Aiyana jerked awake. How long had she been asleep? The sun didn't look like it had moved. She rolled over and reached for her phone on the bed-side table. It hadn't been long - not even an hour - but Kobe had already messaged her three times, and there was a message from her aunt too. Had she finally gotten a new phone?

"We have your friend. Bring the blade or he dies."

Nope, not her Aunt. The message had been sent only a couple of minutes ago.

"Who is this?" she texted back. She watched the screen for a moment, then rolled out of bed. Which friend did they have? She jogged down the hall. Cliff was still in bed. No one else was there.

Her phone dinged again. "You know who we are. You have one hour."

"Where are you?"

"His mate can lead you. It must be only you and her."

Mate? They didn't mean Nate did they? How could they know about Sophia - she'd only arrived just this morning.

She ran out to the main living area. Mimi was in the kitchen, and a few other wolves were around but she didn't see him. "Has anyone seen Nate?"

"Last I saw him he was in the yard," one of the men volunteered.

The driveway and the yard were almost empty. Only one person was nearby. She was sitting on a bench under a tree near the driveway.

"Sophia! Have you seen Nate?"

It looked like she wiped a tear off her cheek but when she turned to face Aiyana, Sophia was smiling. "Nate? He just left with his mother. Why, is something wrong with your friend?"

"Something is wrong with one of them." She scanned the buildings and the yard. What other friend did she have who had a mate? Did they mean Alpha Miguel? "Have you seen the Alpha?"

"I don't know what he looks like."

Come to think of it, she hadn't seen him when they arrived earlier. Aiyana sprinted back into the house, but came to an abrupt halt in the kitchen where Alpha Miguel, his wife, and Dr. Patel were all standing around the island.

"Aiyana, what's wrong?" Alpha Miguel asked.

She handed him her phone.

He scanned the messages and looked up, his kind face more fierce than she'd ever seen it. "Who Is AA?"

"AA is my Aunt Aimee but that's not her. They stole her phone when they searched her house. All I know is they are Scottish."

"These are the people Cliff is supposed to be protecting you from?"

"Yes."

"What's this blade they're talking about?"

"I think it's a letter opener that belonged to my father."

"Is that what they were searching for when they destroyed your room?"

He heard about that? "I think."

"Show me."

She unzipped the running pack she's found and stuffed in her backpack while cleaning up her room. It wasn't a fanny pack. It was more like a belt since it was long and skinny and just meant to carry keys** - her phone didn't even fit in it - but the blade and her remaining Epipen did. She slid the sheath off the thin blade and laid it across her palm so they could see it.

"Oh, that's beautiful," Mimi said, reaching for it.

Aiyana wrapped her fingers around it and moved it out of her reach. "No. It's silver."

"Isn't it burning you?" Mimi asked with concern.

"No."

"That looks ancient," Dr. Patel said. "Can you hold it here under the light so I can see the etchings?"

Aiyana did, but she could feel time ticking away for whatever friend it was they'd taken. Gravel crunched out in the yard.

"I bet that's Salma," Dr. Patel said, looking up from the blade. "This should be interesting."

"What's going on?" Aiyana asked as Dr. Patel moved toward the door.

"Nate challenged Sophia. His mother dropped him off somewhere and now Sophia has to find him using their mate link."

Aiyana's stomach dropped. "They must have Nate!"

She zipped her letter opener into the pouch as she ran back out the door. As she feared, Salma Koche stood next to the big, black SUV alone except for Sophia.

"Mrs. Koche, where did you leave Nate?" she asked as she ran.

"Just call me Salma, dear. What's wrong?" She showed both women her phone.

"I think they must mean Nate."

"No, I'm sure he's fine," Salma said, pulling out her phone. "He's with one of my guards. I'll just give him a call."

Nate didn't answer. His mother tried again, then dialed someone else. Whoever that was didn't answer either. Aiyana turned to Sophia. "Can you feel him? Which way do we need to go?"

