Running from Fate

Chapter 23 - Mess

Matias POV

I had to hold it together. I had to for my pack, for Jamie. That doesn't mean that I wasn't a mess inside though, and very visibly a mess on the outside. That doesn't mean that every time Sam forced me to take a break, that I didn't go to my room and sit there in silence, tears dripping down my face as I tried not to scream. I had just gotten him back, and now he was ripped from me right as we had finally made progress.

We had found that the only reason the rogues had gotten past my guards was because of some drug that had been injected via darts, that had almost immediately knocked my men out. It thankfully hadn't killed them, but they were still out of the loop. We'd had our pack dockers take them in and examine the drug in their system, even getting blood samples on it. Needless to say, they were having a field day. We also couldn't find any scent trace either, absolutely nothing.

My whole pack was anxious. After the news that my mate had been taken, I hadn't hesitated to attack the rogues that had successfully distracted us. Only a few made it away alive, including that man. He had been my target, but his wolves seemed to defend him and I couldn't reach him without being attacked by a different wolf. It only made me even madder, and Sam had to pull me off of an already dead wolf as I tried to rip its head off again and again. I'd finally given in to her, letting her pull me away from the dead wolves. She dragged me back to the packhouse in wolf form, snapping at my tail anytime I tried to look back. I'd walked into the packhouse met with frantic questions and worried cries, Andy meeting me at the door as I shifted and informing me that my parents were on the way home. I nodded solemnly before sulking off to my office, closing and locking the door behind me before sinking into my chair. And that is where I spent most of my time. Either in my office contacting other packs or my room as I tried not to cry. The other packs all said the same things too, that they would keep an eye out and help when needed.

I didn't even know where to begin in this hunt for the rogues. We had no background information on them, the only thing to go off of was appearances. No names, nothing. It was like they had just appeared from out of the ground. We'd never had problems with this group of rogues before either, they didn't even exist until my mate had shown up. So it had to have been that they were always after my mate. And that only made me see red even more.

My parents were back, my dad helping manage the pack again as I searched for my mate, my mom trying her best to comfort me and my pack. She kept whispering to me that we'd find him, sitting with me in my room as she lovingly stroked my hair and rubbed my back. It was soothing, but it still didn't help me sleep at night knowing I didn't have any clue as to where Daemon was. If we had been mated and marked this wouldn't have been that much of a problem. I might have been able to link him or feel his emotions, but because we weren't and he still hadn't been inducted into the pack, I couldn't. I was just lost.

"Matias." I looked up and over from my position on the couch in my room to see Sam leaning in the doorway. She looked at me with this sadness in her eyes, it wasn't pitying though. I didn't want to be pitied, I just wanted Daemon back. I dropped my gaze back down to my hands, willing my eyes to stop producing tears.

"I know this is terrible, but this also isn't healthy." She sighed, walking over to me. She sat next to me on the couch, her weight dipping it ever so slightly. She shifted one of the controllers out of her way, before resting a hand on my shoulder. I let out a shaky breathe at the contact. My eyes starting to water up despite my attempt to not have them do that. She also sighed, squeezing my shoulder.

"It sucks, it really does, but he wouldn't want you to be moping around like this. He'd probably laugh at you too." She snorted, and I couldn't help the small smile that tilted my lips. I could just picture him slapping me lightly on the back of the head, sarcastically talking about how the "big bad alpha was being a baby." Just thinking that though, the fact that he wasn't here to make fun of me, only made me feel worse. The fact that my defenses had been so weak, as to put so many others in danger because of me. The doctors had claimed it wasn't my fault, that the drug had completely knocked the guards out and there was no way they could have seen it coming. Yet I couldn't get it out of my head that I had failed as an Alpha. I had failed as a mate.

My thoughts spiraled, dragging me down as tears formed in my eyes again. I felt Sam pull me into a side hug, her hand squeezing my shoulder as she pressed her nose into my hair. She snorted when she inhaled though, snickering a little bit.

"You should at least shower," she remarked, releasing me as I forced myself to chuckle a little. I ran my hand across my face to rid it of tears, sniffing as I glanced over to look at her. Sam was already looking at me and offered another sympathetic smile when I met her eyes.

"We'll get him back. If anything, he'll free himself in no time. He's strong, maybe not physically, but he's smart and he knows what to do." She whispered, patting my leg before she stood and walked out of the room. I watched her go, sighing when she shut the door behind her.

Daemon was smart. He would trick his captors and get out, and we would meet him halfway, ready to take him home. Ready for him to be back in my arms. I sighed as I dropped my head back in my hands, trying to convince myself that everything would be ok.

Right now though, I had to go back to being an Alpha. I had to up border patrols and security until we were in the clear, I had to protect my pack. I couldn't let my dad keep things going for me. This was my responsibility. As much as I wanted to sit around and mope for my mate, I knew I couldn't right now. I had to keep this from happening again. I had to meet with other packs to make sure this didn't happen to them.

But right now, in this exact moment? I had to go shower.

A/N. So, so, so sorry for the short chapter, but I just wanted y'all to have an insight on what Matias is going through too. The next chapter will be in Daemon's POV, but it's possible it might switch to Matias at some point too. I was going to do that for this chapter, but I wanted Daemon to have his own because his will probably be longer.

Lastly, thank you so much for reading! and thank you for almost 10k reads! It's honestly amazing and I am so thankful for all of you that are still reading.

<3