The Unwanted Wolf

MARK

I followed the warrior out of Zayla’s office and rushed to where he indicated the b***d was. It was in the front yard of the pack house, and a crowd had already gathered. Zayla was just a few steps behind us at the scene.

I pushed through the crowd, needing to see what had happened. Alpha Lyna was already in the center of the crowd, inspecting the scene. The scent hit me before I actually saw anything. It was the smell of Adira mixed with iron. There was no doubt in my mind that the b***d belonged to Adira. My stomach sank and my body tensed. What happened here? Why wasn’t I here to make sure she was okay? Was she still alive?

Alpha Lyna looked up at me and frowned. He stood up and assessed the crowd. In a booming alpha voice he said, “It’s time for all of you to clear out here. There’s nothing to see here, and we still have missing pack members. Go help the search.”

Everyone started to clear out immediately, but it felt like a blur to me. I was able to stay in denial, not knowing where Adira was, but b***d meant that she was hurt. There was no denying that. Someone took her away from me while I was sleeping, and I had no idea who it was. It could have been the Council of B***d and Magic or this Son of B***d and Magic. There were too many people after my mate, and one of them got to her while I was asleep. My mate was hurt and taken while I slept the night away.

“You should go help the search,” Alpha Lyna said.

Zayla looked him up and down, not caring about his alpha status. “I am Pack Aphelion’s doctor, and I will be staying to take a sample of the b***d. You do not give me orders.”

I knew I should scold Zayla for her rude tone, but I couldn’t open my mouth to speak.

“Understood,” Alpha Lyna said, taking a step back. He turned his attention to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. He looked me in the eyes and waited for me to process his presence. “She’s okay. There was minimal b***d, nothing deadly. Whoever was behind this attack seemed to be cautious about not harming the wolves. I’m confident she’s still alive.”

I swallowed hard, barely able to breathe with how tight my chest felt. “How did this happen? We had patrols everywhere. Someone should have alerted everyone before the bastard even touched our land.”

Alpha Lyna squeezed my shoulder. “I fully intend to find out. No one threatens Pack Lyna and gets away with it.”

“No one threatens my mate and gets away with it.” The numbness I felt started to dissipate, rage filling the void. My fingers curled into fists, and my fingernails dug into my palm.

“We will find her,” Alpha Lyna said, “And I’ll rip them to shreds.”

“Not if I get to them first.” I would kill whoever took my mate, no hesitation. They had better hope they didn’t harm her, or their death would be slow and painful.

“Mark!” Rie said, running down the steps of the front porch. Mason was just a few steps behind her. She threw her arms around me. “Is it true?”

With how fast information was spreading, I was sure she had already heard about Adira. “I’m pretty sure. We’re still trying to figure everything out.”

Rie pulled back, tears filling in her eyes. “I woke up with an immense headache, and then there was so much chatter going on in the pack link. There was an attack on us last night?”

I nodded slowly. There wasn’t much damage to the pack house, but it was still an attack. Whoever this was didn’t know that they messed with the wrong wolfpack. “I’m positive Adira was the target.”

Rie gasped and threw her hands over her mouth. More tears welled in her eyes. “I hate this. I hate how much that poor girl has gone through. She deserves the world. She deserves a break from this chaos. She deserves so much happiness.”

Mason wrapped his arms around Rie and pulled her into his chest. She visibly calmed down at his touch.

“What can we do to help?” he asked.

Alpha Lyna stepped up. “We need to find any clues that will lead us to whoever did this and where they might be. We have to get Adira back.”

“I’ll lead a thorough investigation to find any information,” Mason offered. “If they left any tracks, I’ll find them.”

“There won’t be any tracks,” Ginger said, joining the group. “Magic was definitely used here last night.”

Ginger stood next to Alpha Lyna, and she looked small compared to his tall stature. Somehow she still looked fierce.

“Who are you?” Alpha Lyna asked, sniffing Ginger’s scent.

“Who are you?” Ginger returned, jabbing him in the arm. “What gives you the right to just smell an old lady whenever you want. Just because you have that werewolf nose, doesn’t give you the right to just go smelling anyone anytime.”

Alpha Lyna was taken aback by Ginger’s fierceness. He looked to me for help and clarification of this situation. I knew he already knew Ginger wasn’t a werewolf. Her scent made it clear she wasn’t human either.

“Reyland, this is Ginger,” I introduced. I hesitated before saying the next part. “She’s been training Adira with her, umm.” I looked at the others, unsure of how much they knew about Adira’s magic nature.

Ginger slapped me on the back, making me cough in shock. “Spit it out, boy. We don’t have all day.”

“She’s been helping Adira learn to control her magic better,” I said, still a little hesitant.

