Be Mine?

Chapter 3

Everett's POV

A few hours passed and now almost every pack is here, but no scents or people attract me. I sigh, she's not here, again.

A while later, I stumble across my dad who pulls me away from the noise of the party. "Son.. I'm getting too old for this pack.. if you don't find your mate tonight.. I don't know how much longer I can hold it together." I nod solemnly. "And I will have no choice but to.. give it over to your brother.. and we all know how that would turn out." He gestures towards my younger brother who has barely clothed girls draped over his arms, even when he's mated.

Anger rises, he doesn't deserve a mate, and he doesn't deserve a pack. I need to find her. And that's when we're interrupted. "ROGUES!"

All the alphas push through the crowds and huddle together for a while, before calling up their eldest children. "This is your chance to prove yourselves." My father nods towards me. "Take control, you know this land best." I nod, my face turning hard as I get into work mode. I gesture for our pack warriors to surround all the packs, along with other warriors, and prevent anyone from coming in or going out.

Then I order the other Pre-Alphas to shift before following suit. I sniff the air and push through the crowd running in the direction the rogue scents are coming from.

I growl and push myself faster, approaching the edge of our boundaries. Mason, the next alpha of the blood moon pack steps up and guides us into his land.

A branch snaps and we all freeze, forming a circle where we're all facing outward. We glance around with caution. I sniff the air and growl as a large matted wolf steps from the trees in front of us. I know right away its a distraction and I step forward from the circle.

I gesture for a few wolves to deal with him, before having the rest follow as I weave through the trees following the other scents. A few rogues jump at us from the sides. Yelps ring out from behind me and I slide to a hault. I turn, the fur on my back and shoulders standing on end and growl at the rogue pups.

They whimper and I step forward causing them to scatter off. The alphas behind me get up and shake themselves off,at least the ones that got jumped by a bunch of pups did.

I roll my wolf eyes at them and continue following the trail. We eventually come across a small broken down cabin. I shift back, pulling on my clothes that I had tied to my paw. The others are a while behind so I carry on without them.

I check the outside of the cabin first. After catching no scents, I push open the creaky door. Blood fills my nose instantly and I scrunch up my face. I push the door all the way open and take a few steps inside the dark room.

I hear dripping water somewhere in the corner and the cabin is extremely cold, even for me. The living area and kitchen are empty and moldy. I continue down into the hallway. I push open the first door and then the second. Then the third; all empty.

The fourth door, however, leads to a basement. I test my weight on the top of the rotting wood staircase and start my way slowly down. The smell of death fills my nose and I have to pull my shirt up to block out the smell, although it doesn't work very well.

The basement is dark and musty. I suddenly wish I had brought shoes as my feet wade through unknown substances. I gag but continue walking through this hell.

A chain clangs at the end of the long room and I run towards the sound. A girl sits in the far corner, curled into herself and sobbing quietly. Through the smell of human feces and blood, I smell her. He heavenly smell of roses and pomegranates that should not be in here. I growl loudly.

She jumps and hugs her knees tighter to herself. I drop down onto my knees in front of her. Glancing down, I see the chain wrapped around one of her frail legs.

Gently, I pull her leg towards me and she yelps in fear. Not wanting to hurt her I grab the chain next to her and drops her foot. The silver burns my hands and I bite my lip from the pain. I squeeze my fists tightly and the chain breaks in my grip, probably leaving permanent scars, but at this point it doesn't matter to me.

I pull her up and into my arms. She whimpers and tries to fight back but it doesn't faze me. I carry her out of the cabin and into the dark moonlight. Outside, the other alphas are sniffing around in the dirt, still in their wolf forms, and obviously confused. When they see me emerge from the cabin they look shocked and confused.

A few shift back and I tell them what happened, while they explain that my scent vanished around this cabin and they couldn't smell me inside. They didn't even bother checking the basement.

We all return to where we left the others who filled us in on what happened with them. They captured four of the rogues, trying to keep the deaths to a minimum, but either way 3 had died. The rest had gotten away.