Page 9 of Ruthless Reign

I was perplexed hearing her scream in the mind link, even more by the fact that she was yelling out for Lex. It ripped a primal urge out of me that I never knew existed—not for a mate, anyway.

The need to protect her was strong, overbearing. And instantly, my strength grew. But it still wasn't enough. The odds weren't in my favor, no matter how strong I am.

I was greatly overpowered, and just as one of them went to deliver the final blow, the sound of rushing wolves appeared as Daxton's boundary monitors headed our way to investigate.

The attacking wolves quickly took off, but when Nyx's voice vanished from my head, I knew they had her. It made me feel sick, and despite my injuries, I gave chase. But somehow, I managed to lose their scent.

By the time I got back to the field, I ran into Daxton and his pack. He quickly shifted and took off as well, but it was no use—they were long gone.

With Nyx.

We failed. No—I failed.

And I can't forgive myself for it. And judging by the murderous look from Lex that's been present since she was taken, he feels the same way.

Daxton's office has become the center of operations. Countless documents, devices, and literature are sprawled out on every inch of surface.

None of us have slept a wink since the attack, reaching out to every connection possible to try to figure out which pack took her. So far, we've come up empty-handed, but we're not going to give up.

The pain is a reminder of my failure, but also an indication that she's okay—physically, at least.

Even with my zero experience with mate bonds, I recognize it easily. It's a link to her, the connection trying to pull us together.

Except I don't know where the fuck she is.

And if Lex is feeling the same pain, I don't blame him for wanting to slaughter me. But if he thinks I'm going to put up with his bullshit, he's sorely mistaken.

"I've spoken to Wyatt. He's assembling a team to help," Daxton says sharply, scanning a piece of paper.

"My beta is on his way back now," Lex answers, sending me another glare. "He's bringing some of my people with him."

The two of them look at me, waiting for my own update. I close my laptop screen, shooting a blank look back at Lex. It's fairly void of emotion, but he gets the hint, jaw ticking angrily.

"Darius has briefed the pack members who are currently here in Shadow Creek. We've also updated the pack back home on the situation and we have a team heading this way too."

"Wonderful that you're contributing given everything," Lex snaps.

I raise an eyebrow in reply. Even though I agree with him, I won't be spoken to that way by anyone—alpha or otherwise. "If she wasn't so damn stubborn and actually listened, we wouldn't be in his mess."

Lex's eyes widen with rage, but before he can leap off his chair, Daxton holds up his hand.

"Enough. We're all on edge. But this is time sensitive. We need to focus and locate which pack was involved." Pausing, he gives us both a sympathetic glance. "Lex, I know you are worried about her, as we are too, but unfortunately, Maverick is right. We all know what Stevens is like. Nothing was going to stop her from following after him into the woods. She's very protective—if she thought there was a chance someone could be harmed, she would try to stop it."

The air deflates around us as his words sink in.

"Besides, Maverick did what any of us would have done in that situation. He sensed a threat, went to investigate, and tried to order her to stay back. But none of us could have foreseen that coming. It was a risky move bringing so many wolves onto our territory," Daxton adds.

"Yes, well, that leads to the question about your boundary monitors," Lex says sharply. "How were so many able to sneak through without being seen?"

Daxton leans back in his chair, obviously battling his own internal turmoil and guilt. "I reduced monitoring numbers that night. Given it was after the funeral of one of our own, who was killeddoing it, I didn't want to unnecessarily cause more harm to my grieving members. I assumed that with both of you here, and after such a recent attack, that another would be unlikely. That was a mistake I made."

"He's right," I agree. "The Shadow Pack territory is huge. The monitoring was suitable for the situation we anticipated, but with bringing that many wolves, they were able to disarm us. It's easy to find the gaps and sneak in if they were watching the monitors beforehand to know where they would be positioned at a certain time. This was a targeted attack. They weren't intending to do anything other than getting to Nyx—and me."

"She shouldn't have been there," Lex murmurs, low. "How could they have foreseen that she would be running at that time? She was with me beforehand."

I don't miss the way he possessively says it, while shooting me a glance. I ignore him, hand running over my face. "It's strange. They would have to have known that there was minimal security. Why that night? The only way possible would be if someone leaked that information."

"No one in my pack would have leaked anything," Daxton snaps back, offended by the accusation. "This was just a targeted attack—right place, right time for them. Stevens runs quite frequently. If these are the same ones who have been watching for a while then it's easy to gather that information. They could have also anticipated the funeral, knowing we would want to lay Tyler to rest before the full moon, and perhaps took a risk, banking on the grief that people would be experiencing—thus hoping that she would be out running to dispel that."

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