Complications Arise

*Rowan*

“What do you mean she’s gone?” Hezzlie questions, standing at the door to my office with her beautiful mouth slightly open. Any other time, I might take that as an invitation, but not now. Not when the woman I’ve seen as a grandmother for the past twenty-some-odd years is actually a spy and has taken off before I can question her.

I stand, not bothering to push my chair in as I stride across the room to the door. “Dean said he went to find her and she wasn’t in her room. He’s got the guards looking for her now.”

“Did she drive away?” Hezzlie asks. 

“No. She doesn’t know how to drive,” I explain. I’ve reached her now and put my hands on her arms. “We’ll find her.”

“How do you know she doesn’t know how to drive?” Hezzlie looks up into my eyes, and I see a thousand questions there. “She lied about… everything else.”

“That’s a fair point,” I admit, trying not to let the soft feel of her flesh beneath my hands derail me from the mission I was about to embark on. “But none of the cars are missing from the garage, and the last one to leave through the gate was Natalie. We know that Wilma was still here when Nat left, so she’s not with her. She has to be on foot–or on paw, as the case may be.”

She nods. “I can help look for her.”

“It’s okay,” I assure her. “Even if she’s not as frail as I’ve always thought she was, it shouldn’t take long for Dean to find her. We have plenty of guards along the border now.”

“What if she went a different way?” Hezzlie counters. “She has to know you’d think she’d run toward Darksky.”

“We have guards all along our borders all the time, just to be safe. I’ve alerted all of them to be looking for her. Someone will catch her scent soon enough, and they’ll bring her back here.” I’ve already used the mind-link to talk to everyone who is on duty at the moment, so I’m sure she will be located even before I can get outside and shift.

I see the lump in Hezzlie’s throat as she tries to swallow it down. “I just can’t believe she’d do something like this.” Tears well up in her eyes.

That’s all I can handle. I pull her against my chest, and she buries her head there, my shirt dampening from her tears as I gently stroke her hair. “It is very hard to believe, I agree. But I suppose I’ve grown used to betrayal at this point.” I’ve always suspected someone let Zeb and his goons into our home the night of the attack, but I never imagined it might’ve been Wilma. When she’s found, and I get a chance to question her about tipping off the enemy last night, I’ll ask her about that as well.

My own sister betrayed me and killed my mother, so after that, it’s kind of hard to be surprised by anything else, even if it wasn’t Mara’s fault.

After a few moments, I begin to hear chatter in my mind. ‘I’ve got her scent,’ Dean tells me. ‘I think she’s up ahead here in the forest.’

‘Is there any chance she’s let Darksky know that she’s been found out and that they might try to rescue her?’ I’m still standing in my office, holding my weeping fiancee, but mentally, I’m out there in the woods with my Beta hunting down a traitor.

‘I don’t smell anyone else,’ he tells me. ‘I think she’s alone.’

‘Well, be cautious,’ I remind him. ‘It’s possible she has another trick or two up her sleeve.’

His sarcastic response makes me chuckle out loud. ‘Wolves don’t wear shirts, Alpha.’

“What’s so funny?” Hezzlie looks up at me like I’ve just passed gas in the Moon Goddess’ Temple.

“Sorry,” I say, staring down into her wide, dark eyes. “Dean’s on her trail, and he just said something… well, something Dean would say.”

A small smile pulls at the corner of her mouth, and I know that she understands. “He’s incorrigible.”

“That he is. Why don’t you go find your mother. She’s probably upset by all of this, too, if she knows what’s happening. She’s grown very close to Wilma since she got here. If she doesn’t know yet, it would probably be best if you’re the one to tell her.” I run my hand down her black silky tresses again.

“You’re right,” Hezzlie agrees. “She will be upset. I’ll go find her.” But before she goes, she lifts up onto her tiptoes and presses her warm mouth to mine. I momentarily forget about Wilma and everything else in the world. When she pulls away, she murmurs, “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” It seems odd to be able to say that to anyone other than my mother or sister and mean it, but there’s no doubt in my mind that this is the woman I’m meant to be with for the rest of my life. I’d protect her at any cost, even if it means sentencing the woman I thought was part of my family for most of my life to death.

Hezzlie leaves, and I stand there for a moment, collecting my thoughts, but also listening to the chatter back and forth through the mind-link.

‘I’ve got her in my sights,’ one of the warriors who’s on duty near the border, Luke, says. 

Dean replies, ‘I’m closing in behind her. I’ve got four other warriors with me. If you can block her from that side, we’ll have her wedged in.’

‘Will do,’ Luke replies. 

I leave my office and hastily walk down the hallway toward the stairs. I’ve only made it a few steps down when Luke says more. ‘We’ve got a few wolves approaching from Darksky,’ he informs all of us. ‘It doesn’t look like a battle line, though.’

Immediately, