CHAPTER 96: _CONFLICTED

Lucian’s POV

*****

"You don’t call the shots here, Alpha Prince. So I’ll suggest you keep calm... Or we’ll send them to you. In pieces."

Hearing that from whoever the fuck called him, threatening Elian and Aurora, made one thing click in his head.

Not the desire to follow their words.

Not even the desire to rescue Elian and Aurora on time... Although that one was still at the back of his mind.

No... It was the desire to rip whoever it was limb by limb until they begged for the sweet release of death.

And he had an idea who it was despite the voice being distorted.

"Estella," Lucian said plainly to Beta Axel as they waltzed to the tech wing of the palace. "I’m telling you, your sister has gone insane. Scratch that, she’s been insane."

"And like I said before, I believe you," Axel said with a sigh, managing a small smile at a few maids they walked by in the golden-lit hallway. "But is there really anything we can do?"

Lucian furrowed his eyebrows, freezing abruptly. He glanced over his shoulder at the Beta, squinting.

"Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet because your sister is involved in this." He remarked, scoffing. "Listen, I... I liked Estella. Sort of. Point is, she crossed a line touching my mate and my—"

"Our mate." Axel corrected, brushing past him but not without locking his golden eyes on his. "I get it. But if we’re doing this, we need to be tactical. No barging in head-on."

Hmph... Right.

They continued walking until they got to the large doors of the tech room, guarded by two soldiers donned in white armour with golden platings.

The guards held silver laser rifles with blue markings on the edges.

They bowed before making way for both of them, opening the doors to reveal a scene that would’ve been breathtaking... If neither of them has been here several times before.

From a high dome-shaped ceiling lined with white crystal lights, to flying drones carrying equipment and gadgets, to wolves wearing white coats and goggles working on the clock in front of holographic screens.

They closed the doors behind them before Lucian led the way, his footsteps echoing briskly on the pristine white marble floor.

"Mister Quasar," Lucian called out to a man standing in front of what seemed like a blue glass capsule with a floating transparent liquid in it.

The man turned around to face them, squinting at first until he spotted Lucian.

"Ah, Alpha Prince Lucian." His face lit up with a smile, his eyes flicking to Axel. "Beta Axel. You two just missed the Alpha King. He came here to verify if, indeed, the recording your mate brought was authentic."

Mister Quasar was a wolf in his mid-fifties with dark skin and greying bushy hair. He wore a long silver coat with pristine markings as well as a black glove on his right hand.

The entirety of his left arm was a silver metallic prosthetic, which he got after a freak accident... Even though the empire has the technology to replace limbs.

"I’m guessing he was satisfied with what you showed him." Lucian kept his fake smile before donning a serious expression. "Now, let’s cut to the chase. I need your help for something else—"

"Can it wait?" Quasar asked with an apologetic expression, pointing first at the holographic tablet in his hands before gesturing at the glass capsule behind him. "I’m getting so close to some groundbreaking bio-nano fusion—"

"Spare me the tech jargon." Lucian waved his hands, showing his communication ring. "I want to try seeing if I can get to a contact who called me minutes ago. I’ll need you to track where its signal is coming from."

Quasar sighed but then arched an eyebrow. "What’s the context of the call?"

Lucian pressed his lips into a thin line, glancing at Axel who gave him a shrug.

Here goes...

"Elian and my sister have been kidnapped. And the kidnapper, who’s definitely Estella, called minutes ago." Lucian revealed, tapping on his ring. "I was hoping you’d... Wait a minute."

His eyes lit up as he turned his head to Axel, grabbing his shoulder. "Call your sister."

Axel frowned. "Huh?"

Lucian nodded, turning away from Quasar and facing the Beta fully. "Yeah, we know now that she and Magnus have something to do with this. So, call her so we can track her from there."

Axel drew in a breath, shaking his head with uncertainty. "I have a hunch she’s shut down all her communication devices. She and Magnus are definitely reaching us through burner devices."

Ugh, he hadn’t considered that...

"Give me the ring." Quasar suddenly suggested, stretching out his hand. "She doesn’t need to call you."

Lucian took off his ring and handed it to him.

Quasar went to work, walking to a metal desk with a holographic screen floating above it, as well as a small circular metal platform.

He placed the ring on the platform and began typing into the holographic screen. "I can ping the signal from the last call and make a rough estimate on where she called from..."

He paused, squinting his eyes. "Well, I’ll have to give it to them. They’re clever."

Lucian frowned. "What?"

"They scrambled the signal from the call, bouncing its signal from different locations," Quasar explained the stats shown on the holo-screen, shifting maps of Moon Haven around until a messy spiderweb of red lines blinked over the city.

"It’s a clever trick. Makes it look like the call came from everywhere and nowhere at once."

Lucian’s jaw tightened. "So what? You’re telling me you can’t track her?"

Quasar raised a brow, clearly offended. "I didn’t say that."

His gloved hand flicked across the display, zooming in until only the lower half of the capital remained. "I can narrow it down, but it’s going to take something... unconventional."

Axel crossed his arms. "Such as?"

"Blood resonance," Quasar said casually, as though he were suggesting a cup of tea instead of something insane. He turned to Axel, eyes sharp. "She’s your sister. Same bloodline, same genetic code threads. If you give me a sample of your blood, I can run it through the resonance scanner. It’ll allow me to cut through the false signals and ping for hers specifically."

Axel stiffened. "You’re saying you can track her through... family bonds?"

"Through science," Quasar corrected with a little smirk. "Family bonds are just a romantic way of putting it. But yes, it’ll work. Unless, of course, you’d prefer to wait until she mails Elian’s head to the palace gates."

Lucian nearly growled. "Do it. Now."

Axel hesitated, then pulled a dagger from his belt, slicing his palm without complaint.

He let the blood drip onto the circular platform beside the ring. The metal hummed as the liquid spread, tiny silver threads shooting through it like lightning.

Quasar’s screen lit up, and a new line appeared—thinner, golden, weaving through the scrambled signals like a thread of fate.

The red mess of signals scattered until only one steady pulse remained, blinking on the map.

"There," Quasar announced, pointing. "The industrial region. North quadrant. Most of the factories were abandoned after the reactor meltdown five decades ago, but..."

He zoomed in again until the glowing pulse settled over a rotted patch of land near the old steel district. "...there’s an old manor sitting on top of that sector. A family estate that predates the city expansion. People say it’s haunted."

Lucian’s lips curved into a dark smile. "Perfect."

Axel glanced at him uneasily. "If Estella’s hiding beneath that manor, she’ll have layered it with traps. This could be suicide."

Lucian turned from the map, his silver eyes flashing. "She touched what’s mine. I don’t care if she’s hiding behind traps, armies, or the gods themselves."

He slipped the ring back onto his finger, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl. "I’ll drag her out from under that rotting house and make her beg me for mercy."

Quasar coughed delicately. "Then I suggest you hurry. That signal is active... but it won’t stay that way for long."

Axel was clearly hesitant because this involved his sister.

But alas, it seemed his care for Elian, their mate, pushed stronger as he nodded. "Let’s go all out then."