Nathan

Nathan's POV

Liam and I rushed to the hospital after being told that my brother was brought in after being attacked by rogues saving one of Liams pack members in the process. Call it intuition but I think there is more to the story than I'm being told. Liam and his beta Jake have been on edge since I arrived for our meeting this afternoon and have only given me the bare minimum of details. As we entered the hospital, the doctor rushed over to Liam to provide him with the blood tests results. Somebody stabbed them with a silver dagger with Wolfsbane and another herb that slows down healing, but luckily there was an antidote available. Liam rushed into one of the hospital rooms with me right behind him, and suddenly I was hit with the most beautiful scent of strawberries and chamomile. Liam quickly scooped up a young girl in his arms.

-I think the scent is coming from her-, my wolf Jax said, running in circles excitedly. Liam moved to the bed and sat down beside the girl, and I got a good look at her. She was petite, looking almost smothered in the hoodie she was wearing. She had long blonde hair pulled in a ponytail, big emerald green eyes and was by far the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my life.

-Mate- Jax screamed excitedly.

I stared at her and watched as she slowly checked me out. She made no move towards me. I couldn't understand it. Jax says she must not be eighteen yet. I sent a mindlink to my parents and Asher

-How old is she- I practically barked.

-I'm not sure why?- Asher sent back, and I could feel my parents confused.

-She is my mate, but she doesn't seem to know yet-

That shut them up. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Liam was asking if she had healed yet. I watched as she got up and put her hands on Asher, and healed him. I could hear my dad asking if she was a Darach. The next thing I knew, Beta Jake rushed in with two other warriors. Beta Jake wrapped her in a hug, and it took everything I had not to rip her away from him. I couldn't stop Jax from letting out a growl. The girl didn't notice, but Liam did and quickly left the room with the girl and his warriors saying he would be back shortly. As soon as the door shut, I turned to face Asher.

“What the hell happened today.”

Asher told me everything that happened, from meeting the girl in the bar to being attacked right up to me arriving.

“Something strange is going on with that girl, she says her name is Sophie, but I heard one of the attackers call her something else. She's from this pack, but she changed her clothes before she came in and hid her face, and one of the warriors warned the doctor not to let anyone else in the room to keep her identity secret,” Asher told me, sounding confused.

“Something is up with this pack. Alpha Liam only took over as Alpha 6 months ago, and he fought and almost killed his father for it. It's all pretty hush-hush,” I told them.

“Remember Ryan Cooper’s mate Celeste she moved to our pack from here. She may know something about what's going on,” my dad said. “Maybe give her a phone.”

I pulled out my phone and scrolled to Ryan’s name, and called it.

Ryan: Hello Alpha

Me: Hi Ryan, are you with Celeste? I need to speak to her

Ryan: Yes, Alpha, she is right here one moment.

Celeste: Hi Alpha, how can I help.

Me: Hi Celeste, can you tell us what you know about your old pack. I've heard that Alpha Liam took over six months ago, but I'm unsure about the details. Can you shed any light on it? Oh, and anything about a girl named Sophie.

Celeste: Um...

I quickly put my phone on loudspeaker so that my family could listen, and I sat down on Asher's bed.

Me: Celeste, we want to help but can't if we don't know the whole story.

Celeste: Alpha Liam's parents were called Mark and Sophie. When Alpha Liam was 5, his mother died in childbirth. Alpha Mark blamed his daughter and never took much to do with her. Then two years ago, Alpha Xavier from Red Rock came to meet with Alpha Mark and saw Quinn the-

“Did you say, Quinn”? Asher interrupted, looking at me. “I'm sure that's what the attacker called Sophie.”

Celeste: Yes, Quinn is Alpha Liam's sister. Once Alpha Xavier saw her, he decided he wanted her and made some pact to help with supplies for Alpha Mark, and in return, he gets Quinn. The pack elders said no because she wasn't even sixteen. Then about eight months ago, he visited and told everyone that Quinn was his mate. Quinn and Liam didn't believe him, but Alpha Mark couldn't care less and said she had to go with him. So Liam challenged his father and won and told him in no uncertain terms that Quinn was not going with Alpha Xavier. Then the attempted kidnappings started, so Liam told her to run, and only Liam and Beta Jake knew where she was. Apparently, Alpha Mark and Alpha Xavier still have friends in Liam's pack working from them. They got pretty close to taking her a few times.

I was stunned and looked at my mother, who was white as a sheet with a hand over her chest.

“That poor girl, what kind of father would do that,” my mother said, tearing up.

Celeste: Alpha, Quinn wouldn't hurt a fly. If you can help, please do. I've known her my whole life, and she doesn't deserve this.

