Over three hours had passed since her first visit from the three would-be rapists. None of her calls had gotten through to anyone. It was now almost sunrise. She had to get out of here before anyone else arrived. The last part of her plan was to set a fire to the bunker. She knew it was risky as it would potentially draw attention from her enemies but it may also give her pack a signal as to where she was. Alex poured bottles of whiskey and vodka she had found in the kitchen onto all the surfaces she could on her way out. She led a path of alcohol to one of the jeeps, smashing the last few bottles onto the bonnet. She hoped this would cause a loud explosion.

Alex sent a final text to Nolan, coded in a shorthand text that he would understand.

Finally she threw her leg over the bike, and, using some lengths of rope she had found in the cell block, she secured Kit to her, tying them together, painfully, at the waist. Her ribs screamed in indignation but she ignored it. She took one of his arms and put it over her shoulder, the other around her waist and tied his wrists together in front of her chest. Kit was leaning painfully on her back in his unconscious state.

Her final act was to light several matches and drop them on the alcohol trail, waiting to make sure it ignited all the way into the bunker and onto the jeep before turning the key of the engine and accelerating out of the enemy camp.

Protect us Moon Goddess, she whispered as she headed into the unknown.

___________

Aidan could feel his wolf trying to take over. The fury within him was suffocating. They had been searching the woods for any sign of Alex and Kit or the people who had taken them. Warriors from his own pack had searched between the pack lands before joining him at Black Mountain. There was no scent or trail to follow. Aidan felt as though he would lose his mind if anything happened to his mate. Terrible thoughts of what they may be doing to her were assaulting his brain. Why hadn't he gone with her? Why had he insisted that she go? He ran his hands over his face as he walked back towards the pack house at Black Mountain, his heart tight and painful in his chest.

There was a flurry of movement ahead.

'Alpha Aidan', a Black Mountain warrior addressed him. 'The Gamma has asked that you head straight to the War Room. They have news'.

Aidan sped up the stairs and crashed the door of the War Room open. Before him, Ronan, Cain, Hank and Nolan were gathered around the desk screen. Robbie thundered in the door behind Aidan, having just heard that there was an update. The group were muttering and marking areas on a map that had been uploaded to the desk, not noticing the arrival of the two Alphas. There were photos and what looked like text messages on the screens on the walls around the room. There were others typing furiously on computers, making calls and running back and forth to each other.

'Alpha Aidan', Nolan addressed him. 'Alex has contacted us'.

Relief flooded his body and he leaned heavily on the boardroom table for a moment.

'Tell me everything', Aidan demanded.

'Three and a half hours ago, Alex got a hold of a mobile phone and tried to call and text us'.

'Three and a half hours?' Aidan roared. 'Why am I only hearing about this now?'

'We didn't know Aidan', Ronan put a hand on his shoulder. 'We were out patrolling ourselves and no one thought to bring a phone. We didn't know'. Ronan looked devastated. 'Nolan, please continue', he said.

Nolan motioned towards the photos on the screens on the walls and onto the map on the table screen in front of them.

'Alex sent the first text but didn't know where she was or had any details to share except that Dax Stevens was in charge.'

Powerful growls filled the room, emanating from the many Alpha's present. The air was heavy with rage.

Nolan continued, 'Then she sent these photos over the following half hour or so. She's looking out of a cell window at what looks like a bunker in the forest. It looks well hidden, hence why none of us found anything so far. Then she must have gotten into an office or something because these photos here', he pointed towards a different area on the wall, 'seem to be battle plans. They have details of our patrols, our changeovers, estimated numbers and maps of our territories as well as nearly every pack in the surrounding areas. Your pack has been compromised too. You'll need to tell them now'.

Aidan looked at Mark, the warrior to his left. 'Ring Marcus now and tell him everything you've heard. Tell him to reinforce the patrols, change the handover times and run emergency evacuations'. Mark exited the room immediately.

'Where is Alex now?' there was a plea in Aidan's voice.

'We don't know for sure'. Ronan started.

Aidan punched the nearest wall in frustration, leaving behind a fist sized hole.

'Her last message was coded and sent to Nolan only', Ronan said. 'Nolan'?

