Grey.
My head hurt, my heart hurt, I was angry with everybody, but I was furious with myself.
My mate was gone.
And it was my fault.
I pulled at my hair and ended up actually tugging some out of the roots.
I let out a growl that shook the lighter items in my office. There was this weight in my chest, it made me feel like a bomb, just waiting to go off.
I wanted to destroy things, people, anything. I wanted to do something but I felt so completely helpless.
Gracie had been gone for a week and we were no closer to finding her than we were the day she was taken.
I growled again as I thought about Ciara and my own fucking stupidity. I knew she was dangerous, sure I never imagined her to be this dangerous, but I knew she was dangerous and I still let her into my house.
And Scott. The son of a bitch. I wasn't surprised when we were watching the security footage and he walked into the frame right after Ciara stuck that needle in Gracie's arm. I could manage a lot of things but I couldn't stand a liar.
I pulled the door of my office open and burst into the room next door. The him of activity in the room stopped for a second before it started again. This was the Control Room aka the room where I have wolves looking for my mate 25/7.
People bustling up and down, staring at computer screens with incomprehensible diagrams and figures on them. In the corner, there was a group around a table analyzing a large map. In another corner were people watching and rewatching the security footage from the night Gracie was taken, trying to find anything that could give us a clue as to where to start looking.
Because honestly we had nothing. We had sent our best sniffers out to follow their trail but they said the scents stopped right at the edge of the woods. Just disappeared. And there were no tire tracks or anything. As if Ciara, Scott, and my mate simply vanished into thin air.
Today was the day Ryan, Mason, and I were going to the area where a member of the Shadow Pack was last seen.
I looked at the time on my phone and my jaw ticked in irritation. Where were they, did they realize every single second counted.
I walked out of the control room and immediately saw them running up to me.
"Sorry we're late w-"
"Let's go" I growled. I didn't have time for excuses.
I got to my car and pulled open the door. I used too much force and the handle actually broke into my hand.
"Why don't you let me drive?" Mason asked and I growled at him in response.
He came closer, "You're not calm, you're missing your mate. We could get into a car accident. Let me drive Alpha".
He made sense, he made a lot of sense. I shoved the car key into his hand and went round and got into the passenger's seat.
Ryan got in the back and Mason started driving. It was a nice day, one of those days that Gracie loved, warm with clear blue skies.
It was weird that it was this warm in Winter but then I guess with the new year came new weather.
I'd almost completely forgotten that today was New year's day. But somehow, I'd remembered.
I sat back and looked out if the window. The car was quiet, neither of them making a peep.
I wondered if they were anywhere as anxious as I was to get Gracie back. I knew Ryan had really come to care for Gracie. A fact that didn't hit me until I caught him crying after she was taken. But I wasn't sure about Mason. He was his usual stoic self. The person he had forced himself to be after what happened a few years ago.
I shuddered remembering the incident and how it had broken him. I needed to get Gracie.
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Two hours later and we were finally parking the car. We had to park right on the edge of the town because we didn't want to draw attention to ourselves by driving in. We would be completing the rest of the journey on foot.
Somerson was a small town, smaller than Valley Hill. The difference between them was that there were no humans in Somerson - it was a wolf-only town.
It was evening already, just like we had planned. Since it was a town populated by wolves, our scents wouldn't be hard to pick out. Especially mine because I had Alpha-blood.
We had informed the Alpha of the Somerson pack that we were coming because it was practically a death sentence to go on another pack's land without permission but we had asked him not to inform his pack of our coming because if we were really going to catch any member of Shadow Pack, the only thing we had on our side was the element of surprise.
We walked by the side of the roads, into the woods, and up to the spot wher we'd agreed to meet with the Alpha of Somerson, Dylan.
Our senses were on high alert as we waited, sniffing and listening for anything unusual. Then we heard footsteps and we all trained our eyes on the direction from which they came, ready to shift in half a second if needed.
The Dylan and two other men appeared.
"Alpha Grey, it's an honour to have you on my land" Dylan said, immediately moving forward to shake my hand. He was a tall man with graying hair.
I took his hand without smiling, I had no desire to be polite today.
"This is my Beta, James, and my Gamma, Mike" he said, pointing to the two men with him, "How can we help you?"
I spoke, "We have reports that a Shadow Pack member was last seen on your pack land. What do you know about this?"
The look Dylan exchanged with James was quick but I noted it. "The Shadow pack went extinct many years ago, I don't see how there could be any on my pack land"
I nodded shortly and on cue, Ryan attacked James, Mason attacked Mike and I landed on the Alpha.
We were all still in human form but our pack was a much stronger pack so it was easy to overpower them. "Where is the person!!" I screamed into Dylan's face, spit flying in different directions.
"I- I don't kn- know what you are t- t- talking about" Dylan whimpered under me.
I let my canines slide out, "I could end your life in a second or you could give me a name and a location"
"I have a pup on the way, pl-"
My eyes widened, there could be only one person that he'd be protecting this much, risking his life for.
"Your mate" I growled and his eyes widened with fear, "Take me to her or I'll find her by myself."
"How did you know?" He was shaking.
"How did you get mated to a Shadow Pack member? Stand up and lead the way!"
He stood up and we followed him. Ryan and Mason were still holding the other wolves but I had no need to restrain Dylan. He knew it would be stupid to run when he's got so much on the line.
He led us out into a clearing with a big house in the center. It was obviously the pack house although it was much smaller than ours. But he didn't take us into the pack house but into a smaller building by the side.
It was a storage room, piled high with rubbish that they had no space for in the pack house.
"I've mind-linked her. She's on her way" Dylan said.
I smirked, he thought we was so smart. I nodded at Mason and he passed Mike to me and left the room.
"Where's he going?" Dylan asked, his voice shaking.
I just smiled, "You'll see"
Mason walked in not long after with a heavily pregnant woman in tow.
"Lisa!" Dylan cried in shock.
"She was running" Mason said to me. He had a travelling bag in his other hand.
I clucked, "I don't like people who play dirty Dylan."
I let Mike go and got a chair from the other side of the room.
"Please sit down" I said to Lisa. She was pregnant and I wasn't a monster.
She sat down, looking at me tentatively.
"I'm going to ask you a few questions and for your mate's sake and safety, I'd like you to answer truthfully"
She visibly swallowed and nodded.
"Okay, are you a member of Shadow Pack?"
Her eyes widened briefly before she answered, "I was, I haven't ever even met anybody from that pack. I was born in this pack."
I frowned, "How did that happen?"
"My mother escaped from Shadow Pack while she was pregnant with me and Somerson pack took her in. She died in childbirth and I was raised by this pack"
I sighed, this was hopeless. I could tell she was telling the truth and since she was, there was no real information we could get from her about the whereabouts of Shadow Pack since she was never even really part of the pack.
I had one more question to ask out of curiosity. "Shadow Pack members have yellow eyes. Even if you aren't a member, your parents were and you have Shadow Pack blood in you. Why are your eyes blue?"
She smiled for the first time since she entered the room, "Contact lens".
We thanked Dylan, wished Lisa a safe delivery and started our journey back home.
I was furious. We had practically wasted a whole day and we still weren't closer to finding Gracie.
When we drove up to my house I got out and slammed the door. A wolf ran out of the house to meet us.
"Alpha we have news!"
"What is it?"
"We might have found where they are keeping her"
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