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“She kidnapped my mate!” I roared, defending Chase, not wanting to back down on this. Not when my mate needed me, and I needed someone to punish.
“I didn’t kidnap her! She was already leaving! I just gave her a ride!”
“Right into Markus’s hands?” I accused, fighting my body from shifting and ripping her apart.
“That’s enough, Nyte! We don’t have time for this crap. I need both you and Chase upstairs; now.” Alexander growled, the hair on the back of my neck rising.
Reluctantly, Chase released Katya, the she-wolf rushing to her family’s side with tears in her eyes. I glared at her before turning to the stairs, following Chase towards Alpha’s office.
“Alexander, Markus has my mate. Katya handed her over, and he is taking her to Oceanside now,” I growled, slamming the door behind me as I stormed into his office. “I want retribution and my mate back safely to me.”
“And you must wait and handle that all on your own time, Nyte. Now is not the time to go chasing another Alpha into his territory.”
“You really are willing to allow him to take from our pack? To come into our territory and take one of our members?”
“No,” Alexander growled at me, the others staring wide-eyed between us. “But she isn’t one of ours. She is yours—your witch mate who has been rejected by this pack. I will not lead us into a war over her. Not when two more packs in the last hour have turned up missing.”
My eyes widened at the news, but a growl rumbled in my chest at everything else he had to say. She was my problem. That’s what he was telling me. The pack wouldn’t accept her, so they wouldn’t fight for her. Especially not with everything happening right now. Markus was taking advantage of it. He knew the divide my mateship had caused in our pack. He knew that I gave up my power within the pack to claim her. So, he knew that no one would stand by me to go after him.
No matter how powerful a wolf is, alone, he is weakened. There was a reason rogues didn’t last long alone and why they often pulled together into rogue packs, never as strong as they could be with a true Alpha leading them. Without the pack behind me now, I was little more than a rogue against Markus and his entire pack.
“Two more packs? What packs?” Chase asked, his gaze never leaving me as I fought to control my emotions.
“Small packs again,” Alexander answered, turning his attention to the map on his desk. “Mission Bay and Imperial Beach.”
“Those are close to us,” Madilyn gasped, sitting straighter in her seat.
“Close to us, but far from one another. They are splitting up, and they are circling our pack. Both Point Loma and Coronado sit at the center of the two newly taken packs. I have increased the watch over San Diego Bay Refuge. A few naturalist packs are living in the area. They haven’t yet experienced any loss, but they have noticed disturbances in their territory.”
“Vampires, right?” Chase asked. “We’ve confirmed that vampires are involved, didn’t we?”
“Yes, we just don’t know about the involved witches.” Alexander looked up at me. “You questioned the San Diego coven, correct?”
“You mean my mate’s family?” I snapped. “Yeah, I talked to them. They have no idea what is even happening. Although if they find out we are letting their daughter be held captive, they could begin to cause us problems.”
“We will help her when we figure out how to help ourselves. Chase, has your pack noticed anything on their watches?”
“Nothing out of the normal, no. We have newborns now, so the she-wolves are getting more anxious.”
“Anxious she-wolves with pups are never good,” Alexander contemplated. “It may be best to take them somewhere only they know exists. The midwives have some hidden caves that not even I know the locations of. It would give the pups and their mothers a new sense of security.”
“I’ll have my pack meet with the midwives to begin moving them,” Chase nodded.
Alexander turned to me, his eyes narrowing. “Will you be useful? Or will you be a hindrance to this pack? We don’t have time for internal conflict. This situation is becoming far too dire for our kind. We still haven’t found a body belonging to the missing wolves. I need all hands on deck, but not if your hands have nothing to offer.”
I growled back at my alpha, standing to my full height. “I’ll help the pack. But don’t expect me to be happy about it when my mate is in the hands of my enemy.”
“I didn’t realize you considered Markus your enemy,” Jose sneered. “I thought he was little more than an annoyance to you.”
“When he has been stalking my mate for this long, he is my enemy. And he will be nothing when I get my hands on him.”
I watched the beta bristle at my threat as Alexander nodded. “Use that anger to help this pack right now. I doubt Markus will harm your mate. It seems he may have different plans in mind for her.”
I growled at the thought of Markus touching her in any way, turning and leaving the office.
“Alpha didn’t dismiss you, Nyte,” Jose growled behind me.
“It’s fine. Nyte, go with Chase to speak with the midwives and help move the she-wolves and children to a safer location only they know about.”
