Her.

Luciano found her in a puddle of her blood, covered in dirt and grass.

As soon as he kneeled to pick her up, she choked on her blood, barely regaining any breathing. Luciano didn't dare to waste more time - he took her in his arms and held the woman tightly against his chest, running towards the castle.

He could make out the silhouettes of his friends, all of the men jumping on their feet, eagerly waiting for Luciano to get closer. It didn't take Alphas too long to notice that the King had someone in his arms.

Dominic ran out first, leaving confused Ryder and Vlad behind. Soon enough, both Alphas took off, following the example of their friend. The men met half-way, shocked to see who was the person they noticed before.

Seth resembled a porcelain doll - white as snow, the only color on her face was the woman's blood.

“Run, get the hospital ready; she's dying!” Luciano cried and yelled out at the same time.

The King was a mess, unable to force more words over his lips, sobbing like a child. Tears streamed down his cheeks - no matter how strong and vile he might seem to others, at this point, he was too desperate to care about the look on his face.

When Seth left, he had a feeling that he shouldn't let go of her that easily, yet he fought the insane urge to follow her. Besides, she did everything to mask the scent she carried - hers was easy to hide, while Luciano's wasn't.

As the days went by, the King couldn't stop thinking about leaving the castle, dropping everything, and going after her, even if he would face a punishment of death later on.

At that point, Luciano didn't care. So, for his own and Seth's sake, the King often locked himself in the cells and kept reading the note, memorizing her words like a mantra.

He had to give her time, no matter what. At this point, it felt as if he couldn't do anything right. No matter how hard he tried to twist and bend, there always had to be something that messed up his efforts. To make matters worse, everything went too far, and he could lose her. All of them could lose her.

Luciano took off, following Dominic and Ryder, who ran to the hospital. Vlad stayed by the King's side, making sure that Seth's heart kept beating.

“She's a fighter; she will make it, trust me!” Out of breath, the Alpha tried his best to calm down the terrified King.

Everyone knew what was to come - Luciano's fear would turn into feral anger; he wouldn't stop until he destroyed at least half of the property and found himself covered in blood.

Everyone took stress differently, but for the King, it had always been aggression and violence.

“I know, she's my girl; she has to stay strong. No, I mean, our girl,” the words came out as if it was the most natural thing one could ever say.

Of course, he would start with himself, yet the next moment his mind went into overdrive, reminding him that he wasn't alone; all of them truly deserved her by their side, no matter what everyone else tried to say.

“Don't worry about the words, brother; we're all scared shirtless,” Vlad added, eyeing the front door.

Dominic and Ryder didn't think that someone had to stay behind, holding the door for Luciano, so Vlad took the responsibility upon himself, running a little faster to get ahead of him. Thanks to his quick thinking, they got to the hospital faster, saving precious time.

“What happened?” One of the nurses rushed towards Luciano, eyeing the woman in his arms.

The concern never left her face, making all men feel as if they had gotten there too late. The tension grew as the woman's eyes clouded; she took her time to mind-link someone as the men in front of her, all out of breath, hoped for the best.

“We don't know; I found her near the forest line like this, nearly drowning in her own blood,” Luciano explained, trying to get rid of the vivid images already imprinted in his mind.

Years and years after countless battles, fights, and fatal arguments, he had never struggled with the situation as such. He had forgotten so many times when his opponents died in a battle, leaving little to no memories behind, but the view in front of him now would never fade from his memories.

If Seth made it out alive, Luciano would spend as much time around her as he could. She had to stay under their radar no matter what. Luciano wasn't a fool - he knew that there was no way she got into a fight. Whatever happened was planned - there was an attack on Seth, an unfair one.

“We will take over from here; please lay her down and wait in the hall. I'll let you know whenever we're done here,” the nurse blurted out, pressing a button none of them noticed before.

Dominic eyed her actions - the woman had just mind-linked someone, and now she used the technology to gather everyone around the room. Suspicion in him rose within seconds - maybe the woman thought that no one would notice her doings since everyone was under stress, but Dominic did.

Ryder stepped forward, nudging on the Alpha's side - he wasn't the only one who noticed her actions.

Luciano followed her demands and placed Seth on the bed, leaving the hospital room along with the other Alphas. Within seconds, they watched over dozens of doctors rushing into the room - one by one, they would run out, grab something and run straight back in.

One of the other nurses peeked outside the room and quickly questioned the men about Seth. As soon as she overheard that they have a puma in their hospital, the nurse grew even more worried, yet nothing could stand even close to her shock when Luciano called her the Queen.

Trembling, the nurse disappeared from their view and closed the door before she started screaming at the doctors and other nurses. For nearly an hour, all Alphas had to listen to her angered screams about the importance of the dying woman.

“Did you see the same thing?” Ryder was the first one to speak up, exchanging knowing looks with Vlad. Both Alphas preferred to observe everyone, pointing out any other mistake they could make afterward.

“Yeah, I think I did,” Dominic stood from his seat, running hands through his hair in frustration. No one had stepped out to tell them how she was - another reason to feel more anxious.

“What are you talking about?” Luciano finally broke out of the terrifying thought bubble and eyed his friends.

Raising an eyebrow, he noticed the tension between the men, instantly catching on the problem. Calmly, he stood up, approached Dominic, and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

The King cleared his throat and loudly spoke up: “Whoever was it, I need them out of that hospital room. Now,” whenever Luciano spoke so calmly, everyone could feel the chills running down their spines.

