Missy

“Mom, are you still okay?” I asked through the small vent connecting our rooms. I tried to remain calm, knowing she’d be more stressed if I panicked, but it wasn’t easy. I could hear her stifled moans occasionally and worried about her going into labor.

“I’m alright, sweetheart,” she said, her voice strained. I was running out of things to say to distract us from being locked in these rooms. My dad needed to hurry up and find us.

I tried to keep my mind off Vlad. I hadn’t seen him since the first night I was here. My heart ached every time I thought about his betrayal. He was the one. I thought he was my mate; for a long time, I wanted him to be. He made me feel normal. He was my safe place for almost two years, and the whole time he was helping the man who was coming after my family and pack.

Lea didn’t ask about Vlad or Maddox. I suspected she knew it would be too hard to talk about. I knew Maddox would be with my dad when they arrived; he wouldn’t leave me like that.

“Unless he found his mate and doesn’t care anymore,” my wolf lamented. She was growing bitter and desolate the longer we were held prisoner.

“Even if he did, he would come to rescue me,” I told her. I clutched my moonstone necklace. It was cool to the touch. After Vlad left me in this prison, I took off his bracelet and threw it across the room, where it has remained ever since. I wished I could burn it or break it. No gift or good intention could atone for his betrayal.

“I don’t want a birthday party anymore,” I said.

“Why is that?” Lea asked after a minute.

“I just want to go away with you, Dad, and the boys. I just want to be together,” I said. I missed my brothers desperately. When I closed my eyes, all I saw were their teary eyes from the night I helped them pack. Hopefully, Grandma and Grandpa got them to safety.

“We can do that, but we’re still going to celebrate your birthday,” Azalea rasped. “You can kick and scream, but your father and I still want to celebrate you.” The amount of food and water we were receiving wasn’t enough. And with Lea being pregnant, I was sure it was worse for her and the baby. Her body needed more than mine while she carried the baby.

“It would be fun to take Junior and Leo to the ocean. We’ve never been to an ocean. They would love it,” I said wistfully.

“Let’s go to the ocean then. We can all play in the sand and swim in the waves,” she said.

“Deal,” I said.

“We can play in the sand if we make it out of here,” I thought darkly. My wolf whimpered.

Liam

I was jolted awake by someone. My eyes snapped open to see Damien. He had a sympathetic expression, as if he didn’t want to wake me.

“Everyone has begun arriving. We’re going to start in the next hour,” he said gently. According to our pack leadership, Damien was in charge now. We hadn’t yet addressed the pack, and tonight we would discuss things with the other packs who agreed to fight alongside us. Then we would decide how best to rally everyone. I knew rumors were spreading, but that was to be expected. Damien had his hands full trying to determine our best plan of attack.

“Yeah,” I grunted, sitting up. I had fallen asleep on the couch in my bedroom, waiting for Maddox to report on anything he’d found. Yesterday, he hadn’t had much.

“I brought you something to eat. You should probably shower, too,” he said. I gave him an annoyed look. He raised his hands in surrender. “I’ll link you when it’s time,” he said. He left me alone in my bedroom. I looked around; the whole place felt so empty. Azalea was everywhere in this room, but I didn’t feel any closer to her. I couldn’t even remember what my life was like before her.

The ache in my chest worsened each minute she was missing, and my body was feeling the effects. The extent to which a mate is integral to a wolf’s being cannot be understood until they’ve been lost. I felt it now, far worse than the last time she was in danger. My every thought was of her. I knew she would scold me for being so pathetic, but I couldn’t function without her.

I looked at the food left in front of me: French toast, scrambled eggs, and some sausages. Had I slept until morning? I grabbed a sausage as I stood. Going to the bathroom, I ate it while undressing. I forced myself under the water and managed to wash off the grime. My skin felt better, but my body still ached; only Azalea could soothe it.

I got dressed before sitting back down on the couch and running my hands over my face. I picked at the food, managing a few bites of eggs and one slice of French toast before Damien linked me.

