Mating the Female Alpha
Chapter 87 – Bernice is gone!

Bernice's POV

"I don't understand..." I said, staring at Alaric who was only inches from my face. That wasn't making any sense. Why would he want me to leave Landry's pack? Wouldn't he want me to be close by so he can keep an eye on me? "I have my reasons," Alaric said, pulling away from me. "Reasons that don't require your knowledge right now. But that is my condition. You need to make yourself disappear. Leave and don't return here. Understood?" "If I do that, you'll cure me?" I asked.

I could see the darkened smile on his lips.

"Exactly."

"You can't really be considering this..." Julia said from within me. "I don't trust him, Bernice. We can't just leave Landry-"

"I have to do what's best for our child," I reminded her firmly. "Alaric promised to cure me..."

"But what about Landry?"

He was going to be upset, but that meant he will have more motive to get rid of Alaric once and for all. Once Alaric was taken care of, I would be able to return to him. I looked down at my stomach with a frown. I wasn't sure how long it would take for Landry to defeat Alaric, but I knew I had to trust him.

"Okay,” I finally said, meeting Alaric's eyes. "I'll leave the pack and I won't return."

"That means you'll have zero connections with the wolf king."

My heart fell into the pit of my stomach; I figured that was coming.

I nodded my head, trying not to look as upset as I felt.

"Fine," I said to him. "I will have no contact with Landry. But please, I need the cure."

I hated begging this monster; I was making a deal with the devil, and I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

He clapped his hands and laughed; his laugh was chilling and sent a shiver down my spine. I just wanted to get out of here.

I had no idea where I was going to go through if I couldn't return to the palace. I couldn't even go back to pack my things or else Landry would try to stop me. I couldn't face him again knowing what I was about to do. Alaric reached into his coat pocket and took out a file of clear liquid. He lowered the vile to my eyes, keeping it in his clutch.

"I give you this, and you leave," he ordered.

I nodded my head once.

He glanced behind me, and I saw there was a guard standing there. I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat.

"He's going to make you black out again and leave you in the forest," Alaric said. "It's your job to make sure you aren't caught. Understood?"

"Yes," I answered without hesitation.

A gleaming smile appeared on his lips as he brought the vile closer. I reached out to grab it, but he pulled it away, just out of reach.

"Deceive me, then both you and your little pup will die."

I had to bite my tongue before I said something I was truly going to regret.

He handed me the vile. I opened it and smelled how putrid it was; I nearly gagged from the scent alone.

This better work: or all of this would have been for nothing.

I allowed the liquid to rinse across my tongue and down my throat; grimacing at the disgusting taste. I thought I was going to throw up on the spot. I had to hold my stomach to keep the contents from leaving my body.

I felt a wave of dizziness crossing my features and a warmth invading my body. It wasn't like I was going into heat, but it felt like my entire body was lighting on fire.

I screamed out in agony; Alaric just laughed, his laugh echoing through his layer. He didn't stick around to watch me struggle. My head hit the ground and I felt myself blacking out, even before the guard stuck me in the neck with another syringe.

...

Landry's POV

"What do you mean, she's gone?" Jessie asked, staring at Landry in disbelief. She had returned to his palace the next morning as soon as she heard that Bernice had gone missing.

That morning, Landry had reached over to continue his snuggle with his love when he got a fist full of sheets. When he fully woke, he realized Bernice was gone. He searched the entire palace to no prevail.

He had a nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach; knowing Bernice, she went to go see Alaric on her own.

Landry spent the better part of his morning with his warriors searching high and low for Bernice's location. For a little while, he could smell her strawberry milk scent. But he lost it somewhere in the forest. She was nowhere to be found. "I'm thinking she went to meet with Alaric without me," Landry told his very worried older sister.

"Why would she do that? After what he had done to her?"

"He promised to cure her if she went there alone. I don't know why she wouldn't say anything though..." He said, shaking his head at the memory.

"And there was no note?" She asked.

"There was nothing. She didn't even pack her things. Which means she's planning on coming back. But I'm worried that Alaric won't let her return. He might have captured her again."

"It wouldn't make sense for him to release her, only to capture her again," Jessie said, deep in thought.

Landry knew that was true, but he still didn't trust Alaric's motives.

He wasn't going to stop searching until Bernice was safe in his palace once again.

"Alpha King! Come to the forest; I think we found something!" His Beta said in a mindlink.

"On my way," Landry said in return to his Beta.

He turned to Jessie was staring at him with wide and worried eyes.

"Stay here in case Bernice returns," he ordered her.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"They might have found something. I need to go investigate."

He left without another word.

It didn't take Landry long to find his Beta and some of his men in the forest. They have been patrolling the area all morning, trying to find any signs of Bernice.

Landry recognized this spot as the place that he summoned Alaric to him the other day with the sage and fire. Bernice's scent lingered here earlier when Landry searched this area, but it was no longer evident to him. "Alpha King, look at this," his Beta said, urging him to follow him.

The Beta took Landry to a nearby tree.

Getting a closer look, he saw something that certainly wasn't there earlier. Or maybe he didn't notice. He went through this part of the forest earlier in search of Bernice, however, he returned to the palace when it was clear Bernice was no longer in that area. His men went back to do a more thorough search.

Landry squinted his eyes to get a better look at the oak tree his men were staring at.

In the tree, the letter "B" was engraved with an arrow pointing down.

This was Bernice's handwriting; it was obvious that B stood for Bernice.

"What do you think it means?" His Beta asked, staring at the engraving intently.

"That she was here..." Landry said, examining it a bit further. "And I think the arrow means that Alaric's layer is under the ground."