THE STOLEN PIECE

CHAPTER 54 - RESULTS

GABRIEL

Lucas wasn’t speaking, but I knew what he meant. I had seen that report and I tried to ignore it, but now looking at him, my heart sank to my feet. What could I do to help him, to try to make him feel better… to ease his pain.

-What happened? Where is the rest?

As he said that, I was still out of words. I couldn’t find out more. Huts that one page that said.

HOWLERS PACK

FIRE. NO TRACES.

And a picture of the packhouse burnt down with a note from a newspaper that said that the city said it was a forest fire that got out of control and lasted for two days until they managed to control it and put it out. There was nothing else. We had no refugees from that pack or identified bodies, missing members… nothing, just the picture and the report of the fire.

-Gabriel, what does this mean!

He said, holding the picture of the house.

-Where are all of them? I didn’t see any of my pack here so I just assumed they were home… Where are the survivors? Are they with your parents? Where is my Dad?

I could see the desperation increase as he spoke, but I had no answers.

-I’m so sorry, Lucas I…

-No! Don’t be sorry they are fine! Xavier just found his mate last year and she was pregnant! My Dad was so happy for him… I was training him and he understood the needs of the pack! My dad and Xavier wouldn’t let anything happen to them! He asked me to be the baby’s godfather… I left before he was born…

As he spoke, his anger turned into sadness and tears started to appear. I just stood there listening to him.

-I need to go back…

-Lucas, you can’t leave…

-My pack needs me…

-Lucas they are no longer there! The paper…

-It says nothing! They don’t know anything!

-But they searched! We need to be here! Get stronger and investigate! But if you leave, you won’t be of use to finding your pack or my brother! We need to be stronger and fight these attacks!

He looked at me and just left the office. “He needs time.” Zeus said as Lucas left. “We can’t leave him alone, follow him.” He added. “What?” I asked. “He doesn't have Asher to be with him, right now he is all alone and confused, he needs us.” I was surprised by Zeus' words, but I decided to follow Lucas. He walked out of the house and into the forest, then he walked into my spot where many rocks were crushed and climbed one and sat. He looked at the sky. He was clearly looking for something. I decided to stay near and give him some space, but not much. I wasn’t going to talk but I wanted to be seen if he looked back so he knew he was not alone. I felt something odd. I concentrated and I could feel the twins and some kind of noise on the link, but I couldn’t feel anyone else. I had to concentrate and then I found Harvey.

-” Harvey, I'm out of the office, I´m not sure when I will be back…”

-”What but we have many things to do!”

-”I know but I had to take care of some stuff. Please continue and I will be back as soon as possible.”

-”Okay.”

I cut the link and it was as if we weren’t connected. I didn’t feel him as I felt the twins. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the mind link, just on the noise, and on the rest of the members, whom I didn’t know. It was impossible for me to feel them.´Then I heard a noise and saw Lucas walking towards me. I was still speechless. What could I say to him?

-You are right, we need to bring the kingdom back into shape if we want to find the missing members and answers to why these attacks are happening.

He said while he walked back to the main house. I followed him, he went directly into the office where Harvey glared at him, but he didn’t care. He took the papers and continued typing information into the computer. We kept doing that all night until we had a new list of members that were actually here. I took the responsibility to start training with them, Kevin helped me and now with uncle Chris back we had three instructors. I tried to be in all of the practices, but I also wanted to patrol and see how the rest of the new teams were interacting, so having Chris and Kevin helped me a lot. I tried to avoid Nate… He was just not in his best mental state and confused me with my Dad more than what I would have liked. Harvey stayed in the office with Lucas, they planned the rounds and mixed the teams every once in a while so everyone could know everyone. I started feeling something different in me, it made me feel more me if that made sense. The kingdom was slowly turning back into a unity… But they still needed their leader, and it was not me. A few weeks passed and I was sure of what I had to do. I walked into my Dad’s office during lunch, and I knew he was going to be there.

-What can I do for you today prince?

-You know I hate when you call me that.

-It's just a reminder of how heavy is the responsibility you carry, and how lightly you brush it off…

He goes on again with that… I decided to interrupt him.

-I left to find my brother…

-And did you find him?

He looked at me with angry eyes. I wanted to…

-And you abandoned your whole kingdom in the process of that senseless search.

-Members came with me!

-Oh yes, those two poor outcasts.

I felt my blood boiling…

-JUST BECAUSE WE ARE NOT WEREWOLVES DOESN'T MEAN…

-Oh no prince I'm not calling them outcasts because of their cats… Your mom and Chris are just like them, and they are functional members of the kingdom. They are outcasts because of you… Because they decided to follow you.

-They followed me because it was the best for the kingdom!

-For the Kingdome? Again with that! STOP IT ZAC! We all know how much you care but without her you are nothing! And I’m your beta but I don’t have alpha blood. I can't keep the expectations or have the authority to do all what you do! I thank the Moon Goddess every day since you left because she gave me an Alpha blood mate because she is actually helping with what the queen should be doing! Sabrina helped out to keep things at peace, but I can't, okay. I’m not made of that material. I am an awesome beta but I can’t be the Alpha!

-Nathan I’m not…

As I tried to explain to him that I was not my Dad, his eyes got darker and his voice got rougher.