He was a man of aggression and violence, not calm discussions and understanding. If someone did him wrong - the King was sure to be there and repay with twice as much damage, if not more.

“Did you notice anything at all, yourself?” Vlad questioned the King, wondering if they didn't need to think of a plan first. They couldn't just drag a nurse out of the room without proof. Or could they?

“No. But, judging by the look on your faces, I'm pretty sure that my assumptions were correct. Let's be honest here - there is no way she randomly ended up by the forest line near the castle after a fight with a rogue. One rogue couldn't inflict so much damage on an Alpha puma. We live in a world where even the wildest and most feral beasts wouldn't attack in packs - it's a one-to-one battle. We know that she would kick ass; there's no doubt in that. The attack was staged, and there's a traitor inside my castle. Either I get them now, or I will lock up every other person walking down the halls. You included. So, what is it going to be?” Luciano crossed his arms in front of his chest, showing off the muscles and insane strength he possessed.

After the Alpha games, no one dared to play around with him - only a fool would dare to go against someone who rips out the hearts of his enemies like a game.

“What are you going to do?” Vlad gulped, feeling a bit worried about the King's sanity. This wasn't an issue about Seth anymore - Luciano was there for vengeance.

“Not sure yet, but if there is one thing I know - there's a hell of a lot of people to die if anything goes wrong. If she dies, I won't stop at anything until every person involved in this mess dies along.” The King smiled, nodding at the closed door, waiting for the Alphas to drag out whoever was suspected to be the traitor.

Dominic and Vlad exchanged looks, unsure if they could point fingers at someone, accusing them of such a serious crime.

Ryder, on the other hand, didn't need more to act. The Alpha stomped to the room, opened the door, and scanned the faces, stopping on the nurse. A low growl left his lips as he rushed to grab the woman by her upper arm.

He had to force words over his lips, his jaw clenching in anger: “You're coming with me,” he spat out.

“What? Why? I haven't done anything wrong, I'm trying to save her!” The woman tried to resist to her best ability, but she had no chance against a full-grown Alpha wolf.

At that moment, when the nurse tried to explain herself - they all knew she was a part of the shitshow.

“And what about the mind-linking someone as soon as we brought her in, huh? What about using the damn button to get the staff here afterward? If you mind-linked the staff, you wouldn't need that emergency button!” Ryder growled, nearly throwing the woman towards Luciano and closing the room door with a loud bang.

His chest moved up and down as he tried to calm himself down, struggling to keep control over his beast.

“I-” the nurse tried to speak, but her body collided with the King before she could register what was happening. Her eyes traveled up, meeting blood-red orbs. She knew what would happen; next, there was no use in resisting anymore.

“Please, let me help you, young lady,” Luciano smiled at her.

For some reason, the nurse thought that his smile was nothing but pure kindness. The King had never smiled at her before, yet the woman suddenly blushed, slightly averting her gaze.

Since the day when the new King arrived, she knew that she had a chance with him. What were the odds of a simple nurse marrying the King himself? Well, not as grand, but the woman soon came up with an idea.

All she needed was some cash, some like-minded minions, and the help from the resistance movement. Many shifters thought that the new policy was killing them off - letting shifters breed and give birth to half-breeds seemed insane.

As soon as the nurse found out about the beloved woman Luciano kept waiting for, she managed to pull the plan and find Seth. The puma was perfectly capable of living in the wild; she met some rogues in her way but always walked away unharmed.

They needed more help, more allies, and most importantly - someone who would torture the woman until she couldn't look into the King's eyes anymore.

The plan was working - Seth was in the hospital, and the King gladly took in the nurse. He had to have feelings for her - the woman thought that the King fell for her as soon as their eyes met.
She was wrong.

Everyone stood aside, silently watching how the woman screamed and begged in pain. The King extended his claws and pierced the razor-sharp nails through her arm, keeping her hostage.

The more the woman struggled, the more blood she lost, slowly losing the ability to stand on her own feet.

Luciano nodded at the Alphas: “I trust you as I've never trusted anyone before. From now on, you are my eyes and ears - if anything happens, one of you is to find me and update me in person. I will not accept servants or guards, only one of you three. It's up to you to ensure that she is safe and only the medical staff enters the room. Double-check each shifter that gets past you - make sure none of them have the wrong intentions like this bitch had. While you do your thing, I'll spend some time downstairs with the beautiful nurse. Is that clear?” Luciano smiled, eager to drag the woman to the cells and play with her.

It had been a while since something had made him excited, but this nurse changed it all. He had no intention of killing her right away - first, Luciano would find out names, addresses, even one's family members to whoever was involved.

If the nurse died, she would have to go through insane pain, but each time when she thought she would make it - Luciano would make sure she survived.

He wanted to see her begging for death.

The King wanted to see pain, fear, agony, and desperation in her eyes before the woman would be set free. And even then, he wouldn't because Seth had to go through the same.

Luciano would tease the woman with the sweet escape of death yet keep refusing that over and over again.

If anyone thought that they could mess with his woman - they were dead wrong. If anyone thought they would have to deal with the King alone, they would be up for a surprise - there were three more Alphas.

Seth was their girl, and all of them would kill for the woman who captured their hearts.