Ignite | ✔

27

27 - Blazing Through Allies

HADEN

     The next few days, I was fueled with a relentless fire as I continued my search for Zara. We managed to search every inch of the territory but nothing came to fruition. All I saw was red, the weight of my mate's absence boring down on me, suffocating any semblance of peace. My wolf was feral, determined to find her no matter the cost.

The forest blurred as I ran, trees passing by in a relentless, dark procession. Each step I took was another reminder that she was out there somewhere and I couldn't help her. Another reminder of how I couldn't protect her. The bond, faint yet unbreakable, hummed even in her absence, a clear sign that she was still alive and it was the only thing that pushed me.

After a lengthy three hours, I stomped back to the house with a scowl on my face. I walked through the front door, ignoring the women who said their morning greetings and headed straight for my office. As I sat behind my desk, I glanced down at the paperwork before me before growling loudly and sweeping it all off my desk. Anger had been the only emotion I had felt for days, latching on to it like my life depended on it; like I would be nothing without the fire coursing through me.

My hands curled into fists as I rose, moving towards the window and letting my mind think through all the possibilities that might have led to her kidnapping. Too many unknown variables plagued the timeline and I hated that.

First, there was the rogue I had let spend the night with Zara. Rebecca. She was the last person to see Zara before this whole fiasco started and her story had too many loopholes for my liking. Then there's the fact that she didn't see the man's face, and I didn't get a scent when I was in the room listening to her. No other scent but Rebecca's. She could be lying, but the question was why? Why would she lie?

The other possibility was that there was someone who knew we would be gone to help Bryon and his pack fight against the Rogue King at Brightwood. That, while it was a possibility, seemed impossible because no one knew beforehand that we were leaving the territory. For someone to sneak onto the territory and find their way to my bedroom had to be an attack that was calculated. They had to have known when we were leaving and where we were going, and it was so impromptu that there couldn't be...

Wait a fucking minute.

The sudden urgency of the call came flashing into my head, the immediate action taken because of the Rogue King's attack. But could that attack have been a decoy?

"Brightwood is under attack!" he exclaimed, his voice laced with urgency. My playful mood snapped away as he continued, "The Rogue King and his men... they breached their lands about half an hour ago. Ryland waited until the very last second to call for help, and I can't ignore it. They're one of my closest allies. They're outnumbered and struggling to fend the bastards off. I need every bit of help I can get."

"You already had me at Rogue King," I growled out, "I'll meet you on your borders in five."

If your pack's under attack, why wait till the very last second to call? And why was Bryon the one to make that call? He has us out of here in five minutes; he knew when we were going to leave and he knew we'd be off fighting.

"My condolences for your loss Alpha..."

"Ryland," he filled in, "we're grateful for your help, though we weren't expecting it. I couldn't believe the numbers."

Ryland wasn't expecting us, but Bryon was.

Without warning, my feet shifted and moved towards the door heading out the front door, shifting and charging in the direction my fury was leading me. The closer I got to his lands, I caught a familiar scent. Her scent. I ran with unchecked ferocity, crossing into the territory of Bryon's pack with ease. I knew my way around his land and I wasn't surprised to see him standing in the field watching his men train.