Chapter 26: Lucas

 

“Alpha Lucas, it’s been a while,” Anders replied. “I hope all is well in the Ironpaw Pack these days.”

I dragged Jaden into my office and shut the door. Putting the phone on speaker, I set it on the desk for us both to hear.

“The Ironpaws are thriving. That’s the best any Alpha could strive for. Now, what do you need from me today, Alpha?” I was never one for small talk.

“Well, I can’t say we’re doing as well here,” Anders said, ignoring my impatience. “We’ve had a terrible incident that involved one of our ranking members. My Beta, Mason, was brutally attacked a few days ago. We’ve been looking into how this could have happened.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I replied. “But that doesn’t explain why you’re calling me.”

“Well, he had taken his mate away for their annual romantic getaway. So, we know she was with him at the time. However, she’s gone missing,” he stated. “She wasn’t at the scene when we arrived. We’re concerned she may have gotten lost after escaping.”

“Or perhaps whoever attacked them took her,” I stated. “In which case, they’re likely far from your territory by now if the incident happened days ago. Do you really believe she’s still alive as all?”

“We have a duty to determine exactly, now don’t we?”  he answered. “That’s why it is important that we find her and bring her to safety. They weren’t too far from the border. I was hoping you might give us a hand and allow some of my warriors to search your lands for any possible sign of her. As my Beta’s mate, it’s important that we take care of her during this difficult time.”

“I would imagine so,” I replied dryly. “I’d be happy to relegate a few of my warriors to the search for you, Alpha Anders. And I’m sure our regular border patrol will advise us of any suspicious activity as well. If you’d like to give me her name, it would be helpful to the process.”

“That is much appreciated, Alpha Lucas,” Anders said tightly. “However, my own men already know her scent and have a better idea of what we’re looking for. So, it would go much faster if they just performed the search themselves.”

“Alpha Anders, my trackers and warriors are very capable of finding a single she-wolf who doesn’t belong in our land. If you would like to send someone with a scent item, we would be more than open to utilize it,” I offered. “Or if you would like to send a small group to assist my men, then I will make sure to have a team ready to greet them. However, I will not allow strange wolves to roam freely on my land.”

“I see,” Alpha Anders.

“I’m sure you can understand my hesitation,” I commented, “seeing as it sounds like you don’t have any leads or ideas about who could have perpetrated this attack. I’d hate to have a violent criminal into my territory without my knowing.”

“Indeed,” Alpha Anders said. “I will consider your options, Alpha, and get back to you once we have more information.”

“I will prepare for your answer, should you have one,” I said.

I disconnected the call. Leaning on my desk, my fists were clenched and my jaw was set firm. I worked to control my hatred for that vile excuse for a lycan. There was no doubt in my mind why he wanted Sutton back in his clutches.

“I tried to warn you,” Jaden said. “You didn’t respond to my texts and you’re still blocking the mind-link.”

“We knew this was a likelihood,” I said. “We knew he would want Sutton back. That would require cooperation from neighboring packs.”

“Well, that’s what I wanted to warn you about,” he said. “I expected he’d be calling you soon because we caught a pair of his men on our land last night. They gave the same story. I told them to let them go and sent Max to the border to get a handle on things.”

Max was my Gamma. He knew what was going on with Sutton and the Dawn Stalkers. He had to be to help us keep everything contained. He was capable of dealing with this discretely without me.

“He’s still butt hurt that you haven’t let him come over to meet her yet,” Jaden told me.

“I don’t want to overwhelm her,” I said. “Besides, the fewer people who can identify her, the better. At least for now. That way she can still move around town without drawing attention. Max would be on her tail the moment she stepped foot in public.”

“Yeah, but that’s why he’s our Gamma,” Jaden said with a grin. “How are things going with our Luna? Still making progress?”

“We were,” I said. “I don’t know what this phone call is going to do to that. She’s going to be terrified to know that he’s looking for her.”

“She knew they’d search for her,” Jaden replied.

“But she didn’t know it would be this soon,” I said. “I think she’s been hoping it would take a little longer to lead them here. Either way, I’ll have to take some time to convince her she’s still safe here.”

“I hate to say it, but that probably means going out with her is off the table for a while as well,” Jaden pointed out. “The Alpha being seen with a strange new woman will spread through the rumor mill like wildfire.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said. “But Sutton won’t do well staying cooped up. Plus, I just started her on a project. So, I’ll need Tarrah to stay in town to go out with her if and when she needs to.”

“I don’t think she’ll have any problem with that. She really likes Sutton. She says she’s a good listener,” Jaden said with a chuckle. “Grant it, we both know it’s because my sister never shuts up and Sutton was probably shell-shocked from it.”

“I think Sutton can keep up better than you think.”