Chapter 29: Bastian

BASTIAN

I'm actually looking forward to teaching my class today. I haven't been excited about my job in, well, ever. Teaching a bunch of spoiled punks is overrated. I'd give it a zero-star Yelp review if I could.

Instead of just being a reminder of the freedom I'll never truly have, my first class of the day is an opportunity to stare at Briar for sixty minutes. Like a total perv.

Can you really blame me?

She's a fuckin' smoke show—all long legs, wide hips, and a tiny waist. It's like she was made for me.

Oh, that's right, she was.

Man, I'm such a lucky guy.

But it's not just her looks that draw me in. It's her kindness, humor, intelligence, and thoughtfulness. It's the pain that darkens her ice-blue eyes when she thinks no one is looking. It's the understanding, not pity, that was written in every line of her face when she found out about my past.

I'm not ready to share everything with her. I'm still ashamed of the angry teenager I used to be. I put my family through hell in my single-minded focus to make the pain stop. But I have hope that she won't be disgusted with me, and she'll still want me when she finds out everything.

Shaking my head because it's way too early for serious thoughts, I pop my headphones in. I start jamming out to "Messed Up."

It feels like only a couple minutes have passed when Xander, Rory, and Ronan burst through my door. I look up, ready to tease them, when I see the distraught looks on their faces. I'm instantly on high alert.

"Have you seen Briar?" my twin asks me.

"No, I haven't. Wasn't she supposed to be in your class?" I ask slowly, wondering what the fuck is going on.

"Yeah, but she never showed up." Xander rakes his hands through his hair as he paces my office.

Rory looks close to tears as Ronan tries to comfort her.

"Maybe she just needed a break from your ugly face," I try to joke with Xander. It falls flat. "Let's check with Kai before we lose our shit." I'm the voice of reason right now, which is freaky. And concerning. I shouldn't be in charge of anything, especially not being reasonable.

Jumping out of my chair, I march determinedly to Kai's office. It's imperative that I find someone qualified to be the adult in this situation. With the giant stick shoved up his ass, Kai is an excellent adult.

Xander, Rory, and Ronan trail after me.

Shoving open Kai's door, I lead our little conga line to a very confused Kai. "You seen Pretty Girl?"

Kai looks at me like I've gone insane. "No, why?"

I look back at Xander, expecting him to fill Kai in.

Rory beats him to it. Voice thick with unshed tears, she explains, "I forgot my assignment in the car. Briar came to the parking lot to get it with me. She dropped a folder and told me to go to class without her. She never showed up, and I can't find her."

As Rory talks, the pit in my stomach grows. I don't have a good feeling about this.

Kai pushes back from his desk and stands up when Rory finishes. "Have you checked the parking lot?"

"No. We thought she might be with you or Bastian, so we checked here first." Xander's worry for Briar shines in his eyes.

"Let's check the student lot before we jump to conclusions," Kai says evenly. If I didn't know him so well, I'd think he is unaffected by the news. The tightening around his eyes and mouth tells a different story.

Striding purposely out of his office, Kai leads our not-so-merry band to the student lot. Students and faculty call out to us as we cut through the courtyard. We're all too caught up in our worry to respond.

I don't think Briar knows how many people she now has that would go to the ends of the Earth for her.

We slow down as we reach the student parking lot. As I'm scanning the area for any sign of Briar, Rory shouts, "There! That's her folder!"

I'm the first to reach the teal folder lying innocently on the ground. I pick it up, and my blood runs cold when I smell rot and decay. A growl rumbles its way up my throat. "Patrick's been here."

"Are you sure?" Kai asks. I nod mutely in answer. It's impossible to forget Patrick's revolting scent. When I went with Briar to pack her bag, the entire mansion reeked of this same smell. "Fuck! He took her." Kai looks like he's seconds away from punching something. Taking a deep breath, he tries to rein his temper in.

Xander and I nod. We came to the same conclusion. That slimy son of a bitch has Briar.

"What are we going to do?" I force out through the fear choking me. I've stared down death over and over. I've laughed in its face as it tried to claim me. Yet I've never been as scared as I am now.

I can't lose her.

We can't lose her.

Briar has breathed life back into the three of us. We were just broken men going through the motions of life before her. Kai drowning himself in responsibility and work, always thinking of others before himself. Xander closing himself off to the world. Me fucking and fighting my way through my pain.

Briar's given us something to live for. None of us will survive without her.

Xander grabs me around my shoulders and rests his forehead on mine. That's when I realize I'm shaking. He's always looking out for me, even when he's hurting too. Fuck. Briar needs me to be strong, not the pathetic little boy Father Simon tormented. Clenching my jaw, I shrug out of Xander's hold and force myself to get it together.

