Chapter 40: The Rescue

The world was muted around Dolores when Jasper told her of her mother's kidnapping. She saw his lips move, Crystal saying something before running towards the complex. She saw Jasper order Daflon and him nodding his understanding, but she heard nothing.

How could she have felt so happy when she left her mother behind? Anything could have happened to her mother. Dolores should have known, and now she had to..."

"I have to rescue my mother! Dolores declared the world's volume turning on again.

"I know," Jasper stated. "But Lo, like I said, I cannot come with you. I only yesterday became the official leader of the Wizards Society. I have to stay in the Wulf Mountains."

Dolores nodded her head over and over. She knew that. Deep down, she had known the second he told her about her mother she would have to face this on her own. He had an entire society to govern.

"Lo, did you hear anything I said just now?" Jasper gently asked, probably guessing she heard nothing.

Dolores shook her head, unable to form words.

"Diana took Ellie with her. I believe she feared that Ellie would continue to be abused by Polly if left alone." Dolores's blood went cold at his words. "To their surprise, though, Polly caught up with them and joined them."

Dolores weighed the information, adding in not only saving her mother but now Ellie too and perhaps Polly if Ellie asked.

"Dolores." Jasper cupped her chin, forcing her to focus on only him. " I need you to listen to me."

Dolores inhaled deeply, feeling prick behind her eyes. With a shaking breath, she focused on Jasper listening to all he had to say.

Dolores had known from her lesson when she first arrived in the Capital that a Prince or Princess may choose to leave the Palace once they reach adulthood and become an Alpha of another Pack. Dolores herself should have had that choice, but Adam chose for her.

Jasper explained that Adam declared that Dolores would be the next Alpha of the Gray Tail Pack, an isolated, poor Pack, where Dolores had been bullied and treated worse than the dirt beneath the Packs feet for most of her life. Though she supposed the positive was that the Gray Tail Pack territory covered the valley below Wulf Mountains, meaning she was closer to the Wizards' Society headquarters.

"Who kidnapped my mother?" Dolores demanded.

Jasper: "The situation is a tad complicated." Jasper confessed. "Your mother was stopped by two Packs on her way back to the Gray Tail Pack. My Wizard, Raven, hasn't found out enough information yet--"

"I can't wait for more information. I have to save my mother now!" Dolores ran her fingers through her messing the long silver stains into a chaotic mess on top of her head.

"I thought you might say that."

Just then, Daflon came with two figures following behind him. Dolores saw Rose and what she assumed was Thomas behind Daflon. Stopping beside her and Jasper Daflon left, the two beings bent the head first at Jasper then at Dolores.

"Rose and Thomas will escort you," Jasper said, his tone final. Leaving no room for Dolores to protest. "They will be your eyes and ears along with aid if a... altercation should arise."

Dolores saw the fury burning in Jasper's eyes at the thought. She laced her fingers with his as he continued.

"Rose, you have already met, and this is Thomas."

Jasper gestures to the tall thin, silent male besides the lively little young female bouncing on her toes. Dolores noticed that Rose held a sack with two straps hooked to her back. When Rose handed the bog to her, she saw that someone had packed her prevision, most likely Crystal.

Looking up at Jasper, Dolores saw her two escorts shift into their bird forms and fly above them, giving her and Jasper a moment. He pulled a clock from a pocket of air, wrapping her inside. She stayed silent as he helped her place the bag on her back.

For a handful of seconds, they said nothing, their foreheads pushed together, listening to each other racing heartbeat. Dolores swallowed audibly as she reached up on her toes and kissed him. Jasper held her lips to his with one hand behind her head. Parting her lips with his tongue and dove into her mouth, twisting his tongue around her. A heated moment passed, and his mouth was gone.

Jasper gave her one last kiss to her knuckles before Dolores wordlessly turned and headed down the mountain. Neither had said goodbye because both knew they would see each other again. That knowledge fueled Dolores resolve as she walked down the marbled steps.

It didn't take Dolores long to find her mother, Ellie, and Polly. Night had fallen when Dolores came across a small decapitated looking inn. Dolores stayed hidden in the bushes near the side of the building as Rose and Thomas flew to see what the situation was.

With her wolf vision, Dolores saw that two Packs were surrounding the Inn. One group seemed to be the survivors from the Silent Maw Pack. Dolores saw that their numbers were few, only six by her count. They must have been the few that had escaped during the massacre.

A sparrow landed beside her, and Rose shifted back into her human form. "Those males are furious." she quietly hummed. "They keep talking about a werewolf named Jakobe. They want justice for his death. Apparently, when they heard that your mother was leaving the Capital, they went to seek their revenge. Did you kill this male?"

Dolores's blood began to boil. "No!" Dolores harshly breathed. "He tried to kill me and ended up getting caught. I was told he hung himself."

Rose said nothing as Dolores calmed her breathing, holding her breath until her lungs started to sting and white dots of lights showed in her vision. "What can you tell me about the other Pack?" Dolores quietly asked Rose.

"They call themselves the Silver Heart Pack." Roses stated, and Dolores remembered that the Silver Heart Pack used to ally with the Silent Maw Pack. What she didn't know was that the Pack was mainly formed by female wolves. Even their Alpha was a female.

"The female warriors have come to claim that young female and the mad looking one. I'm not sure why, though. They seemed to have no interest in your mother." Rose softly sang.

Suddenly snarls filled the air as the two Packs began to argue. Dolores silent moved closer.

"You can have the rogue. We only want the youngling and the mother." A Silver Heart Pack member snarled.

Dolores bared her teeth as Polly gracefully walked to the Silver Heart Pack, stretching her hand out to Ellie. Dolores, her mother, shielded Ellie with her body as Ellie screamed:

"No! I won't leave Diana." Ellie's voice became crazed as she tried to explain to the Silent Maw Pack's survivors the truth about her Uncle but the female warriors interrupted her, telling the Silent Maw Pack that all they wanted was her and Polly.

A low growl rippled past Dolores's lips at her mother, Diana, caught in the middle of this ridiculous quarrel. If only she had taken her mother and Ellie with her to Wulf Mountains, then they wouldn't be here, unable to leave and helpless. Dolores shook the thoughts from her head. She knew there was no way she could have foreseen this, and she had only been gone for two days. There wasn't enough time to even bring her mother and Ellie to the Wizards Society.

"Come, Ellie." Polly's voice demanded. "We can have the life we always wanted with the Silver Heart Pack."

"No. You are not my mother." Ellie growled.

"Lies!" Polly screamed and then ordered a female warrior to grab Ellie. "You will come with me. You will obey me. Enough of this ludicrous nonsense."

A Silver Heart Pack warrior grabbed Ellie by the arm, pulling her from Diana's grasp. The Silent Maw Pack growled their annoyance. Dolores picked up a discarded bow and arrow with the Royal crest painted along the curve. Her blood turned to liquid lava as the pieces clicked into place.

The King had sent her mother to the Pack that had let her rot, the Palace guards had abandoned the three unarmed females, and now two Packs wanted to stake their claim on them. Dolores cocked her arrow, pulling the string taut.

With a breath, she released the shaft and sent the tip spiraling through the heated scene, piercing the tree between the two Packs and gaining everyone's attention.

Stepping into the moonlight, Dolores glared at every werewolf, making sure they saw the wrath that was blazing in her eyes. As she stepped closer, she saw the unknown werewolves step back.

"What do you think you are doing?" She growled, her tone as icy as the color of her eyes. "How dare you speak so rudely to a Princess of Kerquin!"