Chapter 17

Xavier’s P.O.V

I glanced out of the window and saw the packhouse looming in the distance. I closed my eyes and leant my head against the head rest behind me. I had just been away with my Beta for a whole week sorting out business deals with the banks and the Whitemoon clan. I had recently found out that the Luna who was engaged to Alpha Matthew was the best friend to Leah. It would work out in both of our favours if both packs could work together and be allies, and that way Leah could see more of her best friend.

In the end, we came to the agreement that we would both keep our own boundary lines but come to the aid of one another in case of a fight from rogues or packs that were trying to steal territory. We would also allow members of our packs to cross boundary lines with persecution. Having the Whitemoon clan on our side was also a bonus. They were a big clan who had the numbers, but our clan had the money and the strength.

I was looking forward to coming home and seeing my Luna. She had been through hell and back the last few weeks and I just wanted to be there to keep her safe. A ringing noise from my pocket disturbed my train of thought and I pulled out my phone. I glanced at the number displayed on the screen, but I didn’t recognise it, so I answered hesitantly.

“Hello? Who is this?” I barked.

“I need to speak to Alpha Xavier. Urgently!” a male voice cried out.

“Speaking. Again, who are you?” I enquired once more.

“It’s Paul Stapes. Chief guard from the Valley. We have a massive problem Boss!”

“What’s going on!? What’s happened?” I replied, hearing the urgency in Pauls voice.

“You know that prisoner you bought down last week, Tom or Tim, whatever, well he has escaped. I had a call from the onshift guards to say that he had shifted, and he was on the attack. I got our team down there as fast as I could, but he had killed all the guards and the last I saw of him, he was bounding off towards the city.”

“How could this happen! My Luna is now in grave danger! How are you going to stop this from happening again!” I raged angrily.

“We have bumped up the security and got even more guards in, we have added extra silver defences so a breakout shouldn’t happen again. Just be careful as he could be on the way back to you!” Paul replied casually, clearly not hearing the annoyance in my voice.

“Thank you. Don’t worry about us bringing him back because if I find him, I shall kill him. Goodbye!” I snapped, before cutting up the call and throwing the phone back down on to the seat beside me.

I could feel myself shaking with anger. My blood had turned red hot and my mind instantly snapped to Leah. I had to warn her. I closed my eyes and thought of her and her wolf. I felt our connection spark and I quickly relayed a message over.

Leah please be careful. I’m on the way home now. Word has it Tom has escaped the Valley of the Outcasts. He could be on his way back to you. I have the whole packhouse surrounded with warriors. Find Hannah and keep close to her!

“What’s up Boss?” Beta Adams voice snapped me back to my senses. I looked at him worriedly.

“Tom has escaped. He could be on the way back to the packhouse for revenge.” I sighed.

“We are back now look. Let’s go find Leah” Beta Adam nodded towards the window and I saw the black gates rush past the car in a blur. As soon as the car stopped, I jumped out and ran straight into the lobby, almost bumping into my mother, Rachel.

“Xavier, welcome home!” she beamed with wide opened arms, before noticing my worried face and pausing. “What’s wrong love?”

“Where’s Leah? Tom has escaped the Valley.”

The colour drained from my mother’s face before she quickly replied, “She was with Hannah, out by the pool this morning.”

Not wasting another second, me and Beta Adam ran out through the lobby and out onto the patio. We turned to the pool area and saw Hannah still lying on the sun lounger, oblivious to our presence.

“Where’s Leah?” I snapped at her loudly.

Hannah jumped in shock at being disturbed so abruptly and looked towards us, before lifting up her sunglasses and casually responding “She went upstairs to her room to change about half hour ago. She wanted to take a stroll around the lake. I haven’t seen her come back out yet though, not that I’ve really been keeping an eye out. Is everything ok?”

I groaned and ran my hands through my hair in exasperation. This did not look or feel good.

“No, everything is not ok!” Beta Adam snapped back. “Tom has escaped the Valley and he could be after Leah.”

“Come to think of it, she did say she felt like she was being watched. She said that after training, she went back to her room and her window was wide open and after she had a shower, she heard her bedroom door slamming open!” Hannah quickly cried.

I glanced at my Beta and we both darted back indoors and towards the staircase. Without missing a beat, we both raced up the stairs two at a time and crashed down the hallway leading to her bedroom. When we got there, we noticed the door was wide open and we both ran in and scanned the room. The room was empty, and Beta Adam quickly checked the closet and the bathroom.

“Empty Boss but what is that smell?” he grimaced. I inhale deeply and instantly the smell of stale alcohol, fags and body odour hit me, mixed in with a faint smell of werewolf.

