I missed you so bad, dad.

“It feels like we keep on walking in circles. Are you sure that you know where we are? Not to sound like a bitch or anything, but I don't believe in your abilities. Well, not as much as I did a couple of hours ago. Come on, we passed by this same tree more than five times; your wandering ways are getting out of control,” Ryder was the first one to speak up. The Alpha couldn't understand what the point of wandering around like lost men were.

Of course, Dominic knew the most information - he was the one who grew up with Luciano, and they had some secrets only they could share. However, despite the mysterious attitude and constant need to hide everything, they still were a team.

If one didn't speak up, the rest of them wouldn't have a reason to trust their leader. Dominic had a lot of explaining to do, probably way too much time on his hands, and little to no desire to speak. His eyes kept darting everywhere, looking for a clue or something he might recognize as familiar.

Where on Earth were they?

“Because we need to,” Dominic spat back dryly.

His eyes kept searching for something, but he hadn't given his friends more than a couple of words to explain himself. Maybe if he told the Alphas how that one thing he sought looked like, they would have found the odd rock years ago.

Unlike the two Alphas, Dominic knew way more about Luciano than everyone else. Even his family had no idea what were the deepest and darkest secrets he could hide. However, Dominic knew, which was the main reason he was sure that Luciano would be in the cave.

When both boys were around six years old, they managed to piss off one of the forest faes. The tiny, damned thing cursed them, but none of the wolf shifters took her words seriously.

Up to this day, Dominic could hear her stingy voice at the back of his mind: “One day, you'll fall on your knees before me. Alpha or not, you will meet my rage!”

Back then, the words didn't impress the boys - primarily because of how harmless the tiny woman with wings sounded. Perhaps they should have done that back then instead of holding bigger value in their ego than apologizing.

She had warned them that once the woman, which most likely had to be Seth, jumps in their life, all of them would have to face deadly challenges. Seth already did, and for some reason, they chose Luciano to be the one who suffered through the worst part of the punishment rather than Dominic.

Sighing, he let his eyes roam around his surroundings for the last time before his body collided with the cold, damp soil.

“Dominic? Are you alright?” Vlad questioned him, hovering over him.

Of course, the worry was written all over his face, but the Alpha still attempted to look a little unbothered. Knowing each other for years gave both men a bond strong enough to read each other without problem, yet there were still enough occasions when Vlad would gladly offer Dominic a penny for a piece of his thoughts.

“I'm alright, just give me a minute. I need to remember. That bitch must have intentionally erased some of my memories so I wouldn't find her little hideout.” Dominic growled in anger.

At first, he had no intention to bring any harm upon the strange creatures, but the more he struggled to find them, the angrier he became. At this point, Dominic had to get rid of the frustration and anger, or he would never find where his friend was hidden.

They had little to no time - even though faes were said to be friendly and kind, all of them had a dark side. Some of them thirsted for blood like tiny Vampires, while others preferred violence.

The fact sounded funny for most of the shifters, but only a few knew what they were truly capable of doing. The forest fae's had a lot of knowledge about plants and roots - they used those to confuse and sometimes even poison their victims.

Some roots were strong enough to get down a fully grown shifter, but they would work as sedatives in Luciano's case at best. Getting him back to their cave, tying him down, and feeding the same root to him could end up in different scenarios, but the most believable one would be him getting weaker, unable to resist. That's when the torture would come in; you don't need to be enormous to show how merciless you could be.

Vlad kept staring at his friend until the Alpha finally decided to step back a little. Getting closer to worried-looking Ryder, he sighed in frustration: “I'm pretty sure that there is more to the story than meets the eye. He's hiding something, perhaps something important.” Sitting down, Vlad looked up at Ryder, expecting any kind of emotion in return.

Ryder shrugged, letting his gaze focus on Dominic. He fell asleep within seconds, probably too exhausted to keep on moving. It wasn't anything surprising since he was the one who stayed up for patrols at night, ensuring that everyone was safe.