-Don’t you dare say something… When Sabrina learned that her 3 brothers died! She keeps her spirits up and you… You did nothing for her, you just stare at the queen that had been in a trance for days, and at night you just cry for the loss of your kids! But again it was you who didn’t stop them from leaving! They left the pack and they are gone! But they were not dead! At least we still don’t know if they are! But you know who was dead? My mate’s family and you didn’t care, you know who is in fact dying? Many members of the kingdom are dying from the attacks! The kingdom remember? Your responsibility! The attacks are getting vicious and the survivors are fewer each time… We need to do something about this!

Sabrina then opened the door with a scared expression, I knew she was feeling all the anger through the bond, and she knew something wasn’t right. She tried to calm Nate but he was just not listening. She tried holding him, but he was not having it.

-Then one day you just disappeared with a damn note of how Grace said she found something… HOW DID YOU DARE TO LEAVE? WE NEEDED YOU! AND NOW AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED YOU WANT TO FIX THINGS? Well, it’s just too late!

He kept screaming meanwhile Sabrina just pushed me out of the office. When she closed the door I heard Nate crying and apologizing to Sabrina. I didn't want to hear more, it felt like a private moment for them so I left. I had even more questions now than when I decided to ask about where my parents were and when they planned to come back. “I don’t think Beta knows where our parents are.” Zeus said with a confused voice. “It looks like that.” “But why would they just leave? It doesn't sound like Mom at all…” Zeus was right, Mom wouldn’t just leave a responsibility, she stayed when things were rough to help, she isn’t like that. I decided to get back to practice and saw Harvey explaining how to approach a wolf in human form. To my surprise, Lucas was helping him with the demonstration. I stood next to Harvey who was watching Lucas fighting one shifted member.

-How is he doing?

I said, as I looked at Harvey and then I notice the sparks in his eyes.

-He is actually pretty good for a human.

-He had previous training.

I said It was normal for Lucas to be that good.

-But he is…

He said while looking at me.

-He knows a lot of things, Gabe, he… What happened to him? Maria said it was not contagious but can’t she find a cure? If he has these skills as a human, imagine if he could have his wolf back… He could have been a great Alpha.

His voice was filled with sadness. Then again I felt the noise on the link, I started to get used to it it actually felt somehow familiar. I stayed during the practice and showed them how to evade bites while in human form. Lucas had a huge smile while he practiced with the pack. I felt something odd… I saw that the sun was almost gone. The pack was in better shape and now we had actually detected some scents of werewolves near our territory. They were close, but just as I expected they hid in the nearest city. I have been going with Chris and the twins to get the groceries and try to see if I recognized faces… But nothing. Eva was handling the kitchen but her tantrums were back. She had the need to be attached to me for at least two hours per day. It didn’t matter if I was training or in the office, she didn’t leave until she was called into the kitchen and sometimes she decided that members could wait to eat. Kevin and Brittany spoiled her even more than before and Harvey was now also spoiling her.

-You do know that that behavior is unacceptable, right?

I said to Harvey just as Eva left for the kitchen duties.

-Give her a break, she is handling the meals.

-That doesn't mean she can act like a 3 year old.

-She is trying her best.

I could argue that, but I remembered the old Eva, the one that was quiet and played with the kids… She never really smiled… her eyes always looked dull and now she had that spark back… but at the cost of being as annoying as before. I saw him adding colors to the folders.

-What are you doing?

-Lucas showed me that by adding colors it is easy to identify the location of the packs and it’s true, the South is dark blue…

He started explaining to me a lot of color codes, his voice was amazed as he spoke. Lucas has been a great help and shows Harvey many things that neither he nor I knew before. I couldn’t say they were now best friends but Harvey definitely saw Lucas with different eyes.

-If you understand the codes and it is easier for you you can keep doing it but I really don’t get it.

-Well you usually just ask for information. I'm the one looking for it so yes, this code will help me.

He was right, lately, he was providing me with the information without my help. He had now all in order and he knew exactly where the papers and all the folders were. With me going into the city to buy groceries and search for werewolves, he stayed here in the office… His Dad… Sabrina kept him in his room, sometimes he joined the members at training, but Harvey took all the writing responsibilities so his dad wouldn’t need to come by the office anymore. I wanted to ask him many things, I had asked Sabrina but she told me Nate wouldn’t tell her, so she wasn’t sure of what was going on. I was afraid of asking him and detonating a new dementia episode like last time… he took a week to get back to normal and Harvey stayed worried the whole time, but I really needed to know.

-GABRIEL!

Harvey shouted as he looked at me with worried eyes. I was about to ask when I heard members running through the halls, I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the mind link, then I felt it.

-”We have been attacked! there are wolves near the border and one of them just attacked!”

I wasn’t sure who it was but it was a member of the patrol. I opened the Window and jumped as I shifted. I landed with some stumbles as My body shifted completely. “ZEUS WE NEED TO…” “I know!” He said as he took control and started running. I felt many eyes on me, I wasn’t as fast as some of the pack members but they were kind of waiting for me. The pack was still afraid of the invaders. I let out a loud roar so the invaders that were attacking the patrol could hear that reinforcements were on the way. We couldn’t lose more members. -”They are retiring! but something is following them!”

As I approached the area the noise I felt on the link got stronger and a familiar feeling invaded my mind. “Could it be?” I couldn’t imagine but Zeus felt it too and he didn’t stop at the border. He kept running following the feeling and the sensation got stronger and stronger. I could hear the steps of the wolves running, we were so close. Then I saw it. A kid crying sitting on a rock and a snow leopard was curling next to him.

-”You are…”

I was shocked I didn’t know what to say… I wasn’t sure She was hearing me, but when her ears moved and she looked at me, I saw her eyes… I couldn’t believe it. How was this possible?