Chapter Three

Three months had passed since his departure from his pack, it was a verry unusual occurrence but he had needed to go to help find a rouge for the Black Moon pack. The moment he had received news that the girl who was responsible for Serena's death had escaped he was furious. But not as furious as when he realized she was alive to begin with!

Alpha Kevin had asked all of all pack alphas what should be done to the traitor and Brandon was the first to ask for the slaughter the girl. Child or not, he had hated her. Brandon hated her more than he hated Alpha Kevin, a sorry excuse of an Alpha.

Alpha Brandon pressed the gas pedal harder watching as the road became a blur, he breezed past the trees in his very shitty car desperate to get home, he’d never been away from the pack this long, and he knew better than others that a pack without an Alpha was vulnerable. Especially with a dangerous wolf on the run, he couldn’t help worry about what would happen if the girl were to get into his property and kill his warriors?

Even with Jon’s weekly updates on the pack and happenings, so he knew there was no danger, Brandon couldn’t shake the feeling of unease, his wolf had been restless since he heard the news of the girl’s escape. Being the deadliest pack, it wasn't uncommon of someone wanting to take over his pack, be it rogue or another pack, without him there his pack was free land.

This whole situation had him riled up and thoroughly knotted, he slammed his fist on the steering wheel in frustration, he was stressed and frustrated, this is why a wolf needs a mate, he needed someone to ease the stress and calm him down from the infuriating rage.

So much time had passed and they were still unable to find the girl. There was no scent left of her, the only thing Brandon could smell was the horrible cell. And to make matters more complicated, there was no description of her. When he had asked the woman, who took care of her, she told him that the girl was often dirty. She had thick hair, but was unsure of the real color, it could be a light brown as Serena's, or it could be blonde. Either way it went, it was often covered in mud or filth. No one knew if she had a wolf, or what color it was or could be.

It was a trail with no directions. Himself and other Alphas had spent all their time running around the forest and the neighboring packs with no hint of where she could have gone, it was as though she had disappeared from the face of the earth. The search had come to an end and it was finally time for him to go home.

Alpha Kevin pleaded for him to stay, but Brandon had spent too much time away from his pack and couldn’t stay around cleaning his fuck ups. “Brandon, if anyone could find her it's you!” Alpha Kevin said as he followed him out to his jeep. Alpha Kevin’s mate stood by the door and glared at her mate as he looked at Brandon, "I should have killed her, you are right. But I didn't think there was justice in Serena that way. I wanted to make her suffer, I wanted to... " He trailed off as his eyebrows scrunched together. Brandon slammed the tailgate up and turned towards him. "You should have killed the bitch. You could have given Serena justice that way! Instead you kept a toy." Brandon said glaring at him.

"I would have killed her if you couldn’t.’ he growled the words as he glared at the older Alpha. Serena was a wonderful and talented fighter; she was best friends with Brandon’s mother and guided Brandon when his mother had passed on. Serena had taught him how to fight and taught him important life lessons that he could never forget. She had gotten pregnant traveling around the packs. Some had said it was a warrior affair, and others said it was an Alpha's bastard baby.

Though everyone knew the truth, Serena had found her true mate and mated. Werewolves can only have children with their true mates or forced mates. “Once a female is given a mark, she can bear them an heir” his Father had said multiple times. Brandon couldn't see Serena allowing anyone to mark her, for that reason alone, he believed her true mate to be a rouge. No one knew for sure of course, Serena refused to speak about the girl's Father.

When she had her daughter, she stopped coming to Brandon’s pack so often, and when he’d heard of her passing, he felt rage for the first time, he demanded blood, taking over power from his father, command and demanded for the girl to be removed from this Earth. Knowing she had been alive all this time was a slap in the face.

Walking towards the jeep's door he turned towards Alpha Kevin and glared at him, "You should have never been the Alpha. We both know Serena was supposed to run this pack, you are a pathetic excuse of a leader." He growled and looked around at the empty land and woods. Alpha Kevin had sent everyone in his pack in search of the girl, "if I find her, I will do what you were never capable of doing." he said and got in the jeep.

My hand curled into a fist as I punched the wheel once again. These past months have made me so tense, we searched everywhere we could for her. If what Alpha Kevin said was true, she should be around their territory. She wouldn't have had enough strength to run as fast as it seemed she did. It was a six-hour drive to Alpha Kevin's and as Brandon turned down the road to see his territory, his wolf wanted to be released. He pulled the jeep to the side and walked into the forest, Brandon clothes shredded as his wolf took over and raced into the woods. ‘Couldn't wait, could you?’ his wolf Aero only let out a chuckle as his large paws hit the earth.

Aero put in all his energy into this run, it had been a long three months. And half of it he was stuck in Brandon, ‘after that car ride I needed to be freed.’ Aero replied with a grunt. Brandon didn't mind as they rushed around the familiar territory. We looked at the pack house seeing the lights and the pack members, some of the warriors on patrol held their heads down when they saw him. But something felt off in the pack as he looked for his beta, it wasn't long until Jon's tan wolf rushed up to greet him and lowered its head, “Welcome home Alpha! The paperwork has all been finalized and the schedule for the patrol is on your desk. I've also gotten the men to cooperate these past few months. Some of them are now considering each other as friends.” Jon said as he started to rub beside Brandon. That was good news, since they took down the Silver Sky pack, the men Brandon had allowed to join the pack refused to cooperate with pack members. Brandon had at one point considered killing them but thought against it for this reason, more men mean more warriors.

