GRIFFIN'S POV
A cold gust of wind brings me back to reality as Teddy's uneven voice rings through the mind link.
'Can you sense them now, Alpha?'
'No, I cannot sense them, not even when I mind-link them.'
'Do you know where they went?'
'Yes, they're in my pocket.' I fire at him, annoyed at his useless question. If I knew, I wouldn't be talking to you.'
'Oh, I ... I...' he begins, realizing his words were unhelpful.
'Get that sleepy head of yours here right this minute, and bring a few men along with you. We need the borders secure.'
'This early?' I hear a grumpy voice ring in my head.
'Right this minute, Teddy, before you drive me nuts. Don't give me a reason to lock you up with the stripping boy.' I pause to let my words sink in, hoping he'll get out of bed. Clicking, I complete my sentence with another threat, 'Perhaps I should send you into the no-mans-land to patrol by yourself tonight.'
He jolts up, seemingly disturbed and I can sense his actions. Teddy gets serious at times, although most of the time, he always displays his teeth for all to see, always smiling. He's usually a people pleaser, something that I find hard to fathom.
I swear I heard him curse at me, something about his sexual orientation. I ignore him. The man was hardly serious except when in real danger, though he is one to talk his way out of almost any situation. He's good at negotiation, which has worked in my pack's favor. If things were left in my hands, I would have chosen war. I don't particularly appreciate people disobeying my orders. If that's the case, my usual choice is war. That's my regime, but Teddy's policy of talking things out works out too. I applaud him for that.
A new set of border patrols are stationed along the rogue strip. There's no man's land in between dividing the rogues and us, but the rogues inhabit the land. I don't appreciate that from them. I venture into the no man's land, accompanied by Teddy in his wolf form. We must look for our men, otherwise, their families will never let me rest.
'Do you sense then, alpha?'
'I don't.' I answer Teddy through the mind link. The beast next to me sniffs the air around us, trying to catch a whiff of the warriors' scents.
'Nothing, alpha,' he mind links me.
Standing in my human form, something catches my eye, a rugged white flag with red markings on it. It is something I have become familiar with.
I tap Teddy's head a little bit harder than I intended, and I get a groan in return. He bares his teeth at me, intentionally letting some saliva droop down his sharp mouth. Ignoring his gestures, I carefully walk towards the waving flag. The last time we saw such a flag, one of my warriors rushed towards it, but as fate had it, there was a bear trap. He died a gruesome death.
After his little act, my beta had an alert look on his body. His wolf had its tail up in concentration, and we both were throwing glances everywhere. Slow, quiet steps, sniffing the air for any potential attack, ears perked up, all that for our safety. We got closer, and near us was a pile of five dead bodies. My warriors. My skilled warriors were killed and left on display. Most had sticks protruding from their chests, killed as if they were vampires.
The waving flag brings me back to reality. On it is spell out some bloody mocking words that bruise my ego.
'Enjoyed the dance, Griffin? How about a kiss this time?'
Rage courses through my body and only one word rings in my head, wicked.