The Lycan Kingpin's Captive: A Baby For The Beast

Chapter 45 - Mia

There’s warmth everywhere and I’m floating on a cloud of bliss. Sunlight touches my skin and it feels

like it’s penetrating every inch of my skin, filling me up with nothing but contentment.

I haven’t felt this happy since Niko told me he loves me, and the memory alone brings a smile to my

face. Closing my eyes, I allow myself to drift some more, knowing that this happiness won’t leave me

wherever I end up.

Then I feel a shift in the air, and a crack of lightning splits the sky. That warmth is now replaced by a

chill, and my blue skies are now tainted with black clouds.

“Mira, wake up!” I hear a voice calling me, It sounds like a whisper, then it swells. “Mira, wake up!

There’s danger! An enemy is close!”

My eyes shoot open and I sit up in bed too quickly; a dizzy spell threatens to pull me under again and I

blink the hazy feeling away. I take a few breaths, placing a hand on my heart to steady myself.

What had woken me up? Oh, it was a voice, wasn’t it? Wait…was it Star’s voice? Danger…an enemy.

An unknown yet familiar scent hits me and I whip my head to the left quickly. As I spy the empty

bassinet, I know what Star meant by that warning….and I scream.

Ares, my baby! Someone has taken my baby! Where is Niko? Why isn’t he here?! Without thinking, my

hands go to my hair and I start to pull - the pain pales in comparison to what I am feeling right now.

The door to the bedroom bangs open and Niko rushes in with Maxim at his side. He looks at me with

wide, fearful eyes while scanning the room for a threat.

I leap out of bed and rush to him. “He’s gone, Niko! Ares is gone!” tumbles out of my mouth; that

familiar fear constricts my heart so much I struggle to catch my breath. Niko pulls me close and

everything falls away.

My heart is thudding painfully in my chest while flashes of memory appear in my mind's eye. Ares’

birth, feeding him, touching his tiny little hands, and kissing them. A heart-wrenching sob splits my

heart in two as the realization hits me.

Someone took my baby.

I hear voices but I don’t put two and two together, not until Niko lets go of me and he walks towards the

empty bassinet beside our bed. The anxiety coming from him knocks the wind out of me and I watch as

he takes something out of it.

A spiked dog collar, only the spikes are on the inside.

Maxim asks him a question and he nods, then he turns around and I see nothing left of the powerful

Alpha as he swallows deeply. His hands are trembling as he holds up the collar, then he drops it and

takes a step backward.

I crumble to the floor, sobbing. The emptiness in my chest grows when I look at that bassinet and know

my baby isn’t in there.

“Why weren’t you here?” I murmur, rocking back and forth. “You left and he was taken, you left me…”

A menacing growl comes from deep within Niko’s chest, and I watch as he tries to stop himself from

shifting. “Panzer, Armata - get the Pente ready to go,” he orders before turning to Maxim. “Grab one of

Lilah’s coats so they can memorize her scent; she can’t have gotten far.”

Then he grabs the collar and Panzer catches it. “Give this to Descry, tell him to run ahead when he

catches a scent.”

Everything hits me all at once and I finally understand what is being discussed. I turn to Niko and see

the anger in his eyes, but I stalk over to him anyway.

“Lilah took him?” I ask, but he doesn’t even look at me. “Niko! Did Lilah take Ares?”

He turns to me with eyes the color of bloody rubies, but as soon as Maxim and Panzer walk out of our

bedroom, that coldness leaves his eyes. “Yes, she took him,” he says and is about to walk out when I

grab his arm and pull him back.

“That’s all? No comforting embrace or words to placate the mother of your child?!” I shriek, shaking my

head. “My baby is gone, Niko, and you’re just brushing me off!”

There’s no warmth of the Niko I know, just a determined crimson glare. “I can’t do this right now, Mia.

The longer I stand here, the further she gets; so let go of me so I can do my fucking job,” he says,

pulling his arm out of my grip.

I ran to keep up with him. “I’m coming with you-”

“No, you’re not,” he growls, walking me back to the bed. “You’ll only be a distraction.”

My heart drops. “What the hell, Niko! He’s my child too! You can’t just leave me here not knowing

what’s going on, I refuse to stay!” I exclaim, punching his chest, but he simply grabs my wrists and pulls

me close. “Please…please let me go with you.”

I bow my head and the tears don’t stop falling. The happiness I felt in my dream now seems so far

away, as if it never even existed. That contentment was now replaced with fear and anxiety gnawing

and coiling in my stomach… I didn’t even get to spend a full hour with my newborn pup and someone

already took him.

Niko cups my face, his eyes back to the deep green I love so much. “This is my fault, Mia. I trusted

Lilah without knowing…” he swallows deeply and shame fills his eyes. “She’s connected to my mother

and aunt.”

