37. Taken

Liam and Elden are already waiting for me. A bit further away there is a group of warriors and trackers. Jun is here too.

Liam looks angry, while Elden looks more worried than upset.

"I can't believe this happened," Liam growls. "Felix and Dario were on my pack grounds. I apologize for not keeping them safe."

Before Elden can say anything, I shake my head. "No," I say quietly. "This is my fault. I should have watched Charlie. The boys just got dragged into it."

"This doesn't take us anywhere," Elden interrupts us. "Not so long ago Annie was abducted off my pack grounds. I hate that my boys are in danger, but it wasn't you who endangered them. I will get very mad if we don't start looking ASAP."

"One of the members of the IT team checked the security cameras, and it seems like four men were on pack grounds," I say. "How were they even able to enter?"

"That's a question we need to delay to later," Liam says. "Dad is right. For now, we need to find Charlie and my brothers."

"Whoever it was who chased and threatened them, I want their head," Elden says, and his voice is darker than usual.

None of us wastes any time. Liam has us all shift before our main tracker takes the lead with us. Charlie's and the twins' scents start from different points, but they seem to have met in the middle of the forest, very close to where the IT team reported that the cameras recorded some unknown men. Their scents are not detectable, as these assholes probably masked themselves. There are traces around, though, and Liam sends a team to investigate where they came from.

It seems like the kids were able to run, their traces leading us away from the pack and towards a river where their scent and traces stop.

Fuck, they probably jumped into it. A smart move on one hand, because it diffused the scent for their attackers, but very dangerous too. Liam obviously thinks the same as he picks up his pace, chasing alongside the river and towards the waterfall.

They didn't…

Goddess, I hope Charlie is well!

My head starts spinning again, making me imagine all kinds of outcomes, all of them ending with Charlie dying or being severely hurt.

Focus, Sylvan growls. We lost our first mate and child; we won't let it happen a second time.

He is right. I try to channel my thoughts to something more positive, although it's difficult. The group separates a bit, some of the trackers jumping to the other side of the river, while Liam, Elden, and I take some of the other warriors to find a way down to the lake the waterfall ends in. There are no traces of the kids anywhere on our side.

We would have felt if something happened, Liam links me. I… I would have felt the bond to my brothers being altered, he adds without verifying what exactly it means. I understand nevertheless, and his words put me slightly at ease.

Felix is an extraordinary swimmer, so hopefully he got Charlie through this safely. Elden… or rather his lycan, Regis, meanwhile runs around the lake, sniffing the ground everywhere, before he lets out a howl that makes us all rush towards him.

My heart skips a beat as I can feel Charlie's scent filling my nostrils. There are traces on the ground. The three of them must have laid down here before moving on. Footsteps lead us further into the forest and towards a cave.

They were here!

But—

Elden shifts back to his human form, looking around with a frown. Liam and I follow suit. "They were clearly here," I say.

"Yes, but there are more footsteps and traces," Liam mutters.

"Could they have come and left?"

"They look too heavy for three teens," Liam analyzes.

His words seem to flip a switch in my mind, and I find myself kneeling down, checking on the footprints. There are trackers who are better at this than I am, but it's something I learned early in my work as a beta.

"What do you think?" Elden asks me.

"You are both right; it's not only them. There are different profiles here. I want someone to analyze these closer, but it looks like three teens entered, then three men. Five footsteps lead outside again, meaning one of the kids was carried."

"What do they want from them?" Elden asks, his eyes turning black in anger. He is so much in control now, almost a bit too much. I wonder what he will do once he finds the person who abducted his sons.

Liam's eyes gloss over, and soon enough, one of our wolves steps forward and shifts. "Levi," Liam tells him. "Now it's time to show us what you've learned from the werecats. Take two or three trackers and analyze the traces here. We want to know how and where they came onto the pack and how many unknown men were involved. My brothers and my beta's niece are involved; make sure to take this seriously."

"Yes, Alpha!" Levi says promptly. There is a hint of anxiety in his eyes for getting such an important task, but he also looks eager and proud to prove himself.

"I will be following the traces to see where they lead," Elden says.

Liam nods. "I will come with you." He turns to me. "Dante, I need your analytical mind now."

"What do you have in mind?"

