A sickening stench of blood.

As the weeks went by, none of the four men had heard anything from Seth.

Luciano drowned himself in work, hoping that it would become a great distraction as he patiently waited. Aside from waiting, the King had decided to bring a lot of changes to his Kingdom.

One of the first things Luciano changed was getting rid of the law about different species partners. It wasn't illegal to marry, date or breed someone out of one's species. The King knew that many hybrid shifters would appear, but it was time for a new age, and he was more than ready to welcome the changes.

The men still patrolled around Seth's apartment, switching their tasks to stay somewhat sane, while she seemed to have found a way to hide from everyone's eyes.

Dominic focused his attention on training, avoiding his family, and slowly building up his rank. As an Alpha, he would be respected by others, no matter what, but he wanted something he had to earn on his own, rather than something he was given just by being born in the right family.

So, as the time flew by, he spent his days on the training grounds, helping the younger warriors and aiming to become their trainer.

The rest of the men, however, seemed to build an alliance rather than distract themselves. Both Ryder and Vlad found out about their shared passion for history, books, and knowledge.

While Luciano and Dominic would work their asses off - it didn't matter where, these two ran around the castle like high school geeks, holding piles of books in their hands, eager to gain more knowledge.

The four men turned the castle in their safe place. Eventually, they became friends, disregarding the fact that all of them wanted the same woman.

Dominic and Luciano went over their past multiple times, even going to extents such as inviting a therapist to help them deal with the issue. As their friendship started to blossom all over again, they gladly took in the other two Alphas, all of them learning how to overcome their differences at once.

Luciano sat in his office, watching the sky, wondering if the stars he could see were the same Seth would watch tonight. Lately, he spent most of his nights there, by the large window, unable to sleep.

Within a few minutes, Dominic stood by his side, placing a hand on his shoulder. “She will come back,” Dominic stated and let out a deep breath as if he felt relief washing over him.

The thing was that he tried to convince himself more than Luciano at times. Both of them knew that Seth would come back, but the waiting slowly killed them all.

Perhaps she was right; maybe all of them had to choose different paths and drop the idea about mending their lives together.

“I know, it's just hard to sit down and wait. I can't get rid of the fear about Seth's safety. To hell, if I would have known that she would run if I went to her place, I would never have gone to that apartment.” Luciano kept trying to hide the anger he felt.

It wasn't for anyone to see since the only reason for the feeling was himself. All this time, the King felt torn between hating and somehow tolerating himself for the choices, words, and actions.

As much as he wanted to let her go - he couldn't.

Whenever Seth wasn't around, he felt as if he couldn't breathe, as if his world crashed down right in front of his eyes. Maybe everything would be different if only he wouldn't go to that damned bar and meet the Goddess herself.

Seth took his breath away, and it felt as if she was the only one who could bring life back.

“I know, but remember that it's not your fault. We went over this thousand times; even the dorks read the note - she didn't leave because of something you did or said. She ran because she needed to find herself. Let's face the facts - Seth was and is right; to love someone, she has to learn how to love herself first. Besides, both of them think that she is coming back; Seth wrote that herself. Honestly, I don't think that she would lie about such a thing,” Dominic sat on Luciano's office desk, avoiding meeting his friend's eyes.

At this moment, both men struggled to believe in his words. No matter how hard the Alpha tried, his thoughts always flew back to Seth - the woman that managed to steal their hearts without trying.

She turned into the center of their universe in a matter of days; the only problem was that she couldn't see what they saw. Seth was beautiful inside and out.

“Probably that's my paranoid nature talking, don't mind me. At the end of the day, I will always find myself here, sitting at my desk and staring at the sky, begging the Moon Goddess to look after that wild spitfire,” Luciano chuckled, recalling more happy memories than those that made him feel depressed.

Seth's smile and laugh were two things he missed the most. Then, the sarcastic remarks, somewhat childish behavior, and easygoing nature - it didn't matter what she did, everything seemed perfect.

Even all those times when she turned her back to him, trying to escape her own feelings, appeared as something only an ideal woman would do. Perhaps she was toxic in a way - addictive.

“I know. Anyway, the dorks decided that they would do a campfire in the gardens. They asked if we wanted to join and make some snacks with them. I'm pretty sure Ryder found some kind of information he wanted to share, and Vlad ran outside as if his ass crack was on fire. No pressure, but he has your marshmallows.” Dominic laughed for the first time in a while.

The main reason behind his laugh was how Luciano's eyes widened and how the King ran out of the office faster than ever.

The King bolted downstairs, yelling profanities and growling out loud. Thankfully the servants and staff lived in a separate castle wing; none could hear Luciano's little anger outburst.

Dominic ran after the King, struggling to keep up as he couldn't stop laughing. To make matters worse, as soon as he overheard Vlad's high-pitched scream of terror, Dominic dropped his body on the floor and laughed even louder, holding his belly.

The Alpha knew that something like that could happen - there was a reason why they all became friends. Each of them was their own person, their views on things and life were out of this world different, yet together they made a pretty good team. Seth would be proud of them.

When Dominic finally managed to calm down, he wiped tears of laughter off his face and got back on his feet. His side still hurt from laughing, but that was the good type of pain.

Approaching the campfire, he took in the view - all of his friends, sitting around the fire under the stars and laughing. Their friendship reminded him of the perfection often shown in TV shows, but none of them minded.

“Dominic, you asshole, why would you lie?” Vlad jumped on his feet, growling at the male.

