*****
I sprinted after Karabo's grey form that could barely be seen in the filtered light created by the dense trees ahead of me. It took only us a few minutes of running before we stumbled onto the pack grounds we had heard the noise coming from.
'What are you doing?' I linked to my mate as he began attacking wolves that his fellow pack members were fighting with.
'Helping.' he linked back as he slammed into a wolf knocking them unconscious before pouncing onto another as the wolf he had saved stumbled back onto his paws.
'You should look for their leader.' I linked back as I followed my mate through his fighting. He wasn't killing anyone; just injuring them to make them back off or knocking them out.
'I should protect my pack first.'
"You won't be protecting them if you don't find their Alpha!" I growled. What the hell was he doing?!
"There won't be anyone left to protect if I go after him when they're stronger than my men are!" he growled back, "Are you going to help or just be a distraction?!" he asked and immediately attacked another wolf. I let out a growl at him before pouncing on a wolf that was about to attack one of Karabo's pack members.
I looked at my mate before my eyes moved in the direction I could feel the strongest wolf in. We should be going after him. Fighting him. I argued with myself a few more seconds before gritting my teeth as I decided it was best to ignore my instincts and listen to Karabo; it was his pack after all. I could not ignore his wishes in front of his pack or they would think that I did not respect him. I gave an aggravated growl before attacking another wolf, ignoring the strength I felt in the distance.
I killed three more wolves before noticing that the others had begun retreating.
'Do we find him now?' I linked to Karabo.
'He's already gone,' he replied. I focused on the energy I had felt earlier and realised he was right, 'You killed them?' he added nudging a dead wolf with his paw. I nodded.
'Do you know where they're going?' I asked.
'No.' He ran off and I followed him.
We shifted at his house before we walked back out fully dressed and made our way through the small mess of houses the other pack had managed to destroy that littered his pack grounds. I noticed some medics helping about five wolves in our immediate vicinity, aligning their bones so they could heal properly.
I looked at Karabo as he commanded a few wolves to clean up the mess and check if there was anyone else from their pack that was hurt.
"You're just going to let them go?" I asked once the wolves he spoke to had walked off. I saw one of the medical wolves look our way but quickly drop his gaze when his eyes met mine.
"Of course not. I'm going to find them." he replied.
'How? We – I killed anyone that could have led you to them, and you just let the rest go.'
'There's no way they would have spoken anyway.' he replied.
'You could have tried to make them! Or better yet, caught the Alpha while he was nearby.' I linked back.
'My wolves needed help.' he linked before turned away from me, "Guys, get them to the hospitals. See if anyone in the shelter got hurt. Tell Richard I need to see him in my office right now." He called out before heading towards the recreation centre. I followed him until we were in his office. He looked annoyed and I assumed it was because Richard was not there. I shut the door behind me.
"Your wolves needed help?" I asked. "I get that they were stronger than a lot of your wolves, but every wolf that is trained to fight knows they risk their lives for their pack. They take on the responsibility to protect the rest of the pack and they know the risks that come with it." I said.
"I have the responsibility to protect every member of my pack," Karabo said.
"Exactly! You could have finished this if you just went after the Alpha!" I said.
"At the expense of some of my pack members?" He looked at me with his eyes narrowed.
"If that's what it takes to protect the rest of the pack, yes. Wolves that defend the pack know there's a chance of getting killed." I said.
"The people in my pack are not pawns. If we can win a fight without anyone getting hurt –"
"You haven't won." I cut him off. "They'll be back because you didn't finish it when you could have."
"Would you say I won if I caught their leader and a quarter of my pack died?" the question was immediately followed by a dry laugh, "I don't know how you run your pack, Eli. But if you're willing to risk a single wolf's life – a life that you're supposed to protect, Alpha – to win a stupid fight, I feel sorry for your pack."
"Sorry for my pack? You're willing to risk your entire pack's lives to save a few." I said. "You didn't even kill the wolves that tried to kill your fighters."
"Why is it necessary to kill them? They're just following orders and – whether by intention or not – they have not killed any of my men." I stared at him dumbfounded.
"Are you kidding me?" I muttered.
Karabo shook his head trying to look calm but I could see his anger clearly.
"Am I kidding? Who do you think you are? Coming here and –"
The door opened behind me and Karabo and I stood in silence as the person walked in.
"Alpha. Alpha Eli." Richard spoke either not sensing the tension or deciding to ignore it as he walked in because he continued to speak as he looked at Karabo, "They're part of Goliath." Another family lined pack?
"Should have guessed," Karabo replied in a mutter.
"Goliath?" I asked.
"They –" Richard began.
