Who Has Giselda?

Who Has Giselda?
Logan

As Giselda raced out of the room, I scowled at her retreating back for a moment before turning to look at Milton. “Do you think she would really tell Annie?”

“Nah! She just likes fucking with you because of how you feel about Annie. If you’re not careful, Annie will take after Scarlett and be the boss.”

“I don’t think anyone here would mind that,” I told him dreamily. “Would you?”

He shook his head. “Absolutely not! You’ve met her! Annie is the shit!”

I scowled at him angrily. “Watch it! She’s my mate!”

He rolled his eyes. “And she’s my charge. I can’t help but like the girl, Logan. She’s the single most amazing woman that any of us have ever met. You’re going to have to get over your jealousy. Annie isn’t just yours, brother. She belongs to the entire sleuth, and don’t forget about the pack.” He took a bite of the muffin in his hand. “You’re going to have to share.”

“She might be your alpha sow, but she’s my mate. The two will never be comparable,” I huffed.

“That’s what you think, boss! Annie will take care of the sleuth first. Trust me, I’ve had many conversations with her and Gerry. Between Alpha Sow Natasha and Scarlett, she’s going to put the sleuth first,” he told me smugly.

I threw my hands up in agitation. “Well, now you’ve pissed me off. Now I’m going to kick your ass. Let’s go.”

He chuckled as he finished his muffin before brushing crumbs off his shirt. “Come on, but don’t think that you’re going to win so easily. I’ve been training with Annie and Gerry! I might actually kick your ass today if you’re not careful!”

I narrowed my eyes on his back as I followed him down to the gym in the basement. He had always had a smart mouth, but granting him the privilege to be Annie’s protector had given him more of an ego. I was going to have to remind him who the alpha was. As we changed into workout gear, I thought about Annie, wondering exactly what she had taught him, and if it would be enough to actually win a fight against me. Either way, I couldn’t let him beat me. The fact that he had been training with Annie had me a little worried. Annie had skills that I could only dream of, and I hadn’t been able to train a lot with her. Things always got too heated between us, and I backed off, not wanting to risk losing control. Milton was lucky that he didn’t have that problem. He didn’t have to fight his most basic instincts during training.

After we were both ready, we walked to the mat, instantly sizing each other up. I had to admit that he looked bigger. Maybe he really did have a chance of winning. Well, fuck! He smirked at me as we walked in a circle, studying each other intently. When he didn’t make a move to launch an attack at me, I rolled my eyes, grunting when he chose that moment to tackle me. As we fell back onto the mat, I began to elbow him in the back, trying my best to render him injured enough to get him off me, but all it seemed to do was excite him. He punched me in the sides repeatedly as we rolled all over the mat, while I returned each and every one of his blows until we were both panting and bruised. Finally I managed to fling him over my head and as he flew into the wall, I jumped to my feet to slowly approach him, a teasing grin on my lips.

“It seems like you needed a little more training with my beautiful mate, brother,” I told him as I reached down to jerk him up before plowing my fist into his face.

He brought his arms up to protect his face, while his legs wrapped around my waist as he threw himself to the right, sending us both to the right. When we landed, he was on top, and I quickly rolled us over, wanting to have the upper hand. I pulled my arm back and before I could let it fly forward into his face, Giselda’s link opened, allowing her excitement for a hunt to bleed through.

“SHIT!” I growled, scrambling up off Milton and bolting out of the house with him hot on my heels.

Without a word, we both shifted with Luge barely making it off the porch before he was sprinting into the woods. We knew that Giselda couldn’t be far. Even though we hadn’t sensed Kirkland around the sleuth, she hadn’t been going far just in case. We raced through the woods, following her scent, desperate to get to her. We had no idea who she was hunting or why, and she wasn’t answering my links. The longer we ran, the stronger her joy got, which only allowed me the smallest relief, knowing that she was okay.

I felt the moment it happened. The moment Giselda buckled. Pain speared through our head, making us stumble and pitch forward as literal stars danced in front of my eyes. A grunt and a thud next to us told me that the pain had also taken Milton’s bear down, which told me that our entire sleuth also probably felt it. Shit! That meant Annie might have too. As Luge weakly pushed himself to his paws to continue searching for Giselda and Angel, I tried to open Annie’s link, but it was tightly closed, which made me even more frantic. Next, I tried to open Gerry’s link, hoping that he would be able to get through to her, and was instantly even more worried when he was unconscious, just like his mate was. When I reached for Osprey’s link, I was surprised to find him frantically searching for something or someone just like I was.

‘Osprey, what’s going on?’ I asked.

‘Annie’s gone! Have you heard from her?’ he inquired, his anxiety flowing through our link, making mine worse.

‘WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU MEAN ANNIE’S GONE?!’ I roared.

‘She went to go to school, and then we all felt Giselda go down. Don’t ask me how! Our entire sleuth felt it. I’ve had many alphas reach out to me to check on us in the last few minutes. I tried to reach out to her, but she’s not responding, and her teachers told me that she never made it to school,’ he informed me. ‘Now again, have you heard from her? Where is Giselda?’

‘No, I haven’t! I can’t reach her either! She was the first one that I tried to reach when Giselda was attacked! I can’t reach Gerry either!’

‘Fuck! I was afraid of that! Look, find Giselda, and make sure she’s okay. I have my entire sleuth looking for Annie right now! We’ll find her!’ Osprey told me, making me growl warningly.

‘You better, or you don’t want to know what I’m capable of!’

Before he could respond, I slammed the link shut before repeatedly trying to open the one I had with Annie while Luge continued to search for Giselda with Milton by our side. The deeper we got into the woods, the more worried we got. This was farther than she had been lately. About four miles into the woods, a familiar scent made Luge bare his teeth angrily. What in the hell was Kirkland doing here? Gerry had told us he was on the east coast! How the fuck had he made it back without Gerry knowing that his trail had gone cold?

Shit! He had probably been the one who had attacked Giselda! If he had her, then all hell was about to let loose! Gerry wasn’t going to let Kirkland get away with hurting his mate! Neither were me or Milton! She belonged with us, Havana, and our pack! If it was indeed Kirkland, he could count his seconds faster, because he had just shortened his life significantly. I had to find Kirkland quickly. Now that he had her, there was nothing keeping him from going after my mate. Luge jumped over a fallen tree trunk before slowing as a shudder moved through us as power surged in the air. What in the hell was that? He began to look around, searching for the source of such power. We had no idea what or who it was. We had never felt such power coming off of anything or anyone before, and that was saying something, especially because up until I met with the council and was introduced to Ezekiel, Giselda had been the strongest bear I knew. Suddenly, the ground split open, revealing a large pod that was pulsing and shuddering with power. Luge skidded to a halt, eyeing the pod curiously as it began to slowly open before he lunged forward, forcing us to shift back as Annie rolled over to look up at us.

“Logan? Where’s Giselda?” she whispered with tears in her eyes.

“Annie!” I scooped her up from the pod, holding her close to my chest as I rocked her back and forth. “I don’t know, baby, but we’re looking for her.”

She raised tear-filled eyes to mine. “He has her, Logan. And he has no intention of letting her go.”