NovelAppDropping the ball.
(Patrick)
“You don’t have to do this.” Eliza tells me from her spot on the armchair in the corner of the bedroom. I glance over at her and
shake my head, I return to packing my bag with everything I might need. “You don’t even know this information is good, what
happens if you get into trouble out there?”
“Kitten.” I sigh, dropping some jeans into my bag. “Fraction is drinking himself into an early grave and wont let me within a mile of
the Pack house. Anna is beside herself and won’t get out of bed. I need to find Aurora, if it wasn’t for me Zoe would never have
gotten as far as she did.”
“It wasn’t just you.” I know Eliza shares my guilt but I won’t have her coming with me.
“The information Mac gave me is solid, if it turns out the van went to this town then maybe that’s where these people are settled.
There is at strong chance Aurora and James are there.” Mac called last night, thanks to Jefferson they were able to track the
license plate number to a small town about fifty miles from us.
“And if they catch you? What will I do then?” I zip my bag up and walk over to Eliza, crouching down I put my hand over her still
flat stomach.
“Then you raise Lizzie and this pup to be as strong as me and you, they will be surrounded by family here.” It’s a miracle we
never thought would happen but I can’t say I’m unhappy about it, “it’s our fault Eliza, if we weren’t with Doctor Lee getting the
scan then we would have
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been on that stretch of land. She would never have gotten away, I’ll forever carry the burden of Momma Beth’s death.”
“I’ll carry it too.” Eliza cups my face and I lean into her touch.
“No. You let me carry this one,” my poor mate has had enough heartache and pain for multiple life times. I won’t let her burden
this. pain too.
“Promise me you will come home.” I smile at her before standing and placing a k*ss on top of her head.
“I’ll do everything I can to get back to you.” It’s the best I can do and she knows it, I won’t make a promise to her that I’ll end up
breaking if things don’t go my way.
“Go to the Pack house. Fraction won’t turn you away if I’m not there. I don’t want you doing Patrols, if you have to, you tell
Fraction and Anna about the pup. Your job is to protect our family, you understand?” Eliza nods at me as she wipes at her face.
“I will always love you, kitten.” I leave the bedroom quickly knowing that if I stay any longer then I won’t leave.
Once I’m outside of our little cabin I jump into the SUV and drop my bag on the passenger seat. As I plug in the GPS coordinates
that Mact gave me I try to contact Fraction one last time. Leaning back in the car sc at I close my eyes and try to find his link, it’s
there but it’s fuzzy which tells me he’s hammered.
‘Alpha?’ He doesn’t answer me but I can feel him listening, I’m leaving. I have a possible lead on where the van went with James
and I’ m hoping that’s where they took Aurora. I’m leaving Lizzie and Eliza
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here, please protect her.’ I feel him close the link once I’m done, the fact that he doesn’t answer me is a true testament to how
much I’ve messed up here. Putting the car in drive I look out of the window and see Eliza looking down at me from the bedroom.
I leave as quickly as the car will let me.
Although I’ve been away from the Pack before leaving without knowing if I’m going to make it back is not something I have ever
done. The thought of James and Aurora is enough to fuel me forward, I drive until the sun starts to set. It isn’t until I am on top of
the GPS dot. that I realise something might be wrong. The town that’s meant to be here isn’t here, instead there is a massive
eight foot wire fence filled with ‘No Trespas sing’ signs. Double checking the GPS I pull my phone from my jeans and call Mac.
“What?” Mac sounds annoyed, I guess I interrupted something.
“This GPS, it’s brought me to a da mn fenced area. I thought you said it was a town?” I can hear people in the background
before the clicking of a door tells me Mac has stepped somewhere more private. .
“It’s meant to be a town called, one sec let me look.” There is some rustling and then I can hear the creak of a chair. “Alright it’s
meant to be a town called Moonrise, with a population of around 3000 people. Jefferson’s police contacts were pretty solid on
this.
“Great, another dead end.” I say slamming my head back on the chair.
“Maybe not, might be worth a look around while you’re there, want some back up?” I almost laugh at him, what exactly does he
think going to get me out here in the middle of nowhere.
“No, there’s nothing here. I’ll poke around a little before heading back. How’s everything on your end?” So far it seems only
Swiftmane has been affected by the abductions but I’ve been keeping tabs on the other
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Packs just in case.
“Call me if anything changes.” Hanging up the phone I quickly put it on silent before jamming it back in my jeans. If I’m going
exploring the last thing I want is my ringtone letting people know where I am.
Stepping from the car I pull on a coat and my backpack, it’s not that I need them but if someone sees me it easier to pull off the
whole hiker thing if I look the part. I lock the car up and then set off around the edge of the fence, none of it seems all that
special, it’s just a fenced area surrounded by dense trees. It isn’t until I’m about halfway round that I hear what sounds like
music. I push through some hedges so I can see through the holes in the fence. I see what looks like a bunch of houses, they
seem pretty basic and nothing like I would expect to see in a town. There is also no way there are only 3000 people in there, with
the amount of homes I’m seeing there has to be at least double that. The singing gets louder as the doors to one of the bigger
buildings opens and the grassy area is flooded with light. From what I can see there seems to be a man up front carrying what
looks like a young woman. I can see her blonde hair moving in the wind as the man moves her up to a wooden stage I hadn’t
noticed in the dark. The rest of the people are still singing while they gather around the stage, it’s then that I noticed the young
woman seems to have what looks like a very large bump around her stomach.
“Gather to witness the birth of a new member of our fight, we will mould them to do our bidding. With the blood of an Omega and
a Beta this child shall rise among the rest.” The man shouts out as the crowd hushes, it’s then that I notice the young blonde is
gripping her stomach. I watch in horror as the woman goes through a long and painful labor, the baby is picked up by its feet and
shown to the crowd still covered in blood and attached to its mother. “A female, most likely an Omega
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like its mother.” I turn away as the man raises a knife, I can’t watch this man kill a newborn. I just can’t do it. “The female shall
rest for seven days before being put back to work and this time she will provide a male for The Shalamaynes.” I barely hear the
man over the scream of the woman, her pain is understandable if she’s just watched her newborn be killed. I don’t wait to see
what happens next, I quickly push off the fence and run back to the car. There is no doubt in my mind that these are the bas ta
rds that have James and Aurora, I just don’t know why they are quoting the name of one of our ghost stories.
I’m slamming the SUV into drive as soon as I close the door behind me, putting my phone on speaker I dial Mac.
“What? I’m busy.” I can hear a female moaning in the background.
“Put your co ck away, Swiftmane needs help.” I snap at him as I drop the phone into my lap.
“You found them?” I can hear a female mumble before a door clicks.
“I found something, I don’t know what it means yet but I do know Swiftmane doesn’t have the numbers to fight them alone.” I tell
Mac ast I pull onto the highway, I keep checking my mirrors convinced someone will follow me but so far I seem to be alone in
the dark.
“I’ll talk to Darryl, we were coming this week to pay our respects anyway.” Mac disconnects the call and I put my foot down, I
need to get home and plead with my Alpha.
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