Chapter 53 - Road to Retribution

Kai's vision slowly started to return. He looked at his hands as they slowly came back in to focus. *'What the hell was that?'* he asked himself. He looked around but he couldn't see or scent Gabriel at all. Wherever he had gone, he had moved quickly and with a gift like that he'd be pretty tricky to track down.

Gifted wolves were pretty rare, so to have both Adalyn and Gabe both be gifted had to more than just a coincidence. There had to be something particularly special about this family. Is that why they were in hiding? To add to matters, now he not only had to be worried about someone at the palace but potentially somebody else if what Gabriel had said was to be believed. If the look in his eyes was anything to go by Kai wondered if his main concern to her safety from the council might actually be overshadowed by whatever this new threat was.

Kai massaged his temples as he started walking back through the forest. His mind couldn't keep up. With next to nothing to go on from the little that Gabriel had shared, it would make more sense for him focus on the enemy and information that was directly in front of him, in his own circle back at the palace and just hope that Gabriel would honor what he said about protecting her at his end too.

Kai checked his phone as he walked, he hadn't heard anything from Arrow since he went to intercept the staff member that Adalyn had pointed out. He opened his phone and called him as he walked. The phone rang a few times but then cut off as though he had rejected the call. *'Strange'* he thought. Being so far out from the palace, mind linking him wasn't going to be an option either. He'd have to wait until he got back. Kai picked up the pace as he made his way back to his car.


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Kai arrived back at the palace. He mind linked Arrow, the second that he was able to.

"Where are you?" Kai asked through the link.

Arrow paused before answering. "I'm in the basement in one of the interrogation rooms."

"Okay, do you have him? I'll come down now"

Arrow sighed. "Don't bother, he's dead"

"What? How?! Did you kill him?!" Kai continued to head towards the interrogation rooms. He much preferred to have conversations like these in person.

"He took his own life" Arrow continued. "He bit off his own tongue as we were talking. I couldn't stop him in time"

*'Shit!'* Kai thought. This couldn't be another dead. They'd had too many of them already. "Please tell me that you at least got something out of him before he killed himself?"

Arrow didn't say anything. Kai could sense the hesitation in him. "Arrow?" Kai prompted again. He sped up walking down towards the basement so he could ask Arrow in person. All this hesitation was making him uneasy.

As Kai reached the basement, he started poking his head through each of the interrogation rooms that lined the basement floor until he saw Arrow walking out of one at the far end. He strode up to him to continue their conversation

"Well?" Kai urged him to continue. "What did he say?"

Arrow was struggling to look him in the eyes. "He wasn't making much sense Kai. He admitted that he had given her the drink and that it was intended for her. He wouldn't say who had instructed him. The guys was like some kind of fanatic."

"Who is he? I didn't recall seeing him before and he didn't appear to be on the staff register book you brought up."

"His name is Reid Dawson. He had just joined Blue Moon but it doesn't seem to be recorded or documented anywhere."

"Well, who hired him?"

Arrow turned away reluctant to give up what he knew.

"Arrow, you're really testing my patience now, what are you not telling me? Who was he working for?"

"He's from the Star Howlers pack. I found the recruitment and transfer papers in his room."

*'Another connection to that same pack'* Kai thought. The guy who was caught on tape at Adalyn's kidnapping also appeared to be from the Star Howlers pack "And? Who organised the transfer?"

"Kai, I don't think what I found was correct."

"Arrow, who was he working for?" Kai was rapidly losing patience with all this pussy footing. He'd obviously had a name, but was reluctant to reveal it. Kai's eyes turned black as he prepared to use his alpha tone on Arrow to get a definitive answer.

"Kai don't!"

"I don't have time for this! Who was he working for Arrow?!" Kai used his alpha tone in full force forcing Arrow to give up the name.

"Matias" Arrow uttered against his will.

"Matias?" Kai repeated back what he said to reconfirm what he heard.

"Kai, that doesn't mean that he had orchestrated the hit on Adalyn. He could have just funded his move to our pack and then coordinated with somebody else." As Arrow was expressing his doubts, he knew it was a stretch of the imagination for that to be the case but if Kai suspected him, it could only turn out bad.

