The Prince's Guard

Jaxson rubbed his head, shoving his fingers through his slightly too long hair. He didn’t think anything could have gone worse. Gamma Trey had looked ready to cave his skull in after talking to Chris. He felt a traitor even though there was no way it could be his fault. He hadn’t told anyone.

Well… the Luna had worked it out, but he hadn’t said anything.

He was on the outside, the other guards were accompanying the Royal Gamma in dealing with the rumours, while Adam was stationed outside Chris’ door. Jaxson on the other hand, had been told to stay in one of the spare rooms, out of view, out of sight, possibly out of mind.

He hated feeling useless.

He felt like an adolescent sent to his room for breaking curfew.

He flopped back on the bed, an irritation grinding through his head. His fingers itched. His stomach was in a knot of turmoil. People knew… the packs knew. Did they know it was him? The gossip hadn’t seemed specific.

Regardless… Chris was at the centre.

He didn’t like that.

“Fuck this,” he announced to the empty room and stood, striding to the door he wrenched it open and made his way down the hall.

“You can’t be here,” Adam stated as soon as he saw him.

“Don’t care,” Jaxson snarled, gripping the handle of the door before Adam could even stand.

“The Gamma has announced-”

“I don’t care! I need to know he knows it wasn’t me.”

“Jax, I don’t-” before he could finish, Jaxson had opened the door and stepped inside.

The smell was the first thing that punched him, an almost stinging aroma of peppermint assaulted his senses. He frowned, casting his eyes over the room once, twice…

No Chris.

He hurried to the bathroom, flinging the door open…

No Chris.

“ADAM!” Jaxson bellowed, tugging the wardrobe open.

“Yeah?”

“He’s gone.”

Adam barrelled into the room, “But… I’ve been sat there the whole time!”

“Well, what’s happened? He’s turning into fucking fairy dust? What do you think!?”

Adam’s eyes glazed, clearly on a mind link before his grey eyes landed on Jaxson.

“You’re the best tracker. Go.”

Jaxson didn’t need to be told twice, he ripped the sheet from the bed, giving it a large lungful.

Unfortunately, the heady smell of his mate sent his blood racing south, but he pushed it away, focusing. Focusing on the smell as a trail. The peppermint would still be on him too… he had to remember that.

Another few lungfuls, memorising the delightfully decadent scent before he took off through the window… the only way Chris could have gone.

Landing in a crouch, he flicked his eyes left and right, getting into the mind of Chris, a Prince, a scared, evading capture Prince.

Could he evade capture?

His thoughts weren’t about whether he could catch him… they were of their enemies.

Where would Chris head? Would he be scared enough to head to vagrant packland? Those not loyal to the crown… Jaxson hoped not.

Would he run towards human land? Across the barrier?

He shook his head as he headed into the trees, directing to the thickest area. Chris wouldn’t go to human land, his eyes would give him away. The humans would run… or call on their guards if anyone took one look at Chris. No, he would never cross that barrier, royals were fiercely forbidden.

Heading deeper into the wood towards their Eastern barrier, he had a sense of de ja vu. A time when he was scouting in the exact same manner he was now. Any trace of The Prince and Princess.

There had only been one reason he was allowed to join the guard before he was a full grown. That was his tracking. He was the best in the Kingdom. He had been the one to sniff out the young Royals were beyond what was the Silversmith packland. Beyond their borders. It had taken him months, months of painstakingly combing through the countryside, the packs.

Back to the present, he transformed, finding the sense of smell keener, his vision sharper. His wolf’s want to get to his mate stronger. He could use anything in his repertoire. He changed direction after no sign of a scent trail after an hour. Jaxson wanted to believe Chris hadn’t got out of packland, the barrier guards would have noticed him… well he hoped they would have. But as he travelled, he finally caught a whiff of what he wanted, marred by other smells, but all the same, it was the scent of Chris.

Feeling a little giddier, he followed with his nose glued to the ground.

He slipped past the pack border, into unclaimed territory. Most packs had a slither of unclaimed territory between them to keep the peace. The trail took him around the next pack, keeping to unclaimed territory towards the south.

Jaxson’s nerves increased. The only thing south was Royal packland… and Vagrant land. He picked up the pace, finding himself gravitating west. He tried to keep the panic from his belly.

He stopped as if a brick wall had sprung up before him. A feeling he didn’t understand tore at him. The mate bond dimmed. He could feel it tugging at his heart as it fluttered as if being dragged from him. He whined. Not understanding the feeling.

How could the bond weaken? What had happened?

He bolted forward with the force of all hellhounds on his tail.

Was Chris dead… dying?

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