“Clever, how did you get them to become so close?” Brandon asked as they reached the end of the territory. Aero stopped his run and turned towards his Beta. “I guess you can say they found a common interest. Group bounding." Jon was chuckling at his inside joke that his Alpha couldn't understand. Brandon stared at him until he stopped his rambling and straightened his wolf up. “Good work Beta, go rest. You deserve it.” Aero said in a strong voice. The tan wolf lowered his head and turned around running away from his Alpha.

Something about Jon just never settled right with Aero. He was unhappy when Brandon had made him Beta, and he was extremely unhappy when they had to leave our pack with him. But, returning home with no problems pleased him enough to keep his mouth shut. Brandon tried to hide his smirk as they leaned their head back to howl but before they caught a scent, one very enchanting it pulled him in, everything felt as if it had frozen.

The black night sky was cracking and the stars were falling on him as the beautiful scent invaded both their senses. Aero stumbled back for a moment as they sat on the ground, breathing in the scent. The lovely scent with a sickening iron scent? That lovely scent that seemed clouded by something before Brandon could even concentrate on what was wrong Aero let out a vicious growl, one he’d only heard once before.

The sound lingered in the air and instantly made Brandon obey his command as they ran. “What is going on Aero?” he asked frantically as they continued to search for the source of that smell. He spoke once they were close to the river and he stuck his snout in the cold water, ‘Mate.’ His voice was not happy or excited and as they ran towards the delightful smell. It wasn't until he stopped walking that Brandon was able to understand why.

A few feet ahead of them was a black bag that had blood seeping from small holes. Brandon’s stomach dropped at the sight, but ever so slightly he caught a slight movement. Aero splashed in the water and got as close as he could, ‘you need to do this.’ Aero said as he shifted. He whined loudly in Brandon’s head; his hands quickly grabbed the bag sitting on a dry rock he leaned over pulling the bag close to him. Brandon’s hand ripped the bag open; he was surprised as cold blood droplets flying onto his skin. But he ignored the droplets as her scent filled his nostrils, this was her.

Sure, he couldn't even see her face as the horrible stench of males and blood covered her scent. Brandon could only see her wounded body; an arm that was covered in bruises and claw marks were draped across her hips. It looked as if she had jeans on, but now they were nothing but straps. Her blood was mixing with the water as he watched the color change.

Once Brandon could see more of her body, he knew she was seriously injured. There were multiple large wounds and whip marks on her body. The skin that was ripped from the whips had small pieces of silver stuck on the flesh. He raised his now wet hand and slowly touched the blood that continued to fall as he stared in horror at the sight.

The whip marks started from her neck and traveled down to her ankles, Brandon could tell the whip was wrapped around her as some traveled around her arms and others around her torso. Her wounds reminded him of red snaps with how they wrapped around her arms. She was unconscious, her mouth slightly opened as he carried her closer to the land. Once he had her on the cold land, he pulled the bag away to reveal her face. Her pale face shined in the moonlight, the first thing he noticed was the deep purple bruises forming under her eyes. There was a cut down her eyebrow and wounds around her scalp. Her brown hair was wet and water still dripped from her eyebrow. She had rips along her thick parted lips, her bottom lip was busted and her left cheek was severely swollen.

Brandon stared at his mate until I noticed her lips turning a blue hue. He laid her on the ground and placed a hand on her heart, feeling the shallow beats and quickly memorized their beats as he counted them in his head. She wasn't dead yet, but he knew if he was a few minutes late she would have been.

She couldn't have been in the water long, which was relieving to know. He touched her face as water spit for her lips. Her eyes stayed closed as her head rolled back, "I’m going to get you help." he said in a small voice as he mind-linked the pack doctor and slowly picked her up. Her body hung limply in his arms as he carried her away from the lake. Her wet hair was uneven as it clung against his naked body, her blood continued to fall from her wounds covering his arms and chest. As he got closer to the pack, Brandon couldn't help but bring her naked body closer to him, shielding her from anyone who could see her.

Brandon wanted to keep her warm, he wanted to protect her. ‘We need to protect her.' Aero claimed as he growled towards some warriors. His body shook with rage as he sprinted towards the small white building, “we will.” he said in a stern voice as a nurse opened the door and covered her mouth looking at the woman in his arms. “Alpha.” She said after a moment and then ran to grab a bed, "Doctor Linn will be in here any moment but, I think you should step outside." She said as she grabbed a pole with wires and tubes and started to attach them to their mate’s bare chest.

Instantly, he could hear the slow beating of her heart and stared at the screen in shock. Brandon knew he needed to leave; he shouldn't be there. But he stood by the bed protectively looking down to her sleeping face, "I'll stay here." he said in a hard voice. The nurse only nodded as she turned his mate on her side to look at her back. She then looked up to him, then looked at the mark on her back. Aero howled in pain as they stared at the mark on their mate.

Brandon clenched his teeth as the nurse grabbed a cap and stuffed all of the woman's hair in it. "You will have to leave when the doctor comes in. Do you know her mate?" The nurse asked. Aero growled at the order she had given and the question, Brandon only shook his head. "No, I don't" he said through clenched teeth and touched the burning mark, "But, I'll have to find him." He said in a small voice, Aero added to it with, ‘and kill him.'