Runt's Revenge

Mystery Call

“Hello? Alpha Zayden speaking,” he said, having taken the phone from his Beta. “Hello?” he repeated, waiting a moment. “Hello?!” He barked again. Zayden looked at Nathan, “What the hell…”

Nathan took the phone back looking at the screen. “The call was lost, Alpha,” he stated.

“I thought you said the call was about Cassie,” Zayden almost shouted, frustrated.

“That is what the caller said,” Nathan said as he frantically tried to get more information from the screen in front of him. “Look, the caller ID says it was Alpha Eric of the Glacier Valley Pack. I’ll try to call him back. Maybe the call was dropped accidentally.”

Nathan’s thumbs flew across the screen as he returned the call… and then waited. The phone rang and rang. It eventually went to voicemail. Nathan hung up, disgusted, without leaving a message. After that, he tried their Beta, Damien… Nathan had most of the area’s pack leader’s numbers loaded into his cell phone. Nothing. “The Beta isn’t answering either, Alpha. What do you want to do?” Nathan said formally.

“I can’t wait. Get a team together. We are leaving in five minutes for the Glacier Valley Pack.”

“Yes Alpha!”

“I don’t know how long we will be gone, so have warriors be prepared for multiple days and to be able to drive or run on foot. Oh, and keep trying to return that call!”

Nathan was busy linking others and Zayden grabbed his essential items; his own phone (pack calls were screened through the Beta’s phone), water, his wolf pack (for carrying items when shifted), change of clothes, car keys… and he was out the front door.

Nathan ran up the stairs to pack his own gear, waking up his sleeping mate, Anya, to tell her that he was leaving and would link her the details later. He and his team of the five best warriors from the River’s Edge Pack were well-seasoned They had worked together since they were pups and operated like an oiled machine. Dave, Ben, “Scary Carrie,” and the twins, Kelly and Kyle. They were ready to go and loading up in the cars before the five minutes were up with basic food kits and first aid supplies, in addition to their personal items.

Once everyone knew where there were heading, Nathan hopped into the passenger seat of the Zayden’s car. As he started the car, Lydia appeared on the front steps, running to the car with a sack. She opened Nathan’s door.

Nathan turned to her, “Gamma, your presence is not required,” he said a little too sharply.

“Beta,” she shot back, “under the circumstances, protocol would require that YOU stay behind and run the pack, while I accompany the Alpha.”

Zayden rolled his eyes, “I’m not wasting time arguing. Beta, you and I have the ability to link over longer distances… and well, her point is valid.”

The Alpha continued via link to Nathan, “And I need someone I can trust here.”

Out loud he said, “Lydia get in, and shut up, I need silence so I can think.” And with the switch made, Zayden peeled out on his way to Glacier Valley Pack.

Nathan narrowed his eyes at the retreating bumper. He put up a hand to slow them down long enough to wish them well and to give them the customary, “watch his six for me!” And then they too peeling out.

Nathan stood there for a moment with his ruck sack on his shoulder, staring out after the tail lights of the SUV’s as then sped through the pack town on their way to the highway. “I will let you know if I get anything new on Cassie,” he linked his Alpha before turning and walking quickly back into the packhouse.

He tried to call Alpha Eric and his Beta each one more time. He had a bad feeling about the whole thing, especially when no one answered their phones yet again. As he walked up the stairs to his quarters, he set the alarm on his phone to go off every 15 minutes so that he could be persistent in his efforts to get a hold of someone at the Glacier Valley Pack. He grimaced, wishing that he was on his way there with the Alpha. Doing something would feel better than being stuck here!

At least his Anya, will be glad that he is still here, he thought. Perhaps she can take my mind off of things for a little while. “At least for 15 minutes at a time,” his wolf chimed in lustily. And he smiled to himself as he made his way back upstairs.

He slowly opened the door to his bedroom where his beautiful mate, Annie, was cuddled under the covers. She turned as the light from the hall shone on her. “Mmmmm, hey babe,” she said sleepily, that was a quick trip. Did you miss me?” She bit her lower lip and raised her eyebrows suggestively.

He watched the covers fall off of her bare shoulders. “I always miss you,” he groaned. He dropped his pack on the floor and stripped slowly for her as she watched him with greedy eyes. He slid between the sheets and pulled her body toward him.

Nathan and Anya were a team. They had found each other right on their 16th birthdays. Lucky mates! She was a curly-haired brunette with a luscious dark complexion, pup bearing hips and kissable lips. He teased, “I have about 10 minutes with your name written all over it.”

“Only 10,” she laughed, now fully awake as he flipped her so that she was underneath him.

“Only 10,” he smiled down at her, “and most likely another 15 minutes after that… and another 15 minutes after that.”

“And 15 after that?” She asked hopefully?

“Hmmmm… we’ll see,“ he smirked.

__________________________________________

Zayden glanced at Lydia from the corner of his eyes. She looked way to happy to be going on what could be a dangerous mission. She was checking her makeup in the mirror and freshening her lipstick. She took the time to pack lipstick? Her attitude about his missing daughter was beginning to really piss him off. She looked like they were heading off for a romantic weekend instead of a dire search for a dearly loved pack member and, most likely, future Alpha of the River’s Edge Pack. His wolf growled out loud as she blotted her newly painted lips on a tissue from her purse. She glanced at him warily at that. “Good!” his wolf Derrek told him, “Keep her on edge!”

He kept his eyes trained on the road in front of him willing her to keep her mouth shut.

“So…” she started.

“Not now,” he growled.

“I think you really need to catch me up,” she reasoned. “Look, I am a trained warrior and the pack Gamma. I need all of the facts to do my job.”

He sighed heavily. He couldn’t disagree with her. As he explained the happenings of the evening, starting with the mysterious call and ending in the inability to get a hold of anyone at the Glacier Valley Pack, she did look genuinely concerned. Hmmm… maybe he had been misjudging her. He glanced at her again. He would have to give her a chance to prove herself in the field. He nodded to himself, resolved, and gave the car a little more gas as they sped down the road in the middle of the night.