The Alpha and his Mate
Chapter 36

Jax’s PoV

We were all in position. We were just lying in wait on the border of Alpha Matthews territory for the signal from one of our guys so that we could finally put our plan into action.

My skin was itching to shift, to run and replace my Annabelle, but I knew that if I did that then I would be putting everyone’s life in danger. The plan we had would work, I just had to be patient and hope that I wasn’t too late.

Finally, after what felt like hours, we got the signal that we could move in. We had decided to stay in human form until the last possible second. Not only will it save our energy for when it really counted, it would also give us the element of surprise we desperately needed.

When we shifted into our wolf form our scent was ten times stronger. It was used for when we went on hunting trips so that we could replace each other more easily, it could also be used for defence though. As a pack we would be able to smell an attack a lot easier when the enemy was in their wolf form. It was a great advantage when we were on the defence, but now that we were on the attack we needed to make sure we weren’t easily spotted.

We stalked forward through the forest, on high alert for any form of noise that seemed out the ordinary, but as we made our way forward and we still heard nothing I started to become suspicious. Surely, we would have seen at least one wolf on patrol by now?

‘Henry what do you think of the situation? Call me crazy but the lack of border patrol is putting me on edge’ I mind linked one of my warriors who standing not to far from me.

He glanced over at me as for a second, acknowledging my concerns, but that was enough for me to get my answer. He wasn’t liking this either.

Just as I was about break out of the treeline and take another step closer to the bunker and to the heart of the pack I felt a splitting pain erupted in my brain, like someone was trying to forcibly rip something from there.

I staggered backwards at the pain as my legs started to give out, what the hell was going on? I forced my lips to remain sealed so as not to give our position away, but if anything that just made the pain worse.

‘Alpha are you okay?’ Henry asked as he ran over to me in concern, thoughts of stealth going out the window as he ran the short distance towards me through the treeline.

‘I don’t...’ I tried to respond but couldn’t as I felt the pack link started to shatter.

All of a sudden I had a small moment of clarity as I thought about what Annabelle had told me. Matthew had been planning to performing the breaking and mating ceremony on her.

My wolf was on full alert now, the pain being pushed to the back of my mind, as I jumped into gear. We would not let some little Alpha pup steal what was rightfully ours.

I let out a ferocious roar, intending it to reach each and every person who was in this territory. Not only did I want to let the other Alphas know that I was going in for the kill, I wanted Matthew to know that I was coming for him.

I shifted into my wolf form in a flash as I began running towards the bunker where Annabelle has said she was being held. It was as if I had tunnel vision, my mind becoming solely focused on the slightly raised bit on land in front of me, the door to the bunker hidden in the shadows as the grass grew over the archway.

I suddenly stumbled in my advance on the bunker, along with everyone else in my pack, as I heard Annabelle’s cry for help though the bond. I was frozen for a second as I marvelled at the sheer strength it would have taken her and her wolf to project a message through the pack link, especially when she hadn’t been fully integrated into it yet.

‘I’m coming baby, just hold on for me’ I tried to tell her as I made it to the bunker, skidding to a stop just outside the door leading down into the cells. I began to descend the concrete staircase but froze when I didn’t smell her scent. She was no longer here.

‘Henry check the bunker out’ I ordered as I turned and started to follow where her scent lead.

I paused as I saw out of the corner of my eye Henry and a few of my other warriors fighting with the guards who had obviously heard us coming. I stalled in my departure, waiting to see if they would need my help in handling the situation, but sighed when I saw that they were quickly dealt with. They would be fine without me.

I focused back onto the task at hand as I ran with my nose close to the ground, trying to pick up any traces of Annabelle’s scent that I could replace. It wasn’t her normal scent that I was following, more a combination of her natural smell mixed in with different peoples blood and urine. It was clear that they hadn’t been looking after them whilst they had been here, even refusing to give them the basic decency of using a toilet when they needed it. I’m not even that cruel when we in capture rogues on the rare occasions when we need to get more information out of someone.

