by Jade Royal
“Alright undress,” he ordered. Rita looked around the forest slightly and recognized nothing. She didn’t want to make it obvious she was looking around, so she undressed quickly while still scanning. But still she’d never been in this part of the woods before.
When she was undressed, he approached with a key to the cuffs. Her heart began to beat faster at the anticipation that she could finally give her wolf a chance to break free. And the moment the cuffs were off her wrists the pressure of the suppression of her powers lifted and that alone made her weak. When the cuffs came off her ankles she fell to the ground as the rush of her power came over her too quickly for her weakened body to handle. Her breathing was strained as her wolf pushed forcefully through the invisible barrier. When it broke, she screamed as she gave into a painful shift. Her bones cracked and contorted before her wolf emerged from her body and stayed limply on the ground too weak to move. Even though her shift was painful she was in the most relief in her wolf form and feeling the power that she was born with as a shifter.
Maverick was looking at her closely, and Rita just knew he was waiting for her to do something. So she did absolutely nothing. She laid there and just enjoyed her time without the silver cuffs on. Seeing she wasn’t going to do anything useful to him, he turned his back towards her and scanned the area. It was still quiet and clear, so Maverick decided to keep moving forward.
“Come on,” he said turning to her. She got up slowly, and after stretching deeply, her wolf receded and allowed Rita to return to the surface. She redressed in her clothes. Thankfully Maverick didn’t put the cuffs back on her, but she paid attention to what he did with the keys.
They continued their hike through the woods. Rita kept a wall up in her mind to make sure she wasn’t accidentally projecting her thoughts to Maverick. She was too weak still to project to Bliss or Kellan. Even though she couldn’t project to her alpha’s, Maverick was close enough for her to accidentally project to him without her realizing it.
Alpha. Beta. Omega. Fuck Rita, I’m going nuts without you. I can’t walk around saying Alpha, Beta, Omega all fucking day. I just want you back. Hearing Jayce’s fierce voice in her mind made her stumble. She tripped over her feet, but Maverick kept her from falling by grabbing onto her elbow and keeping her up.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yes, still weak,” she replied with a smile. If Maverick had any clue, she could hear her mate that would be the end of any plan she had. But the fact that she could hear him made her realize he must have been close. Her wolf began yearning for their mate, but Rita comforted her to just give it some time. The moment Maverick let her go and kept walking, Rita sighed. She was trying to regulate her heartbeat. Any change would alert Maverick that something was up. And speaking with her mate could change her heartbeat for sure. But she wasn’t going to let this chance slip by.
Jayce?
********
Jayce sat straight up in bed like a springboard. Rita’s sophisticated voice filtered through his mind ever so slightly. Was he finally going crazy? Was he hearing things? He scooted down on his bed until his legs hung off the edge. After his punishment, he was in his room trying to mind speak to his mate because he had nothing else to do. The rest of the pack was planning on investigating Maverick’s businesses to search for clues to finding Rita. He, of course, was left out because he couldn’t control his damn self.
Jayce I know you hear me, Rita spoke again, firmer. I just heard you talking to me. Unless you went batshit crazy and walking around here rogue and can’t control your damn thoughts. In such a situation like this, Jayce couldn’t imagine himself even smiling, but the attitude of his mate always got to him. She was just so different.
Rita, baby? He asked. Where are you?
I don’t know. We’re walking through the woods. Jayce hopped off his bed and ran out of his room. He shot through the tunnels and skidded into the large kitchen where the rest of the pack were sitting around the table, eating.
“I can hear her,” Jayce shouted. “Rita, she’s speaking in my head.” Kellan stood immediately.
Rita? Kellan spoke. If she was close enough to speak to Jayce, then she was close enough to speak to anyone else.
Kellan!
Project to me Rita. Show me where you are, Kellan urged.
I can’t. Too weak.
“Fuck!” Kellan shouted. “Tristan let's go. Jaxson stay with the females.”
