Page 5

Chapter Four

Drayton

M y hands grip the arms of my chair, the wood slowly cracking under the pressure, as I try to keep my shit together as much as possible at this moment.

Penn, my fucking beta and the best friend of my little brother, has gone missing from my own land, and no one has any news for me.

It takes every ounce of self-control that I have to not shift right here, right now and tear the fucking world apart until I find him.

No one fucks with my pack.

“How is it possible that the scent ends? Even if they got in a car, you would still be able to smell their scents.” My voice is clipped and deep, my clenched teeth betraying just how on edge I am at this moment.

“I don’t know, Alpha.” The young pup looks down, shuffling his feet from side to side as he figures out how to explain something he doesn’t understand.

Alaric places a hand on my shoulder briefly, letting me know that I need to calm down and think this through.

After a couple deep breaths, I dismiss the young wolf and place my head in my hands.

My body is vibrating with excess adrenaline from the anger.

How fucking dare someone come onto my land and take my packmate.

When I get my hands on whoever did this, death will be a fucking mercy for them.

“We’ll find him,” Alaric grumbles, stepping in front of my desk.

“Everybody makes at least one mistake, and I’ll find which one they made then use it to track them. We’re going to bring him home.”

Alaric crosses his arms in front of his chest, making him look extra intimidating.

It’s one of the reasons I picked him to be the enforcer when I became alpha.

At six foot four with two hundred and eighty pounds of mostly muscle, he’s an absolute powerhouse with a black wolf form to match.

Alaric Maguire is also one of the most level-headed and loyal wolves I’ve ever met.

There was no competition for him as my enforcer.

The guy looks like he stepped off a Nordic Viking ship and decided to live the modern life.

Moving my head side to side, I crack my neck in an attempt to release some of the tension and stiffness from my body.

It’s really no use, not when it is caused by anger and anxiety over Penn.

“They made the biggest fucking mistake they could have made,” I spit out between clenched teeth.

“They fucked with the Forntida pack and nobody survives that.”

“Damn fucking straight, brother.” Alaric cracks his knuckles, the bloodlust he’s famous for dancing in his eyes.

“I’m going to head back out to the scene of the kidnapping and find the missing link. Have you called Forrester yet?”

Grimacing, I glance at my cell phone, shaking my head silently.

“I don’t know what the fuck to say. He’s going to fucking lose it when he hears Penn is gone.”

“He still deserves to know,” Alaric says, rapping his knuckles against the wood of the desk before turning to walk out.

“Pick up that phone and call him. He’ll want to be here when we go after Penn.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

This is a conversation I really don’t want to have.

Forrester hates me enough as is, he’s going to despise me after this.

He blames me for our father’s death, and now, he’ll blame me for Penn’s disappearance.

One has nothing to do with me, but the second is my fault.

Penn never should have been patrolling on his own, it’s one of our rules in the pack.

It’s one I also haven’t been enforcing lately.

I let the fact that it’s been quiet lull me into a false sense of security, and Penn is paying the price for that mistake.

Picking up my phone, I turn it around and around in my hands, putting off the inevitable call.

Alaric is right, he deserves to know.

It doesn’t matter what this will do to our already fragile relationship.

Penn is the brother he wishes he had, I can’t leave him in the dark longer than I already have.

My mind is numb as I unlock the phone and pull up his name.

It’s time to set my wounded brother hat aside and be the alpha of this pack.

Even though Forrester left to see what else is out there, he’s still a part of this pack and that means he needs to be informed.

This isn’t a brother to brother call, it’s an alpha to packmate call.

If I compartmentalise my roles, maybe I can get through this without snapping and making things worse.

The phone rings twice before going to voicemail, the bastard declined my call.

Am I surprised?

No.

Am I pissed?

Hell fucking yes, I am.

Hitting his name again, I immediately call him back.

It takes two more tries until he answers the fucking phone, and by this point, I’m angry as fuck.

“What?” Forrester barks into the phone, his disobedience pissing my wolf off on top of me already being ready to wring his neck.

“You will answer the first fucking time I call,” I snap into the phone, my alpha growl coming out.

“I’ve kept my word about giving you space while you find yourself or whatever hippy dippy bullshit you’re spewing. That means when I’m calling, I have a damn good reason for it, so you. Will. Answer. My. Call.”

“Then spit it out already,” Forrester growls back, his tone practically oozing disrespect.

If he was in front of me, I just know his eyes would be rolling because he knows it pisses me off.

“We’ve had an incident with the pack,” I speak slowly, containing as much of my rage as I can.

This next part will be hard enough without me practically screaming it at him.

“It’s Penn.”

