You have to wake up! Syri! Wake up!! The voice was muffled. Syri could barely hear it. It was fading quickly. Soon, Syri was sure it would be gone completely. Who was it? Why were they telling Syri to wake up?

It was not until Syri felt hands on his body that he remembered the situation he was in. Aska! The zeta was answered by silence. Aska had been chained to the realm of unconsciousness due to the perliph Seth had forced down Syri's throat and had used the last of his energy to wake Syri.

Syri's mind was still groggy, but he was barely able to open his eyes. The feeling of being tossed through the air, however, kickstarted the zeta's adrenaline, and Syri's eyes shot wide open just as his back hit the soft surface of a bed. Seth did not see Syri's eyes snap open as he had turned around to begin undressing himself.

Syri quickly looked around the room in search of any object that would aid in rendering Seth unconscious. Spotting a vase standing on the nightstand by the bed, Syri held his breath as he silently rolled onto his stomach and reached for the ceramic object.

It's now or never. Act now before it's too late. After a small pep talk, Syri was able to wrap his fingers around the vase and rose to a sitting position. Swinging his legs off the side of the bed, Syri slowly rose to his feet. However, his body was still under the effect of the perliph, so Syri's vision swooned the moment he stood straight. Hearing the zeta stagger and fall back onto the bed, Seth turned to find Syri clutching the side of his head with the vase in his other hand.

"That was quick," Seth said as he pushed the zeta down to lie on his back. The alpha had unbuttoned his shirt and was in the process of removing it until Syri's movements caught his attention. Placing his knee on the bed, Seth leaned over the zeta to study Syri's condition. Syri's breathing was strained, and his eyes swam as he tried to get his vision to focus. The perliph was still dampening the zeta's senses, causing Seth to sneer. "Well, this may be more entertaining than I expected."

Syri was able to make out the alpha's evil grin even though his vision was still foggy, and he had been able to maintain his grip around the vase as Seth pushed him down onto the bed.

"Go to hell," Syri snarled as he lifted his arm and bashed the vase over the back of Seth's head. Releasing a grunt, Seth stood up and staggard away from the bed. Taking this as his opportunity, Syri sprung from the bed as quickly as he could and hurried toward the door.

A hand around the back of Syri's neck stopped the zeta from stumbling through the door and eliminated Syri's chance to escape. Syri cried out in pain as Seth's claws dug into his skin and he dragged Syri back toward the bed. "I had forgotten how feisty you are, pretty thing. It's making me excited to see you on your knees submitting for me."

Syri growled in reaction to Seth's sneer as the alpha threw him on the bed and pinned his stomach down with his knee. Bending his thigh against his chest, Syri thrust his knee between Seth's legs, extracting a groan from the alpha.

Seth instinctively curled himself into a ball as pain shot through his body from his manhood, and Syri took that opportunity to push Seth off him and spring from the bed once more. Hearing Seth growl, Syri knew he had enraged the alpha, so it was now or never. He had to make this chance count!

"Don't think you can get away from me that easily!" Seth bellowed as he leaped from the bed and tackled Syri to the floor. Seth flipped Syri to lie on his back, curled his fingers around the zeta's throat, and began squeezing Syri's breath from his body. Seth's eyes glowed red as he heard the zeta gasp for air. "I'll just have to incapacitate you again if you aren't willing to behave."

Clawing at Seth's hands did little to remove the alpha's strong grip from around his throat. Syri's eyes rolled closed, and his face became dangerously red as his vision grew dark. A few more seconds, and he would fall unconscious and be rendered helpless against Seth. Syri managed one more attempt to kick Seth with his leg, but the alpha was quick to counteract the zeta's movement by slamming his knee down onto Syri's thigh causing more pain to fill the zeta's body.

Syri's hands fell down by his side, and the vein in his forehead felt as if it was about to burst as he grew closer to the brink of unconsciousness.

