The True Union

Chapter 4 Jacob

Jacob woke up feeling anxious. He didn’t know why, but his wolf was on edge. Looking at the clock, he realized it was only eight a.m. Usually he would sleep for another hour or so. Knowing he couldn’t go back to sleep with his wolf so unsettled, he began searching for the cause. It obviously wasn’t his wife who was still soundly asleep in their bed. He silently left their room, and poked his head into Charlie, his oldest son’s room. Seeing him sleeping peacefully, he moved on to Nathan and Andrew’s rooms. Both seemed to be safe as well. Getting closer to Sam’s room, he grew even more anxious. He opened the door and, praying he was wrong, he looked at her bed. The covers were thrown back, and she wasn’t anywhere in the room. He saw her curtains fluttering in the light breeze and his heart grew erratic. He froze in his tracks not quite believing what he was seeing. When a strong gust of wind blew through his hair, he reacted. “Guards!” He screamed at the top of his lungs, and he wasn’t surprised when his sons, quickly followed by his wife, were the first to arrive. The few guards that were near his home were all downstairs or outside. Unlike a lot of packs, his pack had a pack house and an Alpha house. It was only him and his family staying there with a few guards for protection. A year ago, he didn’t even have those few, but after the attacks started, he put them in place to protect his family. And they had failed. His Sam, his only daughter, was missing.

His sons immediately began questioning what was wrong, but upon seeing the empty room, they quickly silenced themselves. He heard his wife break down into tears and one of his sons behind him caught her as she fell. He knew it should be him, but he was frozen in fear for his daughter. When the guards arrived, Charlie immediately began issuing orders to search the room, ground and forest for any clues. They quickly located both her car and cell phone. It appeared she was taken by surprise without even the chance to scream. The best trackers, led by Andrew, who was also an incredible tracker, began searching the woods for any trace of her. It didn’t take long before they picked up a faint scent. Heading north, six of his best trackers and his youngest son began following her scent. Jacob was frantic, having called all of his ally packs for help and notifying the Elder Council, he began pacing his office. “Who would do this? How could they get past the guards, and what good are they if they can’t protect us?” He asked Charlie. None of this made sense to him, he couldn’t find the logic behind taking Sam and leaving the rest of them and the guards unharmed.

By noon, Marcus had arrived, and he was furious. Jacob briefly wondered if her disappearance had anything to do with Marcus but quickly dismissed the idea. No, this had to be because of the war. It had reached their doorsteps, without anyone being the wiser. Clearly, knowing one of his and his heirs’ biggest weaknesses was Sam, they were attacking psychologically before physically. And this would definitely bring war. If one hair on his daughter’s head was injured before he found her, he would burn the damn pack to the ground. He would leave no one alive to seek vengeance or to take another shot at Sam. The Elder Council arrived shortly before two p.m. They immediately ordered all pack alphas to meet them in six days for an informal hearing about Sam’s disappearance. The meeting would be held at the Elder Councils meeting house. It was about a day’s drive away from his pack and he, Charlie and Marcus would travel together. Jacob couldn’t believe they were waiting that long, but they assured him it was just to give the trackers time to work. All but two of the elders left after getting information about the search. The two remaining would stay until the fourth day to help where they could.

By the next morning, Andrew was home and had reported that they had lost the trail about two hours north. They tried continuing on in different directions, but it didn’t help. They had no way of knowing which way to continue. Andrew was devastated with himself, feeling as if he had failed his baby sister. Jacob felt helpless. He had no way of finding her now, it was left to the Elder Council to get clues from some other pack. They had already issued a “Be on the Lookout” with Sam’s photo sending it to every pack in the country. Still, it would be another five days of agony waiting for answers. His poor wife had gone to lay down in her daughter’s bed shortly after the guards and trackers had searched it for clues. She still hadn’t come out for anything. She wouldn’t even let him bring her food. She just cried unless someone came in to check on her, and then she would half-shift and growl at them until they retreated. Nathan wasn’t much better, feeling useless. He wasn’t a great tracker like Andrew to help with the search, and he wasn’t the next Alpha like Charlie to help his dad’s Beta keep the pack running. He didn’t know what he could do to help. He tried helping care for his mother, but that didn’t work. He tried caring for his father, but he turned him away too. So, he sat in his room hurting and feeling helpless as well.

Jacob’s family was falling apart, and someone was going to pay for it. It was like everything was destroyed when Sam went missing. Jacob needed to find her and fast. He needed to save his daughter and his family. One way or another, he would do just that. He was bringing his baby girl home.