“WHAT?” Forrester yells into the phone, his breathing growing erratic and uneven.

“What kind of incident? Is he okay?!”

“We don’t know,” I admit, the anxiety and frustration over how little we know eating away the rest of my anger towards Forrester.

“He’s been kidnapped from pack property. We found his blood and the remnants of nightshade poison. We believe he’s still alive, but we’re still trying to find a lead. Whoever took him covered their tracks better than we’ve ever seen.”

The line is silent for a while, his heavy breathing the only indication I have that he’s still there.

While he’s processing, I turn to the security wall, tracing my eyes over the cameras for the millionth time since we discovered the breach.

They still look the same as they did every moment since Penn went missing.

“I’m coming back,” Forrester says softly, his voice startling me after the silence.

“Get my room ready.” The line goes dead after that, the heaviness of the moment still hanging on.

“It’s always been ready,” I say out loud, staring at the black screen of my phone.

There’s so many things I want to say to my brother, but both, I’m sorry and come home are definitely top of the list.

If I thought he would actually listen, I’d say it in a heartbeat.

He doesn’t want anything from me, least of all words he can’t trust, so instead I stay silent, giving him the only thing he does want, distance.

Running in wolf form is one of the most freeing feelings in the world.

It’s like stripping everything down to the most basic needs and wants, no extra emotions weighing you down.

Wolves don’t understand the complexity of human emotions, they run on instincts and the simplicity of their needs.

It’s been six hours since the call with Forrester.

It’s been twenty five hours since Penn went missing.

It’s only been a matter of minutes since Alaric called me and told me I needed to get down to the west property line.

Finally, we have something.

The pack has been up in arms since Penn went missing.

Everyone is desperate for any information we can give them.

We all feel uneasy, scared even, about the breach of our packlands.

Wes hasn't left the scene of the kidnapping since he got there thirty minutes after it happened. Alaric has been back and forth, informing me of anything found, or more likely not found, and helping Wes investigate. I've wanted so badly to be there with them, scouring the forest for clues or hunting down the fuckers who did this.

As alpha, I'm needed with the pack, though. I'm needed to soothe everyone's fears. I'm needed to keep the pack running in the midst of chaos.

There's no one that can do my job, so I need to delegate the investigation to the two men, three when Forrester gets here, that I trust more than anyone else.

The smell of my packmates hits my nose, the stale metallic scent of Penn's blood mixed in with it.

I haven't been back here since we first discovered he went missing, and the rage and worry that filled me then, is still strong now. We need to bring him home and we need to do it soon. My wolf huffs his agreement just before we jump over a bush, into the small clearing where the others are.

Shifting back to my human form, I see one of the younger wolves standing guard glare at me from his post. Standing still, I make direct eye contact with him, my face stone-cold and serious. He quickly darts his eyes down, his shoulders moving more erratically with his heavy breathing.

Alaric chuckles, his eyes on the young wolf as he shakes his head. “They’ll learn, eventually,” he comments loud enough for the wolf to hear. The young wolf hunches over, trying to make himself smaller in order to disappear.

“Yeah, but how long is eventually?” I murmur to Alaric and Wes, keeping my voice low as I approach them. “Bullshit like the animosity from some of the pack is why one of our own got taken off our property with no one seeing.”

Wes nods his agreement, his long, brown hair that’s pulled back in a haphazard bun on the back of his head coming loose with the movement. Alaric still has a half smirk on his face, the amusement dancing in his eyes more sinister looking by the second.

"I'll change that," Alaric growls, his eyes giving away the predator he is as he watches the young wolf as if he's the prey. "It won't take long for me to remind them where their allegiance lies."

"Right," Wes scoffs out, humour undertoning his voice. "All you'll do is knock some heads together and threaten them that if they get out of line you'll kill them happily."

"Exactly." Alaric grins, like Wes is laying out his perfect plan in awe. Wes shakes his head in response, the eye roll that accompanies it a trademark of his.

"All you're going to do is incite Marcus to make the late alpha more of a martyr. This isn't the kind of situation you can come at with force and expect to fix. These packmates think Dray killed the previous alpha, with your help, to take over the pack because that's what Marcus spread. Violence is going to make the divide worse," Wes explains to Alaric, making sure to emphasise worse to drive the point home. Alaric huffs, finally releasing his prey from his gaze, and turns to face me completely.

Wes' light brown eyes meet mine, the exasperation he feels for Alaric shining clear as day. There's also brotherly love there, that he tries so hard to hide in these moments. They got on each other's nerves often, the two of them. Like real brothers. Like Forrester and, well, not me, but Penn.

