Page 37

Elijah

“ W e need to get out of the car! It’s going to blow!” Liam shouts as he punches through the roof. It takes a few pushes before he shifts and slams into the roof before he rips the side of the car off.

None of us needs a second warning. I scoop Scarlett up, lift her out of the car, jump out and place her down on the ground before I turn to face the twelve large werewolves with gas masks that are now facing us. Before anyone from our group can even attack, they throw something on the ground, and Scarlett gasps as she stumbles back. The strong smell of wolfsbane gas fills our lungs, burning our eyes, and I can taste blood in my mouth.

Fall back! I shout through the mind-link. I’m not sure if they can hear me. If the gas has gotten to them, they may not be able to hear me, but I’m in no state to talk, feeling choked. Scarlett! I reach out for her but she’s nowhere near me. Fuck! She was right beside me! Where is she? Red!

I’m okay, I’m- She is cut off and my senses spiral, worry for her filling me.

Scarlett! I call, trying to find her without sniffing her out; if we inhale too much of this lethal concoction we will die. I can feel it burning my insides as my body fights it far faster than it usually would because I am mated to someone who heals so fast.

I run forward trying to find her and shift, trying to follow any sign of Scarlett. I leap from the smoke, trying to locate her scent. Someone moves towards me and I rip his heart out, scanning the area. Desperation claws through me, the urge to find her intense.

Scarlett! I shout again. That’s when I see her being thrown inside a car before it zooms off the moment the door shuts. NO!

Rage, fear and panic fill every inch of my body, just like the gas that surrounds us. The only difference is the gas tried to cripple me. My rage fuels me.

I can’t lose her. I won’t lose her.

Spotting Liam and the others forced to shift back, unable to hold their wolf form with the wolfsbane gas in their lungs, I whip around. I have to get to her! I break into a run when three more wolves block my way. Anger blazes through me, and I fucking see red.

No one is taking my woman from me, not this time. I attack them in a blind rage. Even though they shift, I’m faster, sinking my teeth into the first and tearing him into several pieces, ripping limb from fucking limb before he can even shift back.

I snarl at the second, with blood and flesh dripping from my teeth. The second one launches himself onto my back and I grab hold of him, ripping him off. Through the haze of smoke, fire and blood I can see the others are locked in fights too.

I manage to rip the throat off the second one, ready to face the third one who has just bitten my leg.

“We need one alive!” Liam’s voice rings through the air, and as much as I want to kill him, Liam is right. He will lead us to Scarlett.

I sink my teeth into his shoulder, injuring him enough that he is forced to shift back, and without his gas mask, the lingering wolfsbane gas makes his open wounds sizzle.

Aaron holds one of the men, ready to end him.

“Alpha, do we need someone to talk?” he asks.

Yes, keep that one alive, I shout to Aaron through the mind-link.

I look at the one in front of me; we only need one. And with that, I rip the werewolf’s head from its body. I look towards the distance; the car is long gone. If I go on foot, I might be able to get to her, but I need to think things through rationally. I might not be able to catch the car, and then I won’t have contact with anyone.

“They took Scarlett. Shit,” Liam mutters, now realising the truth.

“Fuck!” Aaron growls as Marcus looks worried.

We need to regroup, track, and head to Zidane’s pack immediately. They knew we were coming. There is no element of surprise anymore. Shifting back, I walk over to Aaron.

“I need a phone. Call Dad, tell him to inform the allied packs what’s happened, and tell them to step on it. I will contact Rafael,” I order, taking Aaron’s phone from him as Liam takes his out.

My heart races wildly, despite the calmness of my tone. My heart and mind are a tornado of emotions. Scarlett has been taken. If anything happens to her… I take a deep breath. I will not let fear engulf me. This time I will save her.

We don’t head to Rafael’s pack like we initially planned. With what happened, there is no time to regroup or waste any more time; instead, we make our way straight to Zidane’s pack. Aaron is left to torture the man and get any information he can out of him. Aaron is good at that. He’ll have him talking and spilling exactly where they’ve taken Scarlett.

But we were ambushed. Something about this is screaming betrayal, but I have no proof. It means Zidane knew we were coming. But how? And even if the news somehow got to him, how did he know what car Scarlett would be in?

There is no chance it could have been from Candice because she wouldn’t have known what car we were in. Only those in our pack would have known that fact. If there is someone within my own pack who’s betrayed me, then they will pay dearly.

Questions, a hundred questions, but no answers. Blood is pumping through my veins with every passing minute. The emotions that I feel are drowning me. I’ve felt fear for her before, but whatever this is, it’s… terrifying.

What I feel for her, I’m ready to do anything for her. I want to protect her, to keep her safe from everything and I’ve lost her.

I will find out what happened and exactly how it happened.

We reach Zidane’s pack in record time, and although I drove dangerously fast once we were picked up, it has still been a few hours since I last saw Scarlett.

