Chapter 1
1
Reece
Slowly, I sat up and groaned. My eyes flew open and I gasped. "Asher!" I croaked out, my voice dry and cracked. "Asher!" My eyes darted around the dark room, hoping to find any source of light. I tried to clear my throat.
"Hello?" I called out a little louder. "Hello? Is anyone there? Hello!"
"Reece?" Lana? "Reece, is that you?"
"Lana!" I tried to hold back my tears. "Lana, where are you?!"
"I don't know!" She sounded pretty far away. "It's so dark!" I touched my face, only touching skin. So we're not wearing those blinders. The room is just as black as if we were to close our eyes.
"Lana, keep speaking!" I told her as I got onto my hands and knees. "Tell me what happened, and I'll use the sound of your voice to find you."
"Okay..." I started following her voice. "Well, I'd gone to the mall with a few human friends from school, and we somehow got separated. I had to use the bathroom then. When I came back out, I felt this terrible jolt of pain on the back of my neck and I blacked out. That's all I really remember."
I touched something. "Eek! That's my ass! Hands off!" Mine were swatted away.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" I apologized. "I thought you were Lana!"
I heard someone shift their position to maybe a sitting position. "No, I'm not Lana. I'm Ingrid, Alpha Signih's mate."
"Signih?" I thought back to when Asher was telling me about the different packs. "Isn't he the war veteran?"
"Yeah, that's him." A hand touched my shoulder.
"Reece?"
"Lana!" I turned towards the voice and threw my arms around her. "Lana, where are we?"
She lightly rubbed my back. "I don't know. Do you, Ingrid?"
"Sorry, Lana." She sighed. "I don't. I just woke up to her touching my ass, but I have no idea where I am."
"Damn..." Lana huffed and sat back. "Do we know if anyone else is down here? Hello!"
"Wha...?" There was a loud groan. "Who's there?"
"Bennie?" Lana called out? "That you?"
"Collen?" Bennie sounded like she sat up. "Eep! Nope! Why is it so dark?!" She began to hyperventilate.
"Bennie, calm down!" Lana urged. "Follow the sound of my voice, honey. Please, Bennie."
"We gotta find her ourselves," Ingrid said. "She's deathly afraid of the dark. C'mon." We followed the sound of the ragged breathing as best we could. Soon, we reached her. I reached a hand out and felt that she was shaking like a leaf and curled up into her self.
"Bennie?" I asked softly as I lightly rubbed her back. "Bennie, it's okay. We're right here. I'm Reece, Beta Asher's mate. We're here for you." We crowded around her as best we could. Eventually, she began to calm down.
"Where are we?" she asked.
I shook my head. "We don't know. We all just woke up not too long ago."
"Who's in here?" Her hand touched my shoulder.
"Ingrid, Alpha Signih's mate," Ingrid replied.
"Lana, Alpha Nyl's mate." Lana said softly.
"And I'm Reece, as I already told you."
Bennie swallowed hard. "Bennitta, Beta Collen's mate. I wanna get out of here..."
"We all do... Hey, wait a sec..."
"What is it, Lana?" I asked in her general direction.
"What's this on your neck?"
"My neck?" Bennie sounded confused. "I don't know... It's never been there before."
"Let me see." I felt around for her neck and apologized when I accidentally touched her breasts. "That feels like a very thin sheet of metal... It's there as if it's part of your skin. You can move your neck, right?" I felt the muscles bunch as she moved.
"Yeah, but I don't feel it." Her hand touched my arm. "This is so strange..."
I reached my hand out. "Oops, sorry, Lana." I brought my hand up from Lana's chest and touched her neck. "You have it, too, Lana."
"What?!" My hand was brushed away. "Oh my God! That's where Nyl marked me!"
"Hey, now that I think about it, this is where Collen marked me!"
Ingrid gasped. "Guys, I think we all have it!"
My hand flew to my neck and touched the silver. "They're blocking our marks to keep our mates from finding us. I had a somewhat similar encounter when I was in Texas. The reservation I was taken to had a blocker around it, I had a charm on, and Asher couldn't find me."
"This is sick!" I heard Lana get to her feet. "Where are the cowards! Show yourself! I demand to know who did this to us!"
"Lana, please sit." I tugged on her pants. "No one's there. We're alone."