“Tom’s been here. I can smell him. He bloody reeks. Sound the alarm. Get every warrior out looking for her. Ring every hunter and tell them to get their backsides here now to join in with the hunt. Mind link every pack member and tell them to keep an eye out and if they are free, join in the search. Bring Tom to me alive! And that’s an order!” I barked.

Beta Adam ran out of the room and within seconds, a shrill sounding alarm rang out and echoed around the whole house. Within minutes, the sound of people running around talking excitedly filled the air. I walked out of the bedroom and out onto the landing of the staircase and leaned over the bannister and looked down into the lobby at a large crowd of worried faces looking back at me.

“Leah is missing. Tom has escaped the Valley of the Outcasts. I want everyone out looking for her now. Bring Tom to me alive.” I ordered. I watched as everyone filled out into the garden and into the drive. I tried to connect to her wolf, but obviously, as she hadn’t yet returned, there was nothing.

I walked slowly to my office to get the file that we had on Tom. I roughly pushed open the wooden door and made my way to a metal filling cabinet, roughly pulling open one of the drawers and searching for his file. I yanked a file out and chucked it on my desk before flicking through it. A picture of Tom fell out and landed in front of me. I looked at it and my body filled with disgust. A loud growl escaped my lips and I flicked the page over to find his information sheet. I glanced down and began reading for any clue to of where he had gone.

Name: Thomas Blackett

D.O.B: 23 September 1991

Height: 6 ft 2ins

Weight: 12 stone 11lbs

Wolf colour: Brown.

Hair colour: Black

Eye colour: Blue

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Religion: Undisclosed.

Parents: Anne & Bob Blackett – Deceased. 2016. Rogue Attack.

Clan: Jademoon, re-established in the Bluemoon clan.

Addresses known: Basement, Bluemoon Packhouse, Silvermoor City, SM75 9PQ.

Blackthistle Farm, Blackthistle Woods, Silvermoor City, SM62 3AN.

History: Thomas was born to Anne and Bob Blackett on the 23rd of September 1991 at Silvermoor City Infirmary. He was born 5 days late and had an uneventful birth. He was bought back to the family farmhouse located in Blackthistle woods, which now stands empty. The house still belongs to the parents due to legal proceedings regarding ownership of the farm not being instigated. Thomas attended Silvermoor City Primary school from 1995 to 2001 where he progressed on to Silvermoor Academy from 2011 to 2015. The family was involved in a rogue attack in 2016 where both parents were instantly killed. Jademoon members found Thomas severely injured and took him back to the packhouse infirmary for treatment. Thomas lived at the pack house for 2 years until he was thrown out and sent to the Valley of the Outcasts. His crimes for exile were continuous stealing, fighting with pack members higher than himself, continuous disagreeing with pack leaders and trying to steal claimed and unclaimed women for his own.

Extra information: Thomas came to live at the Bluemoon clan in 2018 at the age of 19. He came from the Valley of the Outcasts begging for asylum and a second chance at pack life. A rare second chance was offered, and Thomas settled in well to pack life. He was an active member who thoroughly enjoyed taking part in pack life, doing chores and odd jobs around the house and for other members. In 2019, there was an altercation between Thomas and the Beta of the Bluemoon pack. Instead of being killed or sent back to the Valley of the Outcasts, which is usual procedure, Thomas was demoted to Omega and was told to live his days down in the basement, cooking and cleaning for the pack and partaking general work around the house. He is not allowed to have a mate or children or join in any pack activities or events which are terms of his Omegaship.

No further events have yet been noted.

I slammed the file shut, making a mental note to myself to update his file and I quickly ran out of my office and down the staircase. “Beta Adam!” I yelled loudly.

I found him outside at the bottom of the drive with a couple of warriors. He looked up when he saw me running towards him.

“Boss, we may have a lead. There are footprints leading down the drive and they carry his scent. Also, one of the warriors found skid marks about 500 metres down the road in a layby. Somehow, he has a car or some sort of vehicle. We think they are heading south!” he cried.

“Good work. I’ve just checked his file. His parents are dead, but they owned a farmhouse out in Blackthistle woods. What’s the chances he has taken her there? He has nowhere else to go and it’s just past our boundary line and it’s in the southerly direction too!” I cried in despair.

“We will check it out boss. I’ll get a team together!” nodded Beta Adam before closing his eyes. Moments later, about twenty other people surrounded me and my Beta along with the three people he was already with.

“Right guys, we have an address about half an hour away in Blackthistle woods. I want every inch of that address searched. If you find Tom, bring him back to me alive.” I ordered. Everyone nodded and made their way into the cars parked nearby.

“Don’t worry boss. We will find her” Beta Adam reassured. I nodded and climbed into a car beside him and along with the other cars, we raced to Blackthistle Woods.