Axton POV

I race back to the pack house as fast as I can, but by the time I get there, I know I am too late. Again. My wolf growls in the back of my mind as I enter the house. The broken down door and the claw marks on the wall drew me back to seven years ago. It's almost identical.

I am about to follow the marks up the stairs when a small creak stops my movement. I look toward the closed kitchen door as another squeak sounds from that direction. Pushing the slightly ajar door open, I take in the scene of the kitchen.

My shoes squish as I step onto the floor covered in water and noodles and I growl down at a dead rogue who seems to have the skin covering his face burned and scarred. I can smell Ellie's scent all around the kitchen. She was always smarter on her feet when it comes to attacks than any other.

I hear another light creak come from the cupboards near the sink. Bending down to the doors, I pull the cabinets open to reveal my little girl.

"Zea, it's me," I tell her as I pull her out past the cleaning supplies and into my arms. I hug her close as she cries gently against me, "It's okay baby girl. You're safe now."

I pull her back slightly, so she could see my face, "Sweetheart, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

She shakes her head quickly, telling me she is fine as I use my right hand to wipe away the tears that she had shed. I give her a light smile as she sniffles again, "The bad man took mommy."

My heart breaks as she says that. He had Ellie. He drew my focus to the border and used his rogues as a distraction so he could kidnap my mate. That's why they retreated instead of attacking. He didn't need to attack the pack. He knew Ellie would be here instead.

"Sweetheart, did he see you, when you hid under the sink?" I ask her quietly.

She shakes her head again at me, "No, I wanted to help mommy, but she told me not to come out. She didn't want me to heal her."

I hug my daughter closer to me as I try to call to Ellie through the link. I can feel her mind there, but it is like she is standing in fog and my call is echoed back to me.

I am so focused on Zea and trying to call for Ellie that I almost don't notice Walker and Reid come bursting through the kitchen door behind me. Neither says a word to as they survey the room.

It's Reid who finally breaks the silence, "They took her, didn't they?"

I don't reply since I don't have to. If I knew where Ellie was, I would have her and Zea in my arms right now. I would never have let either one of them go.

I hug Zea tighter to me as she rests her head on my shoulder.

"Can you reach her through the mate link?" Walker asks.

"No. She's cut off from me," I tell them, "I don't know what is blocking-"

I stop midsentence as Zea keeps tapping on my chest with her fist. I look down at her face to see fear and sadness in her eyes. Two emotions that I never want to see in my daughter and two that I swear I will make sure she never holds again.

She taps her fist again, so I look down at her small hand as her fingers uncurl around the vial that she has been clutching. I give her a questioning look before taking the vial from her.

It's empty except for a light purple tint to the glass. Lifting the open end up to my nose, I inhale the scent, almost gagging as I do, "Wolfsbane."

I hear Reid curse as Walker speaks, "That explains how they got her. She would have taken down a lot more guys than just one, even if they surprised her. But if they injected her with wolfsbane-"

"The pain I feel from her," I finish for him. When wolfsbane enters our system, it's like being burned alive from the inside out. I am trying to fight the pain, but I can still feel it in every fiber of my body, "They are using it to block her from us and from her wolf. She's in so much pain."

Walker puts his hand on my shoulder, "We'll get her back. She found her way home once. It's our turn to find her and bring her home."

*****

"Her scent leads off to the west."

"We tracked it to our western border, but it's like the second she crossed the line, the scent vanished."

"But the rogues we encountered at the north border were tracked going east until we lost them at the state border."

"Their scents disappeared."

"The witches are not only blocking our scent of Cortez or Ellie, but of every rogue in Cortez's army."

I slam by fist against my desk, spilling the water onto the mapping we have been studying for the last four hours. Every rogue sighting had been mapped out. Every rogue hideout and every rogue territory is on this map. Ellie is here somewhere, I just have to figure out where.

"Do we not have anything new to go on? Tell me someone has a lead," I growl out, but the room remains silent as my warriors watch me. Walker and Reid stand to the side of my desk, both giving me apologetic looks. They know how much pain I went through the first time I lost El and now I am forced to go through it all over again. But this time is worse. I can feel her pain, "Well, no one has any leads or a way to find her!"

"I think we might be able to help with that," the voice resonates through the silent room.

Connecting my eyes to the owner, I would have smiled if I wasn't in such dismay, "Xander."

He looks almost the same since the last time I see him, almost six years ago. His brown hair is a little shorter in length, but he is still built as big as me. His eyes reflect the same color as Ellie's. He is the one who told me to stop looking for Ellie. I was shocked when her own brother told me that even he had given up. Turns out he was only protecting her and Zea.

Reid shuffles the warriors out before closing the door behind the last one and retaking his previous place.