The floor feels like it’s giving way beneath my feet and my heart stills. “Y-your mother? How…” my eyes

grow wide when I remember the collar he took from the bassinet. “Was it…was the collar yours?”

He nods with his lips a thin line of worry. “It’s their way of telling me they’ve taken him,” I fall to the floor

at his words and he wraps his arms around me. “I need to fix this, kardia mou; I need to get him back

and if you’re there…they’ll use you against me.”

“But why take him?! What use does he have to them?!” I wail, holding onto him as he caresses my hair.

“I don’t understand…and Lilah… I knew there was something off about her but I pushed it aside!”

“Don’t you dare blame yourself, Mia,” he growls. “If anyone is to blame, it is me for trusting her when I

should have known better. But I’ll get him back, I promise on my fucking life I’ll return him to you.”

I shake my head as dread pierces my heart. “No…I need to be there, Niko. Please take me with you. I

will go crazy sitting here and…and not knowing-”

A child’s cry stops me dead and I feel as if I’ve touched a live wire. “Did you hear that?” I whisper,

scrambling to my feet and gripping his arms. “Tell me you heard that, Niko, please tell me I’m not going

crazy!”

But the frown on his face tells me he didn’t hear it. “What are you talking-”

“A baby’s cry! I heard it!” I exclaim, looking around the room like a mad woman and my eyes fall on the

window. I rush towards it and Ares’ scent fills my nose.

I close my eyes and focus, feeling a link to Ares, but it grows distant by the second. “She jumped from

here with Ares in her arms and…now he’s crying… but I feel that he’s close.”

Niko’s footfalls cause me to look toward him and his eyes are wide. “Can you sense him?”

I nod as determination shoots through me and I shed the worried, crazed mother persona for an angry

she-wolf out for blood. “I can, so you have to let me come with you. Get the Gammas ready while I get

dressed; we’re doing this together, Niko, you are not leaving me behind.”

Something akin to pride flashes in his eyes as they shimmer to crimson. “Five minutes, in my office,” he

says, then claims my mouth in a fierce kiss before walking out of our bedroom.

I can’t afford to be a weak, crazy mother right now. Yes, I am trembling with worry for my baby, but I

think the nerve of what Lilah did is erasing more of it. She made me complacent, she coaxed me into

being a good little girl for her Alpha just so she can take his child.

And bring it to his abusers.

The anger I feel towards her is filling my heart and I know I’ll never be able to think with a clear head.

When I walked out of the shower and saw her with Ares, Star nearly ripped her head off.

I thought it was just my overprotective motherly instincts getting ahead of me, but now I know my wolf

knew more than I ever could.

/“Star,”/ I call to her as I slip on a pair of trainers. /“I need your help; please guide me.”/

Her silver eyes are flashing with the same fury flowing through me. /“I’m always here, but I need you to

do something so we can show them you’re not just a lowly Omega. You need to trust me, Mira; trust

the gift the Goddess has given us and follow your instincts.”/

I blanch. /“A gift? The Goddess blessed me?”/

/“She did, but it went away when your trauma blocked me. Allow your gift to lead us and get Ares

back,”/ she says, then looks at me with warmth. /“Focus your thoughts on Ares and we will find him, but

for now we need to move, okay?”/

Nodding, I tie my hair up in a high ponytail and walk out of the bedroom with renewed determination.

The Goddess blessed me with a gift, an instinctive feeling and I need to start trusting my wolf if I am

going to beat them at their own game.

The Gammas are gathered around Niko, all but Descry who seems to have run ahead with Maxim.

They see me enter and I spot shame in Panzer’s eyes but I simply nod my head. “She’s stopped

moving; they’re about twenty miles out and heading East,” I say and they all look at me as if I’ve gone

mad.

“Mia-”

/“Alpha, we’re following the scent East and it’s getting stronger,”/ Descry says over the mind link and

they turn to me with their mouths gaping.

/“How far, Descry?”/ I ask.

/“Eighteen miles, Luna; we’re entering an abandoned storage container yard,”/ he responds and I feel a

smile creeping onto my face. All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

I turn my back to the men and walk out. “We don’t have time to waste; let’s go,” I call over my shoulder

while waiting for them to follow me out.

They’re all quiet when we file into the two SUVs, none of them are looking at me after I barked that

order. I sit up front with Niko while the rest take the other SUV and ride ahead.

“How did you know?” Niko finally asks after a while. “How did you know they went East?”

I turn to face him with a small smile on my lips. “Found out a little late that the Goddess blessed me

with an intuitive gift, one that had laid dormant when I blocked out Star,” I say with renewed confidence.

Niko chuckles and shoots me a look of pride. “That’s my girl,” he says before the steely look is back in

his eyes. Twenty miles went by in a blur and when I looked again, we'd entered the container yard.

A growl escapes me as I catch three distinctive scents surrounding my Ares; someone is going to die

tonight.