A Heart Full of Pain

Merck

Tristan yells at Malena Milly, and she's standing right behind King Gene like she owns the place. We're all shocked to see her standing there, but I'm still sending orders for my warriors to get out of her, and I can see that the other ET1s are doing the same. We're not going to waste a minute dealing with her, well, the other ET1s and I will probably waste a few minutes making sure she's locked back in the dungeon where she belongs, but Kamila is the priority, so our armies are fanning out. Kane Castle.

—What's wrong, aren't you happy to see me?— Malena Milly responds to Tristan with a disgusting smile on her face.

“You're supposed to be in fuc... jail!” Tristan screams. "And we know you took Kamila, so I think you have half a damn millisecond to tell us where she is before you beg us to put you back in the dungeon instead of experiencing the hell we'll put you through."

He's furious, and Reece and I share his mood. It is more than evident that Malena Milly kidnapped Kamila and handed her over to Kane. I can't imagine how she has the nerve to show her face here.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she says. —I'm the victim here!

"What?!" is all that comes out of Tristan's mouth.

Gene spoke. “Malena Milly is an innocent victim,” he says. —And you've locked her in a dungeon for no reason! That horrible king, I mean, that horrible man who was in the dungeon killed the guard, kidnapped her, and framed her, locking her in my closet!

—In your——, I began, but Malena Milly interrupts again.

“In his closet!” he says, repeating Gene's words and putting an obviously fake grin on his face. —I barely escaped with my life. I could have suffocated! I have nothing to do with the disappearance of the Breeder!

Tristan looks at her with narrowed eyes, but a voice enters our minds. It's Reece. 'Obviously,' she says, 'she's cheated on Gene. Let's let that go on for a while so we can get out of here and get to Kamila. Malena Milly most likely doesn't know where Kamila is either.'

'Maybe,' I say. 'Do we want to take that risk?'

"But I heard... the guards tell me where they took the Breeder!" Malena Milly says, still trying to act innocent.

“Your millisecond is already over,” says Tristán, approaching Malena Milly.

His eyes widened in fear. "I...I know where she is," she says. -I swear! It's ET1 Stephen! They took her to her castle!

'You're wasting our time,' Reece says in our minds.

'Maybe, but it's not that far from Kane's,' I say. 'If she's right, we'll get to Kamila faster. We can take our backup forces with us. It's faster to fight Stephen than Kane. If she's wrong, we can quickly get to Kane's. If we spend our energy on Kane first, we could be leaving Kamila and the pups waiting unnecessarily at Stephen's castle.'

'Good point,' Tristan says. 'What do I do with Malena Milly?'

'Just leave it,' Reece says. 'We have to move now. Those people are drugging Kamila. We don't have time for this shit.'

'Okay,' Tristan says. Out loud, he tells Malena Milly, “You better be right.” If you're lying, practice begging. He says the last part inches from her face with a look of death in her eyes. I can tell he's about to pee his pants, but he tries to keep the innocent attitude.

“I'm trying to help,” she says, faking a tear.

We all turn around, with no more time to waste dealing with this evil witch. I hear Tristan bring Adam into our mental connection, and he instructs the ET2 to keep an eye on what happens to Malena Milly. Adam nods and we leave, with all of our backup troops following us as our frontline warriors continue their rapid march toward Kane.

Wherever Kamila is, we will get her back. Now.

* * *

*Kelly*

'I don't have your smell yet,' I tell Eli in the mental connection.

He has been slowly guiding us towards him as he continues walking in the direction he has decided is heading towards Gene's castle. Trevor and some of Eli's other warriors are with me, and we're all riding off-road utility vehicles, which are honestly pretty fun to drive, but it means we have to stay in human form, where our tracking skills aren't as sharp.

At least his voice is still in my mind. I'm so grateful he's okay. Even if he has a broken leg, I am grateful to the Goddess that he is alive.

I'm not really familiar with this area; I'm not even sure which pack these lands belong to, so I'm a little nervous here with such a small team of warriors. I know I can hold my own in a fair fight, but if we run into a huge army or something, we're lost. The other ET1s are looking for Kamila, and they have their entire armies with them, so whatever we find here, we're alone.

The forest begins to thin out a bit, making it easier to find a trail, and although I still don't have a trace of Eli's scent, I'm pretty sure we're close. I wish he hadn't gotten hurt, not only so he can be safe and sound now, but so he doesn't make me feel bad for giving him a stroke of brotherly love for making us all worry.

I think about Kamila and I just shudder in horror at the thought of her being alone, pregnant, with that terrible man Kane, not to mention being trapped there when she is pregnant with four innocent babies. I feel so bad for her and I wish I could at least send her a message that Eli is safe from her. It would surely ease his mind. I'm also worried about how knowing that Kamila is kidnapped is affecting Eli. I know how much he loves her and how excited he is to be a father to her, and I know this is breaking him up inside.

We turn the corner through a thick thicket, and finally, I catch Eli's scent. The breeze blows gently from a denser area of ​​the forest to my right, so I point in that direction for the rest of the vehicles to follow. Pas...ing through several thick groves, I finally see him, limping and exhausted. I'd recognize that red fur anywhere.

I barely have time to stop my vehicle before I run up to him and hug him. He just collapses into my arms and doesn't even say anything in the mental connection. One of the warriors approaches him with a bag of medical supplies and immediately begins tending to his wound, which is on his front paw.

I want to talk to him, hug him, scold him, hit him, anything tangible to finally feel like he's home to me. At the same time, I know that it is crucial for him to stay in his ET form where he will heal faster, at least until he has his wounds disinfected, and after that, he can change forms.

It feels like an eternity as they apply the antiseptic and finally, he changes shape, and another warrior hands him some clothes, which he also has to help him change, since his hand is in bad shape.

"I've never been so happy to see your face!" he finally says.

"I really should slap you, you know?" is the first thing that occurs to me to say. "Do you have any idea how much we've worried about you?"

He laughs, then winces. "I love you too," he jokes. Then his face turns serious. —Kamila?

I take a deep breath and say: —There is no news yet. But Tristan, Reece, Mark and three armies are heading in that direction. They will find her.

“I have to go,” he says, barely giving the warrior time to finish wrapping his hand before he stands up and pretends to walk toward the vehicles.

"Oh, you don't!" I scream. —You're going back to Gene's castle to get better.

He turns around and looks at me with a look that could freeze fire and I finally see firsthand the pain in his heart. Now I know it's useless to try to stop him from getting to her.

I raise my hand before he can say another word. I'm not going to stop you from going to her. “At least she drinks and eats something,” I say. —Kamila needs you to be strong for her.

He quickly inhales some rations, and it's not long before we're all back in the vehicles, racing toward Kane's castle.

We have to find Kamila as soon as possible. I pray the babies are safe!