“I’m coming with you!” Jayce said. Kellan looked at Jayce hard. The man was out of control but if it were Bliss, Kellan wouldn’t want anyone else to save her but him.
“Fine. But you follow orders Jayce, and I mean it.” Jayce just nodded and turned around running towards the exit.
I’m coming for you baby, Jayce said to Rita.
We’re walking, I don’t know where we’re going.
Howl Rita, so I can find you, Kellan ordered.
I can’t! I can’t do anything but mind speak. Oh my god, we’re going into another pack territory. I can smell the different wolves. I’m scared he’s going to do something horrible.
Just hang in there baby, Jayce told her. Outside of their cave, Tristan, Jayce, and Kellan split up into three separate directions with their noses to the sky.
“I got her scent,” Tristan shouted from his direction. Both Kellan and Jayce headed in his direction. All three of them caught her scent, but it was far off.
“Let’s go,” Kellan ordered. He led the charge in the direction of where Rita’s scent was coming from.
Jayce! He’s putting the- Rita’s voice cut off in his head.
Rita? Rita!
“Kellan she can’t mind speak anymore. She’s gone!” Jayce shouted. Jayce ran faster, running past his pack mates to get to his mate before he lost her again.
Rita tried to protest against Maverick putting the cuffs back onto her wrists and ankles, but he wasn’t having it. He cuffed her, and all ties to her mate zapped out. All her superior senses shrunk into their human uses. If Jayce was going to find her, he would have to do it without her help.
“Keep quiet,” he ordered her as he dragged her through the brush and onto pack territory. All the wolves gathered around the pond stopped what they were doing and looked at Maverick immediately.
“Can we help you?” One of the wolves said, standing. He seemed to be the one in charge since he spoke first. Rita wondered why they hadn’t sensed an intruder coming long before Maverick entered their territory unless this wasn’t really their territory and they were just passing by.
“Who’s alpha?” Maverick asked. The wolf who’d spoken first started walking towards Maverick.
“Who you think?” he asked pulsing his alpha vibes at them. Rita felt the power of his wolf, but thankfully it didn’t affect her as much because her wolf was trapped by the silver. Without another word, Maverick unsheathed his claws and swung them at the wolf’s neck. Rita screamed in terror as blood gushed from the alpha’s wound. The alpha fell to the ground struggling to breathe. All at once, his pack mates were ready to attack. The submissive wolfs took off while the dominant ones were coming to fight. A she-wolf ran straight at Rita. She didn’t even have to think about a mode of attack before the she-wolf was on her. Rita flipped the wolf over and immediately put her into an armbar. Maverick was busy fighting off the other wolfs and decimating them to pay attention to Rita.
“You have to run as far away as you can and warn the rest of your pack,” Rita whispered to her. The she-wolf immediately still, listening to Rita.
“See the silver cuffs I have on? He’s keeping my wolf trapped, and I can’t escape. If you stick around you’re going to end up like me. I’m going to pretend to break your arm, and you need to run off.” The she-wolf nodded. Rita screamed and pretended to bend her arm past its capacity. The she-wolf screamed before she broke from Rita’s grip and scrambled away running. Maverick grabbed up Rita and began dragging her away.
“Time to go,” He growled. Instead of heading back the way th
ey came he took her to the pond an threw her in before following suit himself. He was trying to get rid of their scents. He dragged her out of the water and immediately slung her over his shoulder as he ran through the woods.
“What are you doing?!” Rita shouted at him.
“I smell wolves coming!” Aside from that, he said nothing as he ran through the forest with her on his shoulder. As she hung, tears ran down her face. The wolves he probably smelled was the wolves that would come to her rescue. Maverick didn’t stop running until he reached the terrain of the large house they were occupying. He dropped her to the ground.
“Why did you attack those wolves?” she asked.
“They go to that pond every day after a pack run. I figured it’s easier to take out a pack who aren’t on their territory. Without an alpha, those wolves will need someone to look after them. I told you before I want to be the reigning alpha. Every single alpha nearby will have to face me because I will take over.”
