Moon Bound (Forgotten Series, #5)

Chapter Sixteen

Lynn was gone. It was the only thought that was bouncing around my head. The dangerous female had taken her and she was gone. The need for her safety was riding me hard.

"Pay attention." The Alpha Male's voice was a heavy and domineering rumble that grated on me. I had been forced to give up my Alpha Claim to my brother but that did not stop my attitude. I was born to be an Alpha and that was imprinted into my very bones. "Who are you?" He looked down on me and I tried my hardest to not to bare my teeth at him. I did not like being loomed over.

"Bastian DeWinters, former Alpha heir of the Nox pack." Just saying it made my skin crawl and itch with agitation. Forced to give up my place in life, my parents belittling me, angry and seething as I had done so. It was as if they blamed me for the accident, for my leg.

"Former?" At the word I felt a growl build up in my throat. Lynn was gone. I needed to find her to make sure she was okay.

I felt like there was hot ants underneath my skin, my instinct screaming at me to find Lynn and protect her from the female. "Yes. I gave up my Claim." I was torn between my worry and my anger. My little brother had bulked up, his attitude had been nearly unbearable. My parents had been training him to take my place, more than likely shortly after they had shipped me off. Keep me out of sight and out of mind while they tended to the next heir. I bared my teeth at that.

"Why?" His questions were grating. I wanted him to stop so I could find Lynn. I needed her close. It was a strange territory with strange shifters. I didn't know them and she was so delicate.

"Because I was forced too." I resisted the urge to start pacing, looking over my shoulder to where the female had lead Lynn from the compound. She was dangerous. There was something about her that smelled of death and destruction despite the stillness around her that indicated a lack of position. She was too cold, too jagged, and she had taken Lynn from my sight.

I couldn't bear the separation between us, the uncertainty and the unknown. "Why?" His question made me bristle.

"Because I'm a fucking cripple." The words exploded from me and I started pacing, my eyes on where Lynn had gone. "Now where is Lynn? Where did she take her?" I needed her back. I needed her in my sights so I could make sure she was okay and unharmed.

"Who is she?" He was staring at me, watching em pace but unmoving. I didn't like that either. I didn't like any of this.

"My female." She was mine, all that I had left. I wouldn't let her go for the world and I needed to see her again. Needed to feel her skin underneath my hands to reassure myself that she was okay.

He finally shifted, his weight moving from one foot to the other. "She's mundane." He said it with censure but it was a fact I knew very well. She was mundane and she was delicate.

"She's mine." Regardless of what she was, she was my female and I wanted to protect and care for her. "I want to know where she is." I was torn between continuing my stare at the gates or to look at the Mountain Alpha. In the end I forced myself to look at him.

"She's fine. My mate will not hurt her." He gave a gesture of dismissal as if that would calm my worry and panic. As if it would soothe my raging instincts.

"I need to see her!" Just to look at her, to make sure she was okay. That was all I needed. It was starting to eat away at my stomach. Time ticked further onward and each second was like a heavy bite taken from inside me. It was painful and I needed to find her to fix it.

"Calm down." His voice was gruff and the dominance he threw off was nearly enough for me to want to hit my knees. I knew if my emotions hadn't been in turmoil, I would have. It was strange, going from a male who people bowed down to, to someone who would hit their knees at the first sign of heavy dominance. It was as grating as not having Lynn closed. "I said calm down." It was another heavy push that had me faltering in my pacing, my left leg nearly giving out underneath me but I forced it to stay standing.