"We need to go after her," Kai begins. I perk up because fighting is something I'm an expert at. And there will be a fight when we find Patrick. One we'll win. "But we need backup. I don't know who might be helping him. We need to call Dad."

"She didn't want us to talk to Dad about her," Xander pipes up.

Valid point, bro.

Kai sighs. "I know, but what other choice do we have?" Also valid point, other bro.

My oldest brother doesn't waste any more time standing in the parking lot. He jogs back to Wyldhart Hall, and we all follow like little lost ducklings.

We pile into Kai's office.

"I'm so sorry," Rory sobs from her twin's arms. "This is all my fault."

"Ror, this is in no way your fault." Kai's voice is gentle as he tries to reassure our little cousin. He wraps her up in a hug, and her sniffles quiet. "Patrick would have grabbed her some other time if he didn't take her today." By the time Kai steps away, Rory looks more like her normal, albeit not as bubbly, self.

Rubbing his hands over his face, Kai blows out a harsh breath. He pulls out his phone to call our dad and puts in on speaker so we can all hear the conversation. We crowd around Kai's phone, anxious to know what my dad will say.

"Son!" my father's jovial voice booms from the phone. His deep baritone is what you'd expect from such a massive man. He's as tall as Kai, but he probably has an extra thirty pounds in muscle. "How are you?"

"Not good, Dad. We need help." Kai hangs his head in shame. As the next alpha, he holds himself responsible for the well-being of everyone he considers pack. That now includes Briar.

"What's going on, Kai?" Dad asks. The joy from earlier is replaced with worry as he waits for Kai to fill him in.

"We met our mate," Kai starts.

"That's great news!" my dad interrupts enthusiastically. "Who is it? Do we know her? Abbie! Come over here. The boys have found their mate!"

My mom squeals in the background. "Is that true, Kai? When can we meet her? Oh my gosh, this is the best news I've heard in years!"

A grin tugs at my mouth hearing how happy my mom is. She deserves all the happiness in the world after having to deal with my sorry ass for so long.

She and my dad make an interesting couple. Where he's a massive mountain of a man, she's comically tiny in comparison. My mom stands at barely five feet tall. With her blonde hair, green eyes, and delicate features, she looks almost like a doll.

"Yeah, Mom, it's true," Kai says in exasperation. He's smiling slightly at our mom's exuberance. "Her name's Briar Wylder."

There's a beat of silence before my mom shrieks in pure joy. "You're not pulling my leg, baby? Briar's your mate?" My mom sounds like she already knows Briar, but that can't be right. Briar has no idea about wolves or our world. She's also terrified of Dad.

"I'm not pulling your leg, Mom. We didn't call you just to tell you about our mate. She's in trouble." Kai winces as he bursts my mom's bubble. What should be a happy call is ruined by the possibility of Briar being hurt.

I scoff internally. It's more like an inevitability than a possibility. I'm looking forward to making Patrick suffer before I kill him for everything he's done to Briar.

"What happened? Is Briar injured?" Dad asks frantically. He seems to care an awful lot about some chick he's never met. That could be explained by her being our mate, but my spidey senses are tingling. Something doesn't add up here.

"I don't know if she's okay," Kai says, voice breaking on the last word, which is so unlike him. Kai rarely shows weakness in front of anyone. If anyone can bring my imposing big brother to his knees, it's Briar. "Her stepfather kidnapped her."

"Patrick took her? Why?"

"We don't know why," I answer for Kai, who seems to be having trouble with his wolf. His eyes are flashing amber, and he's so focused on controlling his beast that he misses the question. When I speak, he's able to snap out of it. "But he's been beating her for probably a long time."

"What!" Dad shouts. "No! No, that can't be true."

"It is, Dad," Kai insists, his eyes flicking between sapphire and amber. "We saw the evidence of it just last week. She was covered head to toe in bruises, had multiple broken bones, and a cut the required stitches. From the way she flinches at loud voices or sudden movements, this isn't a new thing."

"How did we miss this, Abbie?" Dad whispers to Mom. I hear him sit down heavily, letting out a long breath that crackles across the speakers.

"I don't know, Vale. We shouldn't have stayed away! Or we should have checked with her before we did." My mom sounds so sad and small and fragile. She's such a force of nature usually. It's kinda a requirement with her being bonded to the alpha. It feels so wrong hearing her like this.

"Do you know Briar?" Kai asks the question that's been knocking around in my head.

"We do, son." I can picture my dad running his hands through his close-cropped beard. It's his signature move when he's frustrated, thinking, exasperated, or any emotion really.

"How?" Kai presses, like a dog with a bone. Ha, get it? 'Cause he's basically an overgrown husky.

"That's a long story," Dad replies with a sigh, "one we don't have time for right now. What makes you think Patrick took her? And how long ago did this happen?"

