The Bond of Blood

The Bond of Blood


Flashes of faces came through the bond, and I felt my fists collide with the wall as Chase rushed to me.

“We lost her scent about a mile outside the cemetery.”

“I know where she is,” I growled, his eyes darting to the hole my fist had created.

“Well, that’s good?” he said, frowning. “Where is she?”

“Markus.”

It was all I could say, turning at the sound of the front door opening and bringing the scent of the one who had handed my mate over to the Oceanside Alpha. Her face had played a massive part in the messages sent to me from Paige. It twisted from a bright smile to pure evil before she shoved my mate into a cave where her stalker waited. Katya twirled her hair with her fingers, and Paige’s bag draped over her arm as if it belonged to her. She smiled when her sister spotted her, but the smile slipped as the other girl turned a panicked gaze up to me.

The entire packhouse knew I was searching for my mate. They all knew I was on a rampage, and her sister could smell Paige on the bag. It was all she needed to confirm that her sister was involved and, thereby, in danger of my wrath.

“Katya!” I roared, jumping over the upper floor railing and bounding down the stairs. My feet landed with a loud thump, my body rising to my full height as I glared down at her, her body instinctively cowering away.

She attempted to hide Paige’s bag behind her, forcing a nervous smile on her lips. “Nyte, what can I help you with?”

“You fucking took her!” I roared, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her closer, taking a deep breath of Paige’s scent still lingering on her. “You handed her over to another Alpha. You touched what doesn’t belong to you!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! You’re sounding crazy, Nyte!” She cried out, struggling against me.

I ripped Paige’s bag from her arm, shoving her into Chase as he stepped down the stairs. Inside the bag were Paige’s clothes and toiletries. Katya hadn’t even bothered emptying the contents. I dug inside, pulling out her cards and holding them in front of the she-wolf’s face with a growl.

“You even stole her cards.”

Her eyes widened as she realized her mistake in taking the bag and all its contents, struggling against Chase’s grip as his hands tightened.

“I told you not to do something stupid,” he growled at her. “I told you just a few hours ago to accept your fate.”

“Fuck you, Chase! I’ll never accept him!” she growled back, struggling harder.

“Nyte!” I looked away from the she-wolf, finding Alexander at the top of the stairs, glaring down at the scene we had created in his packhouse.

“Chase, let her go.”

“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 toward 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 had given up my power within the pack to claim her. So, he understood 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.”

Chase joined me at the door, the two of us silently leaving the room. I heard soft, padded feet following quickly behind us, the scent telling me that Madilyn had left the meeting to join us.

“When do we go for her?” Madilyn asked, poking her head between Chase and me.

“What?” I asked, glaring at the blonde as she stared back at me.

“Come on, I know you aren’t going to just sit by while Markus has Paige. When are we going to go get her back?”

“It would be suicide to go without the full pack,” Chase answered her for me, shaking his head. “Markus’s pack is as large as the Coronado pack. Without the full pack’s support, we wouldn’t stand a chance. Even with Nyte.”

“So, we aren’t going after her?” Madilyn gasped, looking up at me with widened eyes. “What kind of man doesn’t defy orders to save his mate?”

“The kind who wants his mate to come out of this alive,” I growled, my fists tightening. “If I go in underprepared, he could kill her then and there to spite me.”

“What’s stopping him from killing her with the pack with you?” Madilyn scoffed. “Sounds like the same threat to her life to me.”

“If the entire pack is with him, then Markus would have to accept that she is a member of our pack, not his. It would show the pack has accepted her and that she is not only a member but also our Luna-to-be, just as Nyte is the Alpha-to-be. If he killed her, it would be the end of him and his entire bloodline. After kidnapping her, the council would destroy his pack for killing another Alpha’s Luna.”

Madilyn’s eyes widened at the thought. “But the pack won’t accept her. Even after dealing with the vampires, they won’t accept a witch as their Luna. At least, not the majority. And if a witch is helping the vampires, they definitely won’t want her as their Luna.”

“That’s why we need to figure out a way to force the pack to accept her now,” Chase sighed. “For now, let’s get these she-wolves taken care of. Several new mothers are nipping and snarling at anyone who comes near them while all this is happening, and on top of that, there are a few expectant mothers as well.”

At the thought of expectant mothers, my mind drifted back to Paige. Would she have been safe had I told her immediately that she was pregnant? Would she have left in anger if I hadn’t kept so many secrets from her? Fear crackled along my skin at the thought of what Markus might do should he realize Paige was pregnant with my child. He was under some kind of delusion that she was his mate. He had been since the moment he chased her along the beach. It was a mystery to me still why he would believe her to be his. Since our bond had been established for a few years now, what was it in his mind that led him to think she was his?

“Hello, Alpha Chase, Alpha-to-be Nyte,” the old she-wolf greeted as we approached the midwife's lair at the bottom of the stairs.

“I’m no longer Alpha-to-be,” I snapped at the older woman without thinking.

“My apologies. However, I had always accepted you as my leader, no matter who the fates have chosen as your mate.” The she-wolf smiled back at me. “What may I do for you both?”

“Alpha Alexander mentioned you have secret caves nearby. We ask that you take the women and children there to protect them from the current threat the packs are facing,” Chase explained quickly.

The older woman smiled and nodded. “Of course, I will gladly bring all of the pack’s children into the safety of our caves.” Her eyes looked up at me. “I understand that the Oceanside Pack Alpha has taken your mate. Should I keep room for her? Should you retrieve her before this is all over?”

“Unfortunately,” Chase quickly explained. “We won’t be able to retrieve her until after the vampires have been dealt with and the danger to our packs has been eliminated.”

The midwife frowned, looking from me to Chase, her eyes barely stopping on Madilyn. “I’m surprised that Alpha Alexander isn’t more enraged by the kidnapping of a pack member.”

“He doesn’t see Paige as a pack member,” I growled again at the thought, trying my best to calm my nerves and breathing as my claws cut into my palm.

“I understand how he might feel about the witch,” the midwife said with a shake. “But I was referring to your baby. After all, the child is a pack member by blood. How is Alpha Alexander excusing the kidnapping of one of our pups?”

Madilyn gasped; she and Chase turned to look at me with widened eyes. “Nyte! Is Paige pregnant?” Madilyn asked, her hands gripping my arm.

“Is it still not common knowledge that she is?” the midwife asked, confused. “Her scent surely has grown since I first caught it in the hallway.” She looked up at me.

“My mate only found out herself just before Markus kidnapped her. No one else in the pack has learned of her pregnancy yet.”

“Oh, my goddess,” Madilyn gasped again, covering her mouth with her hands. “That explains why she had been so tired and sick! How did I not realize this!”

“Nyte, do you really not get what this means?” Chase asked, watching me more closely. He was frowning at my lack of reaction, his head tilted to the side.

“What? Markus not only has my mate, but he also holds my first child's life in his hands?” I growled, irritated by the reminder that my mate and child were in danger and I had no way of helping them.

“No, it means that whether the pack accepts Paige or not, they must accept your pup. The child is born into the pack no matter who their mother is.”

My eyes widened, a smile breaking my grimace. “So, Alexander would have no choice but to get her back. No matter what.”