Page 51 of Knot Quite Ready

Shortly after Aneira went to the bathroom, the Council stood up to congratulate us on officially becoming the Cabria Falls Wolf Shifter pack. Everyone cheered, and my head swiveled as I looked for Aneira, wondering why it was taking her so long to use the restroom. The Council went on to formally accept her as my mate, making her the first Luna of our newly established pack. They even went as far as formally accepting Storm’s position as Swiftwater Alpha-Mare. Still, when she didn’t show, I started to panic. When I felt our bond grow cold, I went into full-blown wolf mode and shifted. Frantic.

I ran for hours, trying to scent her. Pierce had called his leopards and his best trackers. Rory had shifted to take an aerial view. But her scent was gone. It wasn’t until I was almost falling over from exhaustion and grief that Hairalt was able to force me to shift back; my wolf finally compliant enough to retreat.

Storm? Calm as fuck. A quiet fury raging through her.

* * *

6 hours missing

“You look like shit,”Storm says as I enter the dining room. I sent the rest of the pack off to bed, but the Council and their entourage stayed behind to devise a plan of action. Having someone taken, an Alpha’s mate at that, right under their noses is nothing short of a grievous insult. They insisted on staying behind to make sure justice was swift and permanent. Although now, admittedly, they all look uncomfortably out of place as Storm hovers over a map, several notes, and her open laptop.

I growl at her and tug at my hair. I probably did look like shit. It took hours for Monti to be tired enough for Harailt’s alpha voice to call me back. If he wasn’t so concerned, he might have been impressed. But, even after all of that, I’m still on edge.

“Well, while you were out with Harailt, playing a game of howl and go seek. I’ve been swimming in the black market. Aneira has always been afraid of her grandfather finding her, so I put myself in his shoes. I said, ‘Storm, if I was a psychotic stalker grandfather with no boundaries or respect for women and probably a micro-penis, and my grandaughter ran away just like her mother did, what would I do?’.”

Harailt’s ears perked up as he walks to stand behind Storm and look over her notes. I throw myself in the seat next to her, “Okay, so what would you do?”

There is only one way to get information from Storm, play her games.

She smiles, “Well, obviously, I would set up a bounty. Then, I would increase the pot every year she wasn’t found. So I cross-referenced eight years of bounty increases and the area where Aneira is from. That was the easy part. So far, the bounty is at twenty- million. That’s a lot of K-9 advantage.”

I nod, urging her to continue. I look over at Calian, who is standing behind Storm with a dark look on his face. Clearly, he wasn’t aware of all the shit Storm is capable of. Though, to be fair, I don’t think that Storm knows everything she is capable of yet.

“The hard part was tracking down everyone who put in for the bounty and then silently killing off their IPs. Those losers weren’t worthy of being bounty hunters. I mean, really. Fucking useless,” she sighs.

I rub my temples.

“Storm,” Ralph says gently, “Focus.” My eyes flick to his, and he smirks. Play the game. Got it.

“Oh, yeah. I found Aneira about ten minutes after you ran away to buy the milk—the bracelet on her wrist, tracking charm. She’s been in the same location for the past two hours and arrived around midnight,” she adds brightly.

I blink and shoot up from my seat, “why didn’t you lead with that? Let’s go!”

“Sit down. We can’t do that…yet,” she smiles ferally. “When I cross-referenced the Council Database, the location is your old pack lands. The bracelet should allow me to talk to her, but that is blocked by the moon-block charm that is on her person somehow. I suspect handcuffs and if she hasn’t broken them off and killed everyone yet, it’s probably because they are silver cuffs.”

“She’s pregnant, Storm. Those silver cuffs can cause more harm the longer they are on,” I growl. Calian shoots me a warning glare. Fuck him. He has his super-secret ninja mate; mine was kidnapped by my psychotic father, who has a history of abusing Omegas.

“Normally. But the charm is also for protection. The silver will weaken. So while yes, we will all bust in there like the Transformers trying to get the All-Spark, we need to hang back. If we play this right, we can kill two motherfuckers by the end of tonight,” she says.

I look at Calian and Ralph, who shrug.

“She was waiting for you and Harailt to come back before telling us the rest of the shit she found out,” Ralph adds.

“Yes, well, now that everyone is here. I hacked Casemiro’s phone records, text message history, and emails. He has been hunting Aneira for several years but ramped up the search in the past year or so. Makes sense, considering she is of breeding age….”

I can’t stop the rumble in my chest, “why. Would. That. Make. Sense. Storm?”

“Aneira was promised to your father to be his mate. He let her grandfather know that he had found her, and they will be going to his house for dinner. Where apparently they will have Aneira’s bond severed tonight and they will force her to mate him, instead.”

I explode out of my hastily tugged-on clothes, and watch as they flutter to the ground, like morbid confetti. I start to pace, frantic.My mate bond will not be severed. We need to leave now.Monti growls

“Well damn, you certainly put Jacob Black to shame. You’re so pretty. Oh, I can’t wait for the baby. I’m going to cuddle that puppy all day long,” Storm sighs wistfully.

I growl and swipe the papers from the table. Storm looks at me, unimpressed.

“Dude, Aneira may need rescuing, but she doesn’t need saving,” Storm rolls her eyes.

“Alpha! Control yourself,” Harailt’s voice bellow, and I growl at him, ready to rip his head off if he gets in my way.

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