'What?' Ronan shouted. 'Why?'

Aidan couldn't look at him. He couldn't look at any of them. He had consciously put his Luna in a weak position, unable to link his pack, because he couldn't accept such a strong mate; because he wasn't sure if she should be part of his pack; because he was a fool.

'We never got around to linking her in with the pack', Aidan said lamely.

There were audible gasps from around the room. Even the people working at the computers were looking at him in something like disgust.

'I knew you were having problems but you chose to leave her without the most basic ability to communicate with your pack?' Nolan was angry and confused by this. 'It's a five minute ceremony', he added in disbelief.

'Explain yourself,' Robbie said advancing on Aidan.

'You fucking prick', Ronan shouted. 'You wouldn't tie her into her pack because she wouldn't let you mark her, is that it?'

Aidan didn't respond and next thing he knew, Ronan and Robbie had launched themselves at him, Ronan punching him hard in the jaw. Aidan stumbled. He was angry now. He knew he deserved the condemnation but he was also looking to take the frustration of potentially losing his Luna out on someone. The three started to shift but were startled at the sound of gunfire. Nolan was pointing a gun at the ceiling and lowered it to speak.

'Get a fucking hold of yourselves. You can murder each other after we get Alex back. There's work to be done now. It's time to get out there and bring our Rex home'.

On another day, Nolan would have been attacked by an Alpha for such insubordination but today he didn't care. His friend was dying and these assholes were slowing down his rescue attempt.

'So we don't have the mind-link. We'll be able to smell her blood and hear the motorbike. We can work with that. Everyone clear on what they are doing?' he finished.

With a resounding yes, almost everyone exited the war room now and sped into action.

Ronan and Robbie shoved Aidan as they passed by him, heading for the door. Orders were being shouted everywhere and men and women were shifting into wolves and running in all directions. Nolan took up point position with his team and started to run. His friend was alone, tired, badly injured and on the run. He wanted her back and he would make anyone who had harmed her pay.

__________________________

Alex's strength was waning now. Her wolf was doing her best to give her strength but she was still bleeding heavily and in a tremendous amount of pain. She was suffering from a long blink, her eyes threatening every moment to stay closed, to give in to her concussion and her body longing to lay down and give up. Alex had to force her eyelids apart as she tried to maintain her handle on the bike and her attention on the road. Kit's body was heavy on her back and Alex had to work hard to stop his weight from pressing her too far forward into the handlebars. His breathing was laboured but steady as his head was resting uncomfortably against her head and shoulder.

A sudden howl made her sluggish brain become alert. It sent a terrible shiver down her spin. That wasn't a wolf calling to her, that was a howl to start a hunt. Dax and his cronies knew she had escaped and lain waste to one of their clubhouses. They were coming for her and there was nothing she could do but hope that Nolan had been able to figure out her location and was leading an army to her aid. Alex steadied her nerve and accelerated faster into the dawn.

______

Aidan ran with furious intent. His wolf was almost savage, wanting to rip and tear apart Dax Stevens and anyone involved with the kidnap of his mate. Their deaths would be slow and painful. He would relish in their tortured screams and their pleas for mercy. More than that though, his heart was full of regret for the way he had let this happen to his mate. His pull towards Alex was so strong now, even without the mark tying them together. It scared him how much he cared for his person whom he had known for such a short time. Every mistreatment of her, every unkind word, every dismissal of her and her ideas weighed heavily on him. Aidan had genuinely never thought he would meet his mate. He had gotten used to the idea of settling for a chosen mate. A mate who would bear his children and would leave him to his own devices for the rest of the time. A mate who didn't require much from him by way of emotional or physical connection. Yet this was all he craved from Alex. To be near her. To hold her. To comfort and love her. His heart gave a great throb and it felt as though it would tear itself apart inside his chest. He shook his huge black head and refocused his mind. His paws thundered on the forest floor as his team made a great effort to keep up with him.

They had been running for almost an hour when they heard it. The howl of an alpha to his pack. The kidnappers had realised Alex and Kit were gone and they were now on the hunt for them. Aidan must find Alex first. He powered on, willing her scent to fill his senses. As his mind began to slip into thoughts of all the bad and terrible things that could be happening to his mate at that moment, he got it. The most wonderful aroma of cedarwood and a rain washed meadow. His head shot to his right and he turned so suddenly towards the scent that one of his warriors collided with him. Aidan growled menacingly and righted himself onto his four legs before setting off again. He mind-linked his pack members that were on the rescue mission, barking out the change of direction and lengthening his strides to increase his speed.

He could hear the others now. The wolves that were hunting his mate. That dared to threaten her. To take her away from him. His wolf was panting harshly, both due to the speed he was travelling and at the thought of ripping the throats from these perpetrators. And then he heard the engine of a motorbike and the revs of the driver trying to hasten. She was close. But the other wolves were gaining on her. He could make out the bike through the trees and the two riders. The large man on the back was slumped heavily over the driver. His mate. His heart leapt. And just as quickly, it felt as though an icy dagger had penetrated his chest as he saw a wolf running straight towards the motorbike, head on. Alex screamed, as she realised she was penned in by enemy wolves, on either side, in front and behind her. There was nowhere for her to go. Aidan snarled loudly, causing some of the rogues to glance around momentarily. He leapt as the wolf coming head on jumped for Alex. They collided in mid air with Aidan latching onto the throat of the other wolf. The movement caused them to smash into the motorbike, causing Alex to lose control, swerving off the road. She let out a pained scream before the bike crashed into a huge tree, ejecting the two occupants into the air like ragdolls. The sound of their bodies hitting the ground was the most sickening noise Aidan had ever heard. But the silence that followed from his mate made his lungs empty and his stomach lurch. He crushed the neck of another wolf as he ran over to where Alex and Kit had landed. There was no movement.