My blood burned in my veins. I felt the scream tear through my chest as my voice broke the silence of the morning. It shattered the tranquility that settled around the pack house.

"NO!"

Bodies fell to their knees simultaneously, as if every single werewolf on the compound had a switch that was just turned off. Their necks were exposed, their bodies lax—as if waiting for a command. Seth was the only one who didn't kneel before me, but it pained him—I saw the strain in his eyes as he forced his body toward me.

I couldn't breathe. My chest was too tight. My fingers were numb.

Tommy.

My eyes connected with Seth, who immediately looked down. "Seth." My voice was empty, emotionless. He stepped closer to me, bending to one knee. I clutched the cell phone a little tighter. Something hardened over my entire body, creating a shield as I spoke, "Mom, I'm sending four of my pack members to you. You know two of them—Jason and Kellan. They are to bring you both here. They are on their way now. Pack a bag for you and Dad, quickly." I motioned for Seth to stand. "Is Dad in the hospital?"

My mother sobbed softly. "N-no. The EMTs decided he didn't need to go to the hospital."

"Are the police there?"

"Yes."

"Do not talk to them. My Beta, Seth, will deal with them," I looked at Seth as I spoke. "We have connections with the police. We can take of this." Seth nodded, as though confirming what I had said. "We'll get him back, Mom."

"What the hell is going on, Phoebe?" she cried.

"I'll explain when you and Dad get here. Pack enough clothes for a week. Don't talk to the police. Let Seth handle it." Seth moved toward one of the parked SUVs, still shirtless. Wordlessly, three bodies stood from the crowd of kneeling pack members. Jason, Kellan, and Spencer quickly slid into the SUV and Seth sped off.

"I love you, Mom. I'll see you when you get here."

"Phoebe, please—"

"When you get here, Mom," I said sternly and then hung up. I glanced over at the kneeling bodies. I forced the tremble out of my voice as I spoke rather harshly, "John, a word in the Alpha's office, please."

John silently stood and followed me inside the house. Once we reached the office and he closed the door behind him, I let the facade fall. It crumbled around me, allowing me to shake with unshed tears. "They fucking kidnapped my baby brother," I shouted. My nail beds ached, like they wanted to grow talons.

John didn't respond.

"What can we do?" I asked him as tears fell from my burning eyes.

"Trackers, Alpha. Send our best trackers to the house once the police have left and your parents are in the compound. We'll follow Tommy's trail, we'll find him."

"Send for Alpha Alexander," I snapped.

"They are to return this afternoon, Alpha."

Alpha Alexander left three days ago. He needed to visit the weakest packs with their newly trained enforcers to ensure they could protect their own. Jason and Kellan called it a campaign run. He had his cell phone but most of the packs he was visiting were incredibly remote, and I still hadn't mastered mind-linking. My chest suddenly tightened and the hairs on my neck stood on end. My body hummed with warmth.

"He's already here," I stated in a flat voice.

The front door cracked against the wall as it was violently swung open. A second passed and Alpha Alexander was in the office, wrapping his hand around my neck and pulling me into my chest. Sarah followed in behind him. She looked at me with concern before turning to John. "Who was assigned at the house?"

"Daniel and Graham."

"Where are they?" she asked.

"No one can reach them."

I pushed my body out of Alpha Alexander's arms. I felt like I was suffocating. "I sent Seth to my house."

"Shall I grab Jacob, Alpha?"

"Jacob?" I asked. He was a couple years older than me. I remembered him in high school, but I hadn't seen him much around the compound.

Alpha Alexander stared at me, his jaw clenched in anger, but it wasn't directed at me. He nodded sharply. "He has the best nose in Luna Nova. Take him and Vance. Do not return until you have something we can go on." His eyes glazed over as he reached into the pack bond. "Sarah, go with them. Find Dan and Graham. They are severely injured, but they're alive. Bring them home; the doctor is waiting for them now."

"Yes, Alpha." Sarah bowed her head and followed John out of the office.

Once the door closed behind them, Alpha Alexander reached for me once more, but I stepped to the side to avoid his touch. His jaw ticked in irritation, but he didn't comment on it. My fingers trembled with the heavy mixture of emotions—fear, anger, anxiety. It boiled in my veins and threatened to spill out of my eyes in heavy tears. I swallowed around the hard and painful lump in my throat. I clenched my fingers into tight fists—the need to hurt something coursed through my body.

"Why did they take him?" I asked, my tone a little sharper than I intended.

"To hurt you."

"What good does that do for them?"

"Because hurting you hurts me."

I wanted to reach for him, to let him hold me, but my anger and pain was too great and I feared I would unintentionally hurt him. My mind raced with painful thoughts. "There has to be a ransom demand, right? But . . . but money won't do them any good." I put together the puzzle pieces—something I had gotten incredibly good at since becoming an Alpha's mate. My eyes widened. "They want me. It's a trade—I'll be forced to give myself up in exchange for my brother's life."

"Over my rotting corpse, Phoebe," Alpha Alexander snapped. He stepped toward me, but I moved to put the desk between us. My fist cracked against the wooden tabletop. Pain radiated up my arm, but I ignored it. I pushed my fingers through my hair as frustration started to rise above the fear raging inside of me.

"I am not going to just stand here while my brother is out there! They could be h-hurting him and I can't do a goddamn thing about it!" My voice broke; the dam of pure stubbornness finally collapsed and tears leaked from my eyes. They spilled down my cheeks and under my chin. Salty drops peppered my shirt and the rug I stood on. "If it comes down to it, I will do anything to save Tommy."