More than half the allied wolves are with us, with a quarter going around the back to close in on them, and a smaller number consisting of the best tracker wolves who are trying to follow any tracks or scents that were left behind. Although the chances are very slim of that, since they were in a car.

We park at the edge of Zidane’s territory of thick trees. There is no choice but to go by foot from here on out.

Rafael places a hand on my shoulder. “We’re right behind you,” he says. I’m about to reply when his brother steps out from behind him, scanning the trees.

“Thanks, but what is he doing here?” He’s only fifteen.

“He refused to stay behind.” Rafael rubs his neck with a sheepish grin. “He’ll be fine.”

“I don’t think he should be here. We need to shift,” I say, we will be a lot faster in wolf form. Alejandro glances at me, his lip curling slightly in a humourless smirk.

“So what? I can keep up,” he says.

I highly doubt that, but I’m too worried about Scarlett to argue with a kid right now. Rafael looks at his brother, then at me, and simply nods.

“He’ll be fine.”

“But something could happen…” I try one final time. I don’t want to put both brothers at risk with them being the only heirs to their pack. But I know how stubborn Rafael is, and Alejandro is at a whole other level.

“To you maybe,” Alejandro smirks cockily.

“Well then, if that’s sorted, let’s go then,” Liam says. Worry and urgency are seeping through the cracks in his calm facade. He’s worried about Scarlett too, his emotions a mess, and he’s on edge.

“He’s right. Let’s go.” With those words, we shift, muscles rippling and claws tearing into the earth as we surge forward. The forest explodes with the thunder of pounding paws. The wind whips past me, tangling through my fur as I push harder, faster, needing to get to her.

I’m coming, Scarlett. Hold on. I’m coming for you.

And Zidane, your time is over. You will not live to see the dawn of another damn day. Your fucking doom isn’t just near, it’s upon you. I am ready to be your executioner, ready to carry out judgement, and I assure you there will be no mercy.

Then I see a blur of a man running past me and my eyes widen in shock.

Alejandro?

The speed he’s running at is… inhuman, even for a werewolf. No, he’s faster than a werewolf, and he’s in human form. What the fuck is he?

I feel a chill go down my spine. There is something off about the boy. No human or wolf can run that fast. I wonder what he is. Rafael has never shared anything extra, but right now, looking at the shadow ahead, I know he’s been keeping things from me. But no matter how much I try to wrap my head around it, I can’t.

How is he doing that?

I speed up, wanting to outrun the boy. I inch closer to him, pushing with everything I have. I am fast. That is something that I have always had an edge on over other alphas.

But even as I come in line with him, he’s still keeping up on his two legs, and he continues to do so as we run side by side as I try to get past him, but it seems no matter how much I try, he is able to match my pace.

“What happened, Alpha? Did your pride just take a hit?” Alejandro mocks as he jumps over tree roots. I can’t reply in wolf form, but I want to ask the boy exactly what he is, because he is not an ordinary teen werewolf. He doesn’t even have his wolf yet...

But the sound of a howl in the distance pulls me from those thoughts, my mind once again rushing back to Scarlett. Is she safe? I push the fear down as I focus on getting to the heart of the Desert Storm Pack.

Soon the trees begin to thin out and I spot members of Zidane’s pack that are stationed across the tree line. It is clear they were expecting us.

I step forward; the plan through Candice was that those who were willing to stand against him knew Scarlett would be here. If Scarlett is here, they most likely know Zidane has her. Would that make them change their mind and instead decide not to help us? I’m not sure, but I need to hope for the best.

Stepping forward, I shift into a man. Rafael and Liam step closer on either side of me, still in wolf form.

“I, Alpha Elijah Westwood of the Blood Moon Pack, and the mate to your future Alpha, Scarlett Malone, am asking you to stand down.” I don’t want to put his name with hers, but that is who they see her as. “Zidane’s ruthless reign ends now. Step down, accept Scarlett as your new Alpha, and we will avoid a lot of bloodshed!” I thunder, my voice carrying to every single werewolf here, letting my Alpha aura surround me.

The sound of thundering hearts, heavy breathing and the shift of claws in the earth fill the air before two of the men smirk coldly.

“We know who you are. Do you think we didn’t know of your plan to come? Not everyone who pretended to side with the old Luna was actually on her side,” one of them taunts.

That was a risk that we knew could happen, but it’s the words he used that make me frown, old Luna… My eyes widen in shock. Is Candice Zidane’s mother?

Now things make sense. She didn’t seem like an omega, and her reaction to Scarlett was because she is her blood. Her grandmother.

“Then you’ve signed your life away,” I say simply, my voice cold as ice. I don’t need to give a signal for my allied wolves to surge forward. I break into a run, rushing at the man who had spoken, shifting in mid-air before tearing his heart out.

If you don’t plan to serve your Alpha, then you are better off dead. And with the first blood spilt by me, the rest roar, the pace for a full-on bloodbath laid out.

And like the wolves we are, we are hungry for more.