Me: Trust me, Celeste, I am going to do everything I can to help her. I will see you when we get back. One more thing, how old is Quinn?.

Celeste: it's her eighteen birthday next week. I spoke to my brother last month, and he says that's why Alpha Xavier wants to get her now so he can keep her and mark her as soon as she's eighteen so that it's too late for the elders or Liam to do anything once she's marked.

I hung up the phone without saying anything else. I was too angry. I felt my wolf coming to the surface, and I had to fight for control. There was no way that I was going to let him hurt Quinn.

“Calm down, son. You don't even know that Quinn and Sophie are the same person”, my dad said, putting his hand on my shoulder, trying to calm me down.

“Your right, but regardless if Quinn is my mate or not, I can't just sit by and let Alpha Xavier get away with trying to kidnap a seventeen-year-old girl to mark against her will, and if Quinn is Sophie, then she is my mate, which means Alpha Xavier has been lying about her being his mate” I stood from the bed and opened the door and asked one of the warriors standing guard to take me to Alpha Liam immediately.

The guard mind linked Alpha Liam then asked me to follow him. We walked through the pack, and it took us about ten minutes to get to the packhouse. I was lead up the stairs to the Alpha suite, where we heard shouting. The warrior knocked on the door which Alpha Liam opened.

“Alpha Nathan, please come in”. Liam held the door open for me. “I hope your brother is healing well”.

“Yes, thank you”, I said, walking past him into his office. I looked at the older man in the room before turning back to face Liam, who now looked nervous.

“Alpha Nathan, I'm pleased to meet your acquaintance. I'm the old Alpha of this pack. I have heard what happened to your brother. I also heard there was a young girl also attacked. She seems to have disappeared. I don't suppose you met her”

“Dad, you have no right to question a visiting Alpha in MY pack”, Liam boomed.

“I think I have a right to know.”

I saw the anger in Liam's eyes as his wolf was fighting for control.

“I was just wondering what this young girl looked like”, he said, turning to face me, “we should probably send out a search party if she is lost in our pack, but my son here disagrees.”

I looked between Liam, whose face was a cross between furious and terrified, and Mark, who looked smug, which answered my main question if Sophie and Quinn were the same person. I now did not doubt that they were, and I wanted to rip this sorry excuse for a father apart. “I'm sorry I did not meet her”, I answered as calmly as I could.

Liam stood up and faced his father. “If you would please excuse us, we have Alpha business to attend to”. Liam opened the door to let Mark out, and I saw a clear look passing between Liam and the warrior, who then nodded before following Mark down the hall.

“I'm sorry about that, Alpha Nathan”, Liam said, sitting behind his desk, throwing me a small smile.

“It's Nathan, and please don't worry about it. Is she safe” I asked.

“Yes, Sophie is fine, thank you.”

“You mean Quinn,” I asked, watching him closely.

Liam’s eyes flashed dangerously as he watched me.

“I phoned one of my warriors whilst at the hospital. His mate Celeste was from Black Moon before she met Ryan, and she told me everything, and I know Sophie is Quinn”, I explained.

“And what do you want to do with that information,” Liam asked.

“I want to offer my help; if you're going to start a war with Red Rock, then I will stand with you, or if you want somewhere safe for your sister to stay until her birthday, then she can stay at my pack, and I will protect her”.

Liam went quiet as he was thinking over what I had said.

“Why would you want to do that,” Liam asked cautiously. “Keeping an Alpha from his mate is a punishable offence.

“She's not his”, I roared.

Liam sighed as he dropped his head into his hands before looking up at me “what does that mean.”

“She’s my mate. I knew the moment I walked into the hospital room”.

“She can't stay here; my father still has friends as warriors that believe I'm in the wrong for wanting to protect Quinn. They believed Xavier when he said that she is his mate and think I'm keeping her away to use it as an excuse to overthrow my father, so I need her hidden, but if you tell her that you're her mate, I'm afraid she won't go.

“I won't tell her. I'd rather she found out for herself after her birthday, after everything with Alpha Xavier; I think she would need to feel the bond to believe it.” I told him sincerely.

“Ok, I'll let her know that I think it's for the best if she stays at your pack until her birthday, and if you are her mate, she won't want to leave after Sunday anyway. Would you please keep the fact that she's a Darach under wraps? If your pack finds out that you now have a Darach, it might get back to Alpha Xavier.”

“You have my word, Liam. I will keep her safe”. He must have read the sincerity on my face as he nodded and stood up. “She’s down in Beta Jake’s suite with her best friend Summer. Let's go, and I’ll introduce you and try and convince her to go with you. She's very stubborn and doesn't want to run. She wants to stay and fight.

With that, I followed him out of the office and down to Beta Jake’s suite.