The Unwanted Wolf
The Hunted Wolf – Chapter 40

MARK

Adira, I don’t know if you can hear me or not, but I miss you. I miss you so much it hurts. You are my love, and my everything. I will do whatever I can to bring you home. I won’t stop until you are safe in my arms. I just hope you are okay and not hurt. I hope you know that I’m looking for you. I love you more than my heart can handle.

I opened my eyes, anxiously awaiting a reply from Adira. Part of me knew it wasn’t coming. I had made sure to try linking Adira every hour just in case, but each time it went unanswered. I wasn’t going to stop, though. In case she got back in range or woke up or whatever the case might be, I wanted to try to reach out to her.

I got up and headed out of our room. I had to get back to searching for any clues about Adira’s whereabouts. We had found remnants of evidence, but nothing was concrete to know where to even begin to search for her. As careful as they were, there had to be some way of replaceing Adira. When Theron took Adira, somehow I was able to just sense where she was at, but this time was different. It almost felt like there was a block up, stopping our connection all together.

When I opened the door to my room, I was surprised to replace Rie and Scythe standing outside. “Is everything okay?”

“As fine as it can be given the circumstances,” Scythe said.

“Alpha Lyna went to Pack Sallow to ask Jori for assistance with the search. Pack Lyna has a better relationship with Pack Sallow, so we thought Jori might be more cooperative with him. We want to start sending out search parties soon, and the more werewolves we have on our side, the better our chances will be,” Rie explained. “Hopefully we can get the assistance, but Darian and Percy are working together to set up teams and paths we want to search. We are going to start nearby and then expand our borders.”

“She’s not in town,” I said confidently. “I would be able to communicate with her if she was.”

“Not if he used wolfsbane on her,” Scythe reminded. “We don’t want any stone unturned.”

“When are the search parties going out? I want to join them,” I said. I couldn’t just sit here and wait while others searched for my mate.

“No,” Scythe said with authority.

I raised an eyebrow at him. It wasn’t like him to challenge my authority. I was his alpha afterall. “Excuse me?”

“No disrespect, Alpha, but I insist that you do not participate in the search parties, especially while we are searching blind. I know you are desperate to replace Adira. We all are, but we need our alpha here. What if a different search party replaces evidence of where Adira is and you are miles away in the opposite direction? What if another attack happens on the pack house, and you’re not here to help defend everyone? You are not thinking straight, and as your beta, I say you do not go on any search parties now.”

“I agree with him completely,” Rie added. “We respect your opinions and decisions, but your mate is missing. That would cloud anyone’s judgment. We insist on taking over for you on major decision making until we replace Adira. Of course we will still consult you and inform you of everything that is happening.”

I swallowed hard at their words. I knew they were right. I felt desperate to get Adira back, and as much as I was trying to control it, the feeling was still there, simmering just below the surface. They were right not to trust me, because I didn’t fully trust how I would react if something came up. This is why Rie and Scythe were my co-beta’s. I trusted them completely, so if they were telling me they thought it was best they step up for a little while, then I knew I should trust that, too, even if it was hard for me to let go.

“Okay,” I finally said. “But the moment we have any evidence of where Adira might be, I will be on that search and rescue team.”

“And we’ll be right by your side,” Scythe said.

Rie clapped her hands together. “Great, now that that is settled, have you eaten, Mark?”

“I’m fine,” I said. I hadn’t eaten since we confirmed Adira was missing. Thankfully, all other pack members in Pack Lyna and Pack Aphelion were safe and accounted for with minimal injuries, but confirming only Adira was taken made me feel queasy.

Rie poked my chest. “That’s not the question I asked. Have you eaten?”

“No,” I admitted. “But I’m not hungry.”

“Too bad. We are going to go get some food. We can discuss some strategies concerning the next steps while eating to make you feel better, but you need to take care of yourself. What would Adira say if she knew you weren’t eating?” Rie asked.

I frowned at the thought. Adira wouldn’t want me to break down just because she wasn’t here. “Okay,” I agreed, even though I wasn’t sure if I wasn’t sure if I was capable of eating at this moment.

The three of us walked down to the dining room together. The pack house was buzzing with energy once again. It took some time for everyone to fully wake up after whatever magic affected us all. In the morning, it had seemed like the pack house was filled with zombies, so it was nice to see the change.

We made it to the dining room, but before we could grab any food, Alpha Lyna approached us, concern showing on his face.

“We need to talk,” he said.

Scythe furrowed his eyebrows. “You’re back fast.”

Reyland nodded. “We should discuss some things in private. You might want to bring that mate of yours as well.”

Scythe nodded, and his eyes glazed over for a moment as he linked with Percy. He finished and looked at me.

“We can go to one of the conference rooms,” I said. I led the way with the others following close behind me.

