~Lucian's P.O.V~
A girl with brown hair and natural ringlets pads into the room shortly after. Her eyes meet Arthur's and they both freeze. Arthur inhales deeply and I know instantly what happened, he found his mate. A grin breaks out on both their faces and I can't help, but crack a small smile of my own.
"Mary?" I ask, breaking their trance as she blinks a few times before looking over at me. She was wearing a new looking red leather jacket, a black crop top underneath and skinny blue ripped jeans with black vans to complete her look.
"You have five minutes." Alpha Marcus says, stepping out of the room.
"Yeah, I'm Mary, who wants to know?" I liked her spunky attitude. She's perfect for Arthur.
"I'm Lucian Hendrix, and this," I motioned towards Arthur, "is Arthur, we're from the Silver Moon Pack." her eyes widen and she gasps slightly covering her mouth.
"If you know who I am, then you... you must've found Ella! Is she okay? Is she with you? Please tell me she's okay." her eyes well up slightly and she blinks furiously to keep them from falling.
"Ella is actually my mate, but she's the reason we're here. Our pack was attacked by the vampires. She came up with a plan to do a reconnaissance mission to scout out their location. We found their hideout, and just before we were heading out she was captured. She's been gone for three days. We have to find her." her tears fall freely now as she takes in the information.
"What do you need from me?" she whimpers out, Arthur reaches out to grab her shoulder but second guesses himself and drops his arm.
"We need your help finding her. You know her best and know how she'll work through this situation. Meet us at the border at midnight and we will take you back to our pack with us." I hurried through the last part knowing our five minutes was up. Just before she can answer, the office door opens and the alpha walks in.
"Five minutes are up. Get off my territory. Now." Alpha Marcus growls at us, we nod quickly and leave the house and territory.
Midnight rolls around faster than I expected and we're now sitting on the edge of the Blood Moon Pack's territory once more. We are sitting just a ways from the border covered by trees and bushes so we don't alert an evening patrol to our presence.
'So, Mary?' I mind link to Arthur with a knowing hitch in my voice. His red wolf grins back at me.
'You caught on to that?' he asks shyly and I grin back to him.
'I'm your best friend, of course I'm gonna know when you have found your mate.' I retort to him just as a beautiful silver furred wolf steps out into the trees beside us. Arthur's wolf looks on approvingly. I could tell he was impressed with her wolf. It's not often we stumble across a silver wolf almost as rarely as Ella's colorings. I remember how proud I was upon seeing her wolf, even if she was thin and weak at the time. After her day in the hospital with a constant IV of nutrients she had looked a thousand times better. Her muscles had bulked up a bit not much, but some weights will help with that, but her ribs no longer stuck out and she just looked healthy. Her wolf that morning seemed to have grown double in size thanks to it as well. A whimper escapes my throat as I shake my head to clear the thoughts from my mind. I had to have a clear mind right now, I can't lose my shit right now. I have to get her back.
'Isn't she perfect?' Arthur's wolf practically purrs over the link, 'I'm sorry about Ella, I now fully understand what it means to lose a mate. I may have just found her, but if I was in your shoes right now. I couldn't be as collected as you are. We will get Ella back. Then we can discuss Mary joining the ranks.' I nod at Arthur then turn my snout towards Mary motioning her in the direction of our territory letting her know we're ready to head back.
It was about three in the morning when we finally made it back to the territory. Arthur led Mary to his place where she would be staying in the guest room until we found a permanent house for her. Granted I wouldn't doubt Arthur letting her just stay with him.We would be heading out on the search in the midafternoon when the sun was at its peak in the sky. The moment the vampires would be weakest if they stepped outside. I dragged my feet to my room in the Alpha manor and collapsed on the bed. I haven't slept since she was taken and it was starting to weigh on me, but I just couldn't sleep. Everytime I closed my eyes I saw his filthy hands around her throat, and heard her gut wrenching screams. I know why Arthur and the others didn't let me back inside, but I was still very upset about it. I had her for one day. One full day and my mate slipped through my fingers. She has suffered her entire life and I can only imagine what pain and torture she was enduring know. Vampires were known to feed off our blood. Something about it increased their powers or something. I was terrified when I heard the stories I never wanted to fully listen to, now I regret not paying attention.
'Lucian?' Ella's voice filtered into my mind through the mind link. Once the mating ceremony was completed we would have our mate bond that is stronger than just a pack bond. All of our emotions and anything endure will be felt through the bond. Which is why when one mate dies usually the other does as well. Unless the Moon Goddess has already arranged a second chance mate.
'Ella! Oh my Goddess Ella!? Is it really you?' her voice had sounded very faint like she was very faraway, it was hoarse like she'd been screaming for hours, physically and mentally. My heart shattered at the thought of what was happening to her.
'I... don't...much... time...strength… run... thin. Please...help me' her voice kept cutting in and out like a cellphone with hardly any service bars, but I knew what she said. "I don't have much time, my strength is running thin. Please help me." clenching my fist I send it through the wall right behind my bed causing a giant hole to erupt into the log. I had to find her fast. If her strength was already running thin there was no way she'd make it longer than another day. She was probably the weakest choice they could have chosen, which was the smartest move they made. She wasn't weak in the spiritual way, physically she had already endured so much and had no time to recover before she was just thrown into the boxing ring again. I had to find her today.