"Mark, she has been found. She is currently under the hospitality of the Sand Stone pack in Colorado. All units have been recalled, you can go back to Shaded Mountain at your earliest convenience." Jacob said smoothly over the line, as he and the Alpha progressed down the road leading a convoy of four SUVs on their way to a private jet waiting for them.
Jason wasn't fucking around. He ensured that they took a combination of fifteen warriors and trackers with them. A deep seeded paranoia had formed within him, that she would once again disappear in the time it took them to pick her up and bring her home. It would take them a little over four hours to get to where she ended up, a combination of drive and flight time, her distance travelled on foot holding a deeper significance in consideration of their own travel duration in a vastly different mode.
"I don't know if I can do that." Mark said as he as he stood outside the motel room, smoking yet another cigarette. He already making a huge dent in his carton that he had purchased before arriving at the motel. His anxiety and frustration for his situation was through the roof, and the possibility of going rogue was still a looming thought that shadowed his mind.
"What do you mean you don't know if you can do that?" Jacob questioned back quickly, looking over to Jason who seemed to hold a light confusion on his face as well, being pulled away from his own brooding thoughts. "The op is over. You have to report back."
"I'm not sure if I can do that." Mark said again, his eyes trailing up to the sky as he was mulling over how to best handle the current situation.
"And why is that, may I ask?" Jacob asked for clarity, becoming more concerned about the betas recent change in personality.
"I found my mate." Mark said bluntly, taking another long inhale of his cigarette, his fingers shaking as he was beginning to tread into the murky waters of the sticky situation he found himself in.
"And? What does that have to do with your returning?" The master beta questioned not knowing how him finding his mate would seem to be an issue.
"... I don't want her to be killed." The beta said putting it out there, his voice now matched his shaking fingers.
"Mark, what is going on?" Jacob asked firmly, finding himself being frustrated with Marks illusiveness and unclear way of speaking.
"I lied to you, Jacob." His head shaking as he looked back over to the motel rooms closed door. "When I arrived at the last known campsite... I told you there were no survivors, but I lied. There was one."
Jacob had switched the phone to speaker phone, despite it being unnecessary the Alpha was clearly already listening into the conversation and a scowl immediately formed on his face.
"The red head?" Jason spat out bitterly, his eyes swirling and growing in a darker shade.
"Her name is Samantha." Mark said back, expecting nothing less from Jason's instant reaction.
"Where are you?" The alpha questioned quickly, he was going to kill her himself, immediately irate that the bitch who took his mate and was responsible for her two weeks absence was still alive and under the protection of his own fucking beta.
"I'm afraid I can't say." The beta said, clearly knowing Jason well enough that he had run through all possible scenarios, and the alpha was falling into line with one of the most prevalent ones. "I've already shut off my gps location. So don't bother trying. I did it way before I got here."
"Mark, you piece of shit. How the fuck are you protecting this cunt?" Jason spat out, seething in unbridled anger at the disloyalty he was being shown by his longtime friend.
"She didn't know what she was doing. She was completely unaware." The beta said back quickly in his mates defense. "She tried to protect Elizabeth, when it all started to crumble, and she's the reason we became aware of who really led the operation."
"You fucki-" Jason began to spit out further venom but was cut off by Jacobs calm tone and raised hand asking politely for silence as the Alpha intensely glared at the side of his face.
"Mark... are you absolutely sure she was unaware?" Jacob questioned wanting to be sure. He knew both the beta and the alpha well enough, the alphas reaction was expected but the betas behavior was appearing to be unaffected by the coarse reaction. He wasn't casual, he wasn't joking, he in fact was rather serious. The possibility of him vanishing into thin air in order to protect his mate was a real situation. Mark was an incredibly loyal man and he would not do this unless he absolutely had a reason to do so.
"Positive. She was clearly manipulated. When I interrogated her, it was clear she had no idea what she had been enlisted to do or why for that matter. She thought she was helping the Luna." Mark said back in complete firm confidence. "I have already made her suffer for the consequences of her actions, and I will not return without her or bring her to her death because the alpha wants to be vindictive. Ultimately, it was his poor decisions that led to this, and my mate shouldn't suffer because he fucked a crazy bitch." His words turning sharp and pointing out that it was Jason's sordid relationship with a mentally unstable woman that set off the chain of events. He should have known better, as he had to kill her own father when the previous alphas mental health had declined.
"She's fucking pregnant, you prick. My child could have died because of your pathetic little rogue bitch." Jason said behind clenched teeth, clearly triggered by the situation as his fists turned his knuckles white.
"Congratulations Alpha." Marks words said in an idle sarcastic tone, his response being fed by his friends callous words.
