Chapter 25: The Scent of Trouble

Leonidas sat behind his huge desk, tucked away in the stone walls of his private study. A stack of parchment scrolls sat before him, detailing border skirmishes, grain shortages, and the endless, tedious complaints of the panther nobility. He was supposed to be reviewing them. He was the King, after all.

But he hadn’t read a single word in the last hour.

He ran a hand through his hair, making a frustrated sound. His panther instincts were going insane, howling at him to claim her, to mark her, to lock her in his chambers where no other man could ever look at her. It was maddening. He did not get flustered by his pathetic, clingy wife.

Except she wasn’t pathetic anymore. And that was the most frustrating part of all.

BANG.

His study doors suddenly flew open, slamming against the stone walls with a deafening crack that made the candles flicker violently.

Leonidas immediately tensed, preparing for an attack. But the figure standing in the doorway wasn’t an assassin.

It was Karina.

And she looked murderous.

Breathing heavily, her dark blue gown slightly askew, she glared at him. feral light was flashing in her red eyes, and to Leonidas’s immense surprise, his own panther instincts stirred with a dark, involuntary surge of satisfaction.

"Karina?" he started, rising from his chair.

"Has it come to your notice," she snarled, her voice shaking with a rage she was clearly struggling to contain. "that the Prince is missing?!?!"

Leonidas turned to stone, his thoughts scattering.

"What?" he breathed, the word slipping out before he could stop it. "What do you mean he is missing?"

"I should be asking you that!" Karina stormed into the room, marching right up to his desk and slamming her palms flat against the flat surface. "You know this cursed castle better than I do! I went to get him for breakfast, and his room is empty! The maid says she hasn’t seen him!"

Leonidas didn’t waste another second arguing. Valen. His son. The six-year-old boy he had neglected for six years, the boy who had bitten Rafael just yesterday, was gone. ℴ

Damn it.

His scent. Track him!

Leonidas flared his nostrils, his pupils dilating as his beast side took over. He inhaled deeply, filtering through the scents of the castle, pine, stone, old parchment, and Karina’s intoxicating rose-and-snow fragrance. Underneath it all, faint but unmistakable, was the milky, sweet scent of a panther cub.

"Guards!" Leonidas roared, his voice shaking the very foundations of the room.

Two massive panther warriors instantly appeared in the doorway, dropping to one knee.

"Find the Prince," Leonidas commanded, a savage, guttural note creeping into his voice as he spoke. "Scour every corridor, every tower, every hidden alcove in Shadow’s Edge. If anyone has touched a hair on his head, I will skin them alive. Move!"

"Yes, My King!"

Leonidas didn’t wait for them to report back. He rounded the desk, his long strides eating up the distance as he headed for the door. Karina was right on his heels, her furious footsteps clicking sharply against the stone floor.

They moved quickly through the southern guest quarters. Leonidas kept his nose slightly tilted, tracking the scent of his son, while Karina’s furious glare burned into the back of his head.

Every shadow looked like a threat, every echoing footstep sounded like a cry for help. She was practically jogging now, her skirts swishing violently around her ankles.

"Keep up," Leonidas grunted over his shoulder, his pace relentless.

Karina gritted her teeth, her lungs burning. "I’m keeping up," she snapped, though her breath was coming in short, panicked gasps.

Somewhere in the eastern wing, Sophie and Aldric were sweeping the lower levels, but Karina’s maternal instincts were screaming at her to be the one to find him. What if he was hurt? What if he had fallen down a flight of stairs? What if someone in this miserable, cold castle had actually laid a hand on him?

Leonidas suddenly slowed, his broad shoulders tense beneath his black tunic. He didn’t look back, but his voice came out as a deep purr. "You need not worry. We will find him, Karina. I swear it on my crown."

Karina didn’t answer. She just kept her eyes fixed on his back. She didn’t want his promises. She didn’t want his comfort. She just wanted her son.

She pushed herself to run faster, her vision blurring slightly at the edges from the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She rounded a sharp corner, her mind entirely focused on the dark hallway ahead, and her heel caught violently on the uneven edge of a raised stone flagstone.

"Ah!"

Her ankle twisted. Karina threw her hands out, bracing for the brutal impact of the stone floor, squeezing her eyes shut—

She never fell.

Instead, a s wall of muscle slammed into her. A strong arm wrapped around her waist, hauling her up and pulling her against a hard and broad chest. The force of the catch knocked the breath straight out of her lungs.

Karina’s eyes flew open.

She was pressed chest-to-chest with Leonidas. His arm was locked securely around her waist, his other hand gripping her shoulder to steady her. His face was inches from hers.

Time seemed to stop entirely.

The panic that had been consuming her brain temporarily came to a halt. All she could see was the perfect line of his jaw, the dark sweep of his lashes, and the swirling purple of his eyes. His chest was heaving beneath her hands, where she had instinctively gripped his tunic to keep from falling.

Eh?

Leonidas gazed down at her fixedly, the depths of his pupils expanding as a breath caught in his throat. The chaotic anxiety of a father searching for his flesh-and-blood was instantly swallowed by a predatory heavy light deep within his eyes. His thumb brushed against her slender waist over the fine silk of her gown, an unthinking, thoroughly overbearing gesture that sent a numbing current straight down her spine.

He was about to say something when Karina’s brain finally rebooted.

What am I doing?! I’m mad at him! He’s probably the reason Valen is missing in the first place!

Mortification and residual anger flared hot in her chest. She shoved him away with both hands, stumbling back a step and aggressively smoothing down her askew bodice.

"Watch where you’re standing," she snapped, her voice cracking slightly. She refused to look him in the eye, staring fiercely at a crack in the stone wall instead. "I had it under control."

Leonidas blinked, his arms falling slowly to his sides. He looked genuinely bewildered, his chest still rising and falling rapidly. Karina too, was flushed, and the system violently flashed in her peripheral vision.

Ding!

[SYSTEM ALERT: LEONIDAS OBSESSION LEVEL: 4% → 6% (Feral Possessiveness)]

[Analysis: Physical contact and anger are highly effective. The host’s rejection is driving the target’s beast instincts into overdrive. Keep it up!]

Karina mentally groaned. Six percent? Are you kidding me? I just yelled at him because I almost ate floor!

Leonidas frowned, his purple eyes narrowing as he stared at her flushed face. Something was different. It was weird. It was entirely too weird. He was the King of Shadow’s Edge. He didn’t get flustered by his wife tripping over a rock.

He cleared his throat, the sound rough in the quiet corridor, and turned his back to her to hide the faint, dusky flush creeping up his own neck.

"The scent," he muttered, his voice slightly strained as he tried to regain his composure. "It’s coming from down this hall."

Karina steadied her racing heart with a deep breath. She squared her shoulders, preparing to launch into another tirade about how he needed to pay more attention to his own castle—

"Wait."

Leonidas held up a hand.

Karina froze, her heart leaping into her throat. "What? What is it? Is he hurt?"

Leonidas didn’t answer. He just stared down the corridor, his expression shifting from tense panic to bewilderment.

Because echoing from the shadows at the end of the hall, clear as day, was the sound of children laughing.

Eh?