"She never showed up to my class. We found her folder in the student lot, and Bastian scented Patrick on it. It's been almost two hours since he took her." Xander delivers the information evenly, but I can see the war raging in his eyes. My twin is beating himself up for Briar's disappearance. He always thinks everything's his fault. Xander has taken responsibility for Father Simon's actions, my self-destructive spiral, Kai staggering under the weight of everyone's expectations, and now this.

Xander's always there for everyone else, but who's there for him?

Fuck. I'm the worst twin. I've been so wrapped up in myself that I haven't been there for Xander. That's going to change, just as soon as we get through this.

"Can you track him, Bastian?" Dad directs the question to me because I'm the best tracker in the pack—not to brag or anything. I can't help that I'm just that awesome.

"Yeah, I can track him, but we need to do it quickly before his scent fades. We probs have an hour max before I won't be able to pick up anything." Patrick's scent became faint abruptly in the parking lot, so he must've driven Briar away from WHU. Using a car makes Patrick's scent harder to track, but I should still be able to follow it for a little longer.

"Okay," Dad's voice cracks across the speakers in determination. "I'll meet you with some of our enforcers in the student lot in half an hour. I need to make a few calls before we're ready to go."

"Are you calling Molly and James?" my mom asks warily.

"Yes. I have a feeling we'll need their skills."

"I hope you're wrong, Vale." My mom sniffs like she's trying to hold back tears. I've never seen my mom cry. The fact that she's close to crying now makes me even more scared for our mate.

"Me too, Abbie. Me too. Someone needs to go back home and grab a shielding amulet for Bastian." My dad is in his element giving orders and coordinating this rescue mission. As an alpha, he thrives on bossing people around.

Briar would probably roll her eyes at him throwing out orders like they're confetti. My heart squeezes thinking about her. She has to be fine. Anything else isn't a fucking option.

I can only track in my wolf form. While Wolves Hollow is primarily populated by our pack, there are enough humans here I can't go wandering around as a giant wolf. That's a one-way ticket to being shot, stuffed, and hung up on someone's mantle.

I'd make an excellent decoration, though. I'm pretty sweet to look at.

Somehow our pack got a few shielding amulets from mages at some point. Wolves and mages have a mutual dislike of each other, so I'm not sure how the pack acquired them. I'm beyond grateful we did. Without it, we'd have to wait until nightfall to search for Briar. I'm not sure our sweet girl has that long.

"Any questions?" Dad barks.

"No, sir!" my brothers and I chorus automatically. We've been answering Dad like that for years, so the response comes without thought. Dad hates when we call him that. He says it makes him feel like a drill sergeant.

Dad lets out a long-suffering sigh. "I'll see you in thirty minutes. We'll find her, boys. Briar's going to be fine. She's gotten through harder things than this in her short life. She's tougher than she looks."

"I hope so," Kai says before hanging up the call. He clenches his hands into fists and bows his head. When he looks up after a few moments, his eyes are pure amber. He looks seconds from wolfing out.

The last thing we need on this shit sundae of a day is Kai's wolf terrifying the humans at the school. And probably trashing his office. Kai would be royally pissed if his perfectly organized office were messed up.

Being the oldest son of the alpha, Kai's wolf is… different than the rest of our wolves. His wolf is almost like a separate entity in his mind, with its own thoughts, feelings, and desires. The rest of us have a wolf who is simply an extension of ourselves. Our wolves are another form we can take, but they don't have separate thoughts and feelings. More like growls, yips, and barks.

An alpha's wolf is much harder to control. It has to be stronger to keep the pack in order. This strength comes at a cost to its human counterpart. While Kai is excellent at keeping his wolf in line, extraordinarily stressful situations, like his mate going missing, can give him trouble.

"You need to go on a run, Kai. You're no good to Briar when you're out of control like this," Xander tells Kai sternly, leaving no room for arguments. He's always the responsible one when Kai and I go off the rails.

Kai doesn't say anything, opting for a curt nod instead. He strides determinedly from the office, slamming the door as he leaves.

Worry for my brother tries to take root in my chest. I'm an expert at denial and ignoring any difficult feelings, so I push it aside. I'm sure it will manifest as nightmares tonight. That's a problem for future me. Current me doesn't have to deal with it.

"Ronan, Rory, can you guys get the shielding amulet for us?" Xander asks our cousins.

It was the right call because Rory immediately perks up. She bounces on her toes and races to the door. "Yeppers! We'll be just two shakes!"

Ronan gives us a half smile and a salute before following his twin out the door.

There's nothing else for Xander and I to do. Now, we just have to wait. Twiddling my thumbs for half an hour while my mate is with her abuser might just be the hardest thing I've ever done.