Ethan’s POV
I opened my eyes slowly and yawned, feeling the bright light that shined through the blinds entering the room. My phone buzzed from the bedside table, and I stretched out an arm and, with blinking eyes, tried to focus my gaze on the screen. A message from Aiden. Odd. We didn’t usually chat outside of pack business, but the following cryptic message caught my attention. It was a GPS location tracker linked to his phone.
“What the hell…?” I muttered, sitting up. Why would Aiden send me his location? He will never run to me for personal help despite us being allies. My internal voice said something was not okay, and I sensed that my time to move on had not yet come. We were not close friends by any means, but because we began training partners, I had learned to think of him almost as more than a friend. Plus, I noticed that he and Shenaya had marked each other but were keeping it secret. Wolves like us could sense things like that.
I didn’t waste any more time thinking. I grabbed my jacket and quietly slipped out of the house, not wanting to wake Isla. My car roared to life as I pulled out of the driveway and followed the tracks from the GPS, my mind racing with questions. What was Aiden into now? Why was he so quiet about it?
The GPS led me to an abandoned building deep in the woods. It was an eerie place, isolated from everything. The air around it felt heavy, almost like it held secrets nobody should ever uncover. I parked a distance away, deciding to scope the area first. Something told me I had to be careful.
As I crept closer, my heart stopped when I saw them: Aiden tied tightly to a chair, his body slumped but alive, while Andrew stood over him, laughing. Andrew-the same guy Shenaya trusted, her so-called friend.
But that wasn’t what shocked me most. No, it was how Andrew locked the bindings around Aiden with a spell. Magic. Andrew had magic, and none of us ever knew.
I ducked down, observing. I couldn’t just rush in unthinkingly. I had to understand what was going on. My wolf instincts screamed to act, but I kept patient. My mind raced-why was Andrew doing this? What did he want from Aiden? Why had he kept his powers hidden?
Then, I saw activity on the other side of the building and quickly looked closer. A man was dragging someone. I concentrated and got even angrier when I understood it was Lucy Aiden’s sister. Her hands were bound, and she was blindfolded as well. I ground my teeth, my fists closing tightly as I realized who the man pulling her along was.
Alenjro.
Lucy’s mate. The one who was meant to stand for her and not against her.
My hands clenched tightly into fists, and I tried hard to grasp the situation before my eyes. Alenjro was working with Andrew. Thanks to my heightened wolf hearing, I could overhear pieces of their conversation-better than most in the pack. I caught Alenjro’s cold and indifferent voice as he spoke to Andrew.
“We’ll ship her out tonight. She’ll be far away before anyone can come looking for her,” Alenjro said.
“She’s too much of a liability,” Andrew responded as coolly as they were discussing the weather. “Take her out of the country,” he quietly murmured, ‘It doesn’t matter where you go. Just make sure she doesn’t return.’
I shut my fists until my hands strained. There was no doubt that I was stronger than him. Were they going to send Aiden’s sister to an unknown country? Why did Alenjro, her enraptured mate, betray her in like manner? Thinking furiously, I was about to make the first step when Andrew’s phone rang again. I glanced at it momentarily and tried to listen to the conversation.
It was a woman’s voice, and in the conversation, I picked up it was Skylar.
The woman who had been bullying Zoey for as long as I can remember. My stomach turned as I listened to her.
Her voice was filled with malice as she told Andrew that she had Shenaya and the pups.
For a moment, I was frozen. Shenaya and the kids were in danger, Lucy was about to be shipped away, and Aiden was tied up, powerless to stop any of it. Every instinct screamed at me to do something, but I couldn’t be in three places at once. My mind raced, and I knew I had to prioritize.
I had to find out where Andrew and Aiden would meet Skylar. I trailed behind them quietly, making sure I wasn’t spotted. He decided to drive in the night to an old house that was my family’s property and was in the interior. I hadn’t come here in several years, and even the slight sight of this place brought memories of it crashing down on me. This place was once alive, now this empty building that was ideal for whatever evil deed Andrew had in mind.
I dropped my phone’s location pin to my Beta, instructing him to come armed and ready for a fight. I couldn’t do this alone, no matter how much I wanted to tear Andrew apart with my bare hands. But I had something they didn’t know-I had a quiet rifle hidden in my pocket, ready for the moment I needed it most.
I crouched behind some rubble, listening to the conversation unfold inside the mansion. Andrew was talking to Aiden, and I could hear every word.
“I didn’t expect you to be so stubborn,” Andrew said, pacing around Aiden. “You always thought you were so righteous, didn’t you? But it’s time for you to learn what betrayal feels like.”
Aiden struggled in his bindings, but he didn’t say a word.
My blood boiled as I listened to Skylar’s story about Andrew revealing his plan. He’d been manipulating Shenaya the entire time, so he knew Shenaya from the start. He was Zoey’s father, and most importantly, he killed the mother of his pup just because he wanted the pup to be raised by Shenaya. He is a sick bastard, and I will indeed rip his throat apart when I get the chance. He is nothing but an obsessive bastard.
They began discussing some unknown things, but before I could understand what they were up to, it all happened at once.
The sound of the gunshot was immediately followed by Skylar slumping over her body, blood quickly forming a puddle around her head.
I turned, and my mouth opened wide as I saw Lucas standing there with the rifle hanging at his side. He had precision shot Skylar in the head, not even thinking twice about it.
Hey, it would be best if you had not dumped her like that,” I said icily.
None of us was able to respond before running, feet coming closer abruptly in the house. Immediately, men emerged from the darkness carrying their weapons to engage in battle. Everything turned into chaos.
I yelled and went into the house, my heart thumping in my chest, but by the time I could get closer, both Shenaya and Zoey had disappeared. Andrew had taken them, and they were gone before I could get my hands on them again.
Leo was left behind with Aiden, who was still bound, and poor Skylar, lying still on the cold floor. Those men who had charged in were fleeing, pulling back as fast as they had charged.
“What the hell has just happened?” Perplexed, I wondered to myself, albeit very audibly.
I ran to Aiden and sliced the ropes, which bound him to the ground as fast as lightning. He appeared to be emaciated, yet he was relieved to see me.
“They are no more,” he mumbled, and I could barely hear him.
“I know,” I surprised myself by answering and felt a weight in my chest. “But we’ll get them back. We have to.”
I stood him up, and as much as I wanted to feel like I had helped in some way, I felt like a complete failure. I had been so close, yet when it came down to it, I failed. Andrew had outsmarted us, and now Shenaya and Zoey were in his hands.
But this wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.
I grabbed my phone and called my Beta again. “We need a search party. Now. And find out where Alenjro is. He’s in on this, too.” My Beta was shocked to hear all this from me, but he didn’t have any objections. He was wise enough not to cross me, especially when I was on that side of the fence.
When I just put the phone down on the wall, I cast one quick, wary glance at the mansion. The house we used to own until one day, my uncle betrayed everyone in the family and killed himself in this room, which was why it was abandoned.
I will surely get Andrew and Alenjro because no one betrays my family and gets away with it.