not even with Damian, who was my third in command.

Together, they did a very good job, but I still needed to be here. Sadly, my mind wasn’t really in the game. I might be here physically, but my mind was where Octavia was.

“Listen, I understand you want to get on with work, so you can get back out there, but you are not doing a very good job if you do not eat anything," Garrett advised.

“I ate something before I got here.”

“That was over eighteen hours ago,” he told me.

“What?” I exclaimed.

How long had I slept? Apparently longer than I had thought. It was a whole new day. I looked out of the window, shocked. The sun was, of course, up and shining, and therefore, I didn’t think any time had really passed, but a lot had.

“I slept for that long?” I questioned, leaning back in my chair.

Garrett nodded. “I checked on you, but you were out cold.”

“So that was how that monster came inside the room,” I mumbled.

“Monster? Oh, Little Diva. Yeah, she joined you on the bed,” he informed me.

“Don’t let her in again!” I told him and pointed at him.

Garrett just smiled and crossed his arms.

“Well, do you want me to join you instead?” he teased.

“No! No one is supposed to join me.”

“You need some help," he remarked.

“Help? Perhaps, but I don’t need you to freaking cuddle with me!” I said, annoyed.

“Come on, let us go eat first.”

I shook my head and then opened my computer.

“I have work,” I retorted.

Garrett sighed, shaking his head. “Well, I’m going down to eat with the rest.”

I didn’t look at him and just waved a hand through the air, dismissing him.

“Have fun,” I remarked, ignoring him already.

He sighed again, but then finally left me and let me do some work. Yet the words in front of me—as I read all these emails and requests from many unknown wolves and people I knew—it was like I couldn’t see them. They were dancing in front of my eyes, and I had to close them, taking a few seconds to just get my head in the game before I started on the work in front of me.

-Garrett-

“Well?” Lily inquired as I came down to join the rest in the dining room.

I shook my head, and everyone looked a bit defeated. They had hoped I could convince him to come down and eat with us, but he was as stubborn as ever.

Yet we all understood. If any of us were in his shoes, we wouldn’t want to spend time eating food either. Kate had pretty much been in his place, and it had been hard for her to eat anything as well. She had even needed help taking care of Ethan because she simply couldn’t get out of bed.

She was doing much better now, though, and Chris was sitting right beside her, an arm over the back of her chair, keeping her close. Though we all saw the change in him as well.

My best friend had changed. Turned darker. He didn’t smile as much or joke around as he used to. Even when others tried to push him a little or tease him, he didn’t revert to his usual joking self. No, what his father had put him through had changed him.

I knew he was up again in the middle of the night, pacing around, as he had done before he met Kate. As we all had done before we met our mates. Lucian was the only one still just pacing because he hadn’t met his mate.

I walked over and sat down beside my own mate, taking her hand in mine, feeling her warmth, and it instantly calmed me down.

“He needs to eat,” Lily stated.

“Then you try to convince him,” I replied, smiling a little.

She sighed, knowing Valerio wouldn’t listen to any of us.

“Maybe it was time we used force,” Lara suggested.

She, Evan, and Maddy had stayed here after the meeting, since there was a lot that we still needed to discuss and figure out.

“Force?” James asked, smiling at her, before running his hand down her red hair. “And what do you suggest? That we all hold him down and force feed him?”

She smiled and leaned back in her chair as she sipped her drink.

“Wouldn’t be a bad idea,” she remarked, which made James shake his head.

“Is that really your solution?” Selene asked her sister.

Lara just shrugged. “Nothing else has worked so far. Why not force?”

“Because force only makes things worse,” Selene countered.

Lara shrugged again.

“I wouldn’t say that’s true,” the little tough luna said.

“I will talk to him,” Selene decided.

“No, I will,” Rider interjected, making us all look at him. “He is my brother.”

Yes, Rider might be the best chance for us to get Valerio to eat, but so far, it hadn’t really mattered who talked to him. When he had isolated himself in the office, he didn’t want to talk to any of us.

I mean, it was no wonder he had grown so thin or looked so tired, even older. That was the downside of the bond with our mates. Should anything happen to them, then we paid a hard price.

“He said he last saw her in France,” I said.

“Then I guess we go to France first,” Evan proposed.

“You can’t leave,” Maddy stated. “The pack—”

“They got their luna,” he said, kissing her. “You can keep them in line.”

Maddy didn’t seem calmer hearing this, though. It was clear she was worried about her mate leaving. I bet all the females shared the same concern.

I had spoken to Lily about it, but I wasn’t even sure if I could go. I knew Valerio would want to, and since it was the queen he was chasing, I might just have to stay back and make sure things ran smoothly.

“I will be back soon,” Rider assured, getting up from his chair.

He kissed Selene on top of her hair as he walked by her, and then continued out of the dining room. A lot of food stood on the long table, but none of us really had any appetite. When your alpha and, more importantly, the king was as hurt as he was, it hurt us all. It made it hard for us to eat or sleep as well. We needed him down here so we could all get our strength back.