“Oh,” was all Rita could manage to say.
“And like I said. If I have you and Bliss at my side, they’d be no one who could challenge us. Kellan would probably die at losing his mate. I saw the way you handled that she-wolf. Even with the cuffs on you managed to have her running off.”
“Well, she was coming after me, and I’m pretty sure she was going to come after you too, so I had to do something.” Maverick looked her up and down.
“You surprise me, Rita. I had all intentions that you were going to escape, and I would have to kill you.”
“I don’t come from a good pack Maverick. I was an Omega before I went to Kameron’s pack. And then I found my mate who didn’t want the same things I wanted. I haven’t been happy in Kellan’s pack because Jayce and I were having problems. Maybe that mating shit isn’t for me. Obviously, when you first attacked the pack, I couldn’t help that my wolf kind of went rogue to protect Jayce in the first place. And then when I got here, all I could do was bad mouth you, cuss at you, and fight back because I was afraid. And I wanted to hide my fear, so I acted tough. Now I have these scars all over my damn body, and I feel so stupid for not just giving in. I don’t wanna fight anymore. Hell, I haven’t fit anywhere else in my life. Maybe this is somewhere I can fit. I’m tired of being powerless. Time to change that. I guess it helps that I saw you’re pretty good in bed too.”
“Last time I tried to get you Rita, you ran off to Kellan.”
“Because I was tryna save face for my mate. We’re not going to be together, so it doesn’t make sense doing that anymore.”
“You think you can prove that to me?” Maverick asked. Rita looked at him with a small smirk. She tried to appear seductive, but that was not one of her strong suits at all. Thankfully, he fell right into that trap.
“Come on,” he said nodding his head towards the mansion. Rita sighed and smiled at him before following him back to the mansion.
Chapter Nine
“I smell blood!” Tristan shouted as he ran behind Kellan and Jayce. Both wolves turned their noses up and smelled the air. Jayce cursed loudly and began running harder.
“I can’t smell her anymore,” he breathed in a panicked tone. And he was right to be panicked. None of them could smell her. There was just the stickiness of coagulating blood in the air around them. They burst through a large line of brush into a clearing around a pond. Wolves were gathered around a fallen wolf who was bleeding out from his neck. A female stayed kneeling next to the wolf while the males turned to Kellan ready to attack. But they were all submissive wolfs. Kellan let his canines fill his mouth before growling at them, and then roaring. They bowed immediately at his alpha vibes.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Another alpha came by and attacked us,” one of the wolves answered.
“Our alpha, he’s dying.” Kellan peered down at the alpha. He was indeed dying.
“Gather around him,” Kellan ordered.
“Everyone put their hands on him.” They did as Kellan asked.
“Feel his life force through the bond you have with him from the vows you made. Once you can feel his pulse, I want you to feed his pulse with healing energy.” Power crackled through the air as the wolves fed their alpha with pack energy to heal. The alpha’s eyes opened and glowed with the force of his wolf. He roared as healing energy was forced into his body allowing his wounds to start to stitch back together.
“Release him!” Kellan ordered. If they held on for too long the power would be too overbearing. Plus, they would deplete themselves of energy. The wolves let go and fell onto the ground breathing heavily. The alpha gave a final jerk before his eyes dimmed and closed. His wounds continued to stitch together showing that he had successfully fallen into a healing sleep.
“Did you recognize the man that attacked?” Kellan asked.
“No. he just came out of nowhere. Dell wasn’t ready for the attack, and that’s why he got bested,” the she-wolf spoke. Kellan figured Dell was the alpha.
“I don’t smell her,” Jayce said confirming that Rita’s scent was completely gone.
“Her?” the she-wolf asked. Jayce looked at her.
“There was a woman with the man that attacked us.” Jayce immediately got in her face.
“What’d she look like? Did she say anything to you? Was she hurt?!” Jayce’s control began to quiver. Kellan pulled him away from the she-wolf with a growl. Jayce’s wolf bowed down in respect for its alpha.
