Chapter 6

Chopping vegetables in the kitchen I hear a knock at the door. I stop chopping for a moment and take a step back, taking a whiff of the air before saying, “Come in.” I continue chopping the vegetables as Bastian walks through the door.

“What’s this?” He asks with a shock tone in his voice.

I give him a weird look and say, “I am preparing dinner for myself.”

“You cook?” He questions as he continues to make his way into the small kitchen and positions himself behind me.

“Yes! I know how to cook.”

“I just thought that since you like to be out in the field fighting with the men, that you would not know how to cook.”

I turn slowly around with the knife still in my hand.

“I will have you know that I am a great cook, I have been cooking in the kitchen since I was 13 years old. My old pack loved my meals when it was my turn in the rotation to do kitchen duty.” I continued to hold the knife up high so that he knew that I was serious.

He raises his hands in surrenders and says, “Ok, ok. If you say so.”

I turn back around and continue to chop and say, “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I am not here to eat your food. I am here for something else.”

“What?”

The next thing I know he is grabbing the knife out of my hand and placing it on the counter and then picks me up swinging me over his shoulder and starts to make his way to the bedroom.

“You.”

He throws me down on the bed and crawls across to lay himself on top of me. He grabs my face with his left hand gently rubbing his thumb against my cheek, keeping my eyes locked into his features as he does this gesture. He leans down and tries to kiss my lips, but I turn my head before he can get to them.

“Why won’t you let me kiss you?” he asks.

“Because… like I explained before a kiss is personal.”

“Don’t you think that sex can get personal?”

“No, it can’t.” I say while shaking my head and continue. “I’m here to heal you so that you can find your second mate. Not to start having a human connection and catching feelings.”

“All just from a kiss?” He said with a shrug.

“If I give in and kiss you it can lead to so many things. A kiss can cause feelings, it can create passion, it could even lead to love. What if I start to have feelings and then once I heal you and you find your second mate, where does that leave me? Broken and alone.”

“So, you have never wanted to heal your heart to find your second mate?” He asks with a confused look on his face.

“Maybe, some day but not right now. My past is not a happy one and I have no clue if my second mate will give me that happily ever after or make me completely miserable. Where will that leave me? No, right now this is what works, I can help others find love and that keeps me from going crazy.”

“What happened in your past?” He asked while he continued to try to get a read on me.

What?

I gently push him off of me and say, “Umm… weren’t you coming here for something else?”

“Yeah, but I’m just trying to figure you out.”

“Why don’t you want your heart to be healed so you can find your second mate?” I respond back with attitude in my tone.

I roll out of the bed and walk out of the bedroom.

“Come on Luria, just give me something.” He says to me as he follows me out.

I turn around and look at him with anger in my voice, “Why? A few minutes ago, you were ready to take this body and have sex with me. What changed? Because I told you why I won’t kiss you. Those are my rules, and no other Alpha has had a problem with them. Just you.”

He ran his fingers in his hair with frustration.

“I don’t know, I guess your rule throws me because I never saw a kiss that way.”

“Well, I guess I don’t waste my kisses on just anyone.”

“Yeah, I guess not. But you will let them have sex with you.”

“Look I did not make the rules on how to heal a wolf’s heart. You know if it were not for healers, we would have a lot more wolves going crazy and wreaking havoc. I have seen it with my own eyes when an Alpha refuses to heal his heart and accept to find their second mate. They grow to be cruel and cold hearted, hurting the people they once loved. Your father does not want that for you.”

I tried to walk over to him, but he threw his hand up to stop me from coming closer before saying, “Let me ask you this, did your true mate die?”

I looked down and just shook my head.

“Did you get a chance to be with them?”

I nodded still looking down and not making eye contact with him.

“So, if your mate didn’t die and you got a chance to be with them, how can you honestly ask me to just move on and get over the loss of a mate? Huh?”

He didn’t wait for an answer and walked to the front door opened it and left slamming the door shut.

I jumped slightly from the door slamming so hard. I am surprised he didn’t pull it off the hinges with the amount of force he was using.

I went to lean over the counter rubbing my head, I could feel a premonition coming, but it is vague, and I cannot see much. I see some wolves, but I cannot tell where they are. I needed to get out of here and go for a run.

Moving towards the back door and shutting it once I was in the back yard, I quickly stripped out of my clothes and let Freya take over.

Freya takes off into the woods. We both needed this. Running farther into the woods, trying to release all the frustration and confusion, shaking it off, we continue to run until we catch a familiar smell in the air.

Me: Freya we need to try the pack-link with Bastian.

Freya: Do it.

Me: Bastian?

No answer.

Me: Bastian please it’s important.

Nothing.

Me: Bastian, if you can hear this there are wolves in the forest not too far from my cabin. Please!

Nothing.

Freya: Try Jasper.

Me: Jasper?

Jasper: Can’t talk right now Ria.

Me: Wolves in the forest not too far from my cabin.

Jasper: On it.

Freya stops and starts to sniff the air more trying to get a better whiff of what we were smelling. Oh No! We know that scent all too well.

***

Bastian's POV:

Jasper: Bastian, there are wolves not far on the pack lands.

Me: Crap, which part?

Jasper: They were sighted not too far from the cabin that Ria is staying in.

Me: What? Have you seen her?

Jasper: No, she was not in the cabin, and we found some clothes on the back porch. She was the one to link me and let me know.

