Chapter 89
Xander POV
I pace the room. How is she not in that settlement? They would have caught her scent if she were.
When they said she wasn’t at the first one, I said to check the closest one, but she wasn’t there either.
My eyes scan the map, and I feel frustrated. What if she’s moved? No, she can’t have moved; her scent would still be there. So she wasn’t at either of those settlements.
“There are others closer by.” Garrick looks at me.
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“But they are smaller. She would need a decent–sized one to stay hidden and go unnoticed. The smaller it is, the greater the chance she has of being seen and noticed.”
Sighing, I rub my face.
“Okay, let’s list them all, even the smaller ones. List each one, the closest to the furthest, then I’ll have a team move through them.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Killian says. “Yeah, they are small, but some of the smaller ones have no visitors, so it makes the perfect place to hide.”
“Also means less support and treatments. She’s at risk if anything goes wrong during the birth.” I don’t like that, and, I have no idea if she’s well or not.
“You can sense her, right? The baby as well,” Garrick says, and I nod.
“I can, yes, but that doesn’t help.” I need to know that someone has seen her and the baby and can confirm everything is okay.
“People are asking why you have a team leaving and searching; they want to know what you’re searching for,” Garrick explains.
“Tell them, make them aware Serafine had a baby, and we’re looking for her and the baby.” I don’t want to lie and hide it. The pack would be fine with this; even if I left and began searching for her, they would approve.
The baby is part of this pack. If it’s a boy, which it should be, as boys are always firstborn, then he’s the future Alpha of this pack.
“The only problem with that is you’re not bringing her back. People will question it, ask why you’re not bringing your son back.”
Garrick isn’t wrong, but right now I can’t force her back. “They don’t need to know that until the time comes then I will deal with it.”
I pull the map closer. “Okay, let’s get a list sorted and then-” A scream breaks free, and I fall to my knees.
“Alpha!” Garrick and Killian rush over and pick me up. Pain continues to burn through my body.
“What was that?” Killian asks.
“I have no idea, I feel like I was shot,” I grunt, and try to breathe. “Serafine, we need to find her now,” I growl.
Another wave of pain hits, and I scream, falling down again. Their hands grasp me and drag me back up.
“What’s happening?” Garrick looks at me in shock,
“I don’t know, but it feels like I’ve been shot, and whatever it is, is burning through my body. Get the list, now!” I growl.
They begin scrambling around, throwing things onto the table. I grip the wood tighter, trying to ease the pain, but it continues to spread. Something is wrong, really fucking wrong.
“How do we know which to go to first?” Killian asks.
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Chapter 89
“Multiple teams, I want anyone who isn’t watching the security points to work. We split the locations between smaller teams and find her now.
“Let’s get the list sorted then figure out how many teams we can get together,” Garrick pushes past Killian and looks at the map.
My body shakes, every part of it feels like it’s burning. This isn’t right, something is seriously wrong right now.
A noise has me look up and I see the Hollowfang Raven fly down. It lands on the table and begins tapping it’s beak against the map.
“What?” I growl, tempting to shove it away.
It begins tapping harder.
“I think it’s showing us where Serafine is,” Garrick says.
“Okay, get the men ready, we leave now,” I order.
The Raven moves and begins tapping the map in another location.
“What?” I snap, feeling frustrated. It continues to tap and I growl at it.
“Calm down, okay,” Garrick says soothingly but it doesn’t fucking help, the pain is awful and I know something is wrong.
“It showed us where she is, so why do we need to know more?” I snap.
“Because that’s Gideons place,” Killian mutters and nods to the Raven.
Gideon? “She’s there?” I ask, pointing, the Raven’s head shakes.
“What the hell?” I frown and try to focus. “Okay, she’s here?” I ask, pointing and the Raven nods.
“So why is it pointing to Gideon?” Garrick asks.
“Because it’s Gideon, he’s there taking her,” Killian states.
“No, he wouldn’t know where she was! He thinks she’s still here.”
“Clearly not. He’s gone there and got her.” Garrick looks at the map. “We can’t intercept them; our only choice is to go to Gideons and get her from there.”
That’s not ideal. “We need a full team. If we’re going to the pack, we need every resource we have.”
“Have you considered asking the rogues?” Killian looks at me. “You were planning the attack with the rogues.”
“No. Before sure, but I can’t risk Serafine or the baby getting hurt. Rogues won’t be careful when they attack.” It’s not ideal to use the rogues, not now.
“How many men do we have that we can take with us?”
“Under thirty,” Garrick says. “Unless we take some off the entry points and weaken them?”
“No, we can’t do that. If this is a set up so he can attack while we’re moving on him, the pack is gone, I can’t risk the pack.” Sighing, I rub my jaw. “What about those who aren’t fully trained, those who aren’t meant for battle? We have those who just watch the borders, who go out to gather information.”
“We could, but untrained wouldn’t help,” Killian/explains. “We take the guardians.”
“What?” I stare at him. “We take the guardians. The Hollowfang Raven, The Silvermane found and the Stonebacks.”
Taking them would help us,
but they are unpredictable. Right now, though, I have no choice.
“Begin to gather resources, get the mep ready. Ensure everything is sorted.”
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Chapter 89
“We can’t rush this,” Killian says, looking at me.
“What?” Is he joking?
“Think about it, we rush, we’re not prepared. We rush, and that is likely what he wants. Take at least twenty–four hours, let’s plan this well,”
I’m not comfortable with waiting but he’s right. If Gideon has done this to make me attack, us rushing and leaving in the next hour or two could have us rushing into an ambush.