“What’s your name?” Kellan asked her.
“Mira,” she replied.
“We happened to be looking for a wolf, and her scent led us this way, but then we lost it.”
“Well, she was wearing silver cuffs,” Mira informed him.
“She had dark brown skin, long sister locks, and a septum piercing.” Jayce was growling behind Kellan as Mira described his mate to a tee. It was indeed Maverick who attacked the small pack.
“I attacked her,” Mira confessed.
“You did what?!” Jayce shrieked. Kellan pushed him back to keep him from getting in her face again. Mira had very small dominant vibes so she could easily be spooked by a fully dominant wolf. She was however tall and elegant with long wavy curls as if she was from native and African descent mixed. Her almond skin tone was flush with fear.
“I thought she was going to attack us too,” Mira explained.
“But then she put me in an armbar and told me to run. She said she was being held captive and if I didn’t get out of there, he was going to capture me too. So she pretended to break my arm to make it look like she’d won the fight and I ran away afraid! But if she hadn’t warned me so I could run off, he would have taken me with him too!” Jayce paused from pacing. His mate even captured had managed to help another wolf.
“The other wolves were trying hard to fight him off, but we’re not as dominant. Thankfully something spooked him, and he took the she-wolf swam across the pond and ran out on the other side.”
“Fuck!” Jayce screamed.
“We spooked him! He knew we were coming and took off with her! We can’t smell her anymore because they went in the water!” Jayce was shaking in his anger. His eyes began to glow, and his wolf’s mouth was dripping with saliva, foaming at the mouth ready to attack because he wanted someone to feel his pain at being close enough to getting his mate back and then having her slip right through his fingers.
“Jayce,” Kellan growled. “Pull your animal back,” he ordered. Jayce tried to fight his wolf from emerging. His breathing became labored and hoarse as his muscles began to pop and shift. His canines came out next.
“Get away from me,” Jayce gritted unable to pull his animal back. He doubled over as he fought the shift. Kellan stood in front of him.
“I’m not going anywhere. As both your alpha and your friend,” Kellan said. A breeze passed between them carrying Kellan’s uniquely mixed scent to Jayce’s senses. In that scent, he was reminded of Bliss. What she had taught him came to the forefront of his mind. He closed his eyes imm
ediately.
“Alpha. Beta. Omega,” he growled out visualizing what he loved most about his mate. Her scent, her attitude, her beauty. He surrounded himself with her aura while repeating the mantra. His wolf whined and howled in sadness but began to retreat. He eventually flopped down with tears leaking from his eyes at the memory of his mate. Jayce fell to his knees with those same tears streaking down his face.
“You did it. You controlled him,” Kellan said. Jayce sniffled.
“Bliss taught me how. Taught me to wrap myself in everything I love about my mate and say the damn mantra. It works to control him, but it doesn’t unbreak my heart to the fact that she’s still gone. That she’s still being held against her will.” He wiped the tears from his face.
“But I’ll find my girl. No matter what it costs me.”
“I’m so sorry,” Mira spoke up. She walked up to Jayce and put her hand on his shoulder. A strange feeling came over him. It wasn’t so strange the type of feeling it was it was strange in the fact that it wasn’t his feelings. But yet still a sense of relief, comfort, and warmth filled him. Jayce knocked her hand off him.
“The hell are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m an empath,” she replied.
“I can feel emotions and draw them into myself, so the person can get a sense of relief.” Jayce looked her up and down. He knew there were plenty mystical beings on this planet, but he’d never met any of them.
“So if you take my sorrow away you have to deal with it?” Jayce got his answer when he saw a tear roll down her face. She wiped it away quickly.
“It doesn’t last that long, but it takes its toll sometimes.”
“I’ve never heard of a shifter empath,” Kellan spoke up.
“Well, my mother was the empath. She was in a native American tribe when she met my father who was a shifter. Everyone thought I would have one of the gifts. I’ve been an empath since I was born. But when I was 18, I shifted under a full moon with the rest of the pack. So, here I am.”
