Blood Moon Rising

Chapter 14

The West Garden was empty when they arrived, wherever Alexis had taken Kassidy, it definitely hadn't been there, not even the faintest smell of her scent lingered.

It had been two days since Kassidy had been kidn*pped. Konrad had sent a large group of warriors out to search for her headed up by Jax, they followed her scent to the edge of the forest where it abruptly stopped. Wherever she was taken, they had travelled by car. Jax searched tirelessly night and day, growing more and more restless as the hours ticked on. None of the neighboring packs had seen or heard from either Kassidy or Alexis.

The rest of the warriors stayed behind to strategise. If Alexis thought he could come into Silver Lake and kidnap the Alpha's daughter and get away with it, he had another thing coming. And that thing would be over a hundred warriors storming his territory before sunrise.

'We'll move out at 3am, get into positions and then attack. Does everyone understand what they need to do?' Konrad's voice boomed out across the training grounds.

'Yes Alpha' the warriors shouted back in unison.

'You are dismissed'

Konrad and Graham were heading back towards Konrad's office when a guard on duty mind linked them both.

'There is a man at the gates claiming to be from Alpha Alexis' pack, Rocky Mountain, he says he needs to speak to you urgently. Alpha, apparently Alexis didn't return home after the ball'

'Tell him I'm on my way'

'What if it's a trick?' Graham placed a hand on Konrad's shoulder, knowing that his friend of 30 years was not thinking straight at the moment.

'Then we'll attack sooner than planned' he shrugged and continued on walking towards the gate at the end of the driveway.

They arrived to find a grubby, dishevelled man wearing only a pair of shorts stood on the opposite side of the gate.

'Alpha Konrad, thank you for coming so quickly. My name's Kyle, I'm the head gamma of Rocky Mountain. May I come in?'

Konrad eyed him cautiously. He was clearly tired and in need of sustenance.

'Let him through' Konrad said to the guards.

'Follow me, we'll talk in my office'

Graham sent a mindlink through to the on site warriors.

'I need warriors to be on high alert, the head gamma of Rocky Mountain is inside the territory with Alpha'

They all sat down in Konrad's office.

'Graham, please ask one of the kitchen staff to bring up some food for our friend here' Konrad said, never taking his eyes off Kyle.

Graham mind linked Lisa and also two of the warriors to stand guard outside of the office.

'Thank you Alpha Konrad' Kyle sighed as he slumped back in the chair.

'I ran here, it was quicker than driving'

Konrad raised his eyebrows in surprise.

'Right, now I'm hoping you know something about what has happened to my daighter?'

Kyle's face contorted into confusion.

'Your daughter? No, I'm here about Alpha Alexis, we haven't seen him since he left Rocky Mountain for the ball. No one can mind link him and he's not answering his phone'

Konrad jumped to his feet and began pacing the office

'Oh this is bad Kyle, my daughter was last seen with Alexis here and now they've both disappeared. I thought he'd taken her'

Konrad pulled at his white tresses.

'Why would Alpha Alexis ever do that?' Kyle contemplated. 'That doesn't sound like him at all'

'I just don't know anymore' Konrad stopped his pacing and lent against the edge of his desk.

'I've been told he claimed that Kassidy was his mate, but my next in line Beta argues that she is in fact his mate'.

'We need to find them' Kyle announced.

'Alpha Alexis wouldn't leave the Rocky Mountain pack without informing Beta Xander and he wouldn't kidnap another Alpha's daughter'

Konrad turned to Graham who sighed, they both had hoped Alexis wasn't involved but was it too much of a coincidence after claiming Kassidy as his mate?

'And you're absolutely certain about this?' Konrad questioned, his eyes holding all of the authority of the strong Alpha he is.

'Because I swear, if Alexis has kidn*pped Kassidy and she's at Rocky Mountain, if this is all just a twisted game, I will end you all'

Kyle gulped, intimidated by the aura rippling off Konrad.