"Enough." Jacob said once again commandeering the conversation. "Mark, bring your mate home. I will personally promise her protection as long as her story is corroborated. If she did in fact help the Luna, then that can be confirmed only by the Luna." Jacob once again holding up his hand to pause Jason's irate stare. "However, if it's proven that she has lied about her role and the part that she had played in it. I will not be able to keep her under that protection." The master beta spoke in caution, clearly showing there was only so much he could do. He was objectively looking at the situation, and he did not want to lose a trusted beta and close friend due to the sordid nature of the current situation at present.
"She has not lied." Mark said in confidence. He could read Samantha very well, there was no way she would have been able to deceive him. She was so scared and broken from her previous relationship that she gave him everything he needed to know without him needing to push. And then she gave him her body entirely, never had he felt so complete than when he was was within her, like two jigsaw puzzle pieces perfectly fitting together.
"Then take her home, she will be safe. You have my word." Jacob said feeling the intensity of Jason's eyes now burning into the side of his head.
"I'm trusting you, Jacob." Mark said with a clear warning in his voice, if he brought her back and she was harmed in anyway, that would fall on Jacobs shoulders now.
"As you should. I keep my word." Jacob said back in confidence. "Text me and let me know when you both have arrived on territory so that I know you made it safely."
"Alright. Give my best to the Luna. I'm glad she is safe. And again congratulations alpha." Mark said before abruptly hanging up the phone.
"Jacob." The alphas voice was sharp and threatening.
"Jason, I understand your upset and frustration. But Mark, would not defect over a simple conniving woman. He's too smart to be affected by an alluring body... is it really worth you losing one of your betas, one of your closest friends, after everything has been determined to be settled? Your Luna is safe, and you both are with child... I believe Mark when he says that his mate was unaware. You heard the way he was speaking, he would not sacrifice his high role for a quick sexual encounter. Have more faith and confidence in him. Enough damage has already been done to our pack as a result of this. Do not let irrational anger further hurt the packs healing. Without Mark, our strength will only further be diminished, you know that. " the master beta calmly explained his own logic, showing he saw the bigger picture as opposed to Jason's sharply focused nitpicking. He understood both sides of the coin, but was arguing for peace. A lot had happened in a short amount of time, and he would not allow Shaded Mountain to be further affected by an event that was decided to be effectively handled.
"If she says otherwise.." Jason began to bitterly spit out the words, alluding to if Elizabeth's account had a different tone that what Mark had relayed.
"If she says otherwise, I will kill her myself. Mark is aware of that. But for now, let's think positively, and get you to your mate." Jacob said calling an end to the conversation which would only rile up the alpha further.
————————
"Where did you go?" Samantha said slowly lifting her upper body off the bed as she rubbed at her eyes, finally waking up from her nap induced from their recent bout of lovemaking.
"I got a phone call." Mark said as he began to empty out his pocket contents onto the table to the side of the door, depositing his pack of cigarettes, lighter and wallet on its top. "I'm going to take you home now." He said as he began to undo the belt from his cargo pants, followed by removing his shirt before he crawled onto of the bed and began to deposit kisses onto her neck, his lips affectionately caressing the shoulder portion that held her still healing scar.
"I thought you said we weren't going back to your pack." She said shuddering against his delicate kisses, as goosebumps erupted all across her flesh.
"Well... The situation has changed. You're going to become a member of Shaded Mountain, effective immediately." He whispered into her ear as he delved a couple of digits into her still wet walls. A grin forming on his face as she gasped against his gentle finger strokes. "You won't be a rogue anymore.. you belong with me." He said curling his fingers within her as he continued to stroke her lovingly.
"How..?" She questioned breathlessly as her body curled against his, her fingernails beginning to clutch at his back as she felt the electric intensity of his touches.
"I'm not easily replaced." He said in his new found confidence from his conversation with Jacob as his fingers began to stroke more firmly against that intricate delicate spot within her. "And I made it apparent that neither were you." His free hand beginning to unfasten his pants, his member now replacing his wet fingers causing her to jolt up against his frame tightly in the warm sensation that overwhelmed her body. "Call me beta." He whispered against her as he began to thrust harshly against her lower region.
"Beta." She whimpered, finding her own pleasure from his strong in and out motions, her being affected by not only his prowess but the fact that she had now found a home, and it was with him. "Oh my god! Beta!" Her words faltering as she received almost an instantaneous release from his firm grip and tense movements.
He gave her four releases before it was all said and done. But the greatest release he had given her was that she no longer was a wanderer. She no longer was going to have live a life in dejected unwant. She wouldn't be trash, or be looked at with the same countenance as one would see as scum upon the sole of their shoe. She had found her mate, and he loved her intensely before he was even clear as to why he did. She had found her home.
When everything had settled in the dust of the aftermath, Mark was going to see about a gamma in Nevada. The gamma would be unaware as to why he arrived, but the pack would inevitably stand to the side and watch the brutal beat down he deserved in fear of further repercussions from the Shaded Mountain pack. Marks actions would hold a threatening presence against all those who decided to act without class or caution. He would make it clear that, even if you did not know whose mate you were fucking with, you still would see the consequences of your actions, even if they were not in immediate response.