I woke up naked in the forest. Frantically I looked around for Brittney and Bastien, but they were both gone. I punched the tree in frustration. That bastard had taken Britney and there hadn't been anything I could do about it. I ran back to the beach and found Pierre sitting talking to my father. I had told both of them about Brittney being my mate and they would know what to do.
"Sir," I said bowing respectfully to my alpha "Bastien's taken Brittney. I tried to stop him, but he was stronger than me," I said ashamed. What kind of alpha would I make if I couldn't even protect the girl I loved? Shamed I also added a piece of information I hadn't told anyone. "Bastien also believes that Brittney is his mate" I added. Bastien had told me at the previous tea to back off because Brittney was his mate. I hadn't realized that he actually believed it because I knew that Brittney was my mate. From the moment I had seen her, I'd been drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
"I'd hoped that this wouldn't happen," Pierre said putting a hand to his head.
"What are you talking about Pierre," my father said testily.
"Come with me I have something that you both should hear," Pierre said heading towards his car.
Once we were back in his study he began looking through the collection of books on his bookshelf. He pulled out an old ornate leather-bound book. "This is the history of our family. One of the most important well-kept secrets is that of our true-born females. Since there are so few of them it's been easy to keep it a secret, but it's something that you need to know" he sighed sitting down gesturing for us to do the same. "A true-born female of the Baudin line is always born with two mates. One light and one dark. Some of the more famous iterations of this include Helen, Menelaus, and Paris as well as Guinevere, Arthur, and Lancelot".
"So Bastien really is her mate," I said quietly.
"Yes, and we must get her back and away from Bastien at any cost. If they end up together we will be plunged into a new era of darkness. The last time a female Baudin chose the dark mate it plunged the world into the dark ages," Pierre said gravely.
"Well, then we have to go to Oregon. He probably took her back to his pack," I said ready to get my mate back from that bastard.
"No, we can't go. If Bastien sense that we're close we don't know what he'll do to her" Pierre frowned.
"What about one of the rogues?" My father suggested, "Then they wouldn't be able to track it back to us".
"I don't want my daughter in the hands of a rogue. You know how they are. Even if we paid someone when it came down to it they wouldn't be reliable if anything went wrong and we're only going to have one shot at this" Pierre growled.
"What about Brandon. He may be a rogue, but he is her brother. I've seen the way they are together I think he would do his best to get her home safely," I suggested.
"No, absolutely not. We have to handle this carefully," Pierre rubbed his chin gruffly. "I'm going to make some calls. I have some contacts in the Silver Blood pack. We first need to find out for sure whether he's keeping her there. Once we confirm that we can work on a plan to get her out."
I growled in frustration "I need to go for a run." I needed to get out of this house where the smelled like her and it was driving me crazy.
If they thought that I was just going to sit and stand by while that bastard was doing whatever he wanted with my girl. The only consolation that I had was that if she was also his mate hopefully he wouldn't hurt her, but I wouldn't put anything past that monster. I pulled out my phone and shot a text to Brandon telling him to meet me.
Regardless of what Pierre and my dad thought Brandon at the very least deserved to know what happened to his sister. I shifted and ran through the woods trying to get away from Brittney's scent, but it seemed to cling to my fur.
I ran for over an hour before heading to the park where I'd taken Britney to meet Brandon just a week ago. She'd looked so sad after leaving that tea. Sadness just seemed to cling to her like a second skin. I remember seeing her for the first time outside of Bennetts territory. Despite being sweaty, covered with dirt, and in the arms of another wolf, I knew that she'd be mine.
When I'd found out we were going to recover the alpha's daughter I'd resented her very existence. Because of her, I wouldn't be alpha unless she chooses me. I was the one who had been raised to be alpha. Everything changed the first time I smelled her though. She smelt of wildflowers and moonlight and I was half in love before I'd even seen her.
"What's up?" Brandon asked cooly.
"It's your sister," I said surprised at how cold he was acting. It was almost as if he had changed into a completely different person. "Bastien took her," I said slowly.
"Damn it," Brandon said. "That bastard." He growled furiously. He was angrier than I'd ever seen him before.
"Hey man I know this is scary, but I doubt Bastien will hurt her," I said surprised at his reaction. He didn't seem worried at all just angry.
"You don't understand Bastien wants to wipe out all the rogues and now he's going to use my sister to try and exterminate us," he snapped at me "I'm going to go get her back."
"Hey man, that's probably not a good idea your dad is handling it," I said regretting telling Brandon "If we handle this wrong she could get your sister killed."
"No that's a risk I have to take. I can't have him using my sister against me" he growled shifting before taking off. Damn it. I shouldn't have called Brandon. I'd thought that Brandon was different than most rogues. Although now that I thought about it it might have been his sister that helped him keep his humanity and without her, he was going full rogue. I shifted back into my wolf and ran home to confess what I had done to my alpha.
When I got back at least half of the pack was there. I saw Olivia who was embarrassing Ada. I frowned at my thoughtlessness. I should have told Olivia and Ada myself rather than letting them find out from someone else. They were her friends and I had forgotten that I wasn't the only one who cared about Brittney.
I went over to them as Pierre pulled me aside "I heard back from my contacts. They'll help get Brittney back home in exchange for us taking them into our pack" he said.
I breathed out a sigh of relief. It wasn't over yet, but at least there was a plan. With a plan in place, I didn't need to tell him about my conversation with Brandon. Brandon might be on his way to Bastien, but with any luck, by the time he got there, Brittney might already be home safe.
"We need to have a plan in place for when your contact gets her out of Silver Blood territory," I said to Pierre. As thankful as I was to the Were that was risking his neck to get my mate out of Bastien's clutches I didn't like the thought of her traveling cross country with a strange Were.
"I have a private jet that will fly them straight from Oregon to Virginia" Pierre scratched his chin nervously. "What we do need to prepare for is the possibility that Bastien might have marked Brittney as his own".
Anger overtook me at the thought of anyone marking my mate as their own. I felt myself begin to shift without even realizing it when Pierre grabbed my arm. "Calm down" he barked and my anger fizzled. "You will control your temper. If you cannot I will not let you near my daughter regardless if she is your mate or not". I sagged realizing that he was right. Brittney wasn't like most Were's if I couldn't control my temper around her I might end up hurting her or worse.
"Now if she has been marked there is only one way to break the bond," Pierre continued relieved that I had managed to regain control of myself "One of the bond mates has to die to break the bond."
"That works just fine for me," I snarled. There was no way I would let Bastien live after what he had done.
"Take heed because if they are bonded killing him could possibly kill her. Breaking a bond between true mates is dangerous," Pierre cautioned.
"I won't hurt her, but I can't let her be with Bastien," I said in anguish.
"I know" Pierre replied gravely putting a hand on my shoulder "I know."
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Authors Note: Hey guys I hope you liked this chapter from Graysons P.O.V! Let me know if you want more chapters from other characters' perspectives. Sorry, this chapter is on the short side. I am experiencing some health problems so while I will try to keep updating regularly I will not be updating as regularly as I have been. Please vote and comment :)