Nickolas
I race in my wolf form, following her scent. I sprint past my territory’s borders and along the side roads. I’m forced to stop once I reach the highway; my wolf would be run over by cars and her scent has been too interfered with other cars so the path is gone.
Some pack wolves are also with me, including Aaron. When I heard that the rogues had taken Lexi, I lost it. That office was ruined. I called every single available wolf to get out and search for her. I had some wolves evaluating the scene of attack at the house and interrogating the guards that were attacked.
They claimed that Lexi was in the house before they got there, and were ambushed right outside the door. They were tied up, and the rogues entered the house, paralyzed Lexi and took her. The guards were beat up and hidden in a room.
And Lexi was gone.
I fought the urge to murder the failures that were my guards; Aaron reminding me that they were ambushed was the only thing preventing me from killing them. That and they could be used to find her. A state wide alert had been issued to every pack. I plan on killing whoever is responsible for taking my mate away from me. I plan on slowly torturing them.
Every 30 seconds or so, I would try to contact Lexi with my mind, but all I heard were echoes. Lexi was either unconscious or blocked off.
I painstakingly call off the search by her scent and return to the pack with the others. I still have to think of my pack and visit Liam in the hospital wing. He’s quickly healing and a distressed Serenity lays beside him in bed.
The couple makes me want to cry; they still have each other.
“How are you doing?” I speak weakly; I have to appear strong and I can’t let my voice crack.
“It’s healing. The gold wolf did this.” He gets right to the point.
“The gold wolf?” The one I took down with Aaron.
“It must be a Beta of another pack. Since it’s gold.” I completely forgot that gold wolves were Betas, mates of Betas or mates of Alphas. But what male lets their female out as bait?
“Were the rogues all working together? One group became a distraction so the other could steal her?” I growl.
“I don’t know. The paralyzed wolves should be waking up soon, if they’re not up already.” He lowers his head at me.
“Get better.” I leave the hospital room.
Our cells to hold rogues or killers are located a half mile West of the village. It’s almost always empty and when it’s not, we have guards posted around the only entrance and exit.
“Alpha.” The four guards submit to me and unlock the double bolted doors. There are only 10 cells, but each are made of adamantium. It’s impossible to destroy and toxic when exposed. The best feature is that is blocks all neuron communications; you can’t mind link in or out.
Two cells are filled; one with a laying gold wolf and the other with a knocked out gray wolf with fur matted with blood.
The gold one looks at me, before letting out a low growl.
“Shift.” I demand. He continues growling, without moving.
“Shift!” He stops growling and lowers his head. I scoff and toss a white towel through the bars. I turn around for a minute until I hear a cough.
Standing inside the cell is a strawberry blonde woman. Not a male. She sits on the floor looking into my eyes, her eyes are filled with nothing but hate. The white towel is wrapped around her body and her pale arms keep them secure.
The gray wolf in the next cell starts whining in his sleep and she turns to him. I toss him a towel and turn away. He’s shifted back into a brown skinned man with a shaved head, but remains unconscious.
He is injured; he has a large, bloody cut on his spine and a deep gash in his shoulder.
“Where is my mate?” I demand slowly. The woman looks at me a moment, before shaking her head.
“Where the hell is my mate!?” I grab onto the metal bars in anger. She backs up against the wall of the cell and shakes her head again.
“Where the hell are you from? What pack is here? Where did they take my mate?” I start shouting out questions angrily. The woman just stares at me, confused and scared.
“Get up!” I scream. Nothing.
“I said get up!” She still doesn’t move.
I’m out of patience, and I unlock the cell and drag her out by her arm. Two other guards enter the prison with me.
“Melt adamantium.” I speak in a low voice. Their eyes widen at me; dipping a wolf in melted adamantium is perhaps the slowest, most painful way to die. I don’t care.
“Melt it. And dip both of them.” I repeat, glaring at the woman. She still doesn’t respond.
“Do you not get that you’re going to die?” I ask rhetorically. Her face shows no sign of feeling or emotions other than scared. It’s like she doesn’t even hear me.
“All I want is my mate, tell me where she is!” I scream in her face.
“Nickolas.” Aaron speaks behind me quietly. “She’s mated to a Beta or Alpha of the pack that took Lexi. They’ll want her back.”
