17. Ryder

Ifailed. I didn't save her. I was too late. As soon as Soren gave me the vials of Oria, I immediately went to pick up the necklace from Linds. Thankfully she had it ready for me before I went home, grabbed a shower and some food, and finally plugged in my phone.

A flood of messages popped up. Most of the messages were from Serena, a few from clients and one was from the client that wanted us to steal the princess, threatening to go somewhere else if we couldn't get back to her.

The woman demanding the kidnapping didn't answer so I called Serena. It went to voicemail immediately. It wasn't unusual for her phone to go to voicemail, but an uneasiness settled in my gut. I grabbed a power bank, charging my phone on my way to the Belladonna estate.

When Gerard told me she hadn't been home, they feared she might have been taken. She hadn't answered her phone in a few days, but before I panicked, I knew I had to head to the castle where her sister Katarina was at. There was a possibility she was with her, and I needed to make sure before I started to panic.

When I arrived at the ominous castle, my gut was like lead. Something bad had happened, tragedy was in the air and I couldn't move. After getting the nerve to proceed, I exited the car feeling something was definitely wrong.

There was a portion of the gate open, and I put on the necklace before passing through the barrier; the magic was rough and tasted sour. It made me wonder if the same witch who put the barrier on this place was the same one who placed it on the mountain to protect the tower.

Once I was through, I jogged across the grass. My gut was feeling heavier and heavier, until I saw Katerina walking up to me, looking devastated. Serena had been killed during a scuffle at the castle. She had come to help her sister and walked in on men attacking them. I was too late and the last day we talked came rushing back to me.

"I need you to promise me something." Serena's beautiful eyes looked at me.

"Anything," I said, not even thinking of the consequences of offering her anything.

"Don't blame yourself," she cupped my face.

"You should be mine to take care of," I said. "I would do anything for you."

"But I'm not yours, Ryder," she said, pulling me forward, resting her forehead against my own. "I won't survive this and that's ok."

I pulled away abruptly. "What does that mean, Serena?"

"It means if I die, then Katarina survives, that's what we all hope for," she said leaning into me so I could wrap my arms around her. "Katarina has to break the spell; if she doesn't, we are all doomed. On Beltane, I need you to come back. If she does break the spell, her husband Caston will be coming at her with everything he has."

I shivered as I watched the flames envelop her, bad thoughts floated in my mind wishing it had been Katarina and not Serena. It was a shifter custom to burn the dead and it pleased me and my wolf that they followed this custom. Katarina cried quietly as two of her men held her.

Rage roared through me. I should have fought harder for her, but… if this was her destiny, then there was nothing I could have done. She never told me why it was so important to help break this curse, but if this was her dying wish, then I would make damn sure Katarina broke that spell.

After the flames died down, we stripped, and we all ran for Serena. Katarina ran in her human form while the rest of us shifted. For someone who didn't have an ounce of magic, Katarina kept her pace with us. I pushed myself, feeling like I should punish myself when the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

Thank you. Let her in when you find her.

My wolf shivered hearing and feeling Serena's presence, coming and going quickly. Fuck, I missed her already, but what did she mean with that last part? We took one last lap around the castle before the wolves slowed and so did Katarina.. I shifted immediately with the guys, throwing on my clothes quickly before they lost their shit around their mate.

"Thank you, Ryder," Katarina said, before hugging me tightly.

Growls permeated the air, making me smirk, squeezing her tight just to fuck around with them.

"I'm sorry it took me so long," I whispered, the guilt eating at me.

"No, don't," she said, pulling away. "You brought the most important thing; we will manage with whatever we have."

"We appreciate you, man," their alpha, Zev, said, as the blond Lucien wrapped an arm around Katarina.

He was an enormous man, who looked like he could rip me apart. They all looked like they could really hurt me, but the dude with the multicolored eyes wasn't there anymore.

"I'm sorry we took so long, and we didn't grab everything. We ran into complications and I must get back to Soren and Gray," I said, feeling anxious that I had left them, but glad that I did.

I got to say goodbye to Serena, except I knew the twins would be upset when they found out what had happened.

"Anything we can do to help? Do you need supplies?" Lucien asked.

"Gold?" Zev asked.

"No, thanks. I just need to get back to the guys," I said impatiently.

"Ok, please let us know you are alright soon." Katarina smiled but her eyes still held sadness in them. "If you can stop by, even better."

One of the men growled and I chuckled.

"I'll send a letter, I don"t want to piss off your mates," I said, looking at their enormous castle. "I'll try and bring whatever I can back, but I can make no guarantees."