"You called me here because you had news," I snap accidentally, pinching the bridge of my nose to hold back the irritation I feel towards myself. They don't need me taking my shit out on them. "Please tell me it's good news."

"It's news," Wes says, shrugging his shoulders and scratching his beard that’s become a little unruly in the past couple days. "We haven't figured out if it's good, bad, or somewhere in between."

Nodding my head in understanding, I release a deep breath. "Okay, lay it on me."

Wes takes the lead, walking over to the tree line about twenty feet to my left. "The biggest things bothering us have been how did the people that took Penn get on the property and why did their scent, including Penn's, disappear --"

"I'd say number one is who they are, but go on," Alaric throws out, anger darkening his blue eyes.

"No shit, I meant the mysteries that will lead us to that, dumbass," Wes snaps, throwing his shoulder against Alaric's arm, causing him to stagger back a step from the surprise. Alaric cocks his jaw to the side, giving him a devilish look about him. He looks like he’s about two seconds away from going after Wes.

"Enough!" I bark out, making both of them drop their eyes in understanding. "We need to deal with this shit and bring Penn home. I know you both are using these moments to cope with the reality of what happened, but for right now, I need you to stay focused. Go on, Wes."

"Right, like I was saying," Wes continues on while Alaric and I listen and scout the forest. "We think we found how they entered the property and stayed hidden until a lone wolf approached them. They used a form of nightshade poison, on their shoes, clothes, and aerosolized it in the air, enough that we would smell it and avoid the area, but not so much that we would become concerned. Remember how a lot of the patrols kept coming back and saying they weren’t feeling well? I think that’s the same time they must have entered to wait.”

“That started about two weeks ago, didn’t it? They couldn’t have been lying in wait that long?” I ask, walking forward and stopping just inside the trees. The air smells clean to me, but when I crouch down, I see what Wes is talking about. There’s the faintest hint of nightshade with a stronger aroma masking it. “Is that sea salt and brine on top of it?”

“It is.” Wes grins, his wolfish side coming through strongly. “They used ocean water to mix with the nightshade. If you take note of the briny smell, it has a very distinct musty odor from the algae in the water. That means they took the water directly from the ocean to mix this concoction.”

Wes looks extremely excited, but I have to admit, I’m lost on how this helps us in any way. We aren’t directly on the coast, yet we’re close enough that it doesn’t seem like enough evidence to point to anything.

“Lay it out for me like I’m five. You look really excited about this, but I’m failing to understand how this can help us out.” Standing up, I lean my back onto one of the trees, barely noticing the rough bark scratching against my bare skin. Wes steps further into the trees before bending down and grabbing a handful of dirt.

“This is dirt,” Wes explains, releasing the dirt slowly from his grip. My brow furrows, my eyes looking over at Alaric who’s holding back a laugh. He shrugs at me and nods his head towards Wes to indicate I should listen. “While most people think dirt is just dirt, it’s actually a lot more complex than that. The composition of it changes based on the location and environment. I think we can use the algae and brine smell to narrow down where the people are located and then cross reference that with our security watch list and see if we can come up with a match.”

“We find the algae, we find the culprits, we find Penn,” I say it all slowly, connecting the dots in my head and pulling up a mental to-do list of what needs to be done. “Do you think you can narrow down the algae quickly?”

“I do,” Wes confirms confidently, his eyes already glowing to show his wolf form. “My wolf and I can use our powers to test and track the source of the algae. It should only take us about twelve hours, give or take.”

“Good. I want you to take at least two wolves with you, I don’t care who. None of us go out alone until this is dealt with. Alaric, I need you with me though. We need to start narrowing down the list of the threats on the coast so that when Wes and his team get back, we can narrow it down and go immediately.”

“Got it.” Alaric gives a nod, all signs of the joking man from before gone and all that’s left is the enforcer of the Forntida pack.

“I’m going with you, Wes.” A voice says from behind us, the sound both relieving and painful at the same time. Forrester steps up to the group, his dark hair wet with sweat from the run here, his light green eyes cold and hard as he looks between all of us.

“Forrester,” I say, a slight nod to my head. “I agree. Now that you are here, you should accompany Wes as he tracks. Your powers should be able to help speed up the process some.”

“No, shit,” he snaps at me, his face turning in disgust. “I wasn’t asking for permission from you, Alpha . I don’t take orders from people like you.”

“People like me?” I step forward, my teeth bared to hide the pain his words caused. The word that comes out of his mouth next is one he’s thrown at me a hundred times, yet the apparently masochistic part of me wants to hear him say it again. My heart needs a reminder of what he thinks of me.

“Murderers.”