Rogan
Zane has been harder to deal with than usual, but I wasn't holding it against him since he has been the one who has been dealing with all of the traitors.
This is the first time I've had so many of the cells filled like this, but there has been quite a few that I have been able to let out after making sure that they weren't involved in this callosal sh*t show.
The more people I find out are not involved only leaves the fact that this was planned by someone outside of the pack.
It's been a few hours since Zane had paid his last visit to the cell that we threw Vit in, but I'm pretty sure that we left him in good enough shape to keep breathing.
His betrayal had hit worse than that of the boy. Vit had been one of my most loyal and trustworthy soldiers and the last one I had actually considered to be part of all of this.
Zane had spent plenty of time trying to pry information out of Vit, but he proved why he had been one of my top informants. No matter what he did to him, he never uttered a word.
I had to give it to him, he was probably one of the strongest wolves in this pack and it was truly a waste to see him throw it all away.
He had thrown his lot in with the boy when he tried to take Dylan away from me. I had let myself get too comfortable with my men knowing and becoming too involved with her.
In the end it was no one's fault but my own, but I would not blame myself. Whoever it was who wanted Dylan must have found something to offer Vit that was enough to make him betray his pack and me.
When I think about it, I had to give them credit for being so crafty, but I wondered how long whoever it was had been planning this.
Marq had been working on trying to determine who it was who had come to Blood Mist help get Dylan. Our guards had fought with them, but none been able to recall what they looked or even sounded like.
I had been almost positive that it had been the fae from the previous day, but when Marq had met up with me right after everything happened, the mark on his hand had not changed colors.
There were so many people out there who would love nothing more than to see my demise, but it would take too long to investigate them all.
Zane had wanted to go to each and every pack and tear them apart in our search for Dylan, but I knew I couldn't let him waste so much time.
We needed to figure out who had her and get her back before all of the hard work that we had done turns out to be for nothing.
I have given up everything to achieve my goals. Even more than I was willing to admit, and I would be damned if I let someone do this to me after all I had sacrificed.
Zane had shared my body with me every time he had gone to visit Eren and while he had enjoyed every second of the torture that he was inflicting on him, I hadn't missed his last words from earlier.
Maybe words were not the best way to describe what he had uttered before losing consciousness. It was a name that escaped from his mouth that had caught not only my attention but made me completely pause.
"Mom."
Even though he didn't say her actual name, I knew he was either talking to her or perhaps he was thinking of her while he was in that awful state.
For a moment, just a single moment, I had let her image flash inside my head, and it had been enough to not only stop me, but to stop Zane.
One of the only things that had every been able to calm him had been my precious sister. And while I knew that Zane had an odd attachment to her, he had not hesitated in taking the life of her mate.
In that moment as I watched her beloved son fall into the dark corners of his mind, I wondered what she would do to us if she knew what we were doing to him right now.
Would she still see me as her beloved brother?
Could she understand why I had done the things I had?
Would she still love me as she once did?
It was in those few seconds that I had not only won Eren a reprieve from Zane's ministrations, but I had also reminded myself that I could not be the one to end his life.
That is the one and only grace I will ever offer this boy who carried what lingered of my sister's blood inside of him.
So, we had left him hanging there as we made our way out of my underground cells. No one had seen me bring Eren there, and I hadn't let anyone enter the room and come out alive.
With the help of that bracelet, I had also been able to have Marq replicate one and use it to block his link to Dylan and whoever else may have been trying to trace or track him. So, for all intents and purposes, they probably thought he was dead.
Too bad I needed him alive to get her back. If she was truly his mate, I would have to keep him alive for the foreseeable future at least.
The moment I got up to the main level of cells I received a link from Harper asking for me to come and meet him.
I had kept my distance from the others since Zane had been in full control of my body. It would have been easy for the others to tell that it wasn't me that they were dealing with.
The differences in us were too obvious and the others who were familiar enough with Zane would know right away, and the ones who were not would think that something was wrong with me.
Zane grumbled out loud and I thought I heard him call him an a**hole, but I wasn't completely sure if that was what he had said. I know it wasn't something kind.
Moans and groans were coming from a few of the dark cells we passed, but Zane just laughed as he walked by them. I knew that he would have killed them all if I had let him.
There were two levels of stairs I had to go up to finally reach ground level of the old barracks and it was there that I ended up running into Harper.
For a moment, he seemed to just stare at me and consider what to say next, but there were things that needed to get done, and I had let Zane have enough fun.
Pulling him back, I shrugged and stretched my shoulders a bit as I regained full control of my body, but I saw Harper stand there and watch it all.
Harper was a great beta. He was a leader, strong, and diligent in everything that he did. We had known each other for years, and he was one of the few who had known me before I got Zane.
So, as I caught him watching, I knew that he was waiting for me to get Zane back into his place.
"Are you, you now?"
I didn't look at him for a moment, and I stretched every muscle that I could. Switching places with Zane was different than shifting forms, it felt like I was being thrust back into a suit that was just a bit too snug.
Finally, after stretching everything from my fingers to my toes, I turned to him. "I'm always me Harper, haven't you realized that by now."
