The Lonely Lycan Alpha Queen

Chapter Eight

MALIKA’S POV

My mind was racing as we made our way down the mountain again. I had a mate.

Not only was he a different species, but he was also in a feral state, leaving him entirely at the mercy of his tiger counterpart.

I had no idea if I would be able to bring him back to himself. How would I even have time to spend with him once I returned to my duties? Plus, I still wanted to look into Frank’s wife’s disappearance.

My Lycan was unusually quiet in my mind. She was normally very present, and I could feel what she was feeling, but I was getting nothing from her.

My guards had not said a word since we started back down the mountain, which I was very thankful for.

By the time we made it back to the bottom, my thoughts and emotions were a massive storm inside my mind.

I needed to focus on getting information from Frank now, so I pushed down all my internal battles and focused on the here and now.

Ward walked beside me as we headed towards Frank’s house.

“Mali, I know you have a lot going on, I also know you want to help Frank. Why don’t we get Karla to come back here and investigate it more once we get home? You are going to have enough on your plate with…”

He didn’t need to finish what he was saying, it was the same as what I had been thinking.

“I doubt the king will allow anyone else into his kingdom once I reject his proposal and take the only living Baihu from his kingdom as my mate.” I countered.

“OK, well, how about Ramon and I stay to investigate it? Evander and Ajax are enough guards for the return trip.” I can’t really think about all this now.

“Look, I appreciate what you are trying to do, Ward, but let’s just see Frank and get back to the castle. I have much to think about,” I said.

He nodded, realising our conversation was over for now. We walked in silence the rest of the way.

“Please don’t mention to Frank or anyone that the Baihu is my mate until I have had time to process and work out the next course of action”. I mind-linked my guards as we approached Frank’s front door. They all nodded their agreement.

Frank was surprised to see us. We explained that we wanted to look into his mate’s disappearance, and he told us that the King had sent a warrior to ask him questions and then left without offering help. Figures.

Frank told us everything he could remember, showed us where she was taken from and gave us a photo and a piece of her clothing with her scent in a large zip-lock bag to retain its scent.

“Frank, there is something else you should know; we know you really did see a Baihu. We went up the mountain this morning and saw it ourselves. I am sorry the King did not take you seriously." I said to him.

His eyes widened "Thank you, most people around here think I’m just a drunk who is making things up for attention. The truth is I haven’t had a drop since my mate disappeared. She hated my drinking.” Frank said, tears forming in his eyes.

We talked a little longer and then we started the trip back to the castle. I told Frank that someone from my team would be back to help him find out what happened to his mate, and they wouldn’t give up until we knew one way or another.

We made the long run back to the castle. My mind was continuously swirling between my mate and what I had to do with all that, Frank and the mysterious disappearance of his mate and the fact I am just too damn old to be dealing with all this drama.

We made it back to the castle and quickly threw our clothes on. We hurried up to our suite, not ready to be dealing with the King right now.

I took a really long hot shower before getting dressed for dinner. I needed to get back into work mode, this wallowing in my mind was not helping anyone, least of all me.

Once the others were cleaned up, we still had a bit of time before we had to head down to dinner. I decided to ring Karla and let her know what was going on and get her opinion on how best to get my new mate to our kingdom.

“Hey, boss lady, how’s the trip going? Any progress on the whole Frank thing?” Karla asked as soon as she answered.

“Karla, things have just gotten more complicated,” I said with a heavy sigh.

“What’s going on, Mali?” she asked, and I could tell she was in Beta mode now.

“We found the Baihu, he is in a feral state and he…” I paused. I can’t believe I was going to be saying this to my closest confidant. “He’s my mate.”

I heard her gasp and there was a banging sound followed by a string of curses, a muffled sound and, finally, Karla’s voice returned.

“Sorry, I dropped the phone” she mumbled. I couldn't help but laugh, I had shocked her so much that she had literally dropped the phone.

“Wow, OK. So, what do you need me to do? If he is in a feral state, I assume he will need sedation for travelling purposes. What do you want me to organise at this end? It seems a little cruel to keep him in the cells. Do you want me to have something built in the forest?”

That’s exactly the sort of thing I knew Karla would be good for. I hadn’t even thought about the whole housing situation once we got him back to our Kingdom.

“Yes, we will need to sedate him. I don’t think he will come willing at the moment. As for accommodation, yes, we will need something strong enough to hold a Tiger but also include an area should he shift back while no one is with him.” I said, thinking out loud.

“OK Mali, leave it with me, we will get something organised at this end. Do you need me to send sedation and transport?” She asked me. I had yet to tell the king, so I wasn’t sure if he would be helpful in this situation or not.

“I’ll let you know. I have to inform the King I will be taking the only living Baihu from his kingdom and I’m not sure how he will react, especially given the fact he wanted to make me his chosen mate.”

I heard Karla choke; I had not given her that little tidbit of information yet. “Dammit Mali, now I have coffee everywhere. He is not going to take this well, is he?” She said questioningly.

“Not sure. Anyway, I had better put in an appearance at dinner and arrange to speak with Haidar about this whole situation.”

“OK Mali, keep me informed and I will get straight on working out accommodation for your mate. I am so happy you found him, and I one hundred percent believe you can bring him back. The goddess would not have blessed you with a mate after all this time just for you to lose him.” Karla always knew the right things to say.

“Thank you, Karla. I appreciate that.” I hung up the phone and handed it back to Ward, who was waiting just off my left side.

“I guess we should go down to dinner,” I said half-heartedly.

“Are you going to bring up the Baihu?” Ward asked me, looking mildly concerned.

“No, I don’t think that is wise, I will ask to meet him after dinner to chat,” I said. I did not want to cause a scene in the dining hall.

We made our way down and were once again invited to eat with the King on his raised platform. The Pompous prick likes to make sure he looks down on everyone whilst being the centre of attention.

Once we had taken our seats, the lovely ladies that do all the cooking brought out some wonderful-looking meals for us. I saw Haidar scrunch up his face at the plates we were given before starting on his own mostly carnivorous foods.

“So, your majesty, how was your day? I missed you at breakfast,” Haidar said offhandedly. I finished my mouthful and set my fork down before turning to face him.

“Actually, we had a very interesting day, one I would very much like to discuss with you in private if you can spare some time after dinner?” I replied, flashing a fake smile at him.

Haidar looked confused for a second, then beamed. “Of course, I have time for you. We can meet up right after dinner if that suits you?” he said enthusiastically.

“Sounds perfect,” I said and took another forkful of food, essentially ending our conversation for the time being.

“Wonderful,” Haidar said before returning to his own meal.