"You need to return to the pack and analyze the video material. These guys came onto our pack grounds; we need to know why and how! We also need to know if it's wolves or another species. Our security is tight; it should be impossible to sneak onto our pack just like that."

"You think there is a spy in the pack?" Elden asks.

"That's a possibility."

"Do you think it could be Richie?" I ask. "He is the only outsider."

"He is, but he also doesn't leave his room unattended. Yet, before we involve him in reaching out to the wolves who hired Imogen, I want to be certain that he isn't involved."

Part of me would rather join Elden and Liam on their hunt, but at the same time, Liam is right. Analyzing and strategizing are my forte. Charlie benefits much more from me doing that instead of running around mindlessly.

"Silas is still here," Liam says.

"Yeah, I was thinking about involving him. With his help, we can at least verify if it was the vampires."

"You talked about the mercenaries being hired to find Ella," Elden says. "Do you think this is connected?"

"Possibly. I think that whoever came was most likely after Charlie, and Felix and Dario just happened to be there," Liam says. "We need to make sure first if the vampires are involved. If they aren't, then it can only be the werewolves who hired Imogen. Levi and Dante will hopefully be able to verify that when they analyze what exactly went down in the pack. Anything else is just assumptions, but it's likely that things are somewhat connected."

"I agree," Elden says with a frown. "If they are truly after Ella, it will be good for us. It will buy us time."

"Let's get going," Liam says.

We divide our warriors and trackers accordingly. Levi takes a group and returns to the pack to analyze the traces there. Liam, Elden, and their team follow the traces from the cave further into the forest while another team starts strategically combing the area. Meanwhile I return to the pack to catch up with the IT security team and to meet Silas. I decide to involve my luna and Dave as well. Dave has good ideas and a more objective view on things sometimes, and Luna Annalise has excellent instincts.

The time passes by in a blur. I can't even properly remember what happened. I just remember someone knocking Felix out and threatening his life, making Dario and me follow them until we reach a jeep.

They tug me and Dario to the rear end of the car, where they seem to transport their cargo usually. "What are you doing with my brother!?" Dario yells.

"Shut up," one of the men huffs and hits him with the back of his gun. Dario gapes, his head dropping backwards.

I want to yell and scream, but something holds me back. It's like my mind kicks into emergency mode. This is like back in the days in that one foster home where the foster dad would harass some of us girls.

Stay quiet and hide.

Quiet and hide.

They tie us up and put a bag over our heads. It's dark, so dark. I feel how someone lifts me up and tosses me onto the trunk of the jeep.

"Who are these boys? Can't we just toss them aside somewhere?" one of the men mutters.

"No, they might find them. Let's take them along for now and wait for what the alpha wants."

They are not saying any more, but their previous words make the blood in my veins run cold. Toss them aside? Like… kill them? No way, I can't allow this to happen. They are in this because of me!

I'm so scared, I don't even dare to breathe. My heart feels like it's going to jump out of my chest. Eventually, I feel a warm hand reaching out and finding mine. "It's going to be alright," Dario whispers, but there is a tremble in his voice, and he doesn't sound too convincing.

Still, hearing his voice and feeling his warmth gives me at least a bit of comfort.

The darkness lasts for a long while, feels like an eternity, but eventually the jeep stops. Someone moves towards us. I can hear groans coming from my side where Dario is supposed to be.

"Don't hurt him," I blurt out.

Oh fuck.

I shrink back, expecting them to retaliate and hit me like they did with Dario, but to my surprise, I just feel someone grab me and toss me over their shoulder. I hold my breath, too scared to even move. I've never felt that much like a failure before. I should fight, I should argue, I should do something. Felix and Dario instinctively tried to protect me and each other, but I can't do anything.

The man carrying me stops, and I can hear a door opening with a loud screech. The air around me gets a bit warmer but also damper, and it smells like we are indoors. The man loosens my ties and then tosses me onto the ground before closing a door with a loud bang.

I hold my breath, trying to regain my senses before I tug the bag off my head. My eyes need a while to adapt after being blindfolded for so long. The light is dim around us, but relief fills me when I make out Felix and Dario lying on the ground next to me.

I allow my gaze to wander around. This is a cell. It looks like we are in a basement. Our cell is the only one, with a small toilet attached to it and a cot with a blanket. Nothing else. There are three guards stationed around us.

Oh fuck, where are we?