Shadow Wolves

Fourteen

"Your reports have been reviewed and we are pleased with your progress. As soon as the storm clears, we will send in reinforcements to assist with relocating those women and children who would like to leave the pack."

"And what about the former Alpha and his men?"

The laptop screen flickered as the vampire on the other side shifted in her seat. A sharp black eyebrow lifted upwards over unearthly green eyes that resembled a serpent's with blood red lip set themselves into a hard line.

"As you know," Cassandra finally spoke. "The committee intends to give Nathaniel Thorn and his men a fair trial. Those found innocent will be released from custody and those found guilty will be given an appropriate punishment. However, Thorn's Alpha title is suspended pending investigation, meaning the pack has no Alpha and so makes it susceptible to being invaded by another pack of rogues. Word will get out soon and it won't be long before any wannabe and their friends come looking to lay down a challenge for the title. We will have a war on our hands before we know it."

"So what are you suggesting?" Lucas raised an eyebrow himself.

"We are suggesting that for the time being, you take on the Alpha duties." Cassandra replied. "Alex already has a pack to run and no one else is qualified for the role. You will have Committee agents at your disposal for the duration. Once the trial is over and if Thorn is found guilty of his crimes, then we can allow for legitimate challenges on his title."

Lucas couldn't help but frowned. He hadn't come here to babysit a broken down pack that was made up of monsters and traumatised victims. It wasn't like he could say no to an order not to mention the fact his mate was somewhere and he intended to find her as soon as they had some details on where the sixteen young women had disappeared to. Even if he hadn't been put on sitting duty, he would have stuck around, he would just prefer not to have the additional duties of an Alpha.

"I will have the paperwork sorted and a copy sent over for your records." Cassandra spoke up, taking Lucas' silence as obedience. "Congratulations, Alpha. We will speak again once we are able to mobilize the remaining support."

The screen went blank as the vampire ended the call leaving Lucas to dwell in silence. The moment the blizzard hit, any attempts to track the missing women had come to a disappointing end. It had been hard enough to track their scents in the first place. It had been watered down to start with so the fresh snow simply buried it. Their efforts tracking the fugitive were going better but only marginally. Their best trackers were in pursuit so at least there was a chance they could apprehend him again. It was a plus but Lucas didn't feel satisfied by the news like he normally would. It was probably because it wasn't the win he was hoping for.

It took everything he had not to give in to Ares' constant demands to be let loose so he could search for their mate himself. The fact she wasn't here, in his arms being devoured by him was driving Lucas nearly to madness but he refused to lose control. It would do the mission and his mate no good. She had already been petrified and no doubt traumatised by the assholes running this place. All of the females had. They had been treated as objects and currency. None of them had been safe and no one had tried to help them except for whoever left the anonymous tip all those months ago.

A knock on the door pulled Lucas from his thoughts, serious hazel eyes lifting in time to see Johnny push the door open and stroll in. It was terrifyingly uncanny how much he looked like his father with his sharp jaw, crooked smile and silver eyes. The only hints of his Greek heritage (courtesy of Johnny's mother) were his dark brown hair and olive skin. The Kade boys all shared the same dark hair and olive skin tone from their mother but Johnny was the only one to inherit his father's silver orbs.

"You look like shit." Johnny announced as he collapsed into a chair unceremoniously. "Are you ever going to sleep?"

"I'll sleep when I'm dead." Lucas grumbled, finding a few shreds of his sense of humour under his exhaustion. "You're also looking at the interim Alpha of this pack."

Johnny's eyebrows shot up to his hairline before he burst out laughing. "You poor bastard."

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you." Lucas smirked. "You're my interim Beta."

That stopped the cheeky asshole in his tracks.

"The f**k?" Johnny groaned. "Why me? I thought you'd choose the twins."

"Alvaro and Sierra don't want it. They much prefer tracking and interrogation duties they've been assigned. Besides, your dad was a beta and I know he showed you a thing or two."

"Yeah, like how to ride a motorcycle and defend myself."

"Amongst other things." Lucas wasn't buying the modesty guise Johnny was trying. "It's only interim anyway. Hopefully this will all be over soon and we can get out of here once it's done."

"And in the meantime?" Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"In the meantime we continue to gather evidence against Nathaniel and his men while getting this pack back on track." Lucas replied. "We also need to find that fugitive and the missing girls."

"Well, funny you should mention the runaway fugitive because I have a name." Johnny smirked. "I sent you his details just before I came in. His name is Omar Rivers. Twenty-seven and was assigned to guard duty. Looks like he might have been a packless wolf or a rogue up until about a year ago when he ended up here. He has had a few run-ins with local human law enforcement here and in a few other states. I suspect Nathaniel lured in quite a few characters like this Omar guy with the promise of money, booze and women."

"So Nathaniel isolated and imprisoned his own people and then brought in potential criminals and outsiders to be their jailors?" Lucas' upper lip lifted in a snarl that was from both disgust and rage. "That's f****d up."

Johnny shrugged. "Greed is a powerful drug."

"It is indeed." Lucas nodded and sighed tiredly, tilting his head back to rest it against the back of the desk chair. "It seems like just when we think we've hit the limit of this place's depravity, a whole new layer is revealed. Not to mention we still don't have our fugitive or the missing women."

"Alvaro and I are still checking all of the maps of the territory to see if anything stands out or might give us an idea of where they could go." Johnny explained. "The trackers are still out there searching but the snow sure as hell ain't helping."

"It isn't." Lucas growled. "Those girls could be anywhere and could be in trouble. What possessed them to run?"

"They were prisoners. Wouldn't you run if you were a prisoner and you saw your chance for freedom?" Johnny asked.

Johnny had a point and he knew it. Aunt Thalia, Johnny's mother, had also been a prisoner when she was younger after being kidnapped by traffickers. Despite being pregnant with Johnny's twin older brothers, Thalia had escaped her latest captor when the opportunity arose. If she hadn't done that then she wouldn't have gained her freedom or met her fated mate.

"Is there something going on?" Johnny queried, silver eyes curiously watching his friend.

Lucas didn't answer immediately. He trusted Johnny but at the same time he himself didn't know what to make of the fact his moon-blessed had been here and if it weren't for the mission, their paths may never have crossed. But that was perhaps the least troubling thing about this. Chloe hadn't reacted to the mate bond. Her wolf had not responded to her mate's call. It had been nothing but radio silence and it baffled Lucas. He had looked into the blonde girl's eyes but had seen the slightest hint of recognition.

It had made being around her torturous.

The first night Lucas saw Chloe, she looked like a frightened kitten. Her scent had caught Lucas' attention the moment he had stepped into Nathaniel's home. The scent of lavender, jasmine and vanilla had been everywhere whipping the carnal side of Lucas up into a storm. He wanted to know why his mate's scent was in this house and all over Nathaniel. He had been so close to tearing the man apart when she had appeared on the stairs.

Despite the fact she looked terrified and upset, Chloe had also been the most beautiful creature Lucas had ever seen. Her ice blonde hair and sky blue eyes reminded him of winters in the north of his family home while her golden skin looked as soft as silk.

He knew he should have suspected something was wrong when Nathaniel had gotten funny about Lucas' request for a private show from Chloe. The Alpha had been all over her from the moment Chloe had sat down with them.

But it had been spending time alone with Chloe that nearly done Lucas in.

Her voice, her smile, her body; all of her had driven him crazy. Being so close and not being able to claim his moon-blessed had been torture. Part of him wanted to whisk her away from this hellhole regardless of the consequences. How he kept it together, Lucas did not know.

"I'll explain later." Lucas finally gave Johnny a reply and looked down at his tablet. "I've seen this guy around before."

"The fugitive?" Johnny raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Where?"

"The night we arrived undercover. Then I saw him again the morning after that party and then again later that evening." Lucas explained. "On all occasions, he was escorting the same girl."

"Oh you mean the cute blonde that Thorn had a boner for?" Johnny smirked, not registering the death glare alucas gave him. "Coincidence maybe?"

"Maybe." Lucas muttered. "Have the forensics team finished testing everything?'

"Not even close." Johnny shook his head.

The conversation was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door before Bobby burst in looking like they had just won the jackpot.

"Lucas, Johnny, I think I've found something." They announced before either wolf could comment.

Bobby's slender fingers moved quickly to type over the screen of their tablet before holding it out for both men to see, their steel blue eyes bright with excitement.

"So, I went through the CCTV footage from the night of the raid and I found this." Bobby tapped the play sign on the screen.

The screen started playing, showing an image of the door to the den. The time stamp showed it was taken about the same time the raid had begun. Two guards were near the door which was no surprise; however, just a few seconds into the footage, a male approached the pair with a clear sense of urgency.

"Let me guess, no sound?" Lucas asked.

"Not on this one." Bobby shook their head.

Lucas frowned, hazel eyes turning to the screen once more to watch the silent interaction between the three men. Whatever the newcomer said though had the two guards suddenly rushing off leaving the male alone. So far the man hadn't shown his face to the camera but with the men gone, he now turned around showing none other than Omar Rivers. For a few minutes, Omar didn't seem to be doing anything except checking his watch and looking around. Then, after checking his watch one more time, he turned to the door of the den and unlocked it.

"What is he doing?" Johnny frowned, leaning forward in his seat as if somehow getting closer to the tablet screen would answer his questions.

And in a way it did. Only moments after the door was opened, one of the girls appeared. Lucas didn't recognise her but then again, his attention had been on other things. He knew she was one of the girls from the club though and yet, the way she interacted with Omar suggested she was far from scared of him. After a few words were exchanged, the female disappeared back into the den only for a stream of girls to begin to pile out of the door. Everyone was dressed for the cold weather. The last girl to appear was Chloe. She hung back while the first girl reappeared but surprised everyone when she kissed Omar before separating and disappearing off camera with Chloe in tow.

"I followed their movements with the other cameras." Bobby stopped the video. "Once the girls had made it out of the grounds and into the woods, Rivers gave himself up and was detained by team four when they breached the house."

"If Rivers was helping the girls why not go with them?" Johnny asked.

"He stayed behind to cover their tracks and make sure no one found them missing until it was too late." Lucas guessed. "He must have planned to be detained with the rest of the men and planned to escape to reunite with the girls."

"So that means our fugitive knows where to find the missing girls." Johnny perked up, his eyes sparkling with building excitement.

Lucas felt that same excitement as well. It wasn't the type that came with special moments but one that spoke to the carnal nature of their souls. They had a lead and a strong one at that. All they had to do was find their prey and they'd find the missing pack members.

"Get Alex and the twins." Lucas' voice was low and dangerous. "We're going hunting."