Unknown P.O.V.

Argh! I've been traveling around, for the past three months, and I'm starting to go crazy. Well in my case it'll be a short trip at least. Maybe I should shift? It would be a lot more easy to find what I'm looking for from up above rather than down below.

But before I'm able to even finish that thought the reason why I haven't yet interrupts my thoughts. My dragon is very particular about how we go about our current mission.

No must be secretive

Oh yeah I forgot this is supposed to be a stealth mission, I casually respond back to him.

Must find mate this way

But why? There are other ways to find her you know? I ask unsure that he even knows what he's doing because hell if I do.

Mmm no, only my way

Great that's not helpful at all and extremely cryptic I sarcastically say I'm beginning to get more and more annoyed and at this point I may force a shift how angry I'm starting to get.

Stupid beast, maybe it would have been better to listen to my council rather than my beast, after all my council has never once been wrong, but this dammed beast has some how convinced me to get lost in the woods looking for a mate which I'm not even sure exists.

But I guess desperate times calls for desperate measures and believe me I'm desperate! Normally I would never do something like this I would never even stoop so low I mean after all I'm a king! But I'm more desperate that a man who's been traveling in the desert for 40 years looking for a drink of water.

I don't see how we couldn't have waited until the annual ball, maybe our mate just hasn't come to age just yet, or perhaps her parents are just really strict, or maybe she's a... a spiritl-

"No! She can't be!" I shout in frustration interrupting my own thoughts.

But if she was that would explain why we haven't found her yet.

Still would love her

Yeah yeah I know you would, you can't have any other feelings toward her other than love, but our people may not feel the same way, if she is, maybe it would be best to just reject her?

No. My beast says with finality before cutting me off, letting me know that this discussion is over.

As I walk further into the woods a thick smell coats the air, lions, great just what I need right now. I hate passing by on any shifters territory but lions are terrible to deal with.

Lions aren't the worst shifters to deal with, but they are the ones I try to avoid when ever I can. They are extremely prideful and territorial, not to mention the men usually make the women do all the work in the pride. They're so freaking sexist it makes my head hurt.

Well unless they have a few spirtitlesses to do there work for them, which I have no doubt they probably do.

Mate is close

Great she's probably lion shifter I grumble.

Grrrr

Alright! Alright that's not a bad thing

That's probably why we haven't been able to find her, the lions usually don't like it when they have mates out of their own species, so they limit their interactions with other species to avoid a mating.

The only time you'll ever see a lion out of their pride is if they have been cast out, in which case they either move to the city in the kingdom, or they will go out and hide in the middle of no fucking where, where no one can find them. Or worst of all they'll kill themselves because they can't live with the thought of being cast out.

Or maybe they just can't handle being alone, I certainly don't think I could've lived this long without my other have if I didn't at least have my brother with me to share the burden.

Once I pass their border I can feel myself step through an invisible wall, that signals I have passed onto claimed territory. Most shifters can't cross onto land unwelcomed but because I'm a king, all territory is technically mine so I can do as I please.

Immediately I make my way towards the biggest house on the pride lands, knowing that's where the Alpha lion lives with his mate.

Even though I can come and go as I please, its common decency to let the Alpha know that someone else is on their land.

I take my time walking through the small village, making sure to really sniff around, to see if my mate is any where near me. If she is a lion shifter its probably going to be a pain to get her to come with me, cause as it goes most lions hate mating outside of their own species.

I sigh dejectedly as I reach the main house, still having smelt no sign of my mate.

Maybe we should just go, obviously she's not here

No must look everywhere, can sense her nearby

You keep saying that, I'm really starting to doubt it

Obey me, for I am right

I'll look inside but if she's not here, we go home and wait for the ball to possibly find her there, got it?

I say leaving no room for debate. I want to find my mate too just not as badly as my beast does, ever since we were was younger I never really got the appeal others have had towards mates. I know my brother really wants to find her but I really couldn't care less. He's wanted her for the last twenty years, when we were supposed to find her the first time.

I understand why the council says we need her, we need her so that we can reproduce to make a heir to make sure we have someone to lead when me and my brother are gone.

But we can do that with any women, it would just be harder to get her pregnant, not that I would mind trying more than usual.

Focus

Yeah, I'm going, I'm going

I knock on the door, once, twice, when no one answers the third time I gingerly open the door and step through. I take a deep inhale as I walk through the threshold, I stumble back at the powerful aroma of my mate, sea salt and lavender, but its hidden by the horrible stench copper and iron, blood.

A horrible sense of dread fills me,

Maybe mate got into a fight with some one else?

I don't think mate hurt someone else I think mate is the one that's hurt

Help mate

With those words I dart off in the direction the smell of blood is the strongest, I enter the prides kitchen most of the member milling around trying to get to there lunch, the second they see me they growl and put up their defenses. But a moment later they sniff the air and immediately bow down out of respect for their King.

I push past them leaving them in a stunned state, I exit the kitchen and enter a small hallway, where the smell of my mate and the smell of blood become significantly stronger.

The scene I see makes me want to shift right then and there and kill every one in this dammed lion pride, my poor mate crouched on the floor, while two other lion shifters stand over her, she looks so small.

I then notice where the stench of blood was coming from, my mates back, it appears the blood is coming out in lines, they whipped her?

How dare they?

They hurt mate, must seek revenge and retribution

Agreed

Brother I have found her, send troops to my location, Now!

I mindlink my brother right away, before I cut off all communication and shift into Lycan form and start to tear apart every lion shifter I can get my hands on, making sure to never hurt my mate.

My conscious slowly fades out as I give full control to my beast.