Beloved (The Playlist BOOK 2)

Song - Secrets By The Weeknd

Dad links mom to the office immediately and she makes a call to her contact at the council. She's trying to gather any and all information they have on the prince and his family.

I pace around the office while I wait for mom. Attacking families while they sleep? What is he talking about? I've never heard anything about vampires being attacked like that.

My mind goes back to the message from the Moon Goddess.

Mom comes in after over an hour on the phone and I'm bouncing out of my skin.

Her face is sad and serious.

She sits on dads lap and I realize that she's looking for comfort. Whatever she's about to say is going to be bad.

"I told you that the Goddess had me send a message about a few members of the council and a pack plotting a mutiny. I got the message to the council but..." she sighs and takes a deep breath.

"Whatever happened isn't your fault, Sorsha,' Dad whispers to her.

She nods sadly, "the plan was brought to light and the members of the council who participated were fired."

"How did we not hear about this?" Dad asked quietly.

"They kept the whole thing quiet. The wolves involved were quietly punished. Apparently, it was a big embarrassment to the council so everything was done behind closed doors. Unfortunately, it doesn't end there. The wolves involved continued to plot secretly. Eight years later, when Leo was four, they attacked in the middle of the night. Everyone made it out except... except for the king," mom says sadly.

"No wonder he hates wolves! The council ruled in their favor then they were attacked in the middle of the night, years later and their king was killed! His dad." Tears slip from my eyes at the memory of his pain and grief.

"Why would she send you an urgent message about something that wouldn't happen for several years?" I ask her.

"Well, baby," dad answers, his voice deep and thoughtful, "if they had been able to complete the plan when they wanted to, when your mom got the message, Leo wouldn't have been born yet."

"The message wasn't about stopping the plan, it was about making sure your mate was born," moms voice is soft.

"I have to find him!" I frantically run toward the door, "I'm taking a car!"

"Wait!" Dad calls, "take Asher, I'll link him to meet you at the garage."

I groan but have no time to argue.

I'm so relieved when I round the corner and Asher is already waiting with a car pulled forward.

"Jump in, I'm driving."

I roll my eyes but climb in quickly.

"Where are we going?" he asks as soon as I'm seated.

" I don't know. He said he was staying in a hotel so... I was just going to go to every hotel in the area and.."

"And what sniff for him?" Ash laughs.

"Do you have a better idea?" I say angrily even though I know he's actually right.

"I can help you. I'm an Alpha, I'll be able to sense a vampire around. I'll feel him out and then you can search for him once we narrow it down to the right hotel," he says and even through my panic I smile, he is such an Alpha now, he's barely older than me but he's grown up so much.

"I hope he hasn't already left," I knot my anxious fingers together in my lap.

With no warning, he floors the pedal causing my head to press into the seat behind me.

"We should hurry up," he says as he speeds down the road.

After an hour I'm feeling desperate. Ash couldn't feel him at the first three hotels we went to.

"Fourth times the charm?" He gives me a reassuring smile before climbing out of the car.

He stops before we even make it into the lobby.

"This is the right one. I can smell him. I don't know if he's still here but his scent is still pretty strong so there's a good chance. He's too far away to feel but..."

I take off running and he follows behind me, linking me, "start at the bottom, I'll start at the top and work down."

I run through the first floor, nothing.

Second floor, nothing.

Third floor, nothing.

By the fifth floor, I'm panicking. Maybe we just missed him.

As I climb up to the sixth floor I catch his scent faintly, I skip directly to the seventh floor and I can feel him. He's here. I link Ash as I run through the long hallway, the scent growing with every step.

Several doors ahead of me I hear a click and I freeze. He runs out into the hallway, his eyes wild, he smells me too.

We make eye contact and I sprint toward him, colliding with his chest so forcefully that he stumbles back a few steps.

I hold him tightly and cry into his chest. He's shirtless so I'm pressed against his bare skin. My whole body ignites at the contact. He tenses but doesn't push me away.

"I'm so sorry about your dad, I didn't know," I sniffle.

"How do you find out about that?" His voice is softer than I've ever heard it.

"My mom is... connected, she made some calls."

He looks down at me and I can feel his sadness.

"Can we talk?"

He nods reluctantly and leads me into his room. I link Ash who has the unlucky task of waiting for me.

I sit down nervously on his bed and cross my legs. He sits on the end of the bed facing me, just beyond arms reach.

I just spill everything, my mom's abilities, the prophecy, her message from the Goddess, the council keeping everything quiet, everything.

He sits, dumbfounded for several minutes. I can see him working it out in his head.

"So... your mom stopped their plot?"

"Once, she wasn't told they would try again."

"Your parents knew you would be my beloved before we were even born?"

"Yes."

"Why would they keep it from you?"

I tell him more about my mom, explaining her life and the prophecy about her.

"They just wanted us to be able to live without feeling confined by our fate."

He nods slowly, still processing everything. He shifts to lean on his hand but ends up resting it over my calf.

His eyes darken and my breath hitches in my throat.