Peace had just settled in when all hell broke loose.
Nicholas, true to form, didn’t bother with a direct attack but instead settled for subterfuge. Roland was working with Nafarius and several new pack members helping them to learn the drills as well as the territory that had to be patrolled and guarded when Joseph, a child of four, came running.
“Nafarius! Nafarius, come quick!”
“What is it?” Nafarius turned and caught the child as he launched himself into his arms. His face was streaked with tear-stained dirt. “Slow down and tell me what has you so upset.”
Joseph, despite being in Nafarius’ arms, was pulling on the leader’s shirt trying to get him to move towards the forest. “You have to save her! They took her! I would have stopped them but she told me to hide, said she’d have you spank me if I didn’t.”
Nafarius felt his heart drop into his stomach. Instinctively, he looked around the clearing tying to get a glimpse of Sam’s dark hair. When he didn’t see her he lifted his head and tried to catch her scent, at the same time he continued asking the boy questions. “Who told you to hide?”
“Tasha, we were picking berries ’cause she said I could help her bake a blackberry pie.” Peaking around his leader’s shoulder, Joseph caught Roland staring at him. “She said it was your favorite and she wanted to make it specially for you.” Joseph missed the stricken look that passed over Roland’s face as he turned back to Nafarius. “She had me hide in the bushes, see.” Holding out his arm Joseph proudly showed off the scratches that covered his arms and had torn his clothes. “I hid good ’cause the men, they didn’t see me. But they took her and you got to get her back.”
Nafarius, relieved that it hadn’t been Sam that was taken passed the boy off to one of his men. “Find his mother, tell her what happened and then I want everyone moved inside.” Turning to Roland he saw that his second-in-command was already on the same page. “Nicholas.”
“That son of a bitch!” Roland slammed his staff into the ground. They had been practicing with them earlier, their ends blunted so as to avoid injuring the untrained men, Roland still managed to drive the dull point into the ground. “If we leave now we’ll be able to pick up their trail easily.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“What do you mean?” Roland was angry, practically vibrating with rage and ready to move. Natasha and the others had been with them now for over three months and she’d been sharing his quarters the entire time. No one mentioned the fact that she already had a mate or that their offspring (should there be any) would lack his name. The two packs had blended together rather well and other than a lack of space and privacy everything was going well.
“It’s exactly what Nicholas would expect us to do. Think about it. He left her here for over three months, just enough time for us to get comfortable, form attachments and let our guard down. He’s expecting us to come running all the while thinking he only has three or four men with him. But what if he’s put together a new pack in the mean time. There have been rumors that some of the renegades are banding together to form their own pack. It would be just like Nicholas to label himself leader of such a group.” Nafarius started pacing. He needed to think things through. He wanted to see Nicholas destroyed once and for all this time but he wasn’t willing to risk his entire pack to accomplish it.
In the past three months he had been busy meeting with delegates from other packs trying to get a consensus on where everyone stood. So far it was unanimous that something had to be done and each leader he spoke with was willing to offer up men and resources to get it accomplished. It was time to call in on those promises.
“We wait. I’ll send for…”
“We can’t wait! He has her and he’ll kill her for betraying him. You know that better than anyone.” Roland pleaded with his leader.
Nafarius put a comforting arm around Roland’s shoulders. “I know that you and Natasha have grown very close these past few months and I promise you we will get her back. But it won’t do us any good if we act in haste and loose the opportunity. Nicholas will expect us to come running and I won’t walk us right into a trap.”
“You still can’t stand her, can you? You hate the fact that she was your brother’s mate and you’d rather see her destroyed along with him rather than accept her into our pack.” Roland shrugged off Nafarius’ arm and started across the clearing.
Nafarius, stunned by the accusation, trotted to catch up with him. Grabbing Roland’s arm he spun the other man around to face him.
Roland turned, growling low in his throat. “Release me.”
“Roland, you have been more of a brother to me then Nicholas ever was. You know I would never sacrifice a woman no matter my personal feelings. But even if I were so inclined I have come to care a great deal for Natasha, she’s a member of my pack and a close friend to my mate. Do you think I want to leave her there any longer than I have to? It makes me sick to think about what he might be doing to her but he expects me to react based on emotion and for once I won’t do it. I have planned, plotted and calculated for the past three months and I won’t rush it because you would have me save Natasha.” Nafarius took a deep breath and tried to get through to his friend. He understood all to well what Roland must be going through. If it was Sam out there no force on this earth would prevent him from going to her but he hoped that someone like Roland would have the will to stand up and stop him from making such a big mistake. Of course, he would likely take their head for trying and Roland was a better man than he for not having done so. “Please, let me do this so that we are free from him forever. I don’t just want to save Natasha, I want to set her free, along with the rest of us.”