WILLIAM

The room went chaotic for a moment as everyone tried to maneuver around a giant raging wolf.

Eric pointed at the opposite wall with a shout. "Bench, now!"

My thoughts were so much in a jumble about my lost mate, that the wolf wouldn't respond. I started pawing at the lever for the door handle to get out to her.

Eric had to Alpha command me. "You've been benched, Beta William Merris!"

My wolf made a low growl but submitted and trotted around the room to the bench. I hopped up on it and scowled. I'd have to stay there until I changed back, which likely wouldn't be soon with how my head was racing.

I can't stay here Eric. We need to go get her!

"We will go get her. But right now we'd go in blind. The trackers probably aren't even off property yet. We will make a plan of action and leave straight away. If the trackers haven't found the cave by then we will all make searching for it the top priority. But first. Can you get into contact with her? She seems too far for me."

I noticed his nails were subtly shifting back to human, new scratches left in the table in front of him. The thought calmed my wolf somewhat. Kara was important to him too, either as an old friend or as his pack healer. He would not allow her down with that monster for any unnecessary time.

I closed my wolfen eyes and reached out but was hit by a strange cloudy wall. I think she's sleeping? Unconscious again? The connection was there, and it wasn't black like when she's been unconscious before, but there was almost an interference like static.

"Is she hurt?"

I looked at the ceiling trying to feel through the bond and started scratching inside my arm with a back leg. No, I don't think so.

"Okay then. You can calm down and think about this rationally. We have a few minutes and then I promise, we'll go right away."

My wolf was still unhappy but was slightly reassured and slowed his fight.

When the out-of-control wolf situation was managed, Alpha David spoke back into the phone to his Gamma. "Okay Ronald, get the new team out but have them stay a reasonable distance away from the door. I also need our trackers out looking for tire tracks that have gone off road about six miles passed northeast Spring Creek. We're looking for a cave. Hightop already has trackers out too, but the stakes have raised. We need to find that cave immediately. Whoever finds it, they are not to go in, just report back."

"Understood Alpha."

"I'll be in touch with further instructions."

"Understood. Goodbye Alpha."

"Take care."

He put his phone in his pocket. "I apologize about the interruption." He then turned to me. "And I'm sorry that your mate is in danger. We at Fremont will do everything we can to aide in her safe return."

Thank you Alpha. My wolf head bowed.

Eric let out a strong exhale. "Alright. The stakes have raised. We need to get Kara out right now."

I volunteer to lead a team into the cave to rescue her, I linked the room.

"No," Jeremy challenged.

My wolfen canines bared at his argument. We will not leave her there!

"No," he continued. "I will lead the team."

You? You are not the beta. You are not her mate!

He glared back at me. "Kara is the most important piece to this whole puzzle. If she is the only one that can cure this mutation, then you can't be on the team."

She is my mate!

"I get that Will. And you need to get that you two are eternally connected. You two did the absolute submission, which is wonderful, but in this case, you're a liability. If you die, she dies. We cannot risk that. Lawrence has got armed guards."

I growled low, but his logic was sound. Fine. I won't be point. But I will be on the team. There would be no question that I would be there. If Eric tried to alpha command me about that, the mate bond would overpower it.

Alpha David cut in, forcing his lips together. "She might not be the only one able to cure this disease."

All eyes turned to him.

"I know of two other familial lines of healers. One in Australia and one in Canada. There are probably lines in other countries, as well as the randomly gifted. We could try to find others and call them to our aide. I don't know much about the Australian line, but I do have contacts with the Canadian. Last I had heard they were waiting on six granddaughters to turn sixteen to see if the healer gene was passed down. Some of them are bound to be old enough to turn by now. I can get ahold of them and if any are healers, put them on the next flight out."

Garrett and Tarin nodded to the idea.

But I had caught onto other words. What do you mean sixteen?

"Sixteen. When the healers first show their gift."

"Healers don't show until sixteen?" Eric clarified.

David gave a patronizing smile. "No. Just like wolves don't show until they're sixteen."

"And what if they show earlier than that?" Eric bent forward, elbows against the table.

"They wouldn't. It's like the force of the initial shift. Instead of going into a wolf shift, it reveals in the healer."

Eric and I shared a knowing look.

David glanced between us. "Am I missing something?"

Eric took lead. "When I was a child, I was caught by rogues."

