Bought by the Beast King (Katerina and hunter) novel Chapter 19

Chapter 19

HUNTER

It took me hours to reach the next wolf territory. By the time I hit the tree-lined streets, the scent hit me first. Blood. Thick and metallic, blowing into my face through the open

windows.

Multiple casualties. Fresh.

This was a small border pack near Lordswood, just outside the human world. It was peaceful. Too peaceful for this.

When I pulled up to the girl’s house, the scent thickened, crawling into my lungs. My beast stirred, already scanning for movement. Death hung over the whole house. Not a single living soul inside. Something cold washed over me in the eerie silence.

I sent a text to Elijah and the Bureau to send a team, then crouched near the driveway. Just off the side of the small house, my eyes zoomed in on motorcycle tracks.

That bastard!

But why here? This wasn’t how he worked. He’d never struck inside the wolf kingdom. It was always the girls away from home, studying among the humans-easy targets among people who couldn’t track him.

Elijah appeared only moments later, and my brow raised.

“What took you so long?”

“I had things to finalise at the Bureau this morning, Your Majesty,” my beta said. I’d expected him last night, when I realised they already knew I was coming.

Turning back to the house that I hadn’t even had a chance to enter, I gestured for him to follow me. It was as I’d expected, with a few surprises.

Talia’s roommate was pinned to her living room wall like the others. The other people, likely her family, sat in chairs facing her as if they were watching a show. Their eyes were gouged out, their mouths frozen in silent

screams.

My stomach turned, and I looked away.

“He’s getting bolder.”

He hit close to home to make sure I saw it first.

“The team will be here to process the scene. We should leave,” Elijah said.

I scanned the area again and inhaled. Besides the scents from the dead, the only foreign scents were mine and Elijah’s. No other trail to chase. I couldn’t even sense anything out of the ordinary, even with my superior senses. I’d failed again. My beast roared in my chest, ready to rampage. But there was no one to hunt.

I stormed outside for air, my gaze landing on the tracks again.

“Process them. Find out if anyone has cameras.”

It would be a dead end. Wolves didn’t need human technology to know when danger was close. In the human world, this bastard still managed to dodge even the traffic cams. But I had to try something.

Something hit me just as Elijah called the team with the update. What about the third girl? What about April, the girl I’d just seen? The one who’d given me my first real lead in years?

Fuck.

Elijah turned to me as if he sensed the sudden urgency, but he continued to give orders quietly on the phone. My hand wasn’t as steady as I liked when I looked through my emails for the girls’ information and dialled.

There was no answer at the third roommate’s house.

Lead settled in my stomach.

“Send teams to all their houses,” I ordered.

I tried April’s father’s number. Relief loosened my chest when someone answered it, and I leaned heavily against my car.

“Hello?”

I’d just promised I would protect them, but now the whole family was a target.

“Stay in the house. Your alpha is on the way, and my warriors will get there soon.”

“What’s going on, Your Majesty?” April’s father asked, his voice shaky.

“I’ll explain later. Stay alert.”

Elijah stood silently while I made the arrangements, and then I sent an official email to all the alphas. The killer was among us.

“Send the other girls to a safehouse.”

“Yes, sir,” Elijah said with a nod.

I followed the motorcycle tracks for a few metres, but, as usual, they disappeared. Just vanished.

“Stay here to speak to the alpha. Explain what happened.”

“Where are you going, sir?”

To see the other girl. Norma. Her fate had to be better than this,

But half an hour later, I found the same scene. A forensics team was already there, processing it, and another team was questioning the neighbours.

Two in one day. Three in under a week. Something had pushed this bastard to act so quickly, and I suspect it was because of April.

But how could I guarantee April’s safety when this bastard could kill right under a pack’s nose?

Or could I?

There was only one other place that was safer than mine. I pulled my phone out and dialled Kostas’s number. He picked up on the first ring, as if he always had his phone in his hand.

“Your Majesty? Have you found something?”

The hopeful tone was a reminder that I’d failed someone else.

“Not yet. But I need a favour. I need you to protect someone.”

I’d never asked a Lordswood for a favour in my life. But this killer knew my moves; I had to do something he wasn’t expecting.

“Why?”

“I sent details to your email. Your castle is the safest place I can think of right now.”

“I can’t. My father-”

“Prince Kostas,” I growled. “Your father calls himself the king, but I’ll make this an order if I have to.”

I rarely used my title to threaten anyone, but Christos was no match for my Lycan beast.

There was a pause, and then a quiet, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

I gave instructions to my head warrior, ordering him to keep it quiet. And then I settled back in my car, watching the teams work, hoping there would be new clues. There was nothing else I could do beyond that. This bastard had beaten me.

I drove back on autopilot, my mind going over everything. My thoughts gnawed at me. How was this

guy always a step ahead? Did I have a mole in the Bureau? Kitty didn’t have any access yet, but was she feeding him something?

My energy drained as everything hit me all at once.

How was I the Lycan King when I couldn’t protect anybody? When everyone kept dying in front of me? I was not worthy to have my father’s blood flowing through me. To have the burden of every wolf and lycan on my shoulders.

I blinked back the emotion and realised I’d parked in front of Kitty’s apartment. I’d meant to drive back home. Meeting her with these thoughts weighing on me was a bad idea.

Still, I opened my door and staggered out. My feet felt heavy as I dragged them up the steps to the door. And I watched my hand raise to press the button as if I was no longer in control of it.

Static, and then Kitty’s voice.

“Hunter? Are you okay?”

I looked towards the camera, knowing my eyes were bloodshot and I probably looked like shit. But somehow, Kitty was the one I’d come home to.

My voice was low and rough when I finally spoke.

“Open the door, Kitty Kat. It’s time for you to keep your end of the deal.”