Stronger as One (#1, Completed)

30. Beta no more

The realisation, which we had all reached by now judging by the looks on everyone's faces, was now making Riley turn into a ball of anger and I felt the need to calm her down. I calmly stepped between Rafe and her, separating them.

"Okay, you two." I said, "I can see that emotions are running high and we are all worried about Natalia, although I am happy to see that you are okay, Riley. Now, can you think of anything that you heard them say that might give away where they took her?" It was important for us to get any clue that we could get out of Riley. I didn't want to pressure her as I knew that with everything that had happened and her coming out of the sedation that she was under it was not going to be easy for her to remember details.

I could see her gorgeous face getting all scrunched up as she was doing her best to recall some details from the whole ordeal. The moment she remembered something was like one of those light-bulb moments when you see a genius come up with an idea.

"They talked about needing to be back in London tonight. And whatever that energy ball that they used was, there were witches involved."

"Fuck, I know where they are taking her," Rafe spoke up and I knew exactly why he said that. These must be the same people who had abducted him and his mother years ago. Not the humans, of course, but the people behind it all. "Not many people know this but the same group kidnapped my mother and me when I was a teenager. I managed to escape and get back here but my mother did not have the same luck. I had blocked that place out of my mind for years but I should be able to remember some details that can help find the exact spot."

I knew this was going to be hard for Rafe. Losing his mother had made him the man he was today, but deep down inside he was still hurting and blaming himself for not saving her. I was convinced that right now he was probably breaking on the inside, worrying about the safety of his sister in the hands of the very same people who had already hurt his family.

We needed to get more information though in order to know where exactly we could find Natalia and her captors before they harmed her in any way. I would not be able to forgive myself either if anything happened to the sweet, gentle soul that was Natalia.

"We should find Amy and interrogate her- we need all the information we can get on the kidnappers," I spoke up.

"That's a good idea, Aiden," Riley replied, looking at me with gratitude and worry in her eyes. "Get all the info you can get and I can run it past my contacts in London. They will be able to help us out with all the intel we need before we go to get her."

"We?" I heard my best friend snap at her. "There is no we, little human. You have already done enough and you will only make matters worse if we have to look after you as well, which makes you a liability. So no fucking way. Aiden and I are going, that's it."

For fuck sake, Rafe. 

Sometimes I wished that he would shut up and think before he spoke. I got that he was hurting but this was only making things worse. It also made Lucien, whose grounds we were on, pretty damn angry. "I suggest that you rectify the way that you speak to my sister, future Alpha. You should know better than to insult a Moreau. And my sister can only be an asset down in London, so if you really are the strategic warrior that you claim to be, you should be able to see that."

This was going to turn into a giant mess if I didn't intervene, as I didn't think that Lucien or Callum were feeling like being civil to Rafe if he continued like this and, to be honest, I would agree with them. I spoke again, trying to reduce the tension in the room.

"I think we should all calm down. Rafe is just worried about his sister and doesn't mean what he said, Riley. You have to forgive him about these outbursts."