“She’s refusing to cooperate.” I snap. “Tell me where she is.” She looks at me with sad eyes.
“Nem tudom.” She whispers.
“What?”
“Nem tudom.” She repeats. She’s not from around here. And I don’t recognize the language.
“Figure out what she’s saying, Aaron. Find a translator or way to communicate. Get her some clothes, and call the pack doctor to check the other man.” I leave the cells.
Back at my own home, several wolves still walk around, figuring out exactly what happened. Shoe prints are compared, door knobs are dusted, the floors are checked for strands of hair. Lexi’s dress and my jacket are no where to be found, meaning she must still have them.
I enter our room; it smells like her.
“Nickolas!” A voice calls me back downstairs.
“What?”
“It was Hungarian. She’s Hungarian.” Aaron shows me the translation for what the female was saying. ‘I don’t know.’
“What is a Hungarian female doing here?” Wolves rarely like to travel to other countries unless they speak the language or have family.
“She’s from the Peisca Pack-“
“Get the cars loaded, we’re going.”
Lexi
My head is pounding when I wake up; the sun shines brightly through the curtains. I’m in a bed I don’t recognize, in a room I’ve never seen before.
Nickolas? Nickolas, where are you? I feel my mind echoing the words; I can’t link to the outside.
I sit up in bed; my red dress is still on and Nickolas’ jacket is still over my shoulders. I inhale his scent, calming both me and my wolf. My heels are placed next to each other on the floor beside the bed and an open door reveals a bathroom.
The other door is shut, probably locked. Get out and find Nickolas. As soon as possible. I throw the covers off and get out. My body is unharmed, I was only paralyzed. But my head is still pounding and my stomach growls for food. I collect my heels and try the door. It’s locked. Same with the windows. My view is only of mountains, dozens of peaks all around.
I’m in a house on the side of a mountain. A pack by the mountains. The Peisca Pack is the only pack I can think of. A surge of anger rushes through me. I was taken from my mate to be brought here? I return to the door and furiously begin kicking it. It doesn’t budge.
I’m about to shift, when I hear keys jungle on the other side. Quickly I hide under the bed. From my view, I see black shoes enter the room, followed by four more pairs of shoes.
“She’s hiding. Lock the doors.” The door shuts. That voice is familiar. But I’m so dizzy, the world is spinning.
“Check the bathroom.” Another voice orders.
“She’s not there.”
A pair of hands grabs my leg and pulls me out of my hiding spot. I begin kicking furiously and punch randomly at the air.
“Stop it!” His voice is gruff and he tightens his grip around my arms. “Stop it or I’ll paralyze you!”
I halt, not wanting to be knocked out again in an place unknown to me.
“Thank you. And welcome to the Peisca Pack.” He lets me go. I stumble away from the man and face him.
“Matteo?” (You could re-read the second half of Chapter 23 if you forgot him.)
Nickolas
“I have a map of that mountain. Mikey, you and your dad start setting up the other wolves.” I found the layout of the Peisca Pack. It would be a difficult attack, especially because the mountains were difficult to approach, but we outnumbered them.
I was in the main pack house at the village, getting all the information I could about the Peisca Pack and the geography. I had 16 cars preparing for the drive 26 hour drive. They were filled with gas and the trunks held cases of guns with tranquilizers. This is safer for my pack to attack with, instead of our wolves up front.
I hated the fact that we had to drive, but wolves generally don’t do well in air, the plane tickets would be to difficult to arrange and there is no way we’d get our weapons past security.
“Nickolas!” Aaron bursts through the door of the pack house. Everyone pauses and turns all there attention to him.
“The female. Her name is Liliom, she’s only been here for about a month. She’s mated to Matteo, the Alpha of the Peisca Pack. We’re still trying to figure out what she’s saying, but she wants a switch. Her for Lexi.”
Lexi
“You’re in heat. Aren’t you.” Matteo glances at me. I don’t respond, I’m just too infuriated. I’m in his office right now, as he types away at the computer.
“Just tell me. I can help.” I give him a look of disgust.
“You can smell it. I want my mate. So let me go.”
He just chuckles humorously at me and shakes his head.
“The next several days are going to be hell for you.” He speaks rottenly.
“What do you want from me?” I demand.
