Don’t Die, Ronan!
Adams’ POV
I couldn’t think, I couldn’t breathe. My brain was blank as my eyes looked at the black mask in my hand.
I knew my brothers didn’t like me and were extremely desperate to take the throne from me, but to try to kill me in my sleep? That was the height of it.
“Lilith, Ronan.” Those were the first names that rang in my head.
No theory or words can explain how I got out of my room, but one thing was certain, I definitely didn’t walk or run or fly. I must have disappeared and reappeared outside in the space of a millisecond.
“Ronan!” I yelled, my voice louder than a siren.
I started running towards his door, but my wolf reminded me of Lilith and I changed my course.
“Bang!” I knocked on her door the moment I got there with trembling hands. Everyone in the mansion was already up, and I could hear various feet running towards my direction, even from outside the building.
The passage brightened up as up to ten guards appeared holding torches, followed by the maids.
Lilith opened the door, yawning widely. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and scratched her hair before stretching her hands.
“Adams…” she began, surprised. “Why are you up at this time of the night and why did you bang my door that way?”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.
“There’s no time to explain, we are under attack.”
Every trace of sleep in her eyes cleared the moment she heard we were under attack.
“Why? What is happening Adams, talk to me,” she asked, coming close to me. She held my hands and I felt warmth pass through me to every part of my body, calming my distressed soul.
Bartholomew and Raoul had also come out with sleepy eyes alongside the rest of the maids in the building, but Ben was missing, and so was Ronan.
“My lord, we heard you scream, what happened?” One of the guards asked.
“We are under attack!” I yelled.
“How is that even possible? Who would dare to attack this place?” Bartholomew asked.
“Someone bold enough to kill me!” I yelled at him, with anger and frustration lacing my tone.
Everyone gasped in shock as they began to murmur among themselves.
“Don’t be ridiculous, who would want to kill you?” Raoul asked this time.
“Maybe you should tell me. Someone who might want the throne for himself, perhaps.”
“And who do you speak of, uhn? You can’t possibly hold me responsible.”
“Did I say you are…”
“Would the both of you just stop it already!” We all looked at the person who screamed and saw Lilith panting heavily. “Would you rather scream and blame each other all through the night or make efforts at catching whoever it is that is responsible for this?”
Silence descended among us and could have remained for a while when, suddenly, a guard ran in. “My king, two guards on patrol were found unconscious towards the north of the building.”
I looked from him to the other guards and pointed to them. “Five of you, go in search of the culprit. He is dressed in black, and he has a star-shaped scar on the side of his eye.”
“Yes sir!” They saluted, rushing out.
“You two.” I pointed to two other guards. “And three of you,” I said, pointing to three maids standing together, follow these guards and bring the unconscious men inside the house.”
They bowed and left in a hurry.
“The two of you.” I pointed to two other guards holding torches. “Search for my brother, Ben, and bring him to me. If he resists, arrest him.”
The guards left in a hurry as Bartholomew and Raoul kept looking at me like I was crazy. I didn’t look at them because I didn’t care about what they thought. Ben was guilty, and he was going to pay for his crimes.
“Where’s Ronan?” Lilith asked with a concerned look on her face.
I suddenly realized he had not come out, which was quite strange. Ronan never waited to hear the sound of my voice before he came out to meet me anytime. Yet I had yelled his name and he didn’t reply, something was wrong somewhere.
“Let’s check his room,” I suggested. Lilith held on to me like her life depended on it as we walked slowly towards Ronan’s room.
His room was a few meters away from mine, it had been that way ever since I became the Alpha, and he became my Beta.
As we got to the entrance of the room, something felt odd. Of course, the night had been strange, filled with different unexpected events, but this felt entirely different.
“Ronan,” I called, whispering gently.
I could hear Lilith’s heartbeat increase as her breathing became unsteady. A quick glance at her skin revealed goosebumps all over it.
“Ronan.” I called again, a little bit louder.
No response, no answer.
I stretched my hands to knock on the door, but it opened just as my hands touched it. This heightened the tension which was beginning to settle around us, so much so, I became scared of the unimaginable.
“Ronan.” I called his name again as we walked into the room. It was dark, but we were able to see through into the room.
We walked towards the bed and found the sheets on it rumpled, which meant that he had slept on them before getting up. So where did he go to?
“Oh no!” Lilith gasped.
“What is it?” I demanded, facing her.
“Look at the room, it is a mess.”
I looked around and noticed that the room was indeed a mess. It looked like a serious fight had taken place as there were pieces of shattered glass and broken wood all over the place.
My thoughts became a jumbled mess as they crashed into each other like vehicles without brakes in traffic.
“What happened here? Where is Ronan? Was there an attack on his life too?”
I suddenly remembered Ben’s words, when he said they wouldn’t expect what would come. Was he referring to us?
These thoughts and more lingered in my head but were soon dispersed when I heard muffled breathing. It was faint, and I would have missed it if I didn’t have super hearing abilities.
As if on a cue, my nose picked up the smell of blood, mixed with Ronan’s scent.
“Where are you going to Adams?” Lilith asked me as I let go of her hand.
“Ronan is somewhere around here, I can smell him.” The scent became stronger as I got close to the bathroom.
Lilith followed closely behind me, careful not to slip or fall amidst the numerous sharp objects around.
We got to the bathroom door and I saw droplets of blood as I looked down.
In one swift leg action, I smashed the door to the bathroom and there he was, covered in a pool of his own blood.
Lilith stayed outside the bathroom while I ran inside. He was breathing haggardly and could hardly see.
“Ronan, oh no, who did this to you?” I asked, almost crying.
He began to mumble inaudible words as if he was trying to say something.
“You need to relax, Ronan, I’ll send for the doctor. Just hold on, please.”
He kept mumbling inaudible words while gasping for breath. Suddenly, he stopped talking and became silent.
“Get the pack doctor, now!”