The Beast

Chapter 10 - Territory Breach

"Juniper! Wake up!" Marcus' panicked voice startled me awake. I sat up quickly, tangling myself in my comforter and sending me over the edge of the bed onto the floor. I groaned from the sudden impact and pushed myself up with tired arms. What time was it?

He knocked again, his pounding harsh and frantic. "What?" I hissed, throwing my blanket off me and getting to my feet. My head was still fuzzy from the deep sleep I was in, and I was slightly confused where I was.

Marcus forced the door open, his hair still a wild mess atop his head. His pajamas were wrinkled, and his eyes were wide as he looked from my empty bed to the pile of sheets and blankets on the floor.

"Why did you have to wake me up?" I groaned, rubbing my hands over my face to try and wipe some of the sleep away.

He seemed to snap out of his confusion. "There was a breach of our southern border."

His words woke me up as if he poured a bucket of cold water over my head. I looked around my room, suddenly aware that a certain male was missing. He must have slipped out this morning. Could it be him that they were now tracking?

"Let's go." I grabbed my black jacket from the doorknob of my closet and slid my arms into the sleeves, shoving past Marcus to descend the stairs and meet up with the warriors our father would be piecing together at the moment.

Just as I suspected, Mark was ordering around his men by the training grounds. Jackson was among the group he had chosen to hunt down the intruder. He stood with his arms crossed next to his Alpha, listening intently with a serious expression across his usually calm features.

Marcus was jogging to keep up with me, ignoring the curious eyes of our pack members as they watched their future Alpha grow breathless from the short distance to our father.

When Mark spotted me, his eyes darkened. He stepped away from his men and growled at the both of us. "Marcus, I told you not to bring your sister."

I rolled my eyes. He didn't need to speak about me as if I weren't standing right in front of him. Marcus avoided his gaze and looked anywhere else to avoid the wrath he was giving us.

"Enough." I glared, stepping between them to block Mark's rage.

Jackson cleared his throat, and the three of us whipped around to look at him. He held his hands up in surrender and took a step back. "Sorry, Alpha, but we're losing time."

Our father huffed and left us alone, I'm sure planning to deal with this later. Jackson smirked at the sight of both of us, our messy hair and heavy eyes obvious that we had just woken up.

"Late night?" He teased. I huffed and punched his shoulder, moving closer to hear Mark's plan of finding whoever it was that was crazy enough to break into our territory. I really hope it's not Arias that triggered our guard. He's smarter than that, right?

Marcus pulled Jackson into a headlock after his continuous sarcastic beratement, and I couldn't help but watch as they wrestled each other to the ground.

I cursed when the warriors broke apart, each moving in small groups into the woods. I had missed his game plan, so I guess I was on my own with this one. I quickly stripped off my clothes and shifted into my red wolf, shaking out her fur and stretching our limbs to get used to the form.

The boys followed close behind me, Jackson's cream wolf wandering a few feet away to try to pick up any scent that seemed out of the ordinary.

I found myself watching for a certain woodsy smell that was imbedded in my nose. So far, I hadn't found anything that would set them on the path to Arias, and my heart fluttered in relief. I don't know what I was going to do if he got caught by my father and taken to the cellars. As far as I know, they would try to kill him to send a message to Barlowe.