Chapter Seventy-four

Lukas paced in his office, Alec sitting down on one of the chairs just staring at him.
“If you feel so nervous, why don’t you just attend the dinner party yourself?” He said tonelessly, unimpressed by Lukas’ endless pacing.
“It’s a cosmetic themed dinner party for ladies.” He stopped his pacing to point out with a raised brow.
“And you’re the Alpha King.” Alec said casually.
Alec did have a point, Lukas would definitely be welcome if he were to attend the party but the reason he wanted to attend definitely wouldn’t be happy to see him. Lukas didn’t want to ruin the night for Claire.
“I’m certain she’ll be fine.” Alec found himself reassuring his Alpha King, wondering how long he was going to watch him mope over his mate when he could just walk up to her and straighten things out.
Alec himself couldn’t understand why Lukas was so strung up tonight, it wasn’t the first time Claire would be leaving the mansion at night. He had handled it far better the first time but tonight seemed to not be a good one.
She always had extra protection no matter what though so he wasn’t worried, he had work to do so he would be leaving now. He bid Lukas farewell, leaving the Alpha King still pacing in his office.
Alec just shrugged, hopefully, if he paced enough, he would tire himself out and finally get some sleep.

-+-

In the car ride to the dinner party, the atmosphere was lively. Claire had them put on some pop music, dragging Tyler into the fun time she was having with Rosie.
She totally forgot about Alina Costin that had plagued her all afternoon and Lukas himself who had come from nowhere and taken over her thoughts only moments ago. Laughing with Rosie as they did a makeshift car karaoke on their way to Lady Vaschell’s manor.
Halfway there, on a slightly deserted street, the car hit a strange bump and then slid to a stop. Claire shared a look with Rosie who was also frowning at this. She wanted to ask Tyler questions but he had already come down from the car to check what was wrong.
The bodyguard in the driver seat did this same, leaving both women in the now quiet car. For the first time all evening, Claire felt the chill, it made her rub her bare arms.
Outside the car, Tyler cursed under his breath. “A tire got punctured.” He said to the other who equally bent over under the overhead streetlight to further inspect it.
“How did it happen though? Did we run over something sharp?” The other bodyguard said with a frown, looking around like he was trying to find the cause.
Tyler just straightened and brought out his phone, he would need the help of the others that were trailing them as backup. He waited as the call rang, tapping his foot impatiently, only to lose the phone as his fellow bodyguard went down with seemingly no cause.
Tyler was experienced and he could pick out the telltale sound of a silenced gunshot, he immediately hid around the car, pulling his weapon out. He glanced at the ringing phone on the ground, there was still no response.
His spine twinged oddly, he could tell that something was very wrong, he needed to get the Luna Queen to safety but he couldn't even do that because the tires were fucked. He tried to bend over to pick his phone, only to jump out when a terrifying accurate shot punctured the screen, his phone screen immediately going black.
Tyler didn’t spare his cracked screen another look, it was up to him to get the Luna Queen to somewhere else that was safe until they could call for help. It didn’t matter if they had to run on foot, they had to get out of here before they were ambushed. That’s if they weren’t already.
He slipped around the car and quietly opened up Luna Claire’s door, his gun held in plain sight.
Claire’s eyes widened in shock at this, feeling Rosie’s cold hand take hers. “Tyle…” She started to say only to get hushed by him.
“I deeply apologize, Your Highness but we’re under attack, I have to urge you to come with me, I’ll take you somewhere safe.” He explained in soft but firm tones, holding eye contact with the two ladies to reassure them.
Claire squeezed Rosie’s hand and nodded resolutely, carefully stepping out of the car and helping Rosie out behind her. “Where’s the other bodyguard?” She asked in concern, if they were under attack, shouldn’t he be here too?
Tyler managed to keep a straight face, “He went off to get help.” He lied through his teeth, urging them further away from the car.
He hurried both ladies to the other side of a car parked on the street. The houses on the street they were on looked to be daytime businesses so they were all locked up. This was clearly planned, and it wasn’t by amateurs.
Tyler doubted he could do much all by himself, he needed to pass information to Alpha Lukas by any means. “I lost my phone earlier, could I trouble you to make a call to the mansion, Your Highness?” He asked, trying to make out anything in the surrounding darkness.
He could only see the areas which were lit up by the streetlights, this only made the dark areas look even darker, it was impossible to make out anything.
Tyler was only working with a hunch, he had no idea where their attackers were, they could be in plain sight of them and he would even know. His thoughts were actualized when Claire’s phone was shot out of her hand, making her scream in horror.
After this, it seemed like their attackers were no longer hiding in the dark. They stepped out of the darkness, there was at least seven of them, Tyler was greatly outnumbered.
His heart beat loudly in his chest as he stood in between the Luna Queen and the quickly approaching attackers. They were dressed in all black, their faces covered in masks, there was also no sight of the sniper from earlier which meant that there were probably more of them.
If he was able to take even one down, he would be instantly riddled with bullets, there was no winning this.
“We’d like to avoid more bloodshed if it can be helped.” A tall masked attacker said loudly and clearly. “So just hand the human over to us and we’ll be on our way.”
Something about the way the attacker caled Luna Claire *‘human’* made the hair on Tyler’s neck stand on end. He couldn’t let her fall into their hands no matter what, she would be in mortal danger if that happened.
They were currently hidden behind the car that he had rushed them to earlier, they hadn’t been able to move a step further since then.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” He said in measured tones, peeking around the car slightly to calculate the positions of the attackers.
Maybe if he could shoot a couple down, the chaos would give him enough time to take the ladies and make a run for it, their chances were way too slim though.
“Don’t do it, man.” The masked attacker that had spoken earlier said, seeming to read his mind. “Do you really want to sacrifice your life for some random human?”
Tyler clicked his teeth in annoyance, “You mean the Luna Queen Claire? Put some fucking respect on her name.” He fired back, wondering if he could stall for some time.
He had no idea what happened to their backup but he was starting to believe that they had gone the same route as his partner and were now potentially all dead. Something that could happen to him anytime from now.
Claire felt her heart sink as she listened to the conversation, they were here for her! Did that mean that the other bodyguard was dead? Because there was no way he could have escaped all those men.
She peeked through the windows of the car they were currently hiding behind and she could count at least four of them, things were not looking good for them. She was terrified but Rosie was close to hyperventilating beside her, it made her focus, she couldn’t lose her head.
*‘What if she sacrificed herself? Would that save Tyler and Rosie?’*