Xander gives me a small smile as he walks further into the room with his mate at his side. When he finally reaches me, he puts his arm on my shoulder reassuringly, "We will find her."

"Thank you for coming," I tell him as his mate, Aurora, moves in front of him and gives me a hug.

"We will bring her home. I promise Axton," she says before releasing me and moving back to stand next to Xander.

"Do we know the direction the rogues are heading in?" he moves to look at the map that is lying on my desk. He is an Alpha like me. He knows how to keep his emotions in check and get the job done, even if it is his sister we are looking for.

"They came from one direction and scattered to the east after. We can't figure out how they got through our defenses in the first place," I tell him.

"Have your trackers been able to find any sign of Ellie?"

Walker shakes his head at that, "The second her scent reached the border, it disappeared. Cortez has a few witches and warlocks. We think he is using them to block our tracking."

"Makes sense," Aurora says as she moves around the table. She is so short compared to the rest of us, but her fiery red hair made her stand out like a sore thumb, "Cortez's coven of witches are some of the cruelest I have ever seen. He takes in those who are cast out of their own covens for using dark magic."

"Ellie said that you are a witch," I say to her.

"Sort of. I am an elementalist. I can do some spells, but I mostly control the elements around us," she states.

"Were you the one who cursed Cortez?" I ask her. I know Ellie said that she did, but I need to make sure that we are all aware of the truth.

She looks down as Xander pulls her into his embrace, rubbing small circles down her arms as she speaks, "Years ago, Cortez attacked me in the woods. I hadn't learned to control all of the elements yet, especially spirit. When he attacked me, I cursed his spirit into a slow death."

Reid shakes his head, "You should have made it a faster acting curse."

Xander growls at him as Aurora gives him a dirty look, " Cursing his spirit is one of the worst things I have ever done. I didn't even mean to curse him in the first place. He's lucky he didn't drop dead right then and there. Cursing his spirit is one of the worst things I have ever done."

"If you're a witch, can you track him?" Walker asks.

Aurora just shakes her head, "I've tried, but the witches he has are blocking him from my sight. But because I'm the one who cursed him, I can try to track the curse itself."

"How can you do that?" I ask, "A curse isn't a person. I thought for tracking to work, the thing you track needs to be a living thing."

"That's the point," Aurora says, "The curse is attached to his soul. Think of the curse as a parasite, feeding off his spirit. It's not exactly living but its not exactly not either. It gives off a homing beacon of sorts. I just need enough power to get around his witches' block and to tap into it."

"I don't understand," Walker states.

"Listen, I can stand here all day and explain to you how magic and witch's curses work, or I can just try the spell," she grits out.

"Do it," I say, "What do you need from us?"

She pulls out a jar from her bag of what looks like dirt before placing it on the table with a light smile on her face, "I have already brought it with me."

She unscrews the cap and dumps the contents onto the map on the desk before gesturing for us to move back. I can hear her mumbling something, but it is so low not even my wolf hearing could make it out.

The wind outside begins to pick up as rain plasters against the window. The lights flicker in and out as Aurora continues to mumble with her eyes closed. The dirt on the map starts shifting as the weather outside grows even louder.

I let myself hope for a second as the dirt starts to move again, seeming to clump as it starts to head in one direction. But the hope is shattered as I hear Aurora scream out and collapse onto the ground.

Xander rushes to her before she can even hit the wood floor. The wind and rain outside quiets as everyone remains silent, "Aurora, are you okay?"

She nods her head as she stands up, much to her mate's apprehension, "Those stupid bitches felt me. I can't get past their block. I'm sorry, Axton. I'm not powerful enough to get around them by myself."

"Who will you need then?" I ask, worry and anxiety clear in my voice. She is so close. I can feel her scream out in pain as numbness in my wrist begins to take over my thoughts.

"Someone from my old coven. The best choice would be a sibling, but mine are all dead," she tells me.

"Please, Aurora," I beg her, "I need to find El. Whoever you need I will get them."

She gives me a sad look, "I'm sorry. Anyone that I can use to get around the spell is already gone."

"Use me."

We all turn to the voice that enters the room. I wasn't all to shocked to see Michael had been listening in as he stands in the open door with Jade standing next to him. I am about to tell her to get him out of here since just being near Michael makes my blood boil. Everything that went wrong with us, from El leaving seven years ago to Cortez taking her now, is because of him.

But I never get a chance as Aurora steps away from Xander and approaches Michael. The look she is giving him is one of awe and anger all at once. She only says one word as she stands in front of him, "Michael."

"Hi Aurora."

Before he can even react, she slaps him across the face so hard that he ends up on the floor. Pulling himself back up, he stands again in front of her.

"It's good to see you too, sis."