The Forgotten Daughter

-12- Find them

LANDONS P.O.V

We searched until the early hours of the morning, there wasn't a single sighting of them or any clue as to where they had disappeared to.

Alpha Nico was furious, barely able to control Cyrus. Not only was his daughter still unconscious but the very people trying to take her down were living right under his nose, a part of his army and guards. He blamed himself and truthfully I was glad he did!

He should never have allowed the newcomers to be merged into the pack so easily, he was blindsided by their stories of devastation and war and now we were paying the price.

The fact they'd managed to get within our guards and warriors meant they knew all of our techniques and security measures, they had details of our patrols and station points and possibly more.

"Alpha. We need to get back to the pack and round up the rest of them. At least two of them are working within the Alpha house and their are more plotted around town. If Gyles is claiming to also be a son of Alpha Carn, then we should only assume he has sent a number of his best men to infiltrate us" I cautiously approached Cyrus

It would make sense really, if he'd already sent two of his own children then he probably wouldn't just send them alone. The rest of their group would surely be warriors, trackers, literally anything to help them gain an advantage to attack.

"You're right boy. There's no sign of them, let's head back and take care of those that remain" Cyrus sighs in defeat as he shifts, handing control back to Alpha Nico.

We were all exhausted from searching through the night, the sun had begun to rise and our short journey back to the pack felt like it took a lifetime.

Emerging from the forest towards the rear of the Alpha gardens, Alpha Nico dismissed each of us and sent us to rest.

I hadn't felt this low in years. Keeping Rory safe was now completely out of my control.

"Come with me young Landon. The Elders are still waiting in my office" Alpha Nico sighs as he pats my shoulder and makes his way into the house.

I'd almost forgotten about the Elders. Alpha Nico had requested they gather after we were informed that Troy believed he'd smelt a witch.

I can't say for sure if there was a witch out there, as far as I was aware they no longer existed, but one thing I can say for sure was that cinnamon and sage smell wasn't your usual forest smell, it had to have come from somewhere.

The history books state that a witches magic held a sickening sweet scent, I guess cinnamon and sage could be considered sweet but if this were to be the smell of witches magic then it couldn't be very powerful.

Upon entering the Alphas office I couldn't believe my eyes, Elders shouting and arguing with each other, growling and snarling from all around.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Alpha Nico bellows, causing them all to fall silent and stand frozen

Elder Micha clears his throat from a far corner out of the way of the chaos that had previously been taking place.

"It seems you will have to settle some debates Alpha, the others have many questions." He slowly speaks while taking a seat in the armchair.

Alpha Nico nods at him before clearing his throat and addressing the Elders. "I apologise for keeping you all waiting. The matter in questioned turned out to be a little more severe than we'd originally thought" he begins to pour us both a drink

"Alpha Carn has sent a group to infiltrate the pack, to leak what ever information they can gather on.." he pauses taking a shaking breath "..on my daughter."

The room fills with hushed chatter as the Elders begin to grow tense.

"Alpha.. Your child... is dead. I'm sorry, please forgi.." Elder Carson begins before Alpha Nico cuts him off

"No!" He snaps "My daughter, is alive. And she lives here within the pack. She always has." He states as if a huge weight had finally been lifted

"A daughter?"

"Where is she?"

"That's impossible!"

"Do we know her?"

"Fantastic news!"

"How is she alive?"

They all began to shout towards the Alpha, excitement and concerns evident upon each of their faces.

"Silence!" The Alpha booms once more, silencing the elders.

"She is alive and she is in danger. I'm sure you're all aware of the recent events that have occurred. The attacks in town and in the Alpha house. And most recently the bodies of five small children. These are just a taste of what is to come. We need to be prepared." He states with his head high and holding confidence as an Alpha should

"Do you have any idea as to why?" Elder Carson asks

"I have reason to believe he is looking to take my daughters life so that he can rightfully become the true Alpha to his pack and potentially inherit the magic from their blood line, although I'm not entirely sure on how or if that could work. I was hoping one of you would be able to help us in that department" the Alpha informs him while finally taking a seat behind his desk

"You mean to say.. he's looking to meddle in the witchcraft?!" Elder Carson's eyes were wide. "Alpha, in the last hundred years there have only ever been three witches. One of the great council, one mere child with no way of knowing how to unlock their magic and presumably any child of Luna Talias. Having an Alpha of Carns ability along with Luna Talias powers, who knows what he would be capable of." His face pales as the thought as he takes a seat on the sofa with a lost look in his eyes

Witchcraft? Two witches? And Rory? Did we really smell a witch by the stream? Luna Talia had powers? My mind begins to race as I take in all of this.

"That's what I'm afraid of. I assume given that information that we're potentially looking at the child witch, it seems they've found a way to unlock their powers. Either that or they're being coached by someone who holds the wisdom to do so." Alpha Nico roughly runs his hand through his hair "Find out all that you can, about Carn, about the child witch, about witchcraft in general. Leave no stone unturned, I want answers!" He orders as he slams his fist down on the desk making the Elders jump

"We'll get onto it immediately Alpha" Elder Carson bows his head to Alpha Nico before turning and leading the Elders from the office, leaving only myself and my father with Alpha Nico.

"When were you going to mention this magic?!" I stand asking Alpha Nico.

I thought he'd agreed to tell me all that he knew, yet he didn't seem too shocked at the mention of witches or Luna Talias powers. Does Rory really have powers? Has he always known this? I wasn't sure how much I could really trust him anymore, even Knox was growing agitated around him lately.

He runs his hand through his hair once more as he pours another drink.

