Woken by a sudden sharp pain jabbing into his neck, Kai jolted upright from a pillow. With his legs stretched along an unfamiliar couch, he inspected his surroundings and recognized nothing inside the living room. The floor is glossed over with a copper color, and the walls are carved from bedrock crystals.
One of his last clear memories he recalled had involved him hiking in the woods with Sean and Devon because they claimed something urgent required them to get his assistance. But then his mind fogged when he coherently remembered Devon restrained him in a choke lock before breaking his neck to knock him out.
"He's awake!" Levi hollered, stepping into the living room to check on him.
Behind him, Devon, Mitchell, Sean, Steve, Elizabeth's older brother, Peter, Levi's brother-in-law, Zane, an old friend, and a few of his other Alpha friends rushed into the living room to greet him. However, their warmer ideal welcome inherently shortened when they saw the ferocious expression distorting Kai's face.
Fully recalling what betided him, Kai aggressively shot from the couch, forcefully slamming Devon against the crystal wall by his throat.
"You have a lot of nerve for snapping my neck!" he growled, digging his claws into his skin.
"We... didn't have a choice!" Devon gasped out his words. "T-they would have gotten you!"
"Who?" Kai aggressively inquired, tightening his grip harder.
In a panic, Mitchell burstingly announced. "The vampire Covenant came to detain you! Victoria's votes are failing, so they came to determine her execution."
"Where is my wife!" Kai roared, losing his temper.
"The Vampire Covenant has her!" Levi dreadingly replied. "But she's still alive."
With a roar, Kai powerfully tossed Devon with one sweep of his arm strength. Devon went flying, and while his butt hit the floor, he harshly landed with his mid-back arched against the lower frame of the couch.
In a full-on rage, Kai yelled, "You shouldn't have kidnapped me! I could have protected her! You should have saved her! Not me!"
Levi justified, trying to calm him as Zane helped Devon up. "We couldn't do anything! There isn't anywhere safe to hide her. You know the Vampire Covenant would have tracked her down faster over you. Without attaining you first, our plan wouldn't have been successful."
"You guys are really testing our friendship," Kai bitterly snarled, easing his temper.
His lips pursed tightly since his allies did nothing to help Victoria. If only they told him ahead of time about the Vampire Covenant's plan, then he could have placed her inside that hidden underwater connection Evan had built. Regardless, he couldn't be completely mad. None of Kai's allies knew he had a place to hide his wife.
Evan ensured that no one outside his clan knew about that underwater compartment. Besides Tilly, his advisors, and Troy, Evan had Rome obliviate those memories from his guardians, the vampiresses, and the offspring in his clan. Since Rome's loyalty remained with Kai, Evan put Rome under his alpha authority, which prevented him from telling anyone about it. Even if Rome wanted to tell someone, mainly Kai, his mouth was sealed from doing so because of Evan's alpha tone. Only Evan possessed the power to free Rome from his authority, as he trusted the others to keep the secret safe. Secrets from family members and the Coven were occasionally kept if a threat was perilous. The less anybody knew, the better.
"Hear us out," Levi practically begged, ready to plead on his knees if he must submit.
"What is the plan to stop them from killing my wife?" Kai's words bitterly escaped his pursed lips.
Devon laid out a few of the details, "We've formed an Allegiance to counter the Rebellion. We have over forty-five thousand warriors ready to fight. Planets associated with the Rebellion have been picked for annihilation. You just need to assemble your Coven army and any additional allies willing to help, and then we can initiate the battle."
For good reasons, he left out a small portion of the pact with Orlando and a handful of their enemies. If Kai and his family hadn't been such stubborn heads, they would have known the full plan ahead of time. Having no more time to waste, there wasn't any pause to reason with the Collin Coven, Devon reckoned.
"I have to get home," Kai declared as Devon tossed him a clear vial.
"Pour that on yourself first," he instructed, and Kai caught it with one hand.
Kai scoffed, knowing it was an extract plant that would conceal his scent from being detected.
"It's illegal for me to use it." he objected. "I could get penalized for using it."
Zane, another old friend of Kai's, insisted, "The Vampire Covenant will locate you if you don't use it."
To spare the argument, with a huff, Kai unbuttoned his black dress shirt far enough to expose his tightly firm chest, and then he poured the liquid onto his skin, absorbing the contents into his body.
"I need to go," Kai announced, but before reaching the exit, Ryder walked in, bearing bad news.
"It's not safe to go there because the Vampire Covenant is still at your Father's mansion," he informed everyone, but mainly addressed it to Kai directly.
"You have to be kidding me!" Kai groaned in irritation. "Someone needs to reach them!"
"My clan and I barely got around them," Ryder confessed. "At least I hope we didn't lead them back here."
Ryder and his clan kept a watch on Mr. Collin's mansion, which swarmed with Seekers in search of Kai. They witnessed them monitoring everyone like hawks with the hope that somebody would lead them to their prize, meaning Kai. To be extra cautious, they traversed through a couple of different dimensional worlds to throw them off.
"His scent is covered," Levi informed his son. "Now we just need to send a message to Mr. Collin somehow."
Kai explained to everyone. "I have Second Command authority. All I need to do is write down my instructions, but someone trustworthy will need to deliver it to my Coven."
"It's impossible," Ryder fretted, reiterating for the second time. "The Vampire Covenant's Seekers were all over the woods, searching for you. They are even in our territories. There is no way to get back there without being caught. They'll detain us for helping him."
"I'll just go myself." Kai decided, unwilling to risk any of his friends from getting detained over him.
"I have a better idea." Levi declared, stopping Kai with his outstretched arm before turning to his son. "Do you think you can open a pocket to send Kai's message?" he asked.
In puzzlement, Kai raised his brow, "A pocket?"
"Yes, Ryder has a rare gift that can slice open a pocket or like a doorway into a different area. He's recently unlocked the ability to create one in a dimensional world." Levi elucidated, and Kai stared in wonderment at the young Alpha.