Unlike others, Dominic hadn't had a chance to close an eye for three days and nights. While others slept and woke up full of energy in the mornings, Dominic slowly worked himself off until he dozed off in the middle of the forest.

Thankfully, it was daylight, so no one could ever be stupid enough to attempt an attack. Even if rogues were wandering around the territory, none of them would be brave enough to approach more than one Alpha while they had lost the cover of the darkness.

Even in a situation where they seemed to lose any hope, the men still had their advantages. Ryder suddenly cleared his throat to gain his friend's attention: “Any news from the castle?”

Avoiding meeting Vlad's eyes, he tried to ease the situation even though he was aware that his question could bring more tension between them. It was bad enough now, but some things should have been left unspoken.

Vlad's body tensed; just a mere thought of the nightmare Seth was going through made his blood boil. Yet, this was not the time and place to bring up arguments or lose team spirit. While Seth was safe back in the castle, they focused on their mission to save the real King.

“She's safe, and that's all that truly matters. Let's avoid any topic close to her; it will shift whatever peace we accomplished between ourselves. Dominic is worn out as it is, Luciano is God knows where and we will argue if one of us keeps bringing her up. Let's try to forget for a little while, at least until we find him.”

Looking in the distance, Vlad didn't expect an answer from Ryder. His thoughts kept moving at the speed of light; no matter how much he tried to keep his face straight, he couldn't.

“I can't say that I'm the biggest fan of our King. No, I wouldn't complain about everything he brought up as an issue and changed. There are more than just a few chances and options he gave to shifters; unlike any other King, he actually did everything for his people rather than took everything they had. Luciano didn't take the throne to steal and gain power - he did it all to help those in need. For that, I have the utmost respect for the man. However, if there is one man who is truly capable of standing between Seth and us, it's him. They share a bond that I've never seen before, and no matter how bad it goes - sooner or later, they find their way back to each other. It's funny how I feel that we share the same bond, perhaps it's not as strong as theirs, but I can't let go of her. No matter how hard we try, none of us would forget or let go, but at the end of the day, it's her choice. Perhaps that's the reason why I'm so worried about mentioning her. You and Dominic could think the same as I do, and therefore we wouldn't keep the friendship as strong as it grew during the past few months.”

Once again, Ryder kept quiet. He understood where Vlad was coming from since he had thought about it for a while now. But no matter what, no matter how selfish Ryder wanted to be - he would do anything to see Seth happy, even if her happiness was Luciano alone.

Groaning, he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, ready to speak up. “I understand, I really do. I want her as much as you and the rest do, but I'll step aside if that will be the thing she will ask me to do. Her happiness matters more than mine. Seth's happiness matters more than one you seek for, the one Dominic dreams of and one Luciano desires to get all to himself. Even if she decided that there isn't a place for me in her bed, I wouldn't leave. It might hurt me, but I would rather be a friend than a faint memory. I won't accept becoming the leftover of whatever we had and shared.” As the words left Ryder’s lips, a twig snapped right next to them.

Dominic suddenly woke up, jumping on his feet and letting out a feral growl, warning the stranger to stay away. Their eyes followed the trace of sounds even when the unwanted guest seemed to be invisible.

Out of nowhere, a tiny green woman flew up, giggling as she did. Her eyes focused on Dominic, a sinister smile spreading on the small face: “Alpha Dominic, it's a pleasure to meet you once again. You seem a little tired; what's the matter?” Her voice dripped in venom and mockery.

Both Vlad and Ryder stared at her wide-eyed, wondering what was the reason for the intense hatred. Faes were supposed to be friendly and stay away from everyone surrounding them, but this one came up with a whole show.

“Lucinda, you haven't changed, little cunt. Come here, hug me,” Dominic laughed out loud, and to their surprise, the fae gladly opened her arms and laughed along, moving her little wings to decrease the distance between them.