Alpha Alexander growled, "I will not allow my mate to—"

"I may be your mate, Gabriel, but that does not mean I have to hide behind you or our pack every time someone threats my life or the life of someone I love. I will not allow another person—human or werewolf—die because this son of a bitch has some sick grudge against you." The tears silently fell from my eyes. My voice was strong even as a war of emotions raged through my body.

My mate looked defeated in that moment. His face was empty of any emotion. "This is bigger than you, Phoebe. You do not understand the complexity of this."

"Then explain it to me!" I snapped. "Explain why he's so fucking determined to see you suffer! Explain why he took T-Tommy."

He didn't respond immediately. He moved to the couch and sat down. His hands were pressed together and his head was bent. He looked as though he was praying. He waited until I moved and sat beside him on the couch. Our bodies weren't touching; an entire cushion separated us. His eyes closed for a minute before he rubbed his hands together and spoke lowly. "Natalie was just thirteen when he took her."

My throat tightened at her name, but I didn't interrupt him.

"Leonardo Alvarez was the son of a neighboring Alpha. He was hunting with members of his pack when he caught Natalie's scent. He took her back to his territory and declared her as his mate." Alpha Alexander's fists clenched where they rested on his knee caps. "I was Alpha for barely three years, which meant I didn't have the respect and authority that I have now, but I demanded Natalie be returned to our pack—she was underage and under my protection. Leo's father agreed—she was too young to be taken away from her pack. We made an agreement to allow Leo to court her until the day she turned eighteen. He brought Natalie back and adhered to the rules his father and I laid out . . . but it didn't last long."

He paused. After first, I thought it was for dramatic effect, but I noticed the shift in his posture. He sat rigid, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped tightly together. He stared at the wall across the room. "Almost a year after the agreement was made, Leo grew impatient. He . . . raped Natalie. One of our pack members found them behind the movie theater he took her to for her birthday. She managed to fight off Leo and bring Natalie home." He shook his head and I noticed his glassy eyes. My heart stabbed with his pain mingled with my own. "I wanted Leo's blood for violating the pact. His father refused, so I declared war.

"We were the bigger pack—we had the numbers and the training. Alpha Alvarez wanted to avoid casualties, so he offered a compromise: he disowned Leo. He cast him out of the pack—a rogue who was no longer under his protection."

He paused again, but this time it was because he saw the confused expression etched on my face. No longer under his protection. I frowned and asked, "Why didn't you kill him?"

"I wanted to . . . but Natalie wouldn't let me."

"Why?"

"She forgave him."

"How? How could she?"

"Male werewolves can sense their mate the moment they reach puberty. Females can only sense their mate once they shift, and for some werewolves, they don't transition until they're teenagers. Natalie hadn't transitioned yet—she was a late bloomer. She thought he was her mate, and if he was, then she should automatically forgive him. If she had shifted before he found her, then maybe she would still . . ." He swallowed before continuing. "She shifted for the first time a month after Leo was banished. During the mandatory check-up with the pack doctor after her first shift . . . he discovered she was with child."

I held my breath.

"The gossip was uncontrollable and the news of her pregnancy eventually reached the ears of Leo. He demanded to see her, claiming his right as her mate. She agreed on the condition that I accompany her. As a rogue, he couldn't enter my territory, so we met him outside of the city." His fists flexed against his thighs. "We were barely in that field for a minute when Natalie attacked him. She managed to claw his face with her talons before I pulled her off of him. She kept screaming, 'Liar,' and cursing him. I told her to return to the car. Leo demanded she leave with him, but I refused. He claimed she was experiencing extreme pregnancy symptoms and she wasn't in her right state of mind. I left him bloodied in the field. I would have killed him, but Natalie was hysterical. I took her home and she locked herself in her room."

He moistened his dry lips and took a few stabling breaths. "I found her hanging from one of the ceiling beams in her room that night. I felt her neck break through the pack bond, but I was too late to save her. My mother was devastated—she lost her mate and then her only daughter within such a short amount of time."

Daughter?

"Oh my god," I whispered, pained with astonishment. "Natalie was . . ."

"My sister, yes."

Tears returned to my eyes and spilled silently down my cheeks. "I am so sorry. I—"

"No, Phoebe. I should be apologizing. If I had done things differently, if I had killed Leo when I had the opportunity, Tommy wouldn't be in danger." He wouldn't look at me. "And maybe Natalie would be alive. He took Tommy because Leo believes I was the reason Natalie killed herself, that I kept her from him which drove her to end her suffering. He believes that if I let him claim her when they first met, she would still be alive." He shook his head sadly. "In her note . . . she said she couldn't bring his child in this world. Werewolves . . . my species are not physically capable of performing abortions. Natalie just couldn't look beyond the thought having Leo's child."

The anger inside of me had dissipated as he spoke. All that was left was fear and sadness—fear for my brother, and sadness for my mate. My heart strummed with pain as I stared at my mate. I shifted on the couch and touched his arm gingerly, sliding my hand over his shoulder until my palm cupped his stubbily cheek. He leaned into my hand, his own large and calloused hand covering mine. I slid closer to him, lifting my left leg to straddle his thigh. He leaned back against the couch and I leaned forward and touched my forehead with his.

"I am sorry," he whispered, his breath fanning against my face.

I closed my eyes, drinking in his scent and shook my head. "It's not your fault. Everything that has happened until now . . . it's all Leo's fault. I could never blame you for this."

His hands cupped my lower back, holding me against him. Nothing sensual passed between us. The moment was one of comfort, for both of us. As we held each other, I felt the mating bond sing with the emotions we shared—loss, pain, sadness. But I also felt it thicken with something more, something stronger. Hope surged through us as we stared at one another—we could face the foreboding chaos. We could stand against the violence and the terror that was sure to come. We could survive it, together.

___

Author's Note:

Happy Halloween!

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xoxo -Willow