Her scent of vanilla and strawberries was also mixed with another, someone I faintly recognised as fake pine and burnt plastic, and I growled at who ever was so close to her that their scents had merged together on their walk over from the bunker to their new location. I had a feeling that this particular smell belonged to a certain Alpha Matthew, even though half of his pack took it upon themselves to disguise themselves I guessed that he wouldn’t let anyone else deal with Annabelle, just in case she got away. I growled as his stench filled my nostrils and I took comfort in the fact that this was going to be the stench I would be smelling as I watched the life drain from his eyes as I slowly killed him for harming my mate and pack.

I slowed when I heard a load scream coming from a few hundred yards in front of me and I sprinted through the tree line to try and determine where exactly it had come from. There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt in my mind that, that scream belonged to my Annabelle and I was determined to get to her before they could take her away from me for good.

‘Annabelle!’ I screamed in my head as I continued to sprint forward, gaining momentum with every step that I took towards her, as if the closer she was to me the stronger my wolf became.

‘Annabelle’s in trouble’ I yelled through the link as I pounced on an unsuspecting guard before carrying on. ‘Attack now!’ I yelled as I jumped over a small hedge and came face to face with a crowd of people, all staring at the porch of a house with three people on it. One of them been my Annabelle.

My little Annabelle had been stabbed in the hand, forcing her to join with another male whom I’m guessing was Alpha Matthew as they lay passed out on the wooden porch. Her body was battered and bruised all over with the appearance of makeup covering her skin to try and hide the trauma it had been through; unsuccessfully might I add. Her feet and lips were an alarming blue, indicating that she was ice cold and the white sleeveless dress she had been forced to wear was smeared in red as her hand dripped blood, staining the fabric.

I made a move to go and help her off the floor, wanting desperately to feel her warm skin against mine to reassure myself that she was still alive, but tripped in my stride towards her a the blinding pain in my head reappeared. This time though it was ten times worse, as I watched my Annabelle convulse on the floor slightly as the bond tried to be ripped apart from within our minds.

‘No!’ I screamed in my head as I tried desperately to grip onto the bond that I shared with Annabelle. It was kind of like an elastic band being stretched so much it had snapped and I was stuck in the middle of it, trying to hold the two parts together with sheer will.

My brain snapped back into gear when the bond had momentarily mended itself, like it had slapped a plaster on the issue so that I could refocus on the task at hand and get to my Annabelle before she detreated any further. The ceremony that she had been forced to partake in was dangerous, it had never been performed enough in our history to get any specific statistics on it but the survival rate of the wolves who took part in it were slim to none.

The mating bond formed by the Moon Goddess between two werewolves was a complicated one. Not only was it between two individuals in our human form, it was also formed between out two wolves. The spell causing the bond to break could sometimes only break one and not the other, or our wolves could simply not let go of their mate and be ripped from our minds entirely. Both complications were fairly common, and all resulted in death for one of both of the mated pair. It was as if our brain was spit in two with the indecisiveness of what to do.

I shook my head to try and refocus my brain before locking eyes on the male who was, with the help of a dagger, attached to my mate. I growled in anger as I ran towards Alpha Matthew at a full sprint, ready for any attack from the crowd surrounding him that would come my way. To my surprise though nothing happened, they just watched me pass with glazed over eyes as the took in the sight of me running up to their Alpha. Some of them didn’t even bother to get out of my way as I ran through them, I ended up having to actively try and dodge them as I kept my focus on the three figures still there on the porch steps.

The witch was leaning over both of their passed out forms as she sprinkled something over their still joined hands and muttered some form of incantation, her mouth moving to fast for me to figure out what she was saying. The wind whipped around her feet as she suddenly lifted her hands up to the heavens, the power of her voice gaining with every syllable she muttered. The bond wobbled again as the witch continued her spell but held strong against her as she frowned down at my mate in confusion, wondering why her spell wasn’t working.