"They have to be watching us somehow," Ingrid said. "They can't just leave us here unsupervised. We're women, probably one of the smartest species."
I stood. "I wanna try something." I took careful steps and kept my hands in front of me. Twenty paces, I touched a wall. "Wall," I announced as I followed it.
"Wall," I found the corner where they meet up. I counted softly to myself as I kept my hand on the wall and followed it.
"Uh, Reece?" Ingrid sounded confused. "What're you doing?"
I reached fifty steps at the next corner. "I'm trying to see how big this room is. Oh, and wall." I paced that one and found the next corner. "Wall. Okay, so this room is about fifty paces by twenty paces. I wonder if I can find a door..." I kept my hand pressed to the rough, brick wall.
"Wall... Oh! Door!" They gasped. "Door! I found a door! Damn it, it's locked tight." They groaned, defeat evident in their tone. "At least we know where it is, now. Hey, do you guys see that light?" I blinked and rubbed my eyes. Everything was blurry.
"Reece, I don't see anything." I followed Lana's voice. "You must be seeing things."
I sat and rubbed my eyes harder. "Ow... Ow! Ugh! My eyes are so dry..." I pulled my hands from my eyes and carefully blinked them against the sudden brightness. "Uh, guys? I think we're in a storm shelter. Everything is brick and concrete."
"How can you see?!" Ingrid gasped. Was it Ingrid? It could be Bennie. I already know Lana.
I shook my head. "I don't know..." I touched who I thought was Ingrid. "You're Ingrid, right?" She nodded. I stared at her beautiful, honey blonde hair. Even though it was a ratted mess, it still hung in small curls. It flowed down a bit past her shoulders.
"Have your eyes always been a clouded green?" I asked her.
"Clouded?" she shook her head. "They're more of an emerald." Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh my God! They gave us some liquid to make us go blind!"
"Ingrid, Ingrid!" I shook her shoulders. "It'll wear off! It did for me! Just give it time!"
"Hey, I see the light, too." I glanced over at Lana. "Agh, now my eyes burn..." She then began to rub them.
"Just keep rubbing them," I told her. "You'll be able to get the stuff out sooner or later. See, Ingrid. It was only temporary."
She nodded. I slowly crawled away from her and went in front of Bennie. Her hair was pixie styled and a rich, dark brown. Her eyes were clouded, but I could see that they were the same as her hair color.
"You'll be able to see again soon, alright?" She nodded and reached for me. I took her hand and squeezed it tightly.
"Ah, yes!" I looked over to Ingrid as she furiously wiped at her eyes. "Sight, come back to me!"
I looked back to Bennie to see the film in her eyes start to diminish. She brought her hands to her eyes and began to rub. She uncurled herself and I gasped through my nose. She looks to be due for a child any day now.
"Um, Bennie?" she looked up at me. "How far along are you?"
She placed a hand on her bloated stomach. "I should be due in about a week or so. I just hope I can get out of here before the baby comes."
I nodded. "Same here. I at least hope they feed us..."
"I know..." She rubbed her eyes some more, then blinked. "Wow, you're right. We are in a storm shelter of some sort." She slowly glanced around. "But why are we here?"
Ingrid and Lana came closer to us. "I don't know, but we have to find a way out of here."
"Agreed." Lana chimed in. I noticed that her hands were over her stomach. She's at least three months along now. "I can't stand it in here."
"Okay, I know this is completely off topic, but are we all pregnant?" I asked out of the blue.
Lana and Bennie nodded while Ingrid bit her lip. "I found out today -or was it yesterday?- that I'm pregnant. I didn't get to tell Signih yet, because I was then stolen away."
I nodded slowly. "So, you're almost due," I pointed at Bennie. "You're about three months in, you just found out, and I'm about two-ish months, give or take a week or two."
Lana nodded. "There's one thing I know about Rogues, since I was one before Nyl found me, is that they will never harm a pregnant woman. They won't hurt them after the child is born, either. They call it Honor for the Woman, or something like that."
"You were a Rogue?" I questioned.
She nodded. "By choice, too. I wanted to leave my pack because the Alpha was a mean, old brute who liked to beat everyone. Imagine my reaction when I found out that Nyl was my mate." She chuckled. "But I do love him, and I'm glad I decided to give him a chance instead of rejecting him."
We all jumped when a heavy lock turned. We looked to the door and a heavyset man walked into the room. The muscles on his arms rippled as he shut the door and blocked it. "Are you all meaning to tell me you're pregnant?"
Hesitantly, we nodded as one.
A wicked smirk spread across his lips. "And Signih doesn't know you're pregnant?" Ingrid shook her head. His hands clapped together once. "This is fantastic! All the more reason to get your mates riled up! Maybe they'll be able to meet our demands faster! Oh, and we'll be giving you your dinner in about an hour." He strode out of the room and locked it tightly behind him.
I glared at the door. "What demands? And how did he know we were talking about pregnancy?"
"They might have speakers," Ingrid stated. We glanced around the room, hoping to see at least one. "This room seems pretty sound proof. They wouldn't be able to hear us through the door, given the thick metal and all."
"Sound proof..." I looked into my lap. "The room I was in when I was first kidnapped by Rogues was sound proof. It must be the norm, or something." I clutched at my hair. "No one can hear us. We're trapped. There's no way out. Our mates will never find us." My breath hitched. No... No, I don't need a panic attack now!
"Reece, calm down!" Lana urged. I jerked away from her touch.
"Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" My breathing was broken and gasped. "We're trapped! We'll never see the sun again!" I screamed and fell to my knees, my hands tangled in my hair. There was suddenly a sharp pain in my shoulder.
Who's hurting me?! I flung out with my hand and connected with skin. I jerked away from the person. They're hurting me! They're hurting me! The Rogues are hurting me!
"Don't touch me!" I screamed again. "I want out! Let me out! I don't wanna be trapped forever!" More pain wracked through my back, neck, and scalp.
My hands were suddenly ripped away from my head and I thrashed about like a fish. "Please don't hurt me! Asher! Asher! ASHER!!"I gasped at a sudden pressure in my arm. Within seconds, I passed out.
------------
Asher
I paced around my room with Reece's favorite shirt pressed tightly to my nose. It's the only thing keeping Carmon and myself sane right now. It's been three days now, and we still have no lead on where the girls are.
We've checked all the abandoned places within the pack boundaries and we've found nothing. Carmon was even more on edge than he's ever been. Just knowing that Reece is no where to be found and is pregnant with our child, it sends him into a fury when we find nothing.
To keep Alpha Victoria safe, we've put her in one of the other pack houses and dispersed her pack to the other houses to protect the other females. We can't risk losing another one.
Once we were both calm, I took the shirt from my nose and stuck it in a plastic bag to keep the scent from being lost in the air. I linked Nyl and told him I was going out for a quick patrol run. He told me that Tyson would be joining me.
I waited for him in my wolf form at the edge of the treeline of the property. He trotted up beside me.
'Asher, before we do this, I have one thing to say...'
'What is it, Ty?'
He blinked and hung his head. 'I feel like this is my fault. If I hadn't given the Beta title to you, Reece wouldn't have been taken. You wouldn't be put through this much stress and anger and-'
'Tyson, enough.' He stopped speaking. 'Let's not talk about this now. We have a run to do.' He nodded and spun around, heading a different direction I was going to take. We crossed paths twice as we did a full sweep of all four of the pack lands. I even passed by a few other wolves of the different packs. We nodded as we passed each other.
Right as I entered Victoria's land, I caught the scent of a Rogue. I fought hard to keep Carmon under control as my pace sped up. I leaped through some brush and snarled, catching a Rogue off guard. He rose his arms to protect himself as I tackled him to the ground. He was unarmed and in his human form.
I growled in the back of his throat as I glared hard at him. Fear radiated off him, and it only fueled Carmon's hate even more. I managed to keep him back as I shifted back and pinned the Rogues arms down.
"Where is she?" I spat out at him. His eyes widened slightly when he saw who I was. I picked him off the ground a bit and slammed him into the ground, making him grunt. "Where is she?!"
"Who?!" He gasped out.
"My mate!" I roared. "What the fuck did you Rogues do with my mate?! I swear, if even one scratch is on her body when I find her, you're all dead!"
"I don't know!" He struggled to get away. "I was only passing through! Please, I don't know!"
I snapped at him "You're lying!" I stood and pulled him to his feet forcefully. I found some shorts and tugged them on. I also found a stash of rope and tied his hands together, leaving enough rope available to drag him behind me.
Not once did he put up a fight as I dragged him back to the pack house. I stopped for a second and faced him. I ripped his shirt off him and made a blindfold out of a section of it, then stuffed a couple pieces up his nose so he couldn't scent his way around.
I spun back around and tugged on the rope. He was breathing heavily through his mouth as he struggled to keep up with me. He stumbled and tripped a bit, but I didn't bother to stop to help him up; I just kept walking, having to drag him along the ground a few times until he caught his footing.
Once we got to the pack house, I quickened my pace and told Nyl I had a Rogue captive. He came running out and led me around the back of the house where we had a storm shelter with cells. It was where we kept our prisoners and questioned them.
I flung the Rogue into a cell and stepped in with him as he fell to his knees. Nyl stood guard at the door. I got the rope off his wrist and the blindfold and plugs off. He blinked at the sudden light change and shielded his eyes.
"Wh-where am I?" He asked, his voice shaking.
I didn't answer his question. "We'll be back later to question you." I strode out of the cell and Nyl locked it behind me. The Rogue rushed to the bars.
"Wait, you can't leave me in here!" We turned from the cell and made our way out of the prison. "Please! I can't be here! I have a mate and kids to look after! Please! Let me go! Please!" We left him, even though I wanted to go back to him and demand where they were.
"I'm going out to find his family." I told Nyl after he shut the door, cutting off his desperate cries to be let go. Nyl gave me a firm nod and headed back for the pack house. I stripped and ran back towards Victoria's boundary.
I caught a whiff of a Rogue scent; three to be exact. I skidded to a stop and shifted back. I put the shorts out and followed the scent. I came to a small clearing to see a woman and two kids, no older than five, huddled together under a large blanket.
"Daddy will be back soon, I promise." My heart felt like a rock as I stared at them. "He'll be back with food soon, Gena. Oh, don't cry, Gale." She suddenly stiffened as I stepped from the trees. She stood on her feet and covered her children with the blanket and stood protectively in front of them
"Don't touch them!" She snarled. "They didn't do anything wrong! We were going to leave as soon as my mate got back! Stay back!" She snapped at me as I strode towards them.
"We are on high alert for any and all Rogues," I told her as I got within launching distance of her. "Our Alpha and Beta females have been getting kidnapped and we have declared war on Rogues."
Tears sprang to her eyes. "We didn't choose to be like this!" She crouched down a bit.
"Mommy, I'm scared!" A girl sobbed as the blanket moved a bit.
"Stay with your brother, Gena." She told them, not taking her eyes off me.
"I know where your mate is." I told her as I took a step back. Never turn your back on a Rogue. I told myself.
Her eyebrows furrowed together. "How do I know you're speaking the truth?"
Might as well put it in the air. "Because I'm the one who took him to my pack house. I found him trespassing on Alpha Victoria's land. As I said, we're on high alert for Rogues."
Slowly, she came out of her defensive stance. "Gena, give me your brother." The two children came out from under the blanket. Gale, who seemed to be about three, was taken up in his mother's arms. Gena, the girl, took up the blanket in her arms, struggling to hold it.
Cautiously, keeping my eyes on the woman, I took the blanket from Gena and draped it over my arm. "This way." I took a few steps backward before slowly turning around and leading them to the pack house. They followed closely behind me, not saying a word.
Within an hour, we reached my pack house. Nyl was waiting for me. When he saw the family behind me, he raised an eyebrow.
"This way," He led us around the back again to where we were keeping the man.
"This better not be a trap!" I turned to see the mother clutching her children close to her.
I shook my head. "He's right down here." We reached the storm shelter. I gestured for her to follow down after Nyl. Eventually, she did and I went in after her, shutting the door.
"Rita?" The man asked. "Rita, is that at you?"
"Daddy!" Gena ran from her mother's side to the cell where the man was. The woman, Rita, followed her daughter.
They stopped at his cell. She set her son down on the floor and wrapped her arms around the man through the bars. "I thought he was lying to me, Don..."
"He thought I was lying..." He hugged her tighter to him. He looked up and caught my eyes. "Thank you..." He whispered. I didn't say anything. Nyl walked over to the cell and unlocked it, ushering the rest of the family inside.
"What're you doing?!" Rita gripped the bars after they were locked again "We didn't do anything! Why lock us up?!"
"We can't take any chances," He told her as he stuck the key in his pocket. "All Rogues are to be taken into custody for questioning until we find the kidnapped women from our packs."
"May at least know who you are?" Don asked as he pulled his mate closer to him.
Nyl nodded. "You are on my land, The Lynspack. I am its Alpha, Nyl. This is my Beta, Asher. Our mates were taken from us by Rogues, and we have declared war against them. You will remain down here until we have gotten our mates back." Rita buried her face into Don's shoulder as he pulled her into a tight embrace.
"We'll try to make you comfy, Don and Rita from the used to be Rivers Pack." Their heads snapped up, and even I looked at him, confused. "I know what happened to your former Alpha, Aaron. He went crazy with power and broke up his pack. He'd kidnapped my Beta's mate once before, and we killed him for it." Without another word, Nyl strode out of the shelter and back up to the ground.
I gave the family a small nod before I left them. I closed the door and almost ran into Nyl. "Alpha?" I asked hesitantly. He turned to me, a stray tear running down his cheek.
"Seeing them with their children..." He sniffed and tried to control himself. "It makes me think of the growing child within Lana... I just hope we can rescue her before something happens to anyone of the kidnapped girls."
"Alpha Nyl!" He quickly wiped way the tear and faced Jack, the one who had helped us rescue Reece the first time she was kidnapped. "Alpha, they got Esther! They got Krivix's mate!"
"What?!" He growled as he advanced on Jack. "How did this happen?!"
"They ambushed the house!" He panted as he bowed his head a bit. "She fought back, but they knocked her out. Alpha Krivix isn't doing so well, either."
"We'll be there in two minutes." Jack nodded and shifted, his clothes tearing, then streaked away. I flung off the shorts I borrowed and raced after him, Nyl right behind me.
We entered the Woods Pack boundary line and found something to wear. I put on the shorts I brought and followed Jack, who now had on jeans. He led Nyl and I to where Krivix was laying, covered in gashes and blood. The wounds were slowly healing.
"He should be waking up soon," The pack doctor told us as he came back with a bucket and rag. "I'm going to get him cleaned up. I'll call you back in when he's awake." We left the hospital room and went to the front room.
"Victoria is still safe?" Nyl asked when we sat in the front room.
Jack nodded. "She's still hidden away in the cellar with five guards. They didn't even know she was there."
He nodded. "That's good. We can't risk losing another female. That only leaves her and Alma from Signih's pack. They're the only females of power left."
"He's awake." The doctor entered the room. "You may go see him." That was fast. We stood and went to go see him. He was sitting on the bed, his hands covering his eyes, his head hung low.
"They came out of no where..." He barely whispered when we entered. "We were taken by surprise and were outnumbered. They took her from me while I was trying to fight them off. We have to protect Victoria and Alma at all costs."
I had to leave the room. All of these kidnappings from out of the blue was setting us on edge. We have no lead and the Rogues keep leaving without a trace.
In no time, I was back in my room I shared with Reece and was pressing her shirt close to my nose, not letting a small gap of the outside air invade the heavenly scent of my mate. I glared at a spot on the wall as I inhaled deeply.
"We'll find you, Reece." I said into the shirt. "We will never stop looking until we locate all of you and bring you back home where you belong. And those Rogues are going to wish they never messed with us." I lightly closed my eyes.
A small tear raced down my cheek.
------------
A list of the Alpha and Beta females of the four packs and their mates:
Lynspack
Lana (kidnapped) - Nyl [alpha]
Reece (kidnapped) - Asher
Twilight Pack
Ingrid (kidnapped) - Signih [alpha]
Alma - Dex
Woods Pack
Esther (kidnapped) - Krivix [alpha]
Bennitta "Bennie" (kidnapped) - Collen
River Shore Pack
Victoria [alpha] - Ryan {Deceased}
Valerie (kidnapped) - Brandon
So, I was going to post this chapter next week, but then I remembered that a dear friend of mine is leaving for Basics training next week. So guess what? I'm posting it today!
And here it is, the sequel to Love Me Not? Please enjoy, for I have enjoyed writing this story.
-M12
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top