And as the words escaped my mouth, I saw a hint of disapproval briefly cross his face and then disappear within seconds.
Harper was willingly oblivious to the things I knew that he didn't like to know about, such as how Zane and I ran Blood Mist.
Once in a while he would forget the things that he had gained and try to go back to the good times that we used to have, and the people who we used to be.
While I had done the things I needed to do to get here, he was not blameless in everything since it had also been what had helped him become beta.
It was easy to remember the past with rose colored glasses when you let your imagination manipulate yourself into believing that there was a greater purpose or a better cause, but that was just bullsh*t and we both knew it.
My regrets were my own, and his would belong to him and him alone. If he had ever wished for things to be different, then he should have spoken up about them long ago.
So, I watched as he quickly fixed his expression and went ahead with the update of what he needed to report to me about.
Harper had sent out two teams to try and find who had attacked our patrols near the base of the mountain, but I had sent a small team of my own guards to see if they could find any trace of Dylan.
Marq had not been able to pick up on her the moment she had left Blood Mist lands because of the type of concealment magic that he had used on her.
As p*ssed off as I was about it, I knew he had no control of that. Magic worked in those ways. You can't use a spell or enchantment to do one thing and then get upset because it works regardless of whether it's in your favor or not.
Noel had gone out with my guards yesterday. It would have been Vit's job to go out and search with them and then go off alone to see what he could pick up, but it seemed that may have been the reason someone had been able to turn him against me.
So, as I sat there and listened to Harper pretty much tell me that neither group had been able to pick up on anything, I felt Zane get angry.
"We should just go out ourselves and find her before it's too late."
Too late huh, while I knew that we couldn't leave just yet, I may have to end up going myself if no one can pick up her trail.
Noel should be back today and if him and my team also came up with nothing I would start with the most obvious place.
While Harper had been adamant about saying that he didn't think that Silver Moon had anything to do with the attack, he had told me who had been at the meeting he had with Aspen.
That f*cking kid kept coming to my mind and the arrogant way he had not only dismissed me the first time we met, but the way that he had dictated everything about the meeting.
Zane had wanted to go straight to Aspen, but without any proof that they had anything to do with taking Dylan I had little reason to start something with them just yet.
Harper finished with his report, but right before he left, he turned to me, "I know that you're not being honest with me about Dylan, but at this point I guess I'm just going to tell you to be careful with whatever it is you're doing."
When he walked out, I felt a little confused and frustrated both by his comments, and his suddenly holy attitude.
No one knew how important Dylan might be because I never trusted a single one of them with that information and this situation only emphasized how right I had been.
This betrayal not only proved my point to be correct, but it also made me consider that maybe there was someone else who had been looking for her and that didn't help my mood right now.
Sitting alone in the office, I tried to finish letting my mind and being settle back into my body. I still felt a bit stiff and now that my mood was souring again it wasn't helping to feel like I was getting back to normal.
Looking at my phone, I saw that it was already a brand new day. The sun would be rising soon, and I would need to make plans for what moves to make next.
I hadn't heard anything from Noel, so instead of sitting around waiting, I decided to link with him and see if he had any update.
To my surprise, he responded right away, which meant that he must be closer to the pack lands than I had thought.
"Noel, have you found anything that you would like to report?"
Grabbing a stack of papers that was at the top of an ever growing pile on my desk, I hadn't expected his next words, but I was glad to hear him.
"Sir, the team has checked all of the packs in the area to see if they could pick up any trace of Miss Solamier's scent, but they are about to return to the pack lands now."
How could it be possible to take a person almost out of thin air, and be left with not even a single trace of them to follow?
My suspicions were leaning more and more towards a magic user and if that is the case, then Marq's older brother was turning into one of my top suspects.
But as my thoughts began to turn to that dark fae, I felt Noel's voice come through again.
"Sir, I separated from the group some time ago and while I was not able to pick up any trace of Miss Solamier, I did come across a scent that was rather familiar."
Placing the papers back on my desk, I closed my eyes and leaned forward as I waited for the news that could make or break this coming day depending on the next words that filled my mind.
"I was able to pick up the scent of the Silvera siblings near the area of Aspen Communications Corporate offices."
Zane was practically salivating at the mouth when Noel's voice filled my mind and we both heard the words he was saying.
This was the best news I've heard in the week since Dylan had gone missing and I was not about to let this lead pass me by.
"Noel, report directly to my private offices as soon as you are back. I want all of the details of what you found."
I felt his agreement come through the link but cut the connection off immediately. I needed to strike while I was hyped up on this little bit of information.
Even though I didn't know everything about the Silvera girl, I knew that she had built a strong relationship with Dylan, and Zane and I were almost sure that wherever we found one we would find the other.
Grabbing my phone, I knew that the I needed to do something to get myself not only onto Aspen's lands, but into their building so I did the only thing I could think of.
I sent a message to Xavier and threw caution to the wind and played the only hand that I might have to play.
Xavier, let your boss know that I demand to meet with him tomorrow and ask him if he wouldn't mind bringing along Dylan Solamier.