HUNTED-Chapter 313: Grand Entrance

On the outskirts of the castle, Damon stood beside three other Alphas. The others were spread out with their collective packs watching the vampire’s gathering. Even with so many werewolves around, the silence was thick and heavy as they waited, tension gnawing at them. With the cover of night, though, the Alpha King felt somewhat better.

The guards that usually patrolled the grounds were at this gathering. Aila was there too. He saw her walking through the crowd, standing before the caged lycans that calmed at her presence. All of their attention was on his girl.

"I’m going in," Esme whispered, seeming to appear out of nowhere. Damon frowned, his eyes still locked on his mate’s form.

"And give away our position-"

Damon held his hand up to quiet the other Alpha. "What will you do?" Damon asked instead. He was still wary of the little she-wolf and her mental state, but one look at her, and he could see determination blazing behind those dark brown eyes.

"I can get a better grasp at what is happening from inside the castle than waiting here. I won’t be long." Esme pulled at a black mask to cover her lower features before patting his back reassuringly. Sprinting ahead before he could comment, Rya’s footsteps fell silent as she blended with the darkness, going down the hill.

"He got all those vampires here within a day," Finn mind-linked him. His Delta was already in his wolf form, along with others from the Silver Crescent pack. He stood beside him and Ajax on the other side, as well as ex-Delta Darren. The ex-Delta wanted to prove his worth, and so Damon was giving him this shot. He was under Finn’s orders and was being monitored closely.

"He’s moving his plans forwards, using momentum from what happened yesterday. The humans are already searching for us, thanks to that wanted list." Damon frowned, glancing at his phone and re-reading the message he received from Chase Hunt. The hunter was pretty pissed at Aila. Not for her anger but for being ’stupid’ at leaving a threatening message for the Hunter’s Association.

All Damon read was that Chase was left with the aftermath. Dealing with humans and trying to sweep this all under the radar. But everything was out now. Not the specifics. Yet. If Chase was high enough in the hunters, he might be the one conversing with government officials on the next steps following such a situation.

It must be a terrible headache.

Damon grinned. He, on the other hand, was proud of Aila. His mate was showing the hunters that they couldn’t hide anymore, and she would come for them. The Cross name was powerful for a reason.

"I’m in," Esme’s voice floated through the mind-link, alerting Damon and Finn. Damon looked at the wolf and then back to the castle, searching for the she-wolf. But as he expected, she couldn’t be found.

On the castle grounds, however, Esme could see the Alpha King on one side and Cassius on the other. She glared in his direction from where she hid behind a bush, her hand hovering behind her back, fingers twitching on her knife. She knew it would never kill him, but hurting him was a pleasure in itself.

Esme shook her head; she couldn’t have such thoughts. Her mate was suffering, but this was a mission. She couldn’t let her thoughts and emotions sway her actions. But as though the vampire felt her menacing pheromones, Cassius looked in her direction, away from the show Aila was giving.

Esme stopped breathing, calming her thoughts and looking to the ground where she crouched. Cassius flicked his gaze back to Aila, and Esme followed suit, watching the Alpha Queen command all three lycans to leave the cage and stand before the vampires. They remained calm, though their blue eyes glared at all in sight, besides Aila, of course.

The she-wolf wanted to attract Aila’s attention, so she was aware of the packs surrounding Cassius’ abode so she wouldn’t do anything reckless. But with the spotlight on her, Esme blended into the shadows, tiptoeing away, jumping and doing roley-poley’s to avoid detection of vampires. Once or twice she almost got caught, but with her experience, she had nerves of steel.

With her body flat against the wall, shaded in darkness, Esme peered over the corner, finding herself near what looked like the dungeons she had seen before. She slipped inside after sensing someone nearby, only to freeze at the snarling sounds coming from the dungeons. This must be where the other lycans are being kept.

Esme sneaked down the chilled slope, the lighting dancing shadows across her features as she stopped at the end to peer into the chamber. All of the lycans had stopped moving, their blue eyes flashing as they stared at her. She felt slightly offended; her skills were nought to beasts like these. Their hearing must be impeccable because she’s sneaked up on many before.

"Nyx?"

Her eyes rounded momentarily before her face hardened. "Harry, was it?" She feigned boredom, but the lycan’s smile grew.

"You have quite the reputation in hubs," Harry commented lightly, but her eyes snapped to him sharply, making him smile more and raise his hands mercifully. "All bad, of course."

At that, Esme cracked a smile and internally shook her head. "There’s no time for this. Tell me, is there a plan?" She stepped closer to him, eyes still wary of the lycan and her hand brushing the dagger behind her back habitually. Before he could reply, Esme added in a hushed whisper. "The place is surrounded."

Harry’s eyes widened before a grin broke out on his features again, his eyes sweeping over the caged lycans wickedly. "This will work then," Harry whispered, revealing the large silver keys he’d been holding behind his back.

Esme’s eyes twinkled as she looked at the keys and opened up a mind-link to Alpha Damon. "You should attack. The lycans are going to be released."

Damon paused his pacing at the sound of Esme’s mind-link. He clenched his teeth together. He didn’t want her mind-linking because of Cassius’ telepathy, but if he had so many guests around him, then maybe he wouldn’t pick up on it. He hoped.

It was too late now anyway. Damon started a mind-link to the other Alphas surrounding the castle grounds. His heart picked up in intensity at the thought of having his girl in his arms again and all of this behind them by the end of the night.

Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m freewebnøvel.com.

"Focus. Or Aila won’t be," Darius growled, his voice loud enough to make him cringe.

Damon was about to make the command when a flash of blue, almost electric, lightning forked and exploded before them. The momentum pushed him back slightly like it did to others, but it didn’t matter. He’d shielded his eyes from the sudden burst of light, but now with it dimming, Damon released his breath, a dark chuckle forming at who he saw in the middle of the courtyard.

Vampires were on the ground, groaning beside two almost mirror images of each other facing one another, standing tall. It was Gabriel. Gabriel stood there, a few men ranking his side and the warlock who initially abducted him and another man he didn’t recognise.

"Es, no matter what, I want you to remain focused. Release those lycans."