The girl looked scared. "I...they must be too far away...I can't...," her eyes grew wide and she whipped her head toward the driveway.

A familiar bright green car turned a little too fast into the entrance, shooting gravel and dust into the air. Kobe pulled up next to one of the old telephone poles that formed a border along one side of the driveway and hopped out before the dust had started settling.

"Aiyana, is everything all right? You were supposed to text me."

"I'm sorry Kobe. I was so tired, I fell asleep. Cliff is stable, but still not awake. You can go see him if you want...Kobe?"

He had stopped paying attention to her and was standing as still as a statue, his mouth slightly open, and his eyes trained on Sophia. She too looked frozen with her eyes were wide in surprise. Then, the corners of her mouth started to stretch and her face blossomed into a beautiful smile that matched the one that formed on Kobe's face.

"Do you feel it?" Kobe asked.

Sophia nodded. It was like watching a scene from a corny romance film where two lovers run into each others arms except it wasn't in slow motion.

Kobe wrapped his arms around Sophia and didn't quite whisper, "I never thought I'd find you," in her ear. Sophia responded by kissing him, on the lips. It looked like it might last a while.

Aiyana turned away. She was glad for both of them, but sad at the same time. That should have been her and Cliff. Nate's mother was watching the two with her lips curled back in disgust. How was she supposed to find Nate now? "Can you take me to the last place you saw him?" Aiyana asked Salma.

"Yes, get in."

"I'm coming too," Dr. Patel said.

"Me too," Alpha Miguel said, claiming the front passenger seat. "Tell everyone to be ready," he called to his wife. "I'll text directions shortly."

"They said to come alone," Aiyana reminded them as Salma sped past Kobe and Sophia who were talking now, but still holding on to each other as if one of them might float away if they didn't.

"Not going to happen," Alpha Miguel said. "The only leverage they have is Nate and we're going to keep it that way. Nobody comes into my territory and threatens my wolves and gets away with it."

Salma drove about four miles, then stopped next to the entrance of an old oil well in the middle of a field. "I left Nate and the guard here."

Aiyana climbed out of the back and onto the dirt road. She couldn't sense him but she thought she could smell him and possibly the people who had taken him. Her wolf side, which was normally very docile was straining to be set free. "I'm going to change. I might be able to track them - I know what the Scots smell like."

She'd been phasing in front of other wolves her whole life, but she still preferred to do it in private. She opened the passenger door to the SUV to shield herself a little and started tossing her clothes into the back seat. She left the running pouch on.

"Oh, wow," Dr. Patel breathed when Aiyana plodded around the back of the SUV. "I've never seen a wolf with such red fur, and your form is so long and elegant. You're beautiful."

Dr. Patel was probably the only wolf in the world that thought that way. Aiyana pretended not to hear and started exploring with her nose. When she was human, she could smell things better than an average human, but when she was a wolf, it was like clearing fifty years of dirt off a window. Wolves could literally 'see' with their noses. Nate's scent was strong. She picked up a chemical scent too, and that of three other wolves.

"Looks like something was dragged here," Alpha Miguel said, pointing to a spot in front of the SUV. Aiyana sniffed it. Nate. The vehicle he was taken in had sat here. They would have put him in the back, so if she could figure out where the kidnappers had climbed in, she'd know which direction they'd gone. They smelled stronger a step to the east.

Please, God let me be right.

She started jogging down the road. Human steps joined her.

Alpha Miguel nodded down at her when she looked up. "The pack is coming. You sure this is the right way?"

She wasn't, but it felt right. Her nose wasn't much use for tracking a car since cars don't shed skin or hair or excrete smells like humans, but they must have been driving with the window open because she did occasionally catch a whiff of something that smelled like the kidnappers. She jogged through one intersection, pausing only a brief moment before deciding no turn was needed. Why she knew that, she couldn't say. Just like she couldn't explain how she knew they were in the old barn with corrugated metal siding at the top of the next hill, but she did. She barked and jerked her head toward the building.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Alpha Miguel agreed. "Slow down a little. We need to give everyone time to get into place." He knelt down like he had to tie his shoe and issued several commands into his phone. "I've got several wolves coming in from each side of the mile. They should be in place by the time we get to the front door. Let's try to keep the kidnappers distracted."

