Chapter 67: Drag Her Back To Hell
[SOREN POV]
"This was a coordinated attack," I growled. "They attacked Shadowclaw because they were obviously looking for something."
"And you’re absolutely sure she is the one they’re after?" Rowan said, darkly glaring at me.
I nodded firmly.
Just then, the door opened. Cassian walked in, shutting the door behind him.
"Violet’s finally asleep. The poor thing got scared―" he paused, taking in the tense atmosphere. Cassian raised an eyebrow and asked, "What’s going on here?"
"Briar is missing," Rowan flatly said.
"Missing?" Cassian echoed. He frowned. "She ran away?"
"No," I said, looking glumly down. "Someone took her. It was a black wolf."
"A black wolf took her―" Cassian’s words clogged in his throat. Both Rowan and I could see something clicking in his head as his expression darkened. "Lucien."
I nodded. "That’s my guess, too."
"Guess he really wasn’t a wolfless freak," Cassian grumbled under his breath. "I thought he would be dead by now."
"Unfortunately, he is very much alive," Rowan said, sighing. He rubbed his temples before slowly opening his eyes. "We don’t know where he took her, or how he coordinated this attack."
"Isn’t it obvious?" Cassian said with a scowl. "He was the one who broke into Briar’s room and left his fucking necklace there for her to find. He must’ve realized somehow that his fated mate was in Shadowclaw and came to retrieve her."
"But how did he know?" I pressed. "He hasn’t returned to Shadowclaw for nearly a decade. They would’ve never had the chance to meet."
"Unless..." Rowan trailed off. "They could’ve met during the time she went missing. According to Cedar, Briar remembers nothing about that period of time. It is possible."
"Or," Cassian said, "he was the one who met with her in the forest when she tried to escape that night."
"Lucien met Briar when she tried to escape?" I said, raising an eyebrow.
"I smelled something foreign on her," Cassian said. "It was another wolf. It smelled familiar back then but I couldn’t pinpoint who it was. Now that I think about it properly, she must’ve escaped to feed him information about Shadowclaw. He launched an attack to save her."
"That would mean that she knew he was her fated mate," I muttered under my breath. For a strange reason, I felt as though someone had stabbed a knife through my heart and twisted it. "Maybe she didn’t even lose her memories. She’s just been faking it this whole time."
"That would mean she still remembers what she did that night she returned," Rowan said pointedly.
With his sentence, the whole room went so quiet that even a pin drop could be heard. All of us stared forlornly at the ground.
"He could’ve met her at a different time," I weakly suggested. "He wouldn’t have known that Briar was his fated mate if he met her during the time she was missing."
Cassian and Rowan exchanged a look, both their lips pressed firmly into a tight line. Neither of them was willing to say a word. In the end, Rowan was the first to speak again.
"Cedar!" he roared.
A series of thumping footsteps came from outside, before Cedar burst in through the door, panting.
"Yes, Alpha?" he asked, breathing heavily.
"Send a team of elite warriors out to track Briar down," Rowan instructed.
"...Sir?" Cedar said, his eyes wide and jaw hanging slightly slack. "Find... Briar?"
"Yes," Cassian said through gritted teeth. "Have you gone deaf, Cedar? Or did the attack make you daft?"
"I just―" Cedar said, looking back and forth between the three of us. When he realized the resolute look in our eyes, he blinked twice and nodded. "Yes, Alphas."
"Once you’ve tracked her down, let me know," Cassian said with a growl. "I will personally drag her back down to hell."
***
[BRIAR POV]
By the time I finally roused from my sleep, I couldn’t find Lucien anywhere. Even Ralph was missing. Only Ezekiel was around, busying about the makeshift infirmary I stayed in.
"He’s out with a few of the fighters at the moment to scout the route ahead of time," Zeke idly said while flipping through his reports. "These forests are surrounded by various werewolf packs. In order to safely travel through with such a large group, we need to make sure the path is a neutral zone, or they would have reason to attack."
I nodded in understanding. That made sense. Even though I had yet to properly exit the tent, assuming that the foreign wolves that attacked Shadowclaw were all part of Lucien’s pack, then there would be way too many members present here to travel without suspicion.
"How long before he comes back?" I asked, nervously twisting the hem of my clothes.
This time, Zeke looked up from his papers. He raised an eyebrow. Even though he didn’t smile, I could see a tinge of amusement dancing in his eyes.
"What," Zeke said, scoffing mockingly. "Don’t tell me you miss him already?"
"I...I..." I stuttered, sheepishly looking everywhere but at him. "No, of course not!" I denied. "I was just wondering..."
He had said that he would be back soon, but at that time, I didn’t think that he would actually be leaving. I thought he meant that he would come visit the infirmary again very quickly.
I was still simmering in the sweet, blissful feeling of finding a mate who didn’t want me dead. It would’ve been nice if we could have spent some time together.
Unfortunately, even though he was a Hadeon, I didn’t know anything about him. I wasn’t even sure how he was related to Rowan, Soren, and Cassian, and could only make educated guesses. My curiosity was eating me alive, and it wouldn’t rest until I had received some sort of confirmation.
"Well, you may have to keep wondering," Zeke said with a small sigh. "Sometimes, it takes a few hours. However, if they want to be thorough, it could take a few days, especially if they run into trouble. Our pack is a little... unique. Traveling through an area so densely occupied by various werewolf packs could bring about some unrest."
"Unique?" I echoed. "Unique how?"
