Alpha King's Missing Mate (Book 1 Of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 38

Talia sat down on her couch the next morning, depositing her second cup of coffee beside her. Matthew had woken her up at 4am, and had just fallen back to sleep. She was thinking about joining him.

Yesterday had been such a good day. Talia hadn't realized how much she had missed Jenna until she'd spent the day with her. She was glad she had a way to contact her friend now, and she was looking forward to seeing Jenna's pup.

A knock at the door startled Talia. Who would be at her door at 5am? James wasn't even up yet. He'd be awake in an hour to get ready for training and work.

Talia stood up and walked over to the door. She looked out the peephole, but couldn't really see anything. I'm so going to regret this. She grabbed the handle and opened the door, still leaving the security chain in place.

The door was pushed open with such force, the security chain broke, and the door hit Talia in the face, knocking her down. Pain shot through her nose. She groaned and reached up to touch her upper lip and felt blood. Two very large wolves quickly entered the apartment, one closing the door, while the other brought a fist to her face, knocking her out cold.

She awoke a bit later tied up to one of the chairs from her kitchen table. Everything was hazy, and she was aware of a burning sensation around her wrists, and forced her eyes open enough to see silver cuffs binding her to the chair. The smell of her own flesh burning caused her to gag, alerting her captors that she was awake.

"Oh good. You've decided to join us again."

Talia looked around. James was also tied to a chair, and out cold, his head hanging to the side. He sported a broken nose, and two black eyes. The wolf who had spoken to her was leaning against the back of her couch, watching her, while the other was sitting in the rocking chair, holding Matthew.

Matthew! "Please don't hurt him!" She cried, as she became really afraid for the first time.

"We won't have to if you cooperate," the first wolf said, folding his arms.

"What do you want?" Talia glared at him. What could he possibly want from her? She was no one in this pack. Between her and James, he was more likely to know something about, well, something.

"We want to know about your friends," the wolf said, standing up straight and taking a few stands towards her.

Friends? What friends? "I don't know what you're talking about," she said truthfully.

He came towards her and slapped her hard. "Don't play dumb with me. They were just here."

Her groggy mind raced for a moment. Daniel and Jenna. They had to be who he was talking about, and Talia knew too much. She saw the wolf smirk and knew he'd read her face. "What do you want to know?"

"Who they are to each other."

Yeah, I'm not telling you that. "Just old acquaintances. Nothing more." Talia's head snapped back as the wolf hit her again.

"The truth, Talia,"

"That's all I know!" She shouted at him.

The wolf walked over to the kitchen table and unrolled a leather pouch that had several instruments in it. He pulled one out and held it up. A silver knife. She bit her lip, knowing what was coming. The last thing she wanted to do was scream in front of Matthew. She was just happy that he was young enough that he'd never remember any of this. She gasped as she watched him walk over to James, and drove the knife into his thigh..

James woke up instantly and roared, almost coming out of the chair. Talia gasped, She'd expected him to use the knife on her, not her mate. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Talk Talia."

"He's the Alpha King!"

The wolf rolled his eyes at her. "Tell me something I don't know!" He roared at her.

"I don't know anything!" She cried. "Please, just let us go! They're just friends of mine. Jenna and I haven't seen each other in over a year. She used to be my roommate!"

"What is she to him!" He roared, and shoved the knife into James' other thigh. James roared again, and Talia burst into tears, as she watched him pull the knife up through James' thigh.

"I don't know what you want me to tell you!" She screamed at him. The last thing in the world she would do was betray Jenna and Daniel. Jenna was in danger, and so was Noelle, if anyone found out who she really was.

She saw James' hazy gaze meet hers, his eyes filled with pain. He knew she had secrets she must keep. "Don't tell them anything!" he shouted at her.

"I want you to tell me who Jenna is to the Alpha King, and what her daughter has to do with this," He ripped the knife out of James' leg, causing James to roar.

Silence. Talia suddenly realized her baby wasn't crying. Why wasn't he crying? As much noise as they were making, she couldn't believe he wouldn't be fussy. "Is my baby okay?"

"Oh yes. Shane is very good with babies," the wolf smirked at her, then nodded to Shane, who stood and brought the baby over to her. She saw his blue eyes staring back at her and breathed a sigh of relief. "Now, tell me what I want to know, Talia."

"I don't know anything! I didn't even know Jenna had a daughter. She didn't have one when she lived here, but like I said, it's been over a year," This was so hard. Talia just wanted to tell him the truth, so he would leave her and her family alone, even though she knew that wouldn't be how it worked. She had never been so scared in her life.

"YOU LIE!" The wolf roared at her, and suddenly, to her shock and horror, he grabbed James from behind and broke his neck.

Talia stared in shock, unbelieving of what she had just seen, until unbearable pain started to sweep through her, and she began to scream, as tears ran down her cheeks. She was vaguely aware of Matthew's crying now in the background, but she continued to scream as wave after wave of pain engulfed her, until finally a fist hit her full on in the face, bringing blessed darkness.

She awoke again a while later when a bucket of cold water was dumped on her, and for a brief moment, everything was okay. But then, reality set it, and she looked over at her mate as the pain hit her again, making it hard to even breath. James was still tied to the chair, his head hanging at a weird angle, his lifeless eyes staring at the ground. Talia began to sob uncontrollably.

A hand slapped her face hard, and her head was tilted up to stare into the face of the wolf who had killed her mate. Get ahold of yourself, Talia. Get through this, then you can grieve. For Matthew. She took a shuddering breath, forcing herself to stop crying. "I'm going to kill you," she said calmly to her mate's killer.

He smirked at her. "I doubt it." He turned her face towards James' lifeless body again. "Now you know I'm serious. I will not hesitate to kill again. Next time?" He turned her this time towards Shane, who was still rocking Matthew. "I'll kill your son."

Talia broke then. Did she save her son? Or save her friend? And Jenna's baby.. The Alpha King's daughter. The future of all werewolves. Would Noelle be the Alpha Queen one day? Did Daniel even know about her yet?

She was already lost without James. Matthew would be all she would live for. It would break Jenna to know that Talia had given up her own son to save her friend and her daughter. And James... if she gave Jenna up, would he have died for nothing? But he'd want Talia to protect their son, wouldn't he? Or protect Noelle?

The wolf suddenly let go of her, and walked over to Shane. He picked up Matthew, and walked back to Talia, holding the now sleeping baby in his arms. "What's it going to be, Talia?"

"I can't tell you." She had to protect Noelle.

The wolf suddenly grabbed Matthew by his ankles, and lifted him up in the air, dangling the baby in front of her.

"No!" Talia screamed as his pitiful cries reached her ears, and her heart broke even more. "I'll tell you." Daniel, please forgive me.