"That's a good boy. Just go to sleep again." Hearing Seth's creepy coaxing caused a fire to spark in the zeta. Opening his eyes once more, Syri feebly reached his shaking arm up toward Seth's face in an attempt to blind the alpha. I can't let this happen. I can't...I promised Jae...

Eyes rolling closed once more, Syri's shaking hand fell back to his side, and he felt himself falling down a dark hole. He could still hear and feel everything that was happening, but his body did not have the strength to react to it. Just as he felt he was passing the point of no return, Seth's hands were yanked away from around Syri's neck, and the zeta gasped for air.

Syri's eyes snapped open when hot liquid was sprayed onto his face, and the sight of Seth clutching his throat met the zeta in the color red. Blood dripped from Syri's lashes into his eyes as Seth continued to bleed from the cut in his throat. Everything was red. Syri's vision was filled with it. Seth's face, his skin, the light seeping into the room, everything in Syri's world was filtered by the vibrant color.

The zeta's head craned back into the floor as he coughed in an attempt to chase his breath. A boot kicked the alpha off from on top of Syri to reveal a pann with dirty blond hair standing in the doorway to Seth's chambers. Tears of relief filled Syri's eyes when he saw the pann. He was saved.

Knowing Seth would recover quite quickly, Brenton stooped down and carefully lifted Syri into his arms before rushing out of the door. I have the Ante Luna. Brenton linked the three other pann that he was on his way to their meet-up point as he hurried down the corridor.

Okay, we have Aki and the omega. Reem responded through the link that they, too, were on their way to the location as they left an unconscious Sina lying on the floor of the dining hall. The other wolf who was here disappeared. He may be a liability, but we need to get out of here as quickly as we can. Be careful, he may be hunting the Ante Luna.

Brenton cursed under his breath when he heard his brother's warning. Fighting another alpha while carrying a barely conscious zeta was the last thing Brenton needed. Running in the shadows, Brenton was able to make it out of the castle unnoticed by jumping from a window on the second floor. A hay stack cushioned the rho's fall, and Brenton immediately got back on his feet and continued toward the city gates.

Bells at the castle's tallest tower began to ring in alert that the castle was under attack. This drew most of the guards to the castle and caused chaos that allowed Brenton to escape through the gates. The rho did not stop running until he arrived at the meet-up point where he saw Reem, Haikon, and Xander waiting for him with a barely conscious Aki and quiet omega.

The moment Brenton arrived, Reem withdrew two vials from a small pouch attached to his belt and handed one to Brenton. "Antidotes to perliph." Reem fed the antidote to Aki, who was resting in Xander's arms while Brenton leaned down to one knee and supported Syri with one arm while easing the liquid between the zeta's lips.

"Are you alright?" Benton asked softly as Syri's breathing slowly returned to normal.

"Mm," the zeta responded with a nod. "Thank you."

While Syri and Aki rested for a moment, Reem rubbed oil from moonflower onto each of their scent glands to mask their trail for as long as was possible. Aki was quick to stand to his feet once the antidote began working its magic and hurried to Syri's side. Tears came to Aki's eyes when he saw the claw piercings and choke marks surrounding Syri's neck.

"Inso," Syri voiced as he looked up at the beta with wet eyes.

"Oh, Syri," Aki took Syri into his arms as the zeta wrapped his hands around the beta's neck. "Why did you come, silly?" Aki lovingly berated his brother for risking his life to save him, but he was also serious. He could never have been able to forgive himself if Syri had been forced to mate or had died because of him. "I would have been fine."

"I couldn't just leave you," Syri said as tears trickled down his cheeks. "Those wolves are monsters."

Understanding his brother's determination to rescue him, Aki held his brother closely as he thanked the moon goddess for keeping Syri alive. The two brothers remained in each other's arms as they cried in relief that they were alive and together.

Brenton, Haikon, and Xander stood guard around the beta, zeta, and omega until Reem returned from observing the situation at the castle. "We must go," Reem said as he walked up to the group. "They will soon begin hunting us."