The Alpha, The Rogue & The Beauty

Discovering the Traitor

Connor POV

I helped Sarah make food for the warriors just so that I kept busy whilst we were waiting for the tech team to trace the vehicle and for the unconscious guard to wake up. Sarah had forced me to sit and eat, but I refused to do so unless she joined me.

We were sitting at the kitchen table just finishing up our sandwiches when Stuart burst through the door. “Your dad says that Leon has just crossed the border and is on his way here.”

“That was fast!” I commented.

“Send them in here first, they will be hungry and thirsty after their journey,” Sarah suggested.

“I will try, but they may want to get straight into things.” Stuart replied before turning to me. “Do you know where David is? I have been trying to mind-link him since this all happened, but he is blocking me and his phone is going straight to the answerphone.”

“He was taking Crystal bowling and then out for dinner after school.” I told him. Looking at my watch, I saw that five hours had passed since school finished. “I would have thought they would have been back by now though.”

I try to mind link David, but I am also met with a block. Taking my phone out of my pocket, I tried calling him but just got his answerphone. I then tried calling Crystal. I hear the song All by Myself by Celine Dion blast out on the other side of the door moments before it opens.

“Connor, shouldn’t you be busy?” Crystal’s voice comes through my phone and is echoed by her voice in the corridor.

I immediately hang up as Stuart spots David. “Where have you been? I have been trying to reach you for hours.” Stuart yelled at him.

“Umm….. I took Crystal out. She was feeling a bit neglected, so I put up my block and turned my phone off to give her all of my attention.” David stammered at his father. I saw Crystal’s face redden as a blush spread across her cheeks.

David then spies me at the table behind his dad and a look of confusion appears on his face. “Connor, what are you doing home? Did something happen?” he asks.

“You could say that!” Stuart barks.

“Beth has been kidnapped.” I told David, my voice nearly breaking with the emotion that those words brought forward.

“What!” David cries as Crystal sinks to the floor, her hands covering her face.

David notices her on the floor and immediately squats next to her and wraps her in his arms.

My mum and dad rush down the stairs having heard Stuart’s shouting. “What’s going on?” dad asks.

Mum approaches David and Crystal and tries to pry her out of his arms, but he will not loosen his grip. “David, let her go.” She tells him, but he just shakes his head.

“Everyone calm down and tell me what is going on.” My dad demanded.

Before Stuart could speak, I stepped past him and into the corridor. “David had just got back with Crystal, but he had had his block up and his phone switched off while he took Crystal out. Stuart is understandably angry with him, but there is an explanation for his actions.”

I glanced down at David, and he looked back at me with terror in his eyes. I smiled softly at him, trying to show him that everything would be okay, before looking at my parents. “They are mates.”

Stuart knelt in front of David, placing his hand on his son’s shoulder, “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.

“Crystal’s not even sixteen yet. I didn’t know how everyone would react. I only told Crystal the night of Beth’s birthday because she felt as if no-one loved her anymore. I wanted her to know that I loved her,” David admitted.

“How far has this relationship developed?” my dad asked sternly.

Crystal finally raised her head and looked over at our parents, “We have only ever kissed. David always stops if things start getting heated. I swear that is all.”

“How did you know?” David asked me.

“Beth had an inkling when we left school earlier, but this.....” I gestured to David cradling Crystal in his arms, “this just confirmed it.”

“Why is everyone standing around doing nothing when my daughter is missing?” came Alpha Leon’s voice from the front door.

“Alpha Leon,” my father greeted Beth’s father, “why don’t you and your men come this way and I will fill you in on what we have so far.”

My father leads Leon through the group and into the kitchen. As he passes me, Alpha Leon looks at me angrily and I can’t help but cringe away from him. As Beta Darren passes me, he places his arm around my shoulders and pulls me along with him into the kitchen, “Don’t worry about him, his bark is worse than his bite.” He whispers.

“I heard that!” Alpha Leon calls back to him, making Darren chuckle. I just feel inadequate, as if this whole situation is my fault.

