An Alpha's Alpha

Missing

She wasn't here. Jake had watched, his eyes searching for her face as the crowd piled into his home. He spotted Liam, three of Cassidy's pack in tow, but still no Cassidy.

His wolf itched, urging him to go and find her, he was never a patient animal but right now knowing that his mate could be in danger, he could barely breathe. His eyes locked with Liam's, a silent comment passing between them. Liam had seen her and she'd promised she was right behind them - but she wasn't.

One of her pack mates, Leah,he thought, was searching the crowd too. Her eyes scanning back and forth as she looked for her alpha, just as Jake did, though they both knew they'd sense her if she was here.

As the last of the wolves shuffled in, the front door was pulled closed and Jake's stomach dropped. If she wasn't here, then it meant that either Caine had her, or she was dead - neither option worked for him. It took everything he had not to leave and go to find her, but he had to put his pack first - he had to let them know of the danger and keep them safe.

Doc was stood at the back leant against the wall, a shadow of the man he'd once been. His skin had turned an off-grey colour, and his eyes never left the floor. Jake's heart panged in sadness, the last 24 hours catching up to him. Darcy - how he would miss Darcy.

He wondered if he'd look like Doc, grey, dull and broken if Cassidy died. Would he be a shell of his former self - he knew the answer before he'd even thought of the question. The vague idea of losing her had his wolf in a tailspin. At this point, he wasn't sure which was more likely, that he'd sink into depression or turn rogue and have to be put down. Either way, losing Cassidy would have an everlasting effect on him.

His hands curled into fists, his shoulders tense - he would have to get this over with quickly and then he could go and find her and bring her home, to him.

Turning to his wolves, he saw their eyes each calculating his demeanour. The scent of fear washed off of Cassidy's pack, and Jake's anger wasn't exactly hidden - that couple with Cassidy's absence meant that they knew something was wrong - they could sense their alpha's pain.

"The Rootbridge pack are under attack, we are under attack." He began, taking in a shaky breath, "They are being hunted by an Alpha named Caine, he has falsely claimed that the alpha of Rootbridge is his mate, we believe he's on our pack territory. They evaded detection an-"

"Impossible!" Someone shouted from the crowd, a murmur of voices drowning out Jake for a moment.

"It is possible, they didn't need to circumvent our security system, because someone let them in. Unfortunately, one of our pack members was fooled into believing that Caine was an innocent victim."

As Jake said it, he realised that Elenor wasn't here. He re-checked the crowd to make sure he hadn't missed anything - nope, she wasn't here. Panic seized his mind, neither Elenor nor Cassidy were here and Caine was no doubt lose on his territory somewhere. Jake's flimsy restraint on his wolf broke, and without another word he transformed into his wolf and ran out the door, that to his surprise was held open by Doc. Jake paused for a millisecond, sharing a look with Doc that spoke volumes - he had no intention of seeing the man more son than most face the same mate-less fate as he was.

Jake disappeared out into the abating darkness, intent on saving his mate.