Killian puts his shirt back on in record speed and runs out the door, with me following closely behind him. Everyone was congregating in the living room, running around making preparations in a mass of chaos.

"What's going on?" I practically yell over the flurry of activity.

"Jacob is missing. Patrick and Marcus are organizing search parties."

I notice a middle aged woman sitting on the couch in the corner of the room with two smaller children sitting on her lap. Her eyes are rimmed red, evidence of tears shed, but her face is set in grim determination.

I tug on Killian's shirt sleeve to get his attention and nod in her direction wordlessly.

"Jacob's mother," he responds darkly.

I'm still unsure of who Jacob is, but Killian's already silencing the crowd to speak, so I don't have time to ask.

"Listen up, everyone," he starts. "We're breaking up into two search parties. Patrick will be taking half of you to the south edge of the border and up along the east edge. I'll be taking the rest of you north, then along the west border, and then we'll meet back up in the middle. If he's nowhere on pack property, I'll be leading a smaller group off grounds. Marcus will be staying behind to make sure everything runs smoothly here."

Immediately, the groups begin to disperse. Desperate to help, I catch up to Killian and ask for instructions.

"Where do you want me?"

He barely spares me a glance, he's in full alpha mode.

"Stay here with Marcus. Make sure everything stays in order, make sure Jacob's mother is okay."

"What? No. No way. You know I'm more useful out there tracking with you than I am here babysitting!"

I'm yelling again, but not just to be heard over the noise this time. Killian closes his eyes and inhales deeply. It's clear he's trying to not raise his voice at me, knowing I just undermined his authority.

"I need... I need you to stay here," he grits out.

"You don't trust me, do you?" I stare up at him in shocked wonder.

"Look, it's not that, it's just-"

"No, I get it. You want me to stay where Marcus can keep an eye on me. I hope you're successful, Alpha."

I turn on my heels, leaving him looking bewildered and helpless. Screw Killian. I could have sold him out, and I didn't. I've proven myself and he still doesn't trust me to help his pack.

I give Patrick a hug and wish him luck; he at least has the decency to look guilty.

"I told him you'd serve us better than being on babysitting duty, I promise," he jokes.

Marcus gathers the rest of the pack, which mostly consists of elderly members and young children, and leads them into the kitchen for a late night snack. Jacob's mother is still sitting on the couch staring at the wall blankly, her kids having run off after Marcus at the promise of food.

I take a deep breath and make my way over to her. Comforting crying women is the last thing I want to be doing and I'm sure as hell not good at it, but I was given a job and I won't back down from it, whether I like it or not.

"Hey," I say softly, sitting down next to her.

She wipes her eyes and gives me a timid smile.

"Hey," she replies shakily.

"So, uhh, which one is your Jacob?"

She gives a sad laugh and says, "he was one of the boys you pulled apart your first day here. The tall one with the unruly blonde hair."

Of course. They look almost identical now that I think of it, although her blonde hair was pin straight and cropped elegantly at her shoulders.

"For the record, I'm grateful to you for breaking up that fight. I know Alpha Killian probably reprimanded you, but his methods of solving fights can be a little, well, extreme. You know how brutal teenage boys can be," she looks over at me nervously, wanting to say something more.

"What is it?" I urge her gently.

"He was outside, training. Right in our front yard. I went inside for two minutes to check on the twins, I never thought- I never thought anything would happen. I swear I would never let him out of my sight if I thought that..."

Her voice breaks at the end of her sentence as she tries to distract herself from what's happening. I notice she's wringing her hands together nervously and I feel a pang of sympathy for the mother. I put my hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't feel guilty for this. It's not your fault. And Killian is the strongest Alpha out there. He's going to find Jacob and bring him back to you. Just have some faith."

"I feel like such a horrible mother."

"I may not be the best judge of these kinds of things, but my mother dropped me off with the Warriors when I was two and I haven't heard from her since, so I'd say you're doing a much better job than she did. You couldn't have known this would happen. Don't beat yourself up about it. We're going to get him back, safely."

"Thank you," she sniffs, her eyes brimming once again with unshed tears.

I smile at her and stand up to go find Marcus. When I walk into the kitchen, Marcus is there alone, washing dishes.

"Hey, where is everyone?"

"I sent the kids to bed not too long ago, and the elders followed shortly after. How's Alice doing?"

"Jacob's mom? She's scared, but she's strong. Have Killian or Patrick mindlinked you yet?"

"No, but one of the guards with them said they'll be back soon. Wouldn't give me any details."

The front door opens shortly after and several angry voices carry to where we're standing. Killian and Patrick walk in moments later, dirty and exhausted. I look up at Killian hopefully, but his expression crushes me. He shakes his head slightly at me and turns to Marcus, speaking to him in hushed tones.

"Killian, what happened out there?" I speak up. Three heads turn to stare at me skeptically.

"You don't get to leave me out of this again. I did what you told me, I stayed back and comforted Alice when I could have been out helping you guys, so you can at least tell me what the fuck happened out there."

We face off in a staring contest, but I hold my ground until, finally, he submits.

"Fine," he exhales. "We didn't find Jacob but we did track his scent along the west border... and there were others."

"Others?"

"We noticed Alpha Lucas' scent with Jacob's. There were a few others, too, probably other members of Lucas' pack."

"Lucas' pack isn't far from our west border, a few hours away maybe. If Jacob is being held there, this war will be happening a lot sooner than we anticipated," Patrick finishes uneasily.

A horrified gasp sounds from behind us and we all turn to see Alice's shocked, heartbroken expression. She has one hand clutching her chest, the other one cupping her mouth to muffle her sobs.

"Alice, I'm so sorry," Killian rushes to her side in a few long strides and wraps his arms around her.

She sobs into his chest as he rubs her back in an effort to comfort her.

"Shh, it's going to be okay. I promise you, Alice, we're going to get him back," he assures.

Alice pulls back to look up at him, a stern expression on his face.

"Yes, you will. And you're bringing her with you this time," she grins smugly at me.

"Of course. Now go rest and we'll figure out what we're going to do."

Alice hugs everyone, even me, much to my surprise, and left.

"Rey, I-"

I cut Killian off before he can apologize, my anger from earlier coming back full force.

"You need to tell me everything that's going on with you and Alpha Lucas. Now."