I had to think fast as I paused and took in the situation around me. My pack, along with our allies, were easily taking care of Matthews warriors fairly easily, quickly understanding that the only ones that we needed to worry about were the ones that smelled of plastic. The rest were quickly forgotten about as they just continued to stare ahead with an inhuman blankness in their eyes.

The only real threat that remained was the witch herself, who was alternating between continuing the spell and checking her surroundings, her eye’s like a snake as she took everything in.

As if she felt my eyes on her she suddenly looked up from what she was doing and stared in my direction, eyes as black as the night looking deep into my soul. I shuddered as a cold chill surrounded me, feeling as if her cold, bony fingers were crawling up my spine. I shook it off though, telling myself that it was all in my head as I started stalking towards her, keeping my body low and wound tight just in case she decided to try anything.

As I got crept my way closer I could just about make out my Annabelle’s heart beat as I flicked my eyes between focusing on her and my opponent in front of me. The knowledge that she was, in fact, alive made me relax enough for me to focus on this witch in front of me. She was alive. I hadn’t failed yet.

“Hello pup” the witch sneered at me as she bent down and placed her hand on the hilt of the dagger currently resting in between the bones of my little mates’ hand. “Come to join the celebrations?”

I growled as she slowly started to remove the dagger from Annabelle’s skin, worryingly though she didn’t even bat an eyelid, as the slightly ridged blade tore through her skin. Blood continued to drip out of her wound as it pooling around her and onto the wooden floor, her once white dress now turning red with every second that passed.

I wish I could speak, asked her why she was doing this to us, but seeing as she wasn’t pack and I was currently in wolf form, I didn’t have a hope of communicating with her.

“You’re wondering why aren’t you?” She asked, amusement lacing in her tone as she stared deep into my eyes, her dagger held at waist height as she pointed it in my direction.

I just carried on staring at her, waiting for the moment where her attention was distracted enough so that I could strike without fear of the blade digging into my underbelly.

The battle was still going on around us, cried of pain and sounds of ripping flesh could be heard throughout the clearing as our packs made light work of Matthews loyal followers. Most of them had been rogues, judging by their physical appearance and lack of personal hygiene, so there wasn’t much love lost as I heard them one by one being taken down.

“Well it’s fairly simple really” she sighed as she smirked over at me, drawing my focus back on her. “I wanted to destroy your little Moon Goddess as much as Matthew here did” she laughed as she kicked Matthew in the arm with the toe of her boot. “With her out of the picture your species would inevitably crumble, leaving us witches with more land and resources then we would know what to do with. Just like how it was back in the good old days when your filthy little species didn’t exist” she sneered, her voice hissing as she delivered her words.

I squinted my eyes at her as I tried to refrain from portraying the shock that I was currently feeling. If she was telling the truth then she was alive before werewolves even existed, she must be at least one or maybe even two thousand years old. Well I have to admit she was looking good for her age, passing for someone in their mid-thirties. I pushed that through from my mind though and re-focused on the witch. She was more than likely trying to distract me so that she could catch me off guard and make me vulnerable.

I took a step towards her, testing the waters to see what she would do if I did decide to advance on her, but the witch just laughed at my tentative move and took a step in my direction. The gap between us was now only a few short steps, making it extremely easy for the other to lunge in our direction and make contact before the other person could even blink.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you pup” the witch smirked, amused at my defensive stance that I’d taken. “I’ve been on this world a lot longer than you could even imagine and I could take you out of it just as easily as I have done with hundreds of others of your filthy kind.”

I growled at the threat as I crouched down, ready for an attack. She had this gleam in her eye which told me that not only was she telling the truth about killing hundreds of my people, she also enjoyed doing it.

I continued to growl as I stared her down. If this was my time, the I was going to go down fighting.

“Oh pup, you have no idea do you” the witch sighed with an almost condescending tone to her voice, as if she was talking to a child, before she tightened her grip on the dagger’s handle and pounced on me.

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