Chapter 61 - Lost II - The Royal Hybrid

Hayden’s POV

We hurried past every tree, jumped every bush, and ducked under every branch in our way. The wind was slowly picking up its pace, just as we were, but with it, it carried scents that automatically made me run even faster.

They were right in our tails slowly closing the gap between us. They knew exactly what we had done the second we didn’t show up for Doctor Taylor’s checkup and just as I had expected, they came after us.

We had shifted not long ago in hopes that we could get an even bigger head start, but it had proved to fail. Not only could I identify both of my dad’s wolves as two out of the three running behind us, and the third was even easier to recognize. It was Alpha Shane himself, which in total showed to be the three strongest wolves chasing us down and I knew that it was only a matter of time before they caught up. I had no idea whether or not they had taken any warriors with them, but I knew it was only a matter of time before we found out.

‘What will we do?’ I asked Gabriel who was as tense as I was, while he was running in zig-zag motions between the trees.

‘I don’t know. We can’t outrun them for much longer.’

It was easy to feel his hesitation and even easier to sense the way he was still trying to fight off the effects of the silver. I myself was trying to block out the pain, but it wasn’t the easiest thing to do when you also had to use energy on turning and running, and feeling the others right behind us only frustrated me even more, making it hard to stay focused.

‘St… Sto… Stop!’

My dad’s voice boomed through the mind link telling me they were closer than we had initially thought.

‘Hayden!’

I closed my eyes trying to block him out, but it required an amount of energy I didn’t have.

‘Do you want to stop?’ Gabriel asked me eying me while continuing ahead.

I debated on what to do before my pace slowly dropped.

‘Either we continue and get in more trouble when they do catch up because we both know that they will, or…’

‘Or we stop now and hope for the best?’

I nodded, keeping my eyes on him as I stopped abruptly. I did not want to look ahead seeing the road that could possibly lead us to Tatiana and know that this was as far as we got so instead, I kept my eyes focused on Gabriel.

I stood in front of him and watched as he casually scratched his ear just as the air shifted around us. Not even two seconds later I watched the three of them as they jumped over the bush, we had just passed, shifting in the process.

“Are you absolutely out of your mind?!” my dad scolded as he walked over to me, reaching up and pinching my ear as if I was 5.

“You could have been hurt or even worse! God dammit Hayden you are too reckless sometimes!”

I let myself loose from his grip and shifted back to my human self.

“What did you expect me to do huh?” I snapped. “She is gone for fuck’s sake, and she is with him! We have no clue where they are or who else is there. If she was to be taken to Killian without us at least trying to stop it, I would never forgive myself.”

“Do you think she would forgive you or herself for that matter if you ended up dying in the process because you were too damn stubborn to at least get checked out?” Alpha Shane questioned. “We were already assembling a team to go, you two included in that team. We just needed the go from the doc and even that you couldn’t wait for. She might be your mate, but she is my daughter, and I will not just sit back and watch her get taken away. Not again,” he sneered.

I hung my head in defeat without a word and noticed from the corner of my eye that Gabriel did the same. We knew he was right and yet we hadn’t bothered thinking as he did.

“I’m sorry,” Gabriel muttered, “We acted reckless, I know, but when it comes to your mate…”

“There is nothing you won’t do, I am aware,” Shane sighed before looking around. “As your alpha, I should send you home and leave you out of this after disobeying direct orders, but as the father of your mate, I am only thankful for your love for her, and as a mate myself I understand the need for keeping her safe.”

“So, you will let us stay?” I asked, feeling hopeful.

“At the condition that you from now on do nothing but what you are told,” he stated as he stared us both down. “One mistake, one misstep that can lead to either one of you being in danger and you will be dragged back home by your tails. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir,” we said in unison.

My dad still looked at me with disappointment in his eyes before he turned to Shane.

“How long before the warriors will be here?”

“They will probably arrive alongside the tracking team,” he hummed before turning to my other dad who was still in his wolf form. “Ryan, I need you to go back and meet them halfway. Tell them that we are continuing to go south until we reach no man’s land where the war took place. We will wait there for the tracking team to pick up any leads and take it from there.”

Dad nodded, and looked at me with a ‘Don’t fuck up’ look before turning around and with two small huffs, took off into the debts of the forest where we had just come from.

“You know where it is right?” Alpha Shane then asked me.

“Yeah, we were training there a few times, why?” I questioned.

“Because since you two decided to dash off on your own, you get to lead us there,” he said just as casually as he could, making it sound like we were around a dinner table and I had to show him the way to the wine cellar.

“Lead you there?” Gabriel huffed.

“Yes, and then you get to lead us the rest of the way as well,” he nodded. “Seeing as you will both be alpha’s once I step down, it seems fitting to question your abilities and to test them out.”

“You think now is the perfect time for that?” my dad asked slowly from behind. “This is not just some task regarding border security-“

“This is about bringing my daughter back and ensuring the safety of our pack, I know, which is why I think now is a perfect time. They need not only to be tested in strength but also in their leadership skills, their skills to delegate tasks, and give out orders to those who were once the same level as themselves. Besides, after what they just pulled off, they need to prove themselves. A pack only survives on teamwork. There are rogues for a reason and if they would rather do whatever they please instead of what is best for all, then I need to know now rather than later. If now is not the perfect time to test it out, then it will never be.”

He gave us one more glance before shifting into his wolf followed by my father doing the same.

“Let’s go,” Gabriel said, nudging me gently in the side clearly wanting to escape the unsatisfied looks the two of them were giving us.

We shifted, and took one look at one another before we dashed off, running even further into the forest and hopefully, closer to wherever Tatiana was being kept.

We are coming for you, my love. Hang in there.