We all sat around the table, my father and Leon next to one another and me opposite them. Sarah takes the seat next to me and puts a hand on my arm, “Ignore him.” She tells me, as she scowls towards Leon. It doesn’t take long until he looks away and gives my father his full attention.

“The guard woke up quarter of an hour ago and he didn’t see much,” my dad tells us. “He saw the fire door on the first floor open and was about to mind-link the other guards and Connor, but he felt a sharp pain in his neck and fell into unconsciousness. We know that he was dosed with wolfsbane, as we have the dart. It appears that before the guards did their sweep of the exterior of the cabin, someone entered the property and hid in an upstairs room.”

“When Beth and I arrived, I started cooking dinner as Beth explored the property.” I continued, “Once I had put the lasagne in the oven, I went to look for Beth. I followed her scent around the house, but it disappeared in the bedroom I normally use. The pillow from the bed was on the floor under the window and there were scuff marks on the wall. I immediately mind-linked the guards and then got told that the guard stationed outside the fire escape wasn’t responding.”

“I ran out the fire escape and found the head guard leaning over the body of another guard, he had been given wolfsbane. I noticed some footprints, one set was deeper than the other, so I shifted and followed them.” I told everyone, but my eyes were fixed on Alpha Leon. “I noticed that there was lack of any scents on the trial. I heard a car start and speed away, so I sped up, heading toward the sound. When I reached the road, I managed to glimpse a black car heading around a bend in the distance. They were going too fast for me to follow them.”

“I picked Connor up on that road and we headed back to the cabin to see if there was any further evidence to be found there.” My father continued. “Then we headed back here to gain access to CCTV footage of the road and the surrounding area. We have narrowed it down to four vehicles and are currently tracing their whereabouts and the addresses of their owners.”

“Do you have any idea who is behind this?” Alpha Leon asked.

My dad shook his head, “No we don’t, but not many people knew that Connor and Beth were going to the cabin. Only ranked members and their families, the guards, Sarah and yourself were told.”

“I hadn’t even told Darren, so the leak isn’t from me.” Alpha Leon stated.

David entered the kitchen, his face downcast, his hands fidgeting. “I think I know who the leak is.”

“Who?” Everyone asked at the same time, looking towards David.

“Crystal,” David mutters. “She keeps saying ‘it’s my fault’ over and over, but she won’t tell me anything else.”

I jumped to my feet and before anyone could stop me, I was through the door and racing up the stairs to Crystal’s bedroom. I barged into the room without knocking to find Crystal sitting on her bed, her body rocking to and fro, and with mum’s arms wrapped around her.

“What did you do?” I shouted at her. When I didn’t get a response, I shouted again. “Tell me what you did, now!”

My sister slowly raised her head and looked at me, tears glistening in her eyes and dampening her cheeks.

“I’m sorry. I was lonely.” She sobbed out. “Ever since you found out Beth was your mate, everything has been about Beth. You don’t spend time with me anymore. Mum took Beth and Sarah shopping, but not me. Even dad seemed to have less time for me. I just wanted her gone and things back as they were.”

She buried her face in her hands, sobbing in her mother’s arms. I was dumbstruck, speechless. Had we really neglected her that much since I found Beth? Then David’s comments from earlier hit me. He had said that she felt that no-one loved her anymore.

I felt tears leave my eyes and I rushed to her side, wrapping my arms around my sister. “I’m sorry we made you feel this way, you should have told us.” I said, trying to comfort her. “But please can you tell us what happened? I'm scared for Beth’s safety.”

Sniffling, Crystal raises her head from her hands and looks into my eyes, “I told Luna Stacey about Beth and the cabin.” She tries to blink away her tears, but they just keep falling. “I’m so sorry, Connor.”

A growl from her doorway had me turning in that direction to see Alpha Leon, his eyes blazing towards my sister before he turned on his heels and barged through the crowd of people standing in the corridor.