Just as the tiny creature was about a foot away from him, a weird wave of colors surrounded them, and as it faded, a full-grown woman stood in front of Dominic. They hugged like long-lost friends, laughing in joy.

“I'm so glad to see you, kiddo. However, as much as I love this reunion, I need to know where the King is,” Dominic let go of the woman, cupping her cheeks. His eyes took in her facial features: “You've grown to become a beautiful woman, Lucinda. I can't believe that you were the size of a pea when we first met.”

It was weird to watch their interaction from the side. Dominic seemed to be so angry, growling out curse words at the tiny faes time by time, but this one suddenly melted his heart.

“That's because you haven't been around for a while, dad.” Lucinda giggled, throwing her arms around his shoulders. Within seconds she started crying, burying her face in his chest, looking for comfort: “I missed you so bad, dad,” she added.

At this point, Vlad and Ryder thought that their jaws collided with the ground. What on Earth was happening? Despite the sea of questions, the Alphas held each other back to stay away from the moment that wasn't theirs to share.

“I know, kiddo, I'm sorry. You know how my fucking family is.” Dominic chuckled, ruffling her hair. When the woman looked up at him, he didn't waste time wiping her tears with a proud expression written all over her face. “I can try my best and come here time by time to see you, but you know how your mother is. That one is a real bitch,” as the words left his lips, the fae laughed, nodding her head.

Finally, Ryder had had enough; stepping forward, he introduced himself: “Hello, my name is Ryder, and this weirdo next to me is Vlad. Could you please explain whatever is happening, because truthfully, this is a whole new level of a shitshow. What on Earth, Dominic? Did you fuck a fae?”

Both Dominic and Lucinda burst out in laughter, holding onto their sides.

“Idiot,” Dominic forced out the word, struggling to stop the fit of laughter. Finally, when he regained his senses, he straightened himself, cleared his throat, and spoke up: “Let's say that I don't have the best relationship with fae's, nor does Luciano. However, when I was around nineteen years old, I found this little pea in the gardens. Being the bitch she is, my mother wanted to kill Lucinda, but I couldn't let that happen. So, I brought her to the forest and wandered for a couple of days until I managed to understand where exactly she came from. You see, fae babies are inquisitive, same as this one, and they often get away from the safe circles without noticing it. As soon as I found where she belonged, her mother appeared, and since then, the little cunt kept calling me dad. Happens, I guess,” he chuckled, looking down at the woman with nothing but pride and adoration in his eyes.

Lucinda grabbed his hand and tugged on it, pointing towards the direction she came from: “Let's go see mom; she misses your shitty jokes. You're more than welcome to join us, Vlad and Ryder.” The woman smiled, yet the most heartwarming smile always fell upon Dominic.

It shouldn't be a surprise - he saved her life and kept escaping his parents whenever he could to get back and check on the girl and her mother. Some might think that they hated each other, but cursing and calling each other names was one of their things. Shifters and faes weren't supposed to be friends; therefore, they had a pretty interesting relationship.

Dominic stood his ground, refusing to move: “Wait, you didn't answer my question. Ladybug, where is the shifter King?” Using the cute nickname Dominic had for her, did it all.

Lucinda never lied or avoided the topic whenever he spoke up, addressing her as the tiny red bug.

She shrugged to look straight into his eyes: “I don't know, dad, he hasn't been around here. And he shouldn't be even,” her words were truthful; she had nothing to hide.

“What do you mean?” Ryder jumped right into the conversation, wondering what those two knew if they were so sacred that they had to keep others out.

“Dad, the King already begged for forgiveness years ago. I think it was about a few months after the whole mess happened - he returned to beg so you wouldn't have to face the punishment you were supposed to receive. Back then, he offered himself to save you, so the selfless action saved all of you. Besides, since you saved me, the whole Kingdom views you as our hero; there was no way any of you would live your lives, haunted by the curse.” Lucinda raised an eyebrow and gasped in realization: “Let me bring you to the mothers; they might be able to follow him!”