With a heavy sigh, I stood and took one last look around the room, as if she were going to appear or walk out of the closet. I headed downstairs, ready to get this over with and find Warwick.

Damien intercepted me at the conference room door. He looked apprehensive. “I need to show you something,” he said quietly. We moved down the hall, away from the waiting attendees.

“What?” I asked, vexation lacing my tone.

“We just received this,” he said, handing me an envelope. It was made of linen paper, and the wax seal had been broken.

“Is this from…?” I trailed off, turning it over. In beautiful script was written: ALPHA BLACKFUR.

“Yes,” Damien answered. “Read it.” I opened the envelope and unfolded the stationery. My eyes scanned the page.

“He’s inviting us?” I asked incredulously.

He nodded. “This is a direct invitation to meet him blow for blow.”

“Then we need to go. He won’t know exactly when we’re coming, so if we go now—”

“No,” Damien said definitively. “We aren’t charging in without a solid plan. I know you want to get Azalea back—”

I growled. “We need to get the Luna of this pack back!”

“I know!” he assured. “But we cannot do that if we rush in haphazardly. We must be smart about this. We can end all of this in one go and prevent dragging this war out!”

“This tells us almost exactly where they are! And you want me to sit back and wait?”

“Yes, and if you would think like an Alpha for a minute, you will agree!” Damien’s voice rose.

The logical part of me agreed, but it was overridden by the instinctual part that needed Azalea. We stared each other down for a minute. “Fine,” I finally said. “But I won’t wait more than 48 hours. The longer we wait, the more danger my mate faces. That pup could arrive at any time!” I waved the letter for emphasis.

“I know. We will get everything ready as quickly as possible, but Liam, I need to make sure we aren’t walking into a slaughter. I know you can’t see it right now, but this entire pack is mourning alongside you. Every warrior is ready to fight and get our Luna back, even Lily. But we owe it to them to make sure they will come home to their mates, too.”

My chest was heavy. Warwick was playing a game, trying to make me choose between saving Missy and Azalea. If I couldn’t get there fast enough, I might not save either of them. I turned and stormed away, having nothing more to say.

I pounded on the door. “Open up, old man,” I shouted. His cottage was in a secluded corner of the pack land, far from everyone. Ever since Azalea took over the Inn, he’d wanted to be left alone. She still visited him, always worried he would die.

I heard slow steps and the thud of his cane. “Faster,” I growled.

“Don’t hurry an old man. Where are your manners?” he shouted as he opened the door.

“We need to talk,” I said.

“About what?” he frowned.

“Haven’t you noticed my mate hasn’t called you for a while?”

“I thought the damn girl finally got the hint to leave me alone,” he grumbled.

“Warwick has her,” I said. His eyes widened, then he frowned deeper.

“Impossible,” he said.

“Possible. He has her and my daughter. I want to know why my father was so insistent on me calling you about this vampire problem,” I demanded. He sighed. “Greyback…” I warned.

“Fine,” he said. “Get in here.” He turned and hobbled inside. I had to duck slightly. Azalea had the place built to suit him, so the ceilings were low.

Greyback made his way to his kitchen and sat at his table. I stood across from him, waiting for answers. “So, your father told you to speak to me about Warwick, huh?” he said, his voice low and subdued. I nodded. “The war…” He paused, looking away. “That man took everything from me. My mate, my daughter. Gone like they were nothing.”

“Warwick?” I prompted.

“No, boy. Your grandfather,” he said, his eyebrows furrowing.

“What do you mean?”

“Your grandfather took my mate and daughter, then made it look like it was Warwick. He used them as bait, knowing they would be killed. He did it to fuel me to help him take down Warwick.”

“Why?”

“I was his head warrior, but I was against the war. The vampire problem was only made worse by conceited bigots like Warwick and Johnson. In the north, they get along well enough. Leave each other alone and respect the boundaries. But your great-grandfather and your grandfather just couldn’t do that. Warwick is by no means innocent in this feud; I would kill him again, given a chance. But your grandfather did some dark things, boy.”