"If it"s too dangerous, don't do it." Katarina shook her head. "Just be safe."

"Ok, you break the spell and I'll see you on the other side," I said with a nod, before I backed away to my car.

"Ryder!" I turned to see the last shifter with multicolored eyes running to me. "Don't ask me why, but here."

He gave me a small velvet bag. It held some stones, a diamond necklace and some gold.

"I had a vision and I saw you would need this," he said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I don't know when or why you will need them, but keep them with you at all times."

I stared at the bag feeling weird that in the last week I had had two people give me something I would need to use in the future.

"Thanks," I said, uneasily. "You see the future?"

"Sometimes, but it"s not always concrete," he replied.

"You can't see how this ends?" I was curious.

"Yes, I've seen many different ways this could end," he said, looking at the floor. "I see her die, I see us die, and I see one of us die. No two visions are alike, and they are constantly changing."

"Fuck, man, that sounds awful," I said, running a hand down my face, wondering how one could live like that?

"It does suck, but I also see her breaking the spell. I see our family and now I see you too," he said, staying cryptic. "I just hope it"s the good visions that win."

I nodded. "Me too, man; thanks for this?—"

I held up the bag, feeling embarrassed I couldn't remember his name.

"It's Aeon," he chuckled. "Once this spell is broken, if you need anything, please let us know. I know those vials of Oria you brought are what Katarina really needed and I can't thank you enough for that."

He held out his hand for me.

"Of course," I said, shaking his hand before he turned away walking back to the castle.

I took a deep breath before walking back to my car. The moment I closed my door, I needed an outlet. My emotions were high and I knew the perfect person I would stop by and see to release my anger. Joseph gave us some bad information and he was going to pay. I just needed to figure out where the hell he was.

I slept for a whole day.My exhaustion had hit an all-time high when I arrived home for information. Not sleeping, not eating properly and losing Serena, made me crash, and as much as I hated losing a day, I fucking needed it.

Gray and Soren were going to be fine, I just had to trust in my friends. Rolling out of bed, my body felt a hundred times better. I needed a huge breakfast and then I would get started on finding Joseph. If I could locate him quickly, I would go back for Soren and Gray, then we could pay him a visit together.

After breakfast, I went down to our office looking up Joseph"s contact when my phone rang.

"This is Ryder," I said, answering my cell phone.

"Hello, I spoke with Gray about hiring you," a woman's sultry voice came through.

"Yes, about the kidnapping of a woman," I said, looking through our iPad that housed all of our contacts.

"Precisely," she purred. "I know it might be an unusual request, but you come highly recommended, and the princess is in a location where it would be difficult to get to."

"When do you need it done and I need a location," I said, finding Joseph's number and address.

"It needs to happen before Beltane," she said.

"Am I sending a ransom note?" I sat down pulling a sheet of paper to get all the information.

"No, you will kidnap her from the location I give you. It needs to be done in a very violent manner, but nothing that is going to cause any extreme injuries. You will keep her in poor conditions, treat her awfully and scare her as much as possible. She needs to be completely broken when I come in and rescue her," she said, sounding fucking crazy, but for five million dollars, I wasn't going to say shit.

"So, let me get this straight. You want me to kidnap her, rough her up, scare her and then you come in and save the day?" I asked, thinking this might be the craziest request I had ever gotten.

"Sounds about right, Ryder," she said.

She said my name like she was trying to seduce me, giving me the ick. Her entire request gave me doubts about going through with it.

"I need half now and half before you rescue her," I said, wondering if she was going to hassle me.

"Ok, send me your bank info," she said immediately. "I also expect none of you to show your face to her and she must not know you were hired."

Something made me want to say no, but it was a lot of money. This wasn't my first kidnapping, but to scare the kidnapped didn't feel right. I don't know why I was all of a sudden growing a conscience, but this was my job, and she was paying me well.

"Great, I'll send you a link to pay and since you have specific details for this job, I need you to send me an email of exactly what can and cannot be done," I said. "I also need the location."

"I will send your money and the email," she quipped. "You will receive the location a few days before Beltane. Thank you, Ryder."

She hung up the phone without saying goodbye. I stared at my phone for a moment wondering if this was going to be a new occurrence. Stealing princesses, torturing them and having them rescued by their family. It sounded like the women wanted to keep the girl in line in the most extreme manner.

I wasn't going to turn away from five million dollars for easy work. First, I needed to pay Joseph a visit and then get the guys. After that, we could get the girl and hopefully be able to grieve Serena.