We all sat down, and the air in the room felt heavy. We waited for Percy to arrive, so Reyland didn’t have to tell his story more than once. I was on edge, wondering what was so urgent. I didn’t think it had to do with Adira. Reyland wouldn’t have waited to tell me that information. Strangely enough, I was sure he wanted to replace Adira almost as much as I did. It was a little weird to adjust my view of this man. He seemed extremely different from the cold demeanor he put on when we went to visit Adira’s family home.

My opinion of him had also changed since Adira told me the story of how Reyland had kicked her out of the pack house at sixteen. I still think what Reyland did was something I could never do myself. If I ever had a child, I would protect them at all costs. I wondered if I would feel differently if I found out the child wasn’t actually mine, but I doubted I would. Sixteen years was a long time to build a bond, and I knew you didn’t have to be b***d-related to someone for them to be family.

Percy finally entered the conference room and took a seat next to Scythe. “My apologies for being late. I was helping Darian with some things. What’s going on?”

I turned to Reyland, wanting to know the same thing.

Reyland made eye contact with Percy as he spoke. “I went to Pack Sallow to ask for help with this situation. Even though Pack Sallow has become more separated from other werewolf packs, we have had a long-standing relationship with the pack. I thought I could talk to the alpha to get their help. I understand things have been tense with your pack and them, Alpha Mark.

“However, when I got there, I instantly could tell something was going on. The pack members seemed to be tense and confused. I asked to see the alpha, but no one knew where he was. I recognized some of the older members from years ago, and they were able to tell me a little about what’s been going on. Apparently, Jori, their alpha, has been disappearing for long periods of time, and he hasn’t been there for almost a week. Things are in chaos, and I fear the pack is in trouble. As an alpha, I can’t just sit back and watch another werewolf fall apart.”

Reyland turned back to Percy. “I understand you used to be the beta before certain things happened?”

“How did you know that?” Scythe asked.

Reyland looked at him. “I like to learn about wolf packs, and people talk. I have heard quite a bit about the recent events since getting here.”

“What do you want me to do?” Percy asked. “I’m no longer a part of that pack. I was kicked out, and my connection to them was severed by the alpha.”

“You were their beta, and they need help,” Reyland said. “I can’t tell you what to do, but I’m sure you still care about the people you left behind. They need a leader, so I recommend stepping up and at least helping them out right now.”

Percy was quiet as he thought about this. I knew he was in a lot of pain from the way Jori treated him. Percy had been a great beta to the pack, and I understood that Percy went behind Jori’s back, but Jori’s reaction was still extreme. He couldn’t see that Percy had done what he did to protect his pack, not just ours.

“Okay, I’ll check it out at least,” Percy finally said.

Scythe squeezed his hand. “I’ll come with you if you all can spare me for a few hours.”

“I think we can manage that,” I said. Scythe would have been useful here, but something told me there was more going on with Pack Sallow than we knew about. I needed to know more, and if we could get more support from them for the search for Adira, I wanted to take advantage of the situation.

Scythe nodded. “We’ll go now then.” He and Percy got up and left the conference room.

“I’ll go see if Darian needs any assistance while Percy is gone,” Rie said, getting up herself. Before she left, she turned back to me. “Don’t forget to eat.” She emphasized her seriousness by pointing a finger at me. She then left the room, leaving Reyland and myself alone.

I stood up, assuming the meeting was over, but Reyland cleared his throat, drawing my attention. I sat back down and looked at him.

“I hate to bring this up, but is there any chance this Jori guy has something to do with Adira’s kidnapping?” Reyland asked. “I don’t know all of the details, but the two of them have some sort of history, yes?”

“Yes. They were also fated mates. Adira chose me over him,” I explained.

“What do you mean they were also fated mates? Werewolves can only have one mate,” Reyland said.

“Since Adira has a dual nature, this caused her to have two mates, I guess. I’ll admit I don’t fully understand the how or why, but I guess I am her werewolf side’s mate, and Jori was her sorcerer side’s mate,” I said. “It’s possible that he was involved, I suppose. Jori has been acting strange and aggressive the last few times I’ve seen him, but I didn’t think he was capable of kidnapping someone else’s mate. The timing does seem too aligned to be coincidental.”

“We need to replace this alpha just to be sure,” Reyland said. “If there’s any chance that he knows anything, we have to explore the possibility. It would be easier to track another werewolf, too, compared to a sorcerer.”

I nodded in agreement. I found my fists curling at the thought of Jori taking my mate. We hadn’t been friends in a long time, but I knew Jori. At least I thought I did. He had been my best friend growing up. He had his moments of being a d**k, but overall, there was still goodness in him. I knew that much. I wasn’t about to write him off as a possibility though.

Alpha, are you busy? There’s something I need to discuss with you, Doctor Zayla linked me.

I looked at Reyland. “Something is requiring my attention momentarily, so I must get going, but I agree. We should replace Jori. If anything, it will rule him out as a possibility.”