The Mating Game [COMPLETE]

17

COLTONS POV

"Why did you come here?" I breathed to Eric who stood stone still beside me, his nostrils flaring and his jaw as tight as mine.

"I felt Mik panic. She didn't have time to tell me what had happened because she was cut off. They either drugged her to prevent her linking or they knocked her unconscious. I would feel it if they harmed or killed her." He whispered the last part through clenched teeth, his hands in tight knots at his sides.

My wolf was in a blind rage, and I had to use every ounce of control I could muster to hold myself together and keep myself from shifting. If I let him shift and take over now, he may not give control over until India was safe in his sights again. 

"I want a perimeter sweep now, every capable tracker and fighter needs to be in my yard in the next five minutes ready to go. I want their scents tracked and I want my mate back here before my wolf takes control and forces my shift." I growled out as I relayed the message to the pack and to Eric who scampered from my side in seconds, anger rolling off of him in waves that matched my own ferocity. I knew he and Mikayla had completed their mating bond, their emotions linked, and I knew the absence of those emotions was playing with Eric's mind as much as India's absence was playing with mine. With both of our leading ladies taken, I was slightly on edge as to what could happen to the pack if they weren't found safe and sound, and soon. 

Fur began sprouting from the nape of my neck as my skin began to flush from the effort it took to hold my wolf back. A sneaking suspicion began to form and pool in my gut as I headed back to the cell blocks. There had to be a connection. Jessica showed up and distracted me, pulling me from my mate so whoever took her would be able to waltz right in and snatch her. The only troubling problem with that scenario was that whoever took them, had to have slipped past the perimeter watch, or have someone in the pack working for them. 

I pulled the door to the cell block open forcefully, my rage blinding me as I thought about the possibility of a traitor in my pack. I took the steps two at a time as I descended, finding the she wolf in the first cell, huddling against the wall as tears poured relentlessly down her face. 

She looked up, her eyes, so full of hate the first time I'd met them, were now filled with agony. Her red hair, once as fiery as her soul, now looked dull and tired in comparison. 

"I'm so sorry Alpha Lithe, they made me, they have him, they have my m-mate. They said they'd kill him. They said they'd kill him if I didn't!" She sobbed over and over. 

"Who." I growled painfully as my canine's began to elongate, pushing through my gums as my vision became tinged in blood red. 

"Vampires." She sobbed, covering her face by burying them into her hands. 

"How did they get into pack lands without alerting the guards." I shot as the crimson began to take over. 

"Mercury. They've been able to synthesize it, put it into tranq darts. Your guards are most likely dead. If you try and rescue them, they'll kill you, and if that doesn't work, they'll kill them. You're supposed to get a letter in a few days time, letting you know what they want in exchange for your mate back." 

My wolf took over then, my body contorting as claws erupted from my nail beds and fur emerged from every pore across my body. My canines ripped through the delicate gums as my skull cracked and my muzzle pushed through. I darted from the cell blocks, my claws digging deep into the soil as I pushed myself, faster and faster, blazing through the forest. Trees and leaves and shrubs blurred past me, snagging themselves into my coat as I plowed through them. I didn't care. There was only one place I needed to go right now. 

I reached the perimeter then, dropping my muzzle to the ground and inhaling as the scents of my pack members drifted in. Zeke was to my left, Sage to my right. I knew they were both dead. I could smell the trace of mercury drifting through their already shut down systems. 

A long, slow, painful howl ripped from my throat, burning as it made it's way out. 

Moments later it was echoed through the forest and all across pack grounds. Two of our members had fallen. Two wolves who's death's would not be for nothing. 

I turned quickly and blazed through the forest once more, determined to get India back as soon as possible. 

I reached the small clearing in record time and let out a low howl as I sat back on my haunches and awaited his arrival. 

Ty emerged in minutes, shifting and pulling on shorts as I did the same. 

"Colton, what are you doing here? It's nearly midnight." He asked as we approached the border. 

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your evening Alpha, but I wouldn't come if I didn't feel it necessary." 

"What's wrong?" He asked in a more serious tone, the alpha in him surfacing quickly. 

"India and Mikayla have been taken. India is ill, she was poisoned with mercury, she was recovering, and fighting. Jessica came onto my pack lands today, and I left her side to deal with the issue. Turns out it was all a ploy, a plan to distract me. Vampires poisoned her, and vampires have taken her." 

Rage was the dominant emotion on Ty's face as he began, "How did they get onto the grounds in the first place? You have enough wolves that perimeter's should be covered." 

"They've adapted mercury, made a serum that can be shot through a tranq dart. They killed two of our fighters and made a bee-line for her. I can't go after her. The moment I, or any other wolf, set foot near their coven we'd be history." 

"What do you need?" Ty asked instantly, and I knew when it came to India, he would do anything to protect her. 

"Your pack has some of the best doctors in the country. If they can come up with something that can counteract the mercury's effects on wolves, we have a shot at this. The vamps are sending a ransom letter in a few days, but I have a feeling I already know what it states." 

"I'll get them on it tonight." Ty said simply as he held his hand out towards me. 

I took it and shook, signaling our alliance. 

"Shall we counter link?" He asked then and I nodded hesitantly. I didn't like counter linking, but at this moment, it needed to be done. I needed to know how the progress was going, and he needed to know any updates the moment I got them. This way, we would link as one pack. 

"I, Alpha Colton Lithe, grant you, Alpha Ty Shelton, counter link of the Lithe pack until further notice." I stated, running a claw across my palm and holding it out to him. 

"I, Alpha Ty Shelton, grant you, Alpha Colton Lithe, counter link of the Shelton pack until further notice." He stated, mimicking my actions and extending his hand to mine. 

The moment our blood mixed, the links flew into my mind, every member of his pack became available to me, and every member of mine to him. 

"I'll get the scientists up now. We'll get her back Colton." Ty assured me before shifting and heading back towards his pack grounds. 

"I hope so." I breathed lightly to the air in front of me as I began to shift and head back home.