'Alex seems to have fought the people who took her and killed them all. Kit is badly injured and both of them have been dosed with Wolfsbane. Her plan was to light a fire in the bunker so we might be able to tell where she is. She planned to drive north east of the fire so we could try and figure out where she might be. We have drones out now trying to find the fire so we can figure out where she is but they haven't seen anything yet'.

'Why is she heading north east?' Ronan asked.

'She can't figure out where she is. Alex has written '3L' in the text. '3L' to us means she only has three working limbs so either she has broken an arm or a leg. She can't climb a tree to try and figure out a direction so she's hedging her bets on North East'.

He took a deep breath in and didn't make eye contact with any of them. If he could help it, he wouldn't be sharing the last part of Alex's message with any of them.

'Any sign of any fucking smoke Daniel?' Ronan barked. He had turned towards one of the men at the computers.

'No sir', he stammered as he looked at each of the screens in front of him and at the men and women at the other screens alongside him. 'We're still looking. The drones are 50km out now'.

'Wait', one of the women shouted, 'there something on screen twelve'.

'Put it up on the big screen', Nolan ordered.

Sure enough there were fumes rising in the treeline.

'Bring it up on the map', Nolan cleared some of the paperwork from the desk-screen so they could enlarge the map that was uploading. A red circle appeared on the map showing where the smoke was located.

'If she lit the fire almost an hour ago now.. motorbike with two on it, injured driver, roadway, northeast,' Nolan was muttering under his breath as he started drawing lines and writing calculations on the desk monitor.

'My best estimate is that she is somewhere here'. He pointed at a stretch of road almost 100km away from Black Mountain.

Nolan spoke to the warrior on his left. 'Take your squad, Alpha Aidan and his team to meet Alex in this area'. He circled an area on the map between where Alex likely was now versus where she might be in the hour or so it would take them to run to her.

'I'll take my unit to the fire site and sweep across behind her to assess if anyone is coming after her from the south west. Hopefully we'll capture someone'.

'Ronan or Theo, can one of you take a team to Alex's east? Then we'll have a perimeter secured'.

Nolan then turned to Alex's father. He spoke more quietly now, hoping that the commotion of orders behind him would drown out what he was saying.

'Hank, Could you take the medical bus and head for Alex's location? Take Cain with you so he can start giving first aid to Alex and Kit as soon as you reach them. Cain will need to bring blood and the cure for wolfsbane plus anything else he might need to treat two very badly injured people'. Hank inhaled sharply, understanding what Nolan was telling him. Hank nodded and moved quickly from the room, pulling Cain out the door with him.

'There's something you're not telling us', Aidan said, after overhearing some of the conversation with Hank. He could see the discomfort in the man. A dread that he hadn't shared.

Nolan hesitated. The eyes of Alex's brother, mate and Robbie were on him. He closed his eyes for a moment, steeling himself for what he had to tell them.

'She's bleeding badly', Nolan said. 'She's not sure that she is going to make it but she said she'll keep driving for as long as she can'.

One final breath.

'If it comes to another fight, she says she won't make it. She knows I'll do everything I can to figure out where she is and get to her but in the last sentence', he paused, 'she asked me to ready myself for a potential body retrieval'.

Nolan raised his eyes to look around the room. He could see the devastation across every face.

Aidan slammed his fist on the table and walked to the window, rubbing his eyes and trying to gather himself.

There was a terrible silence for a few moments while this news hung in the air.

'Fuck that', Robbie 'said, Alex is stronger than any of us. She'll keep going. We just have to get to her'.

Ronan seconded this. 'We're bringing Rex home'.

Nolan cleared his throat. 'Alpha Aidan, can you assign two of your warriors to each of our teams so that we can communicate through the mind link?'

'Of course', Aidan said and nodded to Mark to make this happen.

'Once you are close enough, you'll be able to link with Alex and she can tell you and your warriors more about where she is', Nolan continued.

Aidan paled slightly as he felt bitter shame flood his system.

'Is there a problem Alpha?' Nolan queried, seeing a change in him.

Aidan closed his eyes, absolute regret for his pig-headedness pulsing through him now.

'Alex cant link the pack', he said quietly.