Me: Damn it. Alright get some wolves to check the forest and get some warriors to follow those wolves.

Jasper: Yes Alpha.

Shit! She was trying to reach me through the pack-link, but I blocked her. If only I had answered her.

Me: Luria?

No answer. Come on Luria.

Me: Ria! Please answer me.

Nothing. Damn it.

I try Barlow through the pack-link.

Me: Barlow, have you seen Ria?

Barlow: No, I haven’t. Is everything ok?

Me: Wolves were seen over by her cabin, but she was not there.

Barlow: I will start asking around.

Me: Thanks.

I start making my way back to the cabin to see if I can catch her scent and figure out which way she went through the forest.

I get to her back porch and pick up her clothes bringing them up to my nose. Closing my eyes, I take a big whiff of her scent allowing Rufus my wolf to come close to the surface to help me search for her.

Rufus: I got it, let’s go.

Making my way to the forest I start to smell by the trees and the shrubs to catch her scent.

Rufus: She went south of the woods, go!

I start to take off running. Trying to move through the woods as fast as my feet can take me. I do not want to change into my wolf form because I needed to keep my cool. Even though Luria is not my mate, I am Alpha and as long as she is here, she is under my protection.

Rufus: Wait, I am getting more smells. They are mixing with her scent, and I can’t differentiate her scent from theirs.

Me: Do you think she was taken?

Rufus: I am not sure. It seems like there was a fight, I smell blood.

I start moving in the direction where we smelled the blood coming from. We found a wolf pretty messed up. He was breathing but it was very weak.

I grab the wolf and in my Alpha tone I tell him to shift.

He starts to shift but takes him awhile due to the injuries.

Me: Jasper?

Jasper: Yes, Alpha.

Me: I found an injured wolf in the woods not too far from Ria’s cabin. Get some warriors to come over here and collect him.

Jasper: Yes, Alpha. Did you find Ria?

Me: No, which means you have not either.

Jasper: No, Alpha we have not.

I run my hand through my hair feeling my frustration growing inside. I look down at the injured wolf, tempted to continue beating him until he gives me the answers. But I know deep down that I will not get the answers that I want until he is healed.

Jasper: Alpha?

Me: Meet me at the security room. Let’s see what we can find on the security cameras.

Jasper: Yes, Alpha.

Come on Ria, where are you? I said to myself as I waited for my warriors to show up to collect this rogue.

Rufus: He does not smell like a rogue.

Me: What?

Rufus: Rogues have a more pungent smell to them. He doesn’t, he belongs to a pack.

Me: Great, now pack wolves are crossing borders without permission. Usually when packs started doing this, it means there would be an ambush or a battle coming. I would have to make sure that our warriors were ready for this and to be on their guard more.

Once my warriors arrived, I started making my way to the security room. I found Jasper already in the office with one of my techs sitting at the monitors checking all the footage that we have for the past two hours.

“Have you found anything yet?” I ask when I get up to the monitors.

“Yeah, but you are not going to like it.” Jasper says.

“What?”

“Show him.”

On the main monitor that is about forty inches they show me footage of some men caring someone tied up and gaged over one of their shoulders. They zoomed in and I saw that it was Luria.

I could feel Rufus getting angry and my eyes turning to a gold which meant he was getting close to the surface, I needed to try to calm down.

We see a Jeep that they threw her into.

“There! Zoom in on that license plate,” I tell my tech.

DTRCH is what it looked like.

Is that who I think it is?

“Take a picture of that. I need a copy to send to the High Council. I need to make a phone call.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

I stepped out of the security room and was immediately on the phone calling my father.

Ring, Ring.

“Hello Son, how are you doing?”

“Not great Father. I have got a big problem and am going to need some help with the High Council.”

“What is the problem, Son?”

“We just had some wolves we thought were rogues get onto the pack land, but we are learning that they might be from another pack.”

“That seems odd.”

“There is more, Father… they took Luria.”

“What?”

“Yeah, they have Luria. I have footage of it, and I also got a picture of their license plate.”

“What is the license plate number, maybe I can get it traced?”

“DTRCH.”

“Crap, how did he find her?” My father mumbled.

“Father, is that Diesel Tarech’s Jeep?”

“It appears to be. Yes.”

“Father, why would Tarech want Luria?”

“Son, Tarech is Ria’s true mate.”

“What?” My heart felt like it dropped right out of my chest when I heard those words come out of his mouth.

“Yes, it’s a really long and messed up story but long story short she rejected him, and we were able to rescue her shortly after and get her away from him. But then he vanished before we could get to him. He has been in hiding these last two years.”

“Well, I have one of the wolves that was running with him locked up, maybe we can get something out of him?”

“I’ll call over to the Blood Wolf Moon Pack and see what I can find out, I used to know the Beta that worked with Ria’s father before he passed. I will see if he is still there.”

“Alright, I will let you know what I find out from the wolf.”

“Son?”

“Yeah.”

“We have to get her away from him as soon as we can.”

“Yes Father, I understand. I will talk to you soon.”

I hung up.

I shook my head, running my hand through my hair thinking… man this is bad.

I walk back in to grab Jasper.

“Jasper?”

“Yes, Alpha?”

“Let’s go, we have a wolf that we need to retrieve some information from.” I say as I start to crack my knuckles.