"The scars, yes," David nodded in understanding.

"We believe she healed the cuts to those scars when we were just eight years old."

"That's not possible," David spoke unconvinced.

She also healed both herself and her father after a fire that decimated their home and family only a week later. And she might not have been sixteen when she healed a girl on her cheerleading squad either. Her father made it sound like she had been healing long before and only her eyes changed on her birthday.

David's face became wide with shock. "I...I don't know what to say. I guess it could be true. Sure, there aren't many documents on prior healers but everything I know is that they don't come upon the gift until their teenage shift. It would be like a child trying to bear the fierceness of a werewolf's transformation. It would just overpower the delicate body. Even witches don't come into their power until they're sixteen."

Eric stared at me. "She told me she just put her hands on her dad and did something. It knocked her out, but she never said anything about it hurting."

Never to me either.

David pondered over the new information for a moment and ended with a long exhale. He turned to me, eyes heavy. "If that is the case, then we may not be able to inquire of help from any other known healer. Your mate may be the strongest healer this planet has ever known. If she could harbor that much power at such a young age, no other healer is her rival. Quite possibly, no other werewolf either."

We all let that sink in.

Jeremy cleared his throat and took his turn. "Maybe the mutation is hard to cure. Moon Goddess has given her the sole power to cure it. The timing makes sense anyway."

"Timing?" Jack asked.

"Her coming back to the pack now," Jer added.

David turned to Eric. "She only just returned? Where has she been?"

Eric took a quick glance to me. "We don't have time for the full story but suffice it to say that after the fire, her father stole her and hid her away for twenty years. We only found out she was still alive last week."

David nodded to himself, now deeply examining some old claw scratches in the table. "That makes sense from Goddess's vantage point too."

"What do you mean?" Eric wondered.

"If William's mate is as powerful as I suspect, she would have been buried in requests. And at such a young age? If she became known, every type of being from around the globe would want to see her-- test her. Maybe even try to kidnap her for their own uses. Heck, even the human president would probably have been interested in her."

My heart dropped. It was what I worried about when Blake asked to send her video on to DOSS.

He continued. "So, it's probably good she was only recognized now. She has some good years under her belt and can think through things rationally as an adult. She will not need to be as dependent on others for protection. Perhaps if she wasn't kidnapped, maybe the popularity would have blown through all her energy, or the constant pack security would have driven her mad. I don't know. But Goddess has put her here now for a reason." He looked at me, sincerity lining his words. "And if that reason is to heal the werecreatures, your mate will fulfill her calling. We have no reason to fear."

We have no reason to fear.

His words soothed my wolf enough that I could finally transform, and I let the wolf fall in waves from me. My eyes opened to human hands.

"There's our Willyboy. Welcome back," Jer teased.

I ignored his comment and reached into the drawer of the bench for fresh clothes to put on.

When I sat back in my prior chair, Garett peered around the table. "So that means it's time to go kick some old man ass?"

"Yes," Eric confirmed. "Garrett, I want you on point."

Jeremy started to complain, but Eric cut him off. "That's the Gamma's responsibility. Jeremy, I want you on the team. But I need you to focus on William. You are his personal protection. He will undoubtedly be preoccupied on Kara's wellbeing. I need you to make sure he stays safe. You said it yourself, they are connected, and we can't risk him being a liability to her welfare."

I wanted to object, but I knew his words were sound. Already I was focused on getting to her. I would not keep vigilant of my surroundings.

Jer smirked my way. "I'll be on him like stink on a monkey, Alpha."

Eric ignored him and looked Garrett's way. "Call your team. They need to be ready in four minutes at the shed. Brief them to be ready for guns and military trained guards."

"Will do, Alpha." He closed his eyes to link them.

Eric turned to Tarin. "You will be in the control room. Ready the hospital wing and dungeons for an influx of victims. I'll need you to relay any information to mates as well."

"Yes, Alpha." She bowed in submission.

Eric looked to David and Jack and hesitated. Probably unsure if he should be giving orders to another Alpha.

David took that time to suggest his own plan. "If I may, it seems that you have the rescue of the healer handled. Fremont can be in charge of rescuing the werecreatures. We have masks developed to breathe against the wolfsbane bombs the rogues have created. It might be time to try the masks against some heavier duty smoke. If the werecreatures are still under the influence of this smoke, maybe it will be easier removing them from the cavern. We can keep them secure until your healer has recovered and found her token."