"– are a pack close by." Karabo looked at me, his eyes shifting to the door behind my back. I shook my head slowly but took the hint and walked out of the office shutting the door that led to the soundproof room behind me.
What type of Alpha gives mercy to anyone who threatens his pack? I bet he would not have killed the leader even if we did catch him. Maybe I should kill the Goliath Alpha for him...? No. That would be looking for trouble, right? I did not get it. Was he even an Alpha or did he just act like it sometimes?
They have not killed any of his men? Wasn't being on his ground uninvited and sending his pack into turmoil enough reason to rip their hearts out?
I made my way to Karabo's house walking at human speed to let off some of my annoyance and found my friends already there.
"You guys alright?" I asked as I walked in.
"Of course," Tamia replied. I gave a smile and she narrowed her eyes. "What happened?" she asked. I sighed sitting on a couch.
"I don't want me to tell you," I said.
"You don't want you to tell her? Wait, you got into another argument with Karabo, didn't you?" Ashton spoke up.
"Where did you even find time for that?" Ben asked confused.
"I didn't – We didn't argue," I said. "Where's your mate?" I added.
"Safe. She went home earlier." He smiled before it fell, "Do you know why they got attacked?"
"No." I looked towards the door as I heard tyres on the driveway outside before the car halted. Karabo's car was in the garage so I assumed it was not him. A woman gasped causing my brows to furrow.
"Karabo's expecting someone? It's really late..." My sister mumbled looking at the watch on her wrist. It was late and his pack knew he would be in his office at the moment. Who could possibly be visiting him at this time? I froze.
"Let's go to the hotel." I hissed quickly, trying to keep my voice low.
"Why?" Her eyes narrowed at me.
"Tell you lat –"
"Sweetheart, what happened?!" I bit the inside of my cheek hearing the doorknob turn and Tamia's eyes widened.
We watched the door swing open before a woman that looked to be in her mid-thirties walked in holding a suitcase followed by another woman. I stared at the first woman frozen. Her eyes were the same shade of dark brown as his, but her face was rounder and more feminine. She stopped just inside the door and looked at us surprised before a kind smile formed on her face.
"Oh, hello! You must be Eli!" She looked right at Ben.
"No..." Ben replied slowly.
"You?" She looked at Ashton.
"I'm Eli..." I drifted as I stood up. She looked at me and paused for a second before speaking.
"Is this little prank my son's idea?" she asked with a grin.
"Prank? Oh, okay. I'm guessing he didn't tell you about the Alpha thing. I'm his mate, Eli. Alpha of the Galaxy pack." I held my hand out to her.
'At least she knows he found his mate.'
'I would have told them when I got home. Damn Ben.' I linked back to my sister and pretended not to notice her roll her eyes at me.
Karabo's mother laughed at my hand like she found the offer of a handshake funny before hugging me. I chuckled lifting my hands to pat her back awkwardly. I noticed my friends laughing softly at our weird interaction before she moved on to hug them.
"What happened outside?" She asked after she introduced herself to me as Thandi and her friend as Emma. Emma had left right after the introduction, she was just dropping Karabo's mom off.
"Nothing much." I said, "You must be tired – we're all tired. You should rest."
"Right." My sister nodded.
Thandi agreed and we said our goodnights before everyone began to make their way to a room as I walked towards Karabo's study.
'What are you doing?' Ashton linked to me.
'Just going to finish off some work. It's not big; Alpha just wanted me to run through some papers.' I linked back to him.
'Nicholas?' He questioned. I looked at him raising my brows to question how he knew, 'Alpha explained.' he said.
"I'm sorry," I spoke up. He chuckled.
'It's alright. They fixed it, by the way. So you don't have to stay up.' I opened my mouth but he patted my shoulder, "You look like you need the rest, Eli." he said.
"I do?" I sighed, "I'll sleep in a few minutes."
"Are you alright?" He glanced over me in concern.
I laughed. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be? Go to bed." I shoved him towards the stairs before walking into the office and shutting the door behind me.
I sat down at Karabo's desk and leaned my head back so I was staring at the roof again. I didn't plan on doing any work, I was waiting for him. Not to argue more. He was my mate; I would not feel at ease until I knew he was back safe even though I would feel if he was not okay. Maybe we would just forget the argument again? It was probably not a good way to move by things...
I shook my head. It'll be alright. What did Ashton mean they 'fixed it'? I was about to pull my phone from my pocket to text Sean when it buzzed. I pulled it out and chuckled seeing his name before tapping the message to open it.
'Found the money. Not Nicholas. We did however find one of his shoes in the forest. If he left, it does not look like he did so willingly.'
I sat up staring at the message.
Someone kidnapped him?
*****