"In time I guess. I was hoping that it wouldn't become a factor in all of this" he says waving his hand dramatically through the air. "From what I'm aware of, Rory hasn't shown any signs of having inherited her mother's powers. That being said.." he pauses and looks me in the eye ".. she hasn't shifted yet."

"So what, she's going to shift as well as becoming some powerful magical witch?!" I half shout, shocked at what I'm hearing

How was Rory going to react to all of this? He'd hidden so much from her already but this, this was definitely crossing a line.

"It is possible, yes." He says, his worried expression no doubt mirroring my own

"And what about this other witch? Do you know her?"

"Him" he says taking a small mouthful of his drink. "Remi, he's a week older than Aurora. Somehow he inherited the genes from a great great grandfather. His powers were supposedly locked away by the witch of the great council when he was born" he informs me as he stands to get another drink

"And you know this how? What else are you hiding Alpha?!" Knox sending a low growl rumbling through me, he was getting pissed.

Alpha Nicos eyes begin to flash as one turns black showing Cyrus' presence. "You may wish to mind that tone boy. You are to know only what we wish to tell you, anything more is either a bonus or snooping." He snarls with a warning snap of his jaw

"Well what you wish to tell me, isn't enough! Right now my priority is your daughter, although I'm not quite sure that it's yours." I slam my glass on his desk before turning to leave, slamming to the door behind me.

No more than a few feet down the hall I bumped into Elder Micha and Elder Carson

"Elder Micha I wondered if I could have word please"

"Of course, of course. Myself and Carson here were just finishing up anyway, come let's go grab a tea and chat" he quickly says a farewell to elder Carson and leads the way to his office.

His office was cramped and dark with heavy drapes covering the single window, each wall covered in floor to ceiling book shelves and mountains of books stacked around the room. Elder Micha quickly clears the spare chair ushering me to take a seat while he prepares a hot tea for us.

"Now then, what is it that brings you to me?" He asks as he hands me the steaming cup and takes a seat in his old worn out chair

"I was hoping you'd be able to give me some insight into what's going on. I understand that Alpha Nico wishes to keep some aspects hidden but as top warrior and Aurora personal guard I feel like he's hiding too much" I take a sip of my tea before carefully placing it upon the messy desk before me. "Until just now I was unaware of any witches existence, of any magic in fact. Yet today I have seen a group of wolves disappear with my own eyes, smelt what I can only imagine was the scent of a witches magic and learned of Luna Talia's powers. I wonder if you're able to enlighten me as to what we're really up against? What dangers our future Luna may yet have to face?"

The look on Eder Michas face tells me he's not completely comfortable with me asking these things behind the Alphas back. He sighs before standing and slowly climbing a ladder to reach the very top shelf of one of the book cases and retrieving a book.

"Take this. It will not hold every answer that you require but it will at least provide some details and general information that I believe may help.." he hands me the dustiest most worn out book I've ever seen "..and if you read it for yourself, then I have simply not told you a thing" he gently smiles but concern fills his eyes. "Good luck Landon, I fear you're going to need it"

He's fears I'm going to need luck? I simply nod and thank him before leaving and making my way back to my room. Kane was probably going mad having been left babysitting for so long with minimal contact from me.

"Ohhh, the mighty wanderer returns. What happened to a few hours Donny?" Kane asks accusingly as I enter the room

"Sorry, something happened and Alpha Nico needed me" I look from Kane to Aurora, she was still out and dribbly. "Has anyone been in here?" I ask still focused on Rory

"Has anyone been in here?! What the..?! Yeah sure, some handsome Prince came to kiss her awake" he rolls his eyes looking at me like I've grown a second head

My heads snaps towards him, was he being serious or simply trying to wind me up?

"Kane. This is not the time for games. Did anyone else come into this room?"

"What? No, you i***t. The only people to come into this room are me and that cute new maid when she bought me something to eat" he wiggles his eyebrows

Cute new maid? Did he mean Sylvia? She was the youngest of the rogue group that had been integrated.

"Sylvia?!" I half shout at him

"Huh, Sylvia. Is that her name? She's cute man, kinda quiet but I'm sure I could get her to make some noise" he laughs before realising I was less than impressed

"Where is she now? Did she touch Rory?" Panic being is to spread throughout my mind. Sylvia was one of them, who knows what she might have done

"What? She's probably gone back to the kitchen or where ever Uncle keeps his staff" he huffs "and why would she touch Rory?"

I didn't even give him a response before running from the room and straight towards the maids quarters. I can only hope Alpha has had them all rounded up already but who knows with him anymore.

The smell of old blood gains my attention as I reach the entrance of the maids quarters. It was eerily quiet for a morning in the Alpha house, most staff would be busy with breakfast and cleaning at this time but still there should be someone here to clean the maids quarters.

The main room was dark, all of the curtains had be drawn preventing any light from seeping in through the windows but the smell of old blood still filled the room. Quickly pulling open the curtains I freeze at the sight before me.

Three young children and Sylvia seated peacefully upon the tattered sofa, or so it would seem. With each step towards them the smell of old blood grows stronger, mixed with a hint of cinnamon.

A scream from behind me snapping my attention from them.

"What have you done?!" An elderly maid; Clarissa screams, as her hands fly to cover her mouth and the colour drains from her face.

Before I could even answer her she had turned and run while still screaming and calling for the guards.

I quickly follow her out of the maids quarters and down the hall towards the main house as several of our larger guards come rushing to her side.

"He's killed them! Those poor innocent children!" She continues to scream, gaining the attention of more of the pack members within the house.

Surely she can't think I was responsible for this? I didn't have time to even think about it as two of the large guards step forwards, throwing a set of silver cuffs upon my wrists

"Call for the Alpha, have him come to the cells immediately and get the Beta the the maids quarters" the largest of them orders as I'm dragged from the Alpha house