Alpha Lyna nodded as he processed this information. “She’s a sorcerer.”

Mason’s eyes went wide. “Magic? Sorcerer?”

Rie grabbed his hand and whispered, “I’ll explain later. Not now.”

Mason shut his mouth and gulped.

Ginger laughed. “I take it I’m the first sorcerer this boy has met.”

“Most werewolves have never met a sorcerer. We stay separate,” Alpha Lyna said. His voice was more rigid now as he spoke to Ginger. He was definitely on edge, which I understood. He hadn’t known sorcerers in the best light before.

I decided to step in before any argument could possibly start. “Ginger, do you know who did this? Who took Adira?”

“I may be clairvoyant, but I can’t see the future. I don’t know who exactly was here, but I know it was strong magic. They used a hell of a spell to knock us all out, though. I haven’t felt this hungover since I drank three pitchers of golden goose liquor with Clara.” Ginger paused.

“Do you think the Council of Magic came for Adira?” I asked. I held my breath, terrified of the response.

“No,” Ginger instantly said. “We’d all be dead if it was the council. They would have done more than pull a simple sleeping spell on the pack house. I only felt three different sources of magic here, one of them Adira’s.”

“This was the work of only two sorcerers?” Mason said. His eyes looked like they were about to bug out of his eyes. “How are we supposed to have any chance against sorcerers if this is the damage of only two?”

Ginger looked at Mason, and for a moment, she held sympathy for him. “In the great war, werewolves were incredibly strong, and sorcerers feared them. They seemed to have some sort of resistance to magic, so they were an equal match to sorcerers. I know this may seem like a lot, but I promise this is not a hopeless situation.”

“We’ve defeated sorcerers before,” I added. “They tried to attack and kill Adira a few months ago, and we were able to defeat them with no casualties.”

Alpha Lyna looked at me closely. “This isn’t the first time Adira has been attacked by sorcerers?”

I shook my head, the anger bubbling to the surface again. “No. Since she is half-sorcerer, half-werewolf, it has been causing a lot of issues for her. It is a complicated story, but I’d prefer not to get into it right now. I want to focus on finding my mate first.”

There was a subtle pain in my chest from the separation from my mate. I had already been feeling off from spending so little time with Adira these past few days, but this was different. She wasn’t here, and I couldn’t even sense her. Even when I had been on patrol, I was close enough to her to sense her. I hadn’t felt her all morning, and it was starting to ache.

“We’ll find her. Mason, start investigating the area for any clues of where these bastards might have taken my daughter-taken Adira,” Alpha Lyna said, catching himself in his words. He continued on as if nothing happened. “Ginger, can you continue looking for more magic clues?” He quickly added, “Please.”

A small smile pulled at my lips as I saw the effect Ginger had on this alpha. I had not seen Alpha Lyna use the word “please” the entire time he was here. He was used to giving commands, no questions asked, but Ginger wasn’t having any of that.

“That was the plan,” Ginger said, a little sass still in her voice.

Alpha Lyna turned to me, too nervous to speak to Ginger again. “We’ll find her. We’ll do everything in our power to find her. I’m here if you need anything, too, son.” He turned and walked away, Mason and Rie following behind him.

The word “son” echoed in my ears. Even though Reyland wasn’t Adira’s real father, his fatherly tendencies were showing for the first time here. He was protective and worried about Adira, just like a father should be. It was a relief, knowing another strong alpha cared about Adira in a deep way.

I stayed put, needing a moment to collect myself before going back inside. I was fighting the rage I felt towards the attackers and the deep fear of losing my mate. It would have been easy to fall down a dark rabbit hole, but I knew I had to keep it together for Adira’s sake. I had to do whatever I could to bring her back.

“She fought hard, you know,” Ginger said, bringing my attention back to the moment. “Her magic and presence were everywhere. She was strong and clever with the use of her magic. I could practically see her doing whatever she could.”

“I should have been there with her,” I said. “If I had just stayed up longer and made sure she was safe before going to bed or-”

“Stop that, boy. There’s no sense in going through the should’ve, would’ve, could’ve logic. What matters is right now. Adira is most likely alive. Whoever did this held extreme care of not killing anyone, which says a lot about whoever did this,” Ginger said.

That was when it clicked in my brain. “I know who did this.”

Ginger c****d her head to the side. “Who?”

“It had to be Cain. He was desperate to protect Adira, saying if she didn’t go with him, the Council of Magic, they would kill her. I should have seen it earlier. Of course he did this.” I gritted my teeth at the thought. I didn’t like Cain before, but now he was dead in my mind. He didn’t respect Adira’s “no” and instead of helping her prepare for an attack, he stole her away from me.