“I don’t want anything from you. But your mate on the other hand, has something I want.”
“What?”
“He has my mate. Liliom.”
Aaron
“What’s your name?” The male rogue is barely conscious, but we need answers.
“Are you from the Peisca Pack?” I speak louder.
His eyes sudden widen.
“Alfa Liliom! Where is she?” He demands.
“She’s in another room. She’s your Alfa.” He nods.
“What about the rogue? Is he dead?” He looks around the room frantically.
“No. You and Liliom where the only ones we were able to get.”
“I have to find him!” He tries to get out of the bed. The bandages on his body prevent him from the sudden movement and he falls back into the bed.
“You’re injured. The rogue did this? Where did he take her?”
“No. The rogue killed the Beta of my pack. Several of us were assigned to track him and kill him. We were deterred and followed him onto this territory. We didn’t know who’s it was, but we needed to kill that wolf.”
“When we realized we were being pursued, we tried to back away. Our only priority was to protect her, so when we were attacked, the order to abduct this pack’s Alfa was issued. We took her as ransom. All we want is to be switched back.”
“You realize that the Alphas first instincts will be to kill each other, right?”
“Not if they have their mates in their arms.”
Lexi
“Just switch us back!” I plead Matteo. Normally I would have tried to escape by now, but he had guards all over the place.
“I received word that my mate was attacked, by a white wolf; your mate. If I find out she’s dead, I’ll be sure to deliver your body to Nickolas in pieces.” His words are dripping with venom.
“She’s not dead!” I assure him. Nickolas wouldn’t kill a wolf, I knew that much.
“It’s only until I have a confirmation. You’re not mated, are you? I have several wolves here who would love to try a female Alpha.” I slap him, so strong that I feel the sting up to my shoulder.
“You better pray that she’s alive. That the reason I can’t link with her is because she’s in a blocked room.” He spits at me. “I think it’d be worse for him, that you lose your innocence to another male; maybe carry another males pup. Before seeing your dead body, of course.” With that he leaves the room.
Liam
“We have six plane tickets arranged.” I tell Nickolas. He was first infuriated with the idea of not taking an army to the Peisca Pack. A simple switch would prevent a battle between the two packs. Our allies would also get involved; a wolf war could break out from this, and it could so easily be resolved.
“If she’s injured, or…, if she’s not in perfect condition, Matteo isn’t getting his mate back. He’s getting her body back.” His eyes are bright red and his voice is bitter. Even though he’s trying to hide it, I can easily tell that he’s spent a large amount of time crying over her.
“We’ll have to see. All forms of communication between our pack have been terminated.” Both of our Alphas were too stubborn to talk to each other; they were to involved with their own anger.
“You’re staying here, with Mikey to watch over the pack. Aaron is going with me.”
A mate is never something to mess around with. Especially Alphas mates. I knew, that if either mate were hurt, it would lead to the end of our packs. Liliom was fine, a little scared and weak, but safe. I had seen to it that she was fed and had a change of clothes. She understood some of what was going on, and that we would do what we can to return her to Matteo.
“I just want Lexi back. As soon as that male wolf is well, we’re leaving.”
Lexi
“Please. It hurts.” I cry weakly. My body is burning, and Nickolas isn’t here to even help mildly; even if we couldn’t mate, his simple touch was cooling. I want him, and if not him, than to go outside, to the cold mountain air, or an ice bath; even ice cream sounds amazing right now.
“Your mate should’ve thought of that before attacking her! All she was doing was going after an actual rogue, a rogue who killed my Beta!” He slams the desk by my head. I’m too tired to even flinch. “She doesn’t even speak English! I found her 5 weeks ago! After years of searching! If she’s hurt-“
“She’s not hurt. I know Nickolas wouldn’t kill a wolf without hearing what they have to say. Especially if it’s a female who can’t speak English. It’s not who he is. But he would at least have the common courtesy to see that she’s well. You should be doing the same by helping me. If your mate were in heat, would you want her to suffer?” I don’t even want to touch my skin; my fingers are too hot.
He stares at me, clearly angry but thinking.
“I’ll have an ice bath set up. I predict your mate should be here within a few days. If he has Liliom, you can leave.” He leaves the room, and I hear the familiar sound of a lock clicking.