He could see Kai's eyes darting back and forth as he processed what he'd told him so far. Kai had declared numerous times that he would kill anyone that was behind the attempt to to poison Adalyn and he could see him trying to piece this together in his head.

To Kai, Matias being directly behind this or being involved in it somehow wasn't out of the realm of possibility, even though this method of attack wasn't really his style. Matias was much more the type to confront his enemies head on, but it was too much of a coincidence that he disappeared moments before this happened and that this guy had been hired off the books by him. Matias never did anything without purpose. If he had attacked her to get to him, he'd pay. He'd pay with his life.

Kai could feel his hackles rising as both he and Pax's blood started to boil. He'd put up with so much from this man, to maintain peace and order but he had now crossed a line with Adalyn that couldn't be repaired.

Arrow could see the murderous look building in his eyes. "Kai?" He called out to him to try and snap him out of it.

"He's dead..." Kai whispered before he took off to look for him.

"No, Kai wait!" Arrow tried to grab hold of him to stop him but Kai was too fast and easily avoided him. Kai's dominant energy was already flowing out from him in waves. Both he and Pax wanted blood.

"Kai, listen to me! If you go for him you'll be signing your own death warrant!" Arrow continued chasing after him.

"Don't get involved Arrow!" Kai shouted back to him without turning around. He was out of the basement in a shot and was steam rolling back towards the main section of the palace. As Kai started to head towards Matias' section of the palace Arrow started to panic.

*'Fuck! He's not listening!'* Arrow thought. Kai was already too far gone. The effects of his mate bond not being unified for so long was making him unstable. Arrow tried to mind link Elias but he wasn't able to reach him. He had to be too far away. When Kai was in that state only he seemed to be able to calm him down.

Kai was now back inside the main section of the palace and was storming down the hallway. The palace staff parted sensing the dominant energy radiating off him.

Arrow had to find a way to cut him off before he reached Matias, to try and reason with him again. His life depended on it. Arrow stopped chasing him and double backed on himself and jumped over one of the outside walls. He landed in an open courtyard startling some of the noble court ladies that had gathered there. They all screamed in surprise as Arrow ran through them and then jumped over another wall on the other side. He raced down one of the alleys along the side of the palace which exited out directly in front of a gate that led in to Matias quarters of the palace. He ran to the front gate and managed to cut Kai off just as he was running up. Kai stopped abruptly to stop himself from crashing in to him.

Arrow was breathing hard both in panic and in his haste to catch up to him.

"Stand aside Arrow!" Kai clenched his jaw. The fight he wanted to have was not with him.

"I can't let you do this! If you go in there like this, he'll kill you! Think for a moment!"

"This is the last warning you're going to get. STAND ASIDE!"

"I WON'T! I won't watch you kill yourself!"

Kai gritted his teeth. Then flooded the area his with his dominant energy. Enough was enough.

"KNEEL!" Kai commanded.

Arrow instantly dropped to his knees as the weight of his dominant waves forced him down. Kai didn't even have to use his alpha command to get subjugation from him. The weight of his dominant energy alone was enough to bring him to his knees. Arrow felt like he was balancing a house on his shoulders with the immense pressure. Arrow fisted the ground as he fought to get back up. He was able to raise his knee before his nose started bleeding as he tried to fight the pressure. Fighting against your alpha like this was not natural but Arrow was finding a force within him to keep going.

"Kai listen to me please! You have to stop! You know this is Pax taking over. You're not thinking straight!"

"ENOUGH!" Kai shouted. This time Kai used his alpha tone to force him in to complete submission and the strength in Arrow's arms completely disappeared. Arrow stood kneeling in front of him motionless. The silence between them was now deafening, other than the heavy breathing from both of them.

Kai gave him one last quick glance almost apologetically before he rounded him and went down the hallway that led to one of Matias' reception rooms. With that last burst of energy that Kai had emitted it would be a miracle if Matias didn't already know that Kai was on the war path and headed in his direction.

Matias' guards, who surrounded his quarters in the palace came charging to meet him.

"DOWN!" Kai shouted and they all dropped to their knees and lined either side of the hallway that led to where Matias was.

When Kai reached the end of the hallway, he burst open the doors where Matias stood waiting.