“So why was my father adamant that I speak to you?”

“Because I delivered the fatal blow to Warwick. I thought so, at least.”

“Why couldn’t he tell me this himself?”

“Because I never spoke about it. I came back from the war and left. Moved to the human town. Eventually, I chose a human mate, but she could never fill the hole in me.”

“Then how do I kill Warwick?”

Greyback was silent. “I left his head hanging by a thread, and it wasn’t enough. Remove it completely and take out his heart. Burn the pieces. Make sure there is nothing left of him.”

“Did any other vampires recuperate like he did?”

“I don’t know. He was the oldest. A lot of his older kin left him during the war. They grew tired of the fighting. We knew surprisingly little about them during the conflict.”

“Did my father know any of this?”

“Can’t be sure. He never bothered me at the Inn. Left me to my will. Can’t say I would have listened much if he tried. The only time I’ve been back to the packhouse was for your wedding. Can’t say I was thrilled Azalea was marrying a Blackfur, but you don’t seem to take much after your family.”

“I would never kidnap the mates and children of my warriors to incentivize them to fight alongside me.”

“You wouldn’t need to, boy.”

Maddox

I returned to the cabin, the last place I knew she was. No matter how many times I came here, I couldn’t find her scent. There wasn’t any vampire scent left, but it still angered me. I needed to find that punk and bring him to the Alpha, but I was beginning to think he was taken during the attack. No one knew why they took other wolves, but none of the theories were pleasant. I shivered and prayed to the Moon Goddess I’d get to Missy before Warwick hurt her.

I sat on the rickety porch. I hated this place. This was where he spent time with her, where he betrayed her. I was convinced he had everything to do with her kidnapping, and I would make sure he was punished. I would find out the extent of his betrayal and ensure he was punished accordingly.

“Maddox!” someone linked me. It was Luke, a friend on border patrol.

“What?”

“Where are you?”

“Why?”

“I have someone, and I think it’s best if I give them to you before the Alpha,” he said.

“Don’t tell me you have Vlad?”

“Yes, I do,” he said. “But you need to get here quickly. Everyone else wants to take him straight to the Alpha and Beta. You need your pound of flesh first.”

“Where are you? I’m on my way.”

When I arrived, Luke held Vlad face down in the dirt, his hands tied. He’d tried to cross the border unnoticed, with the pack on the brink of war. The other wolves in his patrol looked angry.

“I’ll take him to the Alpha after I question him about my mate,” I told them. Vlad flinched. Luke hauled him up and pushed him toward me. Without preamble, I punched him in the mouth. His head snapped back. When he looked at me again, he spat blood.

“I’ll tell you anything,” he said pathetically. I grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the packhouse. We had a long walk ahead of us, and I knew he’d probably end up with more bruises.

I pulled him along silently, trying to figure out what to ask. The Alpha and Beta were sure to interrogate him, but I also had questions.

“Why Missy? Why my mate?” I finally asked.

“You probably won’t believe me, but I never wanted to hurt her. I tried to keep her safe,” he said. He was struggling to keep up.

“How long was she targeted?”

“A little while after he realized I was close to her, that I cared about her.”

“And what is the vampire to you?”

“Nothing. He killed my mom and bit me. I survived, but…” he trailed off.

“But what?”

“I lost my wolf. When I finally woke up, I couldn’t feel my wolf anymore. I can’t shift and can’t link anyone.”

“Then how did she get kidnapped if you were protecting her?”

“How do you think? Warwick used me. He made promises and just as easily broke them. I thought I was keeping her from harm. I thought if I cooperated, he would leave her alone.”

“And the rest of her family was fair game?”

“It wasn’t supposed to be like that…” he said quietly.

“Do you know where they are?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Then I’m finished. You can explain everything to the Alpha and Beta.”

“Will you tell my dad I’m alive at least?”

“He will be notified of your treason.”