Ileus: The Dark Prince

Olivia turned back to look at the pillar where he was standing, but the man had disappeared. "He was there, near that column!" 

Kaizan narrowed his eyes to sharpen his vision, but there was no one next to the pillar. "Get inside," he said and pushed her in the carriage. "Don't come out, okay?" He closed the door as soon as she was inside. After that, he ran towards the location where Olivia had pointed. But when he reached over there, there was absolutely no one. He sniffed the air for his smell, but only scents of wildflowers and incense in the temple could be detected. Other than that, there was the smell of the Shaman and some unfamiliar people. Kaizan whipped his head sharply to the right and left and narrowed his eyes to look deep in the forests, but there was no movement. 

He placed his hands on his waist, half confused, half annoyed. Was Olivia hallucinating? Or was she thinking of him? The latter thought stirred his jealousy. He shook his head and exhaled heavily. No, she wasn't the type. She was his mate. Was she scared of Lucas so much? He had threatened her that he would meet her one day. And why wasn't Tasha here after him? "Tasha…" Where was she? He called one of his guards and a Mozia who were among the ones who followed them to the temple. "Check the temple and comb the forest near it. Find Lucas or get hold of anyone suspicious." The two guards nodded and then ran towards the forest. 

Kaizan returned to the carriage. When he opened the door, his eyes went to Olivia, who looked frightened. His instincts screamed to soothe his mate. "Olivia," he whispered. He climbed in the carriage and sat next to her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. 

"Was he there? How come he is free? Why hasn't he been caught by now?" Olivia hurled a volley of questions at him. 

"He will be," Kaizan assured her, his jealousy fading away just as quickly as it came. He realized that he should have killed the bastard that time only because it was unbearable to see Olivia in this worry and agony.

"Who are you talking about?" asked Claire. 

Olivia lowered her face, feeling flustered. In a low voice she said, "Lucas…" 

"Lucas? That dolt?" Claire said with clenched teeth. "Do you know that after he was thrown from his house, we heard that he was trying to make his way to the capital?" 

Kaizan became stiff, his shoulders drew back, and the expressions on his face turned dark. 

"No," Olivia replied. "But how could he enter the capital? That time there was no peace treaty." She glanced at Kaizan nervously. She wanted to ask if there was someone who aided him into entering the capital? 

"It is our assumption," Claire replied with a shrug. "But the more interesting part is that he showed up in the pack a few weeks back with a big scar on his face." She scoffed. "That dimwit had deflowered so many girls and had been a total playboy. Do you know that he tried to flirt with every girl who came in contact with him? Even the young ones? He wasn't just interested in helping his father with their trade. His older brother helps his father now."

"How do you know so much?" asked Olivia. 

A blush crept on Claire's cheeks. "I know because," a coy smile beamed her face. "Because his older brother…" 

Olivia's eyes flew wide open. "What?" Surprise flickered through her. 

All other cousins excitedly started congratulating her. "You witch!" one of them said. "You hid it so well!" They understood that Lucas's older brother was her boyfriend. 

Totally surprised and with a very stunned husband beside her, she didn't know how to react to this news. But Claire seemed genuinely happy. A smile wormed on her lips. "Morris was always the sober kind," said Olivia. "I am so happy for you." 

Claire nodded lightly. "He is," she laughed. "He rarely even laughs. But I like him." 

Olivia shook her head. "What a contrast the two brothers are…"

"True. Lucas is opposite of Morris. When he returned with that scar," Claire said with her hand on her heart, "every girl in the pack was extremely happy. Like it was the talk of the pack. Morris told me that Lucas came back to his father to ask for coins, but their father refused to give him any support. Feeling sad for his younger brother, Morris even said that if he wanted, he could join the family's business, but Lucas was too vain. He dismissed Morris by accusing him of filling up their father against him." Sadness crossed her face for a moment. "Morris was very unhappy. He just gave up on Lucas that day…" Claire's gaze went outside the window. "But I told Morris that it was a good riddance." 

"I can't agree more," Olivia supported and all other cousins hummed their approval. "But where is he now?" she probed.

Claire took a deep breath in. "I have no idea, but the rumors are that he has joined rogues. People have sighted him in the Whiteclaw pack and some said that he is banned from entering Silver Vales." 

Olivia and Kaizan tensed. 

"We all were so happy for whoever gave him that scar," said one of the cousins and all of the burst out laughing. 

"Oh yes! Bless the man who could finally put an end to Lucas's never-ending yada yada about his looks and those long hair that he loved to cater to," another one interjected. And once again they laughed. Within a few minutes, they were all laughing and making fun of Lucas and praising the man who showed him his place. 

Olivia gave a side-glance to Kaizan who was sitting there listening to them praising the anonymous man. Her chest swelled with pride when she realized that he didn't want to reveal why he did that only because it would have come back to his wife. She entwined her arm in his, and rested her head on it. 

At the same time, Kaizan's mind was overworked. If Lucas had joined the rogues, had Tasha gone to find him over there? And she hadn't returned till now. Was she killed or was she still finding him? Finding Lucas amongst the rogues would be like finding a needle in a haystack. A different kind of worry rose in his chest. Was Tasha safe? He regretted his order of asking her not to come to the capital until she found him. Taking a deep breath, he decided he would send more people to help her. 

They reached home in the next half an hour and by that time, it was already evening. Olivia was extremely tired. Kaizan just scooped her in his arms and carried her all the way inside the bedchamber. And now that everyone was well aware of how Kaizan was with Olivia, no one even gave them a second glance when he carried her in his arms. In fact, they were all just too happy for Olivia. 

After dinner, Kaizan called upon Morris and his father. 

Next day, Kaizan had called all the councilmen to appoint Vaarin as their next Alpha.