The Territory of an Alpha

Without a Trace

Luka's Pov: 

I was certain about one thing. They didn't come to take the pack. At least not yet. They came for her. My mate was gone in the chaos. 

I felt it. The moment she was taken from me. Her fear was so intense that it left me utterly breathless and the distance that was quickly being put between us pulled at my insides in twists and knots. My connection to her felt colder and more distant with each passing moment while I raced miles through the mountain valley to get back to where I left her. 

When we could see the border of the town we finally slowed down. It wasn't until then I really started to feel the extent of my injuries. My pack and I crawled our heavy limbs with bloodied fur back through our pack streets. Our heads hug low with aches and pain from countless injuries. The threat was far from gone, but we'd managed to push the intruding pack and their Alpha away. Or maybe he pulled back; I wasn't entirely sure. I did know that the Alpha didn't seem all that into the battle, even as fierce of an opponent as he was. 

I half expected to see a bloodied mess or slaughtered pack mates knowing that Aura would have had to have put up a pretty good fight, but there was nothing. It was as though nothing and no one had been touched. But someone was touched... My someone... 

 I entered the grand hall that everyone waited in scared and exhausted, but patiently awaiting their loved ones to return. Looking around, I saw guilty looks and eyes that couldn't raise to mine. My face heated and I felt the rage boiling up in my chest. 

How could all the people sit here and let her be taken? Not a single hair on their heads seemed to be out of place, but she was gone. How did that make sense? 

My irrational anger simmered just under the surface, waiting to explode on the next unlucky soul to come in contact with me. 

I had most of the fighters with me when everything happened, some patrolling, and the rest with Donovan.  But there were still some good and able-bodied people here.

An older man, Alfred, scooted up to me. His eyes were sad and knowing. 

"What happened here? Where is my mate?!" I seethed through gritted teeth, barely keeping my temper under control. 

"Alpha, one minute she was here and the next... She was just gone." Alfred said tenderly, trying to tread gently. 

"Just gone? Wha-" I started to scream back at Alfred until Zienna, a young pup in my pack, had begun tugging on my arm for my attention. 

"Alpha?" She insisted. 

"What is it ZZ. Do you know something? Do you know what happened to your Luna?" I kneeled down to be eye level with her, asking her as calmly as I could manage so not to scare her away from telling me. 

"Mm-hmm" She nodded her head. 

Hope bubbled and flooded inside my chest. 

"What do you know ZZ? Tell me everything you know." I encouraged. 

The little pup explained how Aura went to get the elderly and young in the pack various comfort items like blankets and pillows. My heart warmed at the thought of my Luna stepping into her role and comforting her pack members. That warmth faded to ache as ZZ explained how she went back for some more blankets and never came back.

No one had seen anything and that was going to make things much more difficult with no real leads to follow. From what I had gathered, the moment she disappeared, her absence was felt by the surrounding packmates. That had to mean she was attacked somewhere in the house. 

I followed her faint scent. The sweet trail led me to a guest room mostly filled with cabinets containing supplies. One of the cabinets was wide open and blankets laid on the floor in front of it. Bingo...

I walked in the room, surveying the surroundings even closer. On the ground was a stepped-on vial of broken glass. It looked like it was once a needle syringe by the metal needle in the mix of shards. 

I touched a glass piece to pull off some of the liquid residue left on it and brought the tips of my fingers to my nose. I analyzed the scent, but it was hard to place. I snorted out a puff of air quickly out of my nose, grimacing. 

"Wolfsbane..." I growled. 

That would be why no-one had seen a thing or knew who took her. She was attacked and drugged stealthily. I doubt she even had a chance to put up much of a fight at all. 

I choked back more growls, angrier now more than ever. 

I followed the scuff marks to the large cathedral shaped glass door that led to a balcony. The sweet smell of my mate mixed with an acrid one. A Scent that had no business being here. This was her kidnapper's smell I was sure of it. 

I held onto the banister with white knuckles. This is where her scent disappears. The last trace of her and any clue or direction of where she was taken.   

"Where are you Aura..." I spoke into the silence to no one.