Laughing, Dominic raised his hands in surrender: “Admit it, that was hilarious. If only you would have seen the way his face twisted in anger. I swear I have never witnessed someone running as fast as Mister Vincent did.”

Pointing at Luciano, Vlad huffed. “Funny or not, he is fucking scary! Have you seen him? He's like twice my size, a King at that. Besides, he does nasty things for fun. Remember the rogue who tried to snatch someone from the territory? You know what Luciano did to him?! Dude, that rogue is still in the torture chambers; he's our King's toy, damn it! I don't want to get my ass down there just because you lied about marshmallows. I made that mistake once, and there's no way I'm doing that again. Do not touch the squishy teddy bear-shaped clouds of Heaven, okay!”

Sitting down, Vlad crossed his arms in front of his chest. All men broke out in laughter, Luciano included. Evenings as such didn't happen often, but when they did, the group of friends did everything they could to get out the most of the time they had.

As soon as the laughter died down, the men sat in silence, as always giving each other some time to think.

Luciano kept staring at the stars while others seemed to be too occupied with the nearest forest line. Dominic, Ryder, and Vlad started whispering something to each other, eventually getting on Luciano's nerves.

“What the hell is wrong with you guys? Can't a man enjoy a moment of silence in peace? Seriously, I could sit in my office now and enjoy time with myself rather than listen to some gossip,” the King snared at his friends.

Everyone knew how easy it was to irritate him, especially lately. It wasn't that Luciano missed Seth the most - all of them did, but his dominant and possessive nature would make him seem as if he was on edge most of the time.

Dominic, even being dominant, was more laid back, and the two others just had a different view of the situation.

“Shush, be quiet, dumbass,” Dominic pressed a finger against his lips as he nodded towards the forest line, motioning towards the direction the three men couldn't stop staring at.

Only now, Luciano understood that his friends caught on to something while he was deep in thoughts, watching the sky like a careless teenager.

He didn't dare to jump on his feet, fearing that whatever was hidden in the darkness might be easily scared - in that case, his action might startle someone, and they would run. None of the men would run after it - they had to stay around and ensure safety in the territory, especially around the castle.

Calling for guards would take too much time; by the time when they would arrive, their mystery would be long lost and gone. Luciano zeroed in on the direction, childishly believing that the action would help him see better.

Letting his wolf out, even for a bit, wouldn't be a great idea - if there was someone rather than something, they would notice the sudden change in his eye color.

Besides, since Luciano became the official King, his eyes were red whenever his wolf took over; he didn't need to feel anger or negative emotions for the color to change.

The longer Luciano stared, the easier he could make out a figure hidden behind a large tree. Losing patience, he decided to take a risk and jumped on his feet, but the frame didn't move.

Whatever was there - it was alive and probably injured or hoping that it might enter the territory peacefully.

“You stay here; I'll go there and check what it is,” Luciano whispered to his friends, his eyes set on the target.

“No, you can't leave; I will go,” Dominic whisper-yelled at his friend.

The main reason why he decided to volunteer was primal fear. The Alpha had just built back the relationship he had with his friend years ago, and he didn't want to lose it. Luciano was a King now, he would have many enemies, and more would come along as he would make drastic changes.

Whoever sat there, waiting for God knows who might be bait, a set up to lure the King out of his castle - alone. Dominic wouldn't forgive himself if anything happened to Luciano.

“Make sure to stay here, keep your eyes on the target, alright? If you notice anything out of the ordinary - all of you are my primary backup. Listen, I know what you are thinking, and I wouldn't blame you. But, if that's the truth - they need me. If any of you approach that place, they might leave and wait for a moment when I'm out of territory or anything like that. Now is our chance; just make sure you're close. If there are about fifty to hundred of them, I could fight them off, but if there are more - they might injure me badly. I'm ready to take the risk, brother,” Luciano nodded at Dominic, a weak smile appearing on his lips.

They used to call each other brothers when they were younger; it had been years since the last time Dominic heard Luciano addressing him like that. Tha Alpha nearly broke down in tears, feeling too moved by the King's sudden change of mind.

Instead of protesting, Dominic agreed, turning his back to the place where Luciano would head.

“You two are my eyes now; we have to make this look natural, don't be suspicious, dorks,” Dominic whispered to Ryder and Vlad, winking at the men. Both Alphas started laughing, acting as if their friend had told them a joke, dismissing Luciano.

If anyone watched them from afar, the scene would seem more than basic - four friends, sitting by the campfire. One of them probably drank too much, so he's heading for the forest line while the rest of them laugh at stupid jokes. Even though both Alphas laughed louder than ever before, their eyes focused on the figure in the woods.

Luciano's breath hitched when a scent hit his nose, but since it faded sooner than he could fully take it in, the King assumed that it was his imagination, playing tricks on him.

The closer he got to the figure, the louder the heartbeat became.

It wasn't his, since the King felt how his heart raced, yet the one invading his senses slowly became weaker. Now, Luciano was sure that there shouldn't be any harm hidden in the forest - whoever was there had to be badly hurt.

The King didn't notice how his body acted on its own, rushing towards the dark dot behind the tree. Out of nowhere, his wolf started urging him to hurry; he could feel who was there.

The scent hit his senses again, making him want to stop and swim into the Godly aroma. It was her. She came back.

A sudden wave of happiness hit Luciano, the King ran towards his goal with a wide smile on his lips. The cheerful mood and smile faded as if it had never been a part of his charm - the beautiful scent was overtaken by the scent of metal. A sickening stench of blood.