Part 1

If you want Drake back, meet us at the field at Pine Creek. Saturday at 8:00 P.M. Failure to appear will result in Drake's death.

I read the letter over and over again as JC stared at me in complete shock and loss for words. My first question is who is the Alpha? Rogues don't have an Alpha, maybe a leader but not someone who has the strength of an Alpha.

The more I thought about it, I couldn't tell if these are the rogues or if it's another new enemy.

"We've got to save him." JC says grabbing my arm gently to direct me to look at her instead of the paper like I have been doing the last ten minutes.

"I can't risk losing you. I can deal with this, you stay here." I say gathering my bearings and rising from my seat. Today is Saturday and it is seven O'Clock. The letter could had been there for days, but we wouldn't had known.

"No! I need to help." She insists and I growl at her. She stops walking after me and looks at me with hurt in her eyes.

"You are staying here and that is final." I command, clenching my fist. I'm not angry with her, but I'm frustrated on the lack of time I've been given for this and I don't want her arguing with me.

JC lets out a rough sigh, "The letter is addressed to me. If this "Alpha" doesn't see me there he will kill Drake."

She's right on that, but I'm not letting her come. I mind-link one-hundred pack warriors, which I'm surprised I can do without too much trouble. Normally, I can mind link up to fifty at once to alert them, but today I did twice that amount.

I turn back to JC and wrap my arms around her stiff ones. "I love you, but this is how it is. I'll get Drake back." Then I hesitate wondering if I should promise her.

"How many warriors are you taking?" She asks as if she accepts the fact she won't be accompanying us.

"One-hundred. I can't take them all. They could come back here." I press my lips to her forehead. "I need you here, in the attic in case that happens. I'll take Alpha Bellamy with me and leave the Betas."

I pull away to look at her expression. I should be getting ready for this, but I can see my mate is clearly worried. I can't leave her in the middle of all of this without saying a proper goodbye and to let her know I care.

JC no longer has tears in her eyes like she did when she first read the letter, she looks mad. She looks vengeful.

"Tell me you will stay here?" I inquire, hoping she will stay put.

She nods, " I'll protect the pack. You just go get Drake and come right back. I don't want to see a single bruise or cut on your body." She stern as she says this and I smirk.

"I'm a Spellbound Lycan now. It's time to test it out."

Theo and his crew have left to head to Pine Creek Fields. Jared and I have went upstairs to the attic where he's been "remodeling" the past few weeks to keep himself entertained. He doesn't want to be sent down with the women and children by Chase or Theo so he's tried to stay out of their way.

"This is all too crazy." He says sitting down in a bean bag chair. I lock the door behind me after mind-link Kate to keep everyone in the bunker.

I sit in front of the window, staring out at the different directions. It's dark out besides the light coming from the house, but I still can see clearly even beyond that.

"Yeah." I reply defeated. I lean back in the chair and cross my arms. I can't deal with this for the rest of my life. I need to end this constant fighting and heartbreak.

Losing Drake will be the final straw for me. I don't know what I will do, but I will probably blow my top. Drake is a good man and I'll be damned if he gets killed because the rogues want me so terribly bad.

"It'll be okay though." Jared says positively, drawing me out of my state of mind.

"No. It will never be okay." I snap back immediately after his comment. I sometimes forget I'm a Luna, and Luna's never say stuff like that. Luna's are supposed to instill hope and faith in times like these.

But here I am being Negative Nancy.

I lie, "I'm sorry. It will be okay, eventually I think." Jared is silent and doesn't reply back to me. So I remain facing the woods and watch as the squirrels dart along the trees. The warriors are on high alert, watching everything closely.

I open my mind-link up to Theo and ask if they are there yet. It's eight already and I'm getting more nervous than before.

Yes. He responds back to me pretty quickly after I asked. We agreed that we would keep the mind-link open between us so we can notify each other if something goes wrong.

Everything good there? He asks and I let him know that they are.

I love you. I tell him, the urge coming over me. I don't know what will happen, but I'm scared I will never see him again. I'm scared this is all a set up or that it will blow up.

I love you. This isn't goodbye. He says back. I can feel his pain as he says the words and I can tell he doesn't necessarily know if this is goodbye or not.

Our conversation ends there, but our bond remains connected together. Jared comes and sits beside me, looking out of the window. I grab a bottle of water from a cooler and hand it to him, then take one for myself.

Did I mention it gets really hot up here? I can tell it's not as bad but that's because Jared somehow got a fan to plug in here. But there is no air conditioning up here and I don't want to open the tinted window right now.

"Have you thought about getting the council involved?" Jared asks out of the blue. I roll my eyes at the thought.

"Those stuck up pricks? They'll try to kill me." I say back with a little laughter in my tone. It's not funny, except it is right now because I feel like everything is either trying to kill me or make me a slave.

"You don't know that Claire. They may want to help." He argues and drinks his water. I open the lid to mine and drink it.

"Yeah? You don't think they will think I'm an abomination or get upset with me because I hid from them?" I want to laugh more about it but I remain collected. Jared is just concerned, but he doesn't know what the councils right because he's been a rogue, until now.

"I don't know. I just think that we should see what they think. They can help."

I sigh and lean back in the chair, it rocks back and forth. "They can kill. If they know about me and they want me dead, I will be running from everyone. From the rogues, from this pack, from them. I won't be able to live a decent life because a warrant will be out for me. I've thought that this is bad when in reality, that's the worse that can happen besides getting captured."

Jared again becomes silent, looking out the window himself in thought. I stand up and walk around the attic to stretch my legs.

"JC." Jared says my name lowly. I turn, expecting him to start talking about how wonderful the council could be.

I walk up to him. "Yeah?"

"My father. He's here." His voice shakes as he speaks those words. He pushes the chair back and stands up. He keeps his eyes trained on the woods out the window. I mind-link the warriors really quickly to let them know some rogues may be here.

"How do you know?" I ask, not seeing any sign of a rogue out there.

"I know. He's my father. I would be able to sense him coming to my room before he even stepped in the house. I just know."

I place my hand on his arm, his hand is balled in a fist and he looks angry. But most of all, he looks scared.

"Listen to me. That man does not control you. You are your own person, first and foremost." His father had a tight hold on the way Jared lived his life before our paths crossed. He would beat Jared, torture him for not wanting to catch animals for dinner in his wolf form, and make him feel weak.

Jared finally snapped and surrendered to the life that his father said he was destined to have. That's when we met each other. His father knew I was in my heat and weak. He wanted to poison me, not necessarily to kill me but to capture me for his pack of filthy mutts. I don't know how he resisted his father even for me as a stranger.

"He's coming for me." Jared acknowledged, swallowing a lump in his throat.

"He can't have you." I turn him to face me, so he could see how serious I am. Jared's a good kid, Drake's a good man, I am a good person. So I won't let anything happen to any of us.

Under my dead body.

"The pack warriors will protect us. I can tell them to take him into custody if you want, but we can't go down there." I hope that Jared understands why we can't. He's not even supposed to fight and I definitely can't just go down there. Jared's a smart kid though, I can see he understands.

Jared's eyes find mine and I can see the debate in his eyes. Finally he gives me his answer that chills my bones as he speaks it, "I want him dead."