'I swear to you, they are not at Rocky Mountain. No-one has seen them, we even found his car abandoned in a bush a few miles away'

'This doesn't sound good' Graham muttered.

'I'll call Jax and the other warriors back in so we can regroup'

There was a knock on the door and Kade entered followed by Lisa carrying a tray of food.

'I still can't mind link her, either she's out of range or she has a mental block up'

Lisa placed the food down on the desk and scurried back towards the door.

'Thank you Lisa' Konrad called before she slipped out of the office.

'Rocky Mountain is ready to fight for their Alpha, just say the word and we'll help' Kyle promised.

'I have another idea' Konrad mused, just as a sleep deprived Karla walked into the office.

'I think it's time to bring in the witches'.

* * *

The light streamed in through the gap in the curtains onto Kassidy's face, waking her from a deep sleep. The pounding in her head made it difficult to concentrate on her surroundings, but a movement in the darkened corner of the room caught her attention.

'So the sleeping beauty awakes' a gruff voice purs maliciously, startling her.

'Wh-who are you?'

The mysterious man laughed wickedly.

'Did Daddy dearest not tell you about little old me?'

'Where am I?'

Kassidy started to panic, she could hear the blood rushing through her ears as vomit threatened to escape from the pit of her stomach, suddenly realising that she has no clue who she is or who this daddy dearest is either.

The man left the darkness of the corner and slowly approached the bed that Kassidy was sat upon. She gasped in horror as the light caught his face, exposing the scar that ran the full length of his left cheek. She retreated as far as she could towards the headboard of the bed.

'Don't be scared Princess, I won't hurt you'

Princess? Why does that name seem so familiar? The niggling in the back of her mind makes her think that someone else she knows calls her that pet name, but she can't recall who.

His emerald eyes watched her cautiously, they too held an air of familiarity. He perched on the edge of the bed and smiled the friendliest smile he could muster. The scar only allowed for the left side of his lips to curve up slightly compared to the right.

'Who am I?' she whispered, looking down into her lap, questioning herself more so than him.

'Why can't I remember?'

Ecstatic that the potion he slipped into her drink had actually worked, he continued on to the next stage of his plan.

'My love, you are my betrothed. We are to be married this afternoon, do you not remember?'

He spoke more softly now, feigning concern.

Kassidy thought about this for a moment. If she was really set to marry this man today, then why could she not place him?

'What happened?'

She looked up and met with his green gaze, the lines around his eyes krinkled when he smiled, giving the impression that he was kind.

He scooted closer to her but this time she didn't flinch. The concern in his face was convincing enough to make her believe that he was a kind and gentle man.

'Yesterday you slipped and hit your head while picking apples in the orchard.' he explained, his expression turning to that of sadness.

'The doctor examined you and said that you had been knocked unconscious, but he had no reason to believe that you wouldn't make a full recovery'

'So I have amnesia' she gasped, now feeling terrible for not remembering the man sat next to her who clearly cares deeply for her.

'I'm sorry' she muttered.

'Hey now' he started, taking her hand and pressing a gentle kiss on her knuckles. 'It's not your fault my love, but now that you're awake, we can start preparations for the mating ceremony' he beamed.

Mating ceremony?

'What is a mating ceremony?'

His face fell, damn it. He should have remembered that she grew up human!

'It's just another term for a wedding' he smiled once again.

Still unsure about everything this man was saying, she fidgeted nervously.

'Everything will be fine, Jane is going to come up and help you with your hair and makeup'

Her eyes lit up in excitement.

'You'll like that, wont you?' he cooed.

'I'll go tell Jane you're ready, she'll bring your dress up too'

As he started to make his way towards the door it suddenly dawned on her that she couldn't even remember his name.

'Erm'

He stopped and turned slightly to face her.

'What is it?'

'I-I don't remember your name' she admits, embarrassed.

The lines around his eyes krinkled once again as he smiled at her.

'Clayton, my love, my name is Clayton'