Hunting Sawyer

Blake

******BLAKE POV******

I was stalking in the strict confines of my office again. My sanity had been on the brink of snapping before meeting Sawyer. However, now that I’d found my mate and I hadn’t completed the bond…my inner wolf , Keres, was maniacal.

Sanity was a thing of the past.

My rage, and my wolf, were constantly on the surface. There was no hiding him now. I terrorized any place I stepped foot into. My Beta, Snyder, was handling me like a bomb set to explode. And rightfully so.

I made a mistake by sleeping with Sawyer- for multiple reasons. Not only was she human, and lesser species shouldn’t mix, but by taking her, mating with her, I had started the process of accepting the bond, nurturing it – then left it hanging. I was in physical pain as my wolf was constantly trying to claw his way out to track her down, accept her, mark her- making her mine, and force her back into this wild world.

But I had threatened her. And I was right to. I meant what I said. The child was half human and half wolf. Probably some magic in there, too. That cannot happen. Especially not my offspring. I’m an alpha wolf and I need my successors to be as strong as I am. And I am an anomaly.

All this information ran through my brain on repeat. Fighting to keep a straight train of thought as Keres was barking at me, wild and relentless. He had a one-track mind, and it all revolved around Sawyer and our pup.

I paced like a caged animal, barely aware of the filth in here that normally put me on edge. We had been locked away in this underground bunker for months now, working on our experiments for my mother’s big takeover. We were making progress, but staying off radars was becoming trickier. And the stakes were high.

My pack was legit, but undesignated to any kingdom. It was based far enough off the map to be left unnoticed. When my father was in charge, it was small. Weak. My mother used him as a means to have an alpha blooded offspring. So here I sat, her henchman, bossed around to do her bidding as she pleased.

Some alpha.

My mother was a witch. And a terror at that. I couldn’t even pretend to keep my brain wrapped around the intricate evil webs she was weaving all across the countryside.

I knew I had one half-sister, whom I hardly ever saw or crossed paths with, but I wouldn’t bat an eyelash if other kin started popping up and claiming lineage. She even had an agenda for her children. Where one of her strictest teachings were strong bonds for strong offspring, and here I was- doing the complete opposite. If I didn't end the pup, my mother absolutely would.

“Blake for Goddess sake, fix yourself up. You look like a disaster.” She came sweeping into the room with her purple eyes looking over me in disgust. Her cape swept across the filth of the floor and she eyed the grime on the top of my desk like gum on the bottom of her shoe.

“Yes, mother…” I growled, Keres thick in my voice. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your riveting company?” I’m sure I’d pay for the bite in my tone, but I was quickly losing patience with her barking marching orders my way every chance she got.

“Your sister will be making her appearance in front of the princes in two years’ time when they turn eighteen. If all goes according to plan, the royal family will then be kept busy and I expect you to take full advantage of that. I need more soldiers, Blake. Get your thugs to work and get me better and stronger talent.”

“We’re doing all that we can to get you the numbers, Mother, but we can’t risk being found out. Building an army takes time. I can’t just keep sending my pack off to kill an entire town without raising some sort of suspicion. We have to be tactful in this. Some of the human towns across the border are already putting two and two together. Once the royals pin this on us, we’re done for.”

“Are you seriously lecturing me about humans right now, Blake? Get ahold of yourself. The royals don’t give a s**t about the humans past that border. They wouldn’t bat an eyelash at a town being wiped out. As a matter of fact, that’s a fantastic idea.” She patted my cheek condescendingly. “Use that precious talent of yours and turn them…turn them all. I need an army, and the time is coming quickly. Make me more wolves, kill them, then use that magic I so selflessly blessed you with and reanimate them and send them to the front lines.”

I closed my eyes, clenching my fists at my sides as her heels clacked against the grimy stone floor of the underground bunker. The lack of sunlight and mold that hung thick in the air made me sick, much like her tone and disgusting orders.

How had I let myself be led down this path? I could have been more. I could have led my pack to success. I was smart and powerful. My father an alpha wolf and mother a strong witch. Not the strongest in her coven, hence this power play she was attempting…. but I had magic deep within me since birth that could have amounted to something more than this sad excuse for a life.

Regardless, this was all I had. There wasn’t a life that existed for me where Sawyer’s lemony floral scent could be my world. Where I could rejoice in her human lineage. Where I could turn her and that would be enough. Where our child could be the next in command.

That was a fantasy. And a piss poor one at that.

It would break my heart to kill Sawyer. But I knew she hadn’t killed the pup. I could feel it in my being. In Keres’s soul. She may have made a run for it, but I’d find her soon enough.

And with a town to slaughter…. I’m sure someone in that small human shithole may be willing to share a little more information once their lives were on the line.

Snyder walked into the room, leering over his shoulder as he watched my mother’s departure out of the bunker and back up to the surface. The scar over his eye and down his cheek puckered in distaste.

I was trying to regain my composure, fists pressed against the grime of the desk, slow breaths to calm my wolf. Now that Keres had the thought to murder an entire human town to get information on Sawyer’s whereabouts, he was rabid. Desperate for blood.

Hours later, I was in the middle of plotting our next moves to take out the small town Sawyer had skipped out on. Snyder and I stood stoic in the stagnant room, working through logistics of how best to move that many bodies. But that’s when time stood still.

I rubbed my chest as a chill flooded through it, Keres was pacing in my mind – he could feel it. Something was wrong with the pup, the bond was weak but he could tell. Then, like a cracking whip, the chill was gone and it was replaced with unimaginable pain. I felt like my chest had been ripped open with a fiery blade and my innards turned to magma. I collapsed to the ground and tried heaving for breath, but my lungs wouldn’t work. I wanted to claw the blood from my veins to rid the pain but I couldn’t move, paralyzed from the torturous onslaught.

So instead, I just laid in a heap on the ground, begging for it to end.

Snyder was in a panicked frenzy above me, desperate to help. But Keres was writhing within and I half shifted in our attempt to survive this.We howled in unison from the torture. But Keres knew...we both did. The mate bond was broken.

Sawyer was gone.