Aiyana leaped the barbed wire fence easily, but Alpha Miguel opened it to let the SUV that was still following them into the pasture. The barn was only about fifty yards from the road. She and Alpha Miguel didn't even get to the door before a man with dark hair and a gun came out yelling something with an accent so thick it was nearly unintelligible. "Ah tauld ye tae come aloyn!"

"She's not a fool. Release your prisoners!" Alpha Miguel demanded.

"Nae until Ah gie th' blade."

She needed her hands but she didn't want to stand naked in front of a stranger, nor did her want to leave the Alpha to face the man alone while she changed. It couldn't be helped. She switched back to her human form and faced the man with just her running belt and the wolf's head necklace that she'd forgotten to take off. She would have pulled her now un-braided hair over her shoulder to provide some coverage but as usual, the wind was blowing so it wouldn't stay in place long.

"What's so important about the blade?" she asked.

The man's mouth fell open a little as his eyes roamed up and down her body, then he smirked. "Ne'er ye mind. Dae ye hae it?"

Without looking away, she unzipped the pouch and pulled the little blade out. "Here."

He looked surprised for a moment, she assumed it was because she was touching it, then he pointed the gun at her "Gie it tae me."

She hadn't realized until that moment it was a tranquilizer gun. Alpha Miguel put an arm out in front of her. "Bring out our people first. I want to see that they are still alive."

The man swung his gun back toward Alpha Miguel "Ah am in charge haur, ye weak American dog. Submit tae me!"

A force like she'd only felt once before hit her, trying to make her bend. Alpha Miguel was shaking next to her trying to fight it, but he fell to one knee. Inside her, her wolf raised its head and stood. A sense of determination and cold fury filled her. She waved the weak force of the man's coercion away and blasted him with her own.

"No. You will submit to me. Throw down your gun, drop to your knees, and place your hands over your head." Extending the force like a shield in front of her, she walked toward the barn as the man crumpled before her.

"Aiyana, wait," Alpha Miguel called behind her. She didn't-she didn't need to. She pushed her will into the barn, then backed away as everyone stumbled out and fell before her as she'd demanded. A woman and two men stumbled out, all armed, and not with tranq guns.

"Wait Aiyana," Alpha Miguel said, now beside her. "Let me go in first. Make sure they stay down."

They would, but she remained where she was as the Alpha rushed toward the two forms lying next to a support pole near the back of the barn. The forms shifted as he neared and she realized they were tied up, not dead. She wasn't pushing her will out anymore, but she was still angry, no furious. She marched to the man who'd met them outside the barn. He'd not only dropped to his knees, but now had his forehead pressed against the ground. "Look at me!"

He sat up, and tried, but he couldn't seem to get his neck to straighten. "Ah cannae mah banrigh."

What did that mean? Not only was he trying to steal from her, but now he was calling her names? Without really thinking about why she was doing it, she slapped her left palm against his forehead. "Why are you here?"

Images started appearing in her head. The first was a battle. She got the feeling it was the memory of a story rather than something the man had experienced for himself, but the result was clear. Three wolves with red fur like her own were mowed down by three wolves with black fur. A white wolf watched. The silver dagger, worn like a necklace on a chain, hit the floor as a fourth red wolf, a female, died. The man's memory didn't offer the information, but Aiyana sensed betrayal and poison were behind her collapse. Images flashed by like a video at high speed, but she gathered enough to see the black wolves had taken power and kept it, sometimes violently, over the centuries. She often saw them wearing the dagger but she never saw them holding it. The black wolves were especially hateful to wolves with any hint of red fur. The images became more detailed and she realized she was watching the man's own experiences now. He was treated like royalty as he grew and was preparing to take over as Alpha in his father's place when news came that the dagger couldn't be found. By blood and power he was the leader, but the blade confirmed it and rightfully belonged to him. Faces rolled before her, their mouths moving as they reported on failed investigations until one came to a stop. It was a picture of her father, assassinated many years ago according to the man's memory, but her dad had visited before the blade had disappeared. Despite the recommendations of the elders, the would-be alpha had come, both to retrieve the blade himself and to search for his mate, although he certainly hoped she wasn't foolish enough to be American. Aiyana watched in horror as the woman with him, his cousin and Beta, hit and clawed her Aunt Aimee, then left her lying bleeding on the floor. She didn't seem him destroy her dorm room, but she did see him ordering his Beta to search it.

She pulled her hand away. Her father had been killed on purpose, it wasn't just an accident. Had they meant to kill her mother too? Either way, they had. And her aunt - she'd been beaten badly. How long had she lay there after the Scots had finished with her?

"Aiyana, are you okay?" Her head was buzzing and her wolf was in shock. No, she was in shock, her wolf was furious.

"Aiyana?"

Something touched her arm and she looked up to find Nate staring down at her with concern.

"Here, take my shirt."

He put it over her head and she obediently tugged it into place, getting a knee-melting whiff of his scent as it went past her nose. The shirt was just long enough to reach the top of her legs.

Someone gave a sharp whistle and abruptly, the barn was swarming with wolves.

"Tie them up and take them back to the farm," Alpha Miguel ordered, then turned to her. "Aiyana, I think you can put the blade away now."

"Right." She'd forgotten she was holding it, but to put it away she'd have to lift the shirt. "I'm going to get dressed."

Dr. Patel and Salma were standing on either side of the SUV behind them. Dr. Patel's eyes were wide with excitement and she ran up to her like an eager child once she reached the front of the vehicle. "How did you do make everyone come out? Why did you put your hand on that man's head?"

"Um, I don't know." A sharp pang rolled across her forehead which was quickly followed by a spurt of nausea. "Can I get dressed?"

"Oh, yes, of course. Sorry."

She quickly pulled on her underwear and pants, but it seemed easier to just leave Nate's shirt on for now. He probably wouldn't mind being topless and she certainly didn't mind that he was. She turned to see where he was and had to lean back against the edge of the seat. Just turning her head had made it pound, and now her stomach felt very unstable. She waited a moment for things to calm down, then moved out from behind the door to ask Dr. Patel if she had some water. A strong force slammed into her chest, pushing her up against the SUV. Pain exploded across her breast bone and for a moment she couldn't remember how to breathe.

"Was that a gunshot?" someone asked.

"Aiyana! Oh no." She had just enough time to look up into Nate's face from where she'd slid down the side of the vehicle, before he was pulled away from her.

"Move, Nate."

Dr. Patel crouched beside her and jerked up the borrowed shirt. "Oh, my God," she pulled the shirt back down. "You are so lucky, but it's not going to feel like it for a few days. Salma, we need to get her back to the farm."

"Did she get shot? Is she bleeding?" Nate asked behind her.

"Yes, and not much. Help me get her in the car."

"All of you get in the car!" Alpha Miguel boomed. "Don't you know you're supposed to take cover when someone is shooting at you?"

Her chest now hurt more than her head, but not by much. Nate pulled her up and she nearly lost the contents of her stomach on Alpha Miguel who was standing between them and the wherever the bullet had come from. She was tired of being targeted and tired of people getting hurt. She didn't know if it would work, but she sent out another wave of force like she'd used on the people in the barn along with the image of the shooter bowing and laying his weapons on the ground. The resulting headache was so strong it felt like someone was cleaving her brain in two. Half-digested food sprayed out of her mouth and then nothing.

**This is based on real life. Why someone would make a running pack too small to fit a phone, I have no idea, I just happen to own one because it was on sale and the way it was packaged I couldn't check it with my phone before I bought it - either that or I was too dumb to do so.