Eric nodded in appreciation. "That sounds like a great idea. You get on that." He looked around the table. "Any other questions? Concerns?"

Subtle head shakes formed around the room.

"Alright, then we have a plan. Let's move out."

We all rose and met Garrett's security team out at the largest clothing shed. We grabbed any extra articles we needed and started packing clothing bags with what we were wearing.

Eric's eyes blanked out for a moment and he grinned. He shuffled his shoes in the bag and tossed the pack straps over to his bare chest. "One of John's team has found the cave opening. They are gathering there now. Two miles north of Brian's Spring. One mile west of Graveyard Hollow. They are laying the scent for us to follow in."

A naked Jer punched me. "Let's go get your little brat."

"Dick," I accused while a couple from Garrett's team tried to hold in snickers. I realized it was an ill-timed insult but shot my glare their way. They all quieted.

As if it were a command, we were all hunched over and forcing the shift.

We landed on wolf paws and started the run. Garrett sped us forward, directing his crew what their tasks were and giving them as much information as he could.

We were thundering through the forest, and David and Jack peeled off a few miles out. It was then that Kara's presence filled my head like I'd crossed some invisible boundary that finally pressed out the static. Was she finally there?

I linked her as hard as I could. Kara? Kara, can you hear me?

William! It was like the world finally shown bright again as I heard her beautiful voice in that singular word. Are you okay?

My wolf head flicked incredulous. Why was she worried about me when she was the one captured! Am I okay? Are you okay!

I'm alive, but I'm in some laboratory with a mad man. Her words were nervous but not entirely frightened, and it calmed my soul to know she wasn't hurt.

We'll be right there love, hang on. My paws pounded faster, keeping Jeremy on his toes. Be safe. Use your ring. She would be okay. I'd make sure of it. We'd get there in time.

Not to push you out Will, but I need to concentrate here. Sorry.

And then the door was closed, it wasn't the static, more like how I had closed on her earlier. I ran over her words. She didn't sound in distress, but what would she need to concentrate on? What was Lawrence doing? Or what was she doing!

The thought made me nervous, and I announced to the group. Something's up. I just was in contact with Kara, she said she needed to concentrate. She didn't sound worried, but I don't like it. We need to move faster.

We were all going so rapidly already, it hurt to power faster, but we all found the strength.

And in just minutes we were scenting the trail of Hightop wolves leading us to the cave.

We were not pleased to come upon the scene.

John's grey wolf was passed out in the grass, surrounded by his three trackers.

What happened here? Garrett demanded of the new team.

As my study of the cave opening swept the ground, there was a violet smoke spilling out, rising only about three inches off the floor before it dissipated into the open air.

The lone woman of his team answered with a wolfen point to the cave opening. Purple smoke started billowing out of the cave chest high. John told us to stay back and went to check it out. Once he scented it, he immediately fell over unconscious. We pulled him out and over here, but he hasn't woken yet. We don't know what happened.

Eric's black wolf came to the front. We believe it's a form of wolfsbane, but he will wake. We just don't know how long. Get him back to the hospital unit. Your mission is complete.

The tracker team then started to adjust John's wolf on their backs and began the trot back to the pack.

Garrett growled low and fierce. Let's go in and show that bastard what werewolves are really made of! He leapt at the opening.

Stop! Eric's Alpha command brought him to a halt. Eric eyed the violet. The smoke is still in there. We can't risk getting all put to sleep. David said he had masks that he believed would work against it. I'll have him bring some. He shifted to human to grab his cellphone and began searching for the number.

Wait. Jeremy called and we all followed his wolf's snout as a point.

We all eyed down the dark cave and a deep mechanical breathing sounded, much like one would hear from a Star Wars movie.

The wolves around me bristled, but the matebond flooded with anticipation. It was Kara!

It was then we could hear two heartbeats. One strong and forceful, the other weak like fluttering butterfly wings.

When the image came into our view, growls reverberated around me.

A person in loose white scrubs, soaked in gory blood and wearing a military style helmet, strode confidently through the darkness. They were dragging a lifeless body with one hand and when the bloodied person saw us, unceremoniously dumped the thin body to the cave floor and charged right at us.

Wolves around me prepared for the attack.

I could scent the person then.

The blood covering them, was my Kara's. My teeth formed a snarl.

Lawrence was going to die.