CLAIMED BY THE ALPHAS {18+}

🐺THE PROVOCATION🐺

DERIK POV

I had to stay focused, lead the pack, and be the Alpha.

All I wanted to do was link to Lorelai like Kai was and make sure we were going to make it in time. Not being able to link at the same time as him was driving me insane, made me feel out of control and that was the last thing I wanted to be. But I had my role, we all did. And we had to work together.

Kai had the strongest mental connection with her which she needed so she could hold it for longer, Brax could use his shadows to strengthen her and help keep our child alive. My role was the pack. I had to be the one with the level head, the one who knew where to send the others, the one who could keep everyone in line. They listened to me and I was glad they did but I couldn't help wondering if I was getting the short end of the deal. They got to feel her, be with her in some way and it was hard not to take that luxury for myself. But I would handle it because I had to. It wasn't safe for her and by doing what I needed to do for the pack, it meant we were going to be able to find her quicker. I had to hold onto that.

We raced towards the men's village in the Grassland Area, following the lead from Cain. Brax ran next to me as the pack moved in position and Kai met up with us on the way back from Tabitha's.

I hated that I had let go of my instincts. I had known something was going on with the men's village. The reports hadn't been truthful for months. I had assumed the human was simply an imbecile but I had been naïve. I wasn't usually but I had been living in some kind of blissful ignorance since Lorelai. I wanted to believe everything was fine so I didn't have to deal with it and that meant more time with her but I shouldn't have been so irresponsible. Now she was gone and it was my fault.

"It is not. We all knew the numbers were fucked. We all should have followed up. And I shouldn't have left her with the humans." Kai growled through our link. I shook him free of my head and ran faster, the burn in my bones and the wind in my fur destressing me bit by bit. But the tension that stirred in my stomach at finding Lorelai was still there. I had no idea what state she would be in and that was the worst of all. I was hoping because she was her father's daughter, that might give her some protection but I had lost my faith in humanity a long time ago and was terrified of what that could mean for her.

The men's village came into view and all three of us came up on it, faster than we ever had, a speed the humans had no idea we had and meant we might have a chance of getting there before they did something about us coming.

"Are you in position?" I asked Taylor and a resounding howl ruptured the silence of the day. They were ready. I came to a stop, shifting into a human with Kai and Derik, pulling on our pants that we were handed by others in our pack before they shifted and ran off to help the rest of the wolves surround the men's village.

I sauntered forward, my eyes darting everywhere as Kai and Brax flanked me. We were always equal but they always flanked me. I was the diplomat, the face of us and that carried so much weight that sometimes I wondered whether it was worth it. Then I remembered that Kai was a psycho and Brax resented the leadership role because of his shadows and history with being a shifter. Which left me and I would take that on for my brothers. Not by blood but by bond. It was even stronger.

I stepped forward, through the slodgy mud that made up the ground, sniffing, and investigating. It was eerily quiet which had my skin prickling. Kai growled low and I knew why. We couldn't smell her.

"What is she saying?" Derik asked and Kai huffed.

"She's weak, trying not to speak down the link too much but she's underground. We just have to find the entrance. She's not the only human down there but I can't get anything." Kai growled, his anger making the sky thunder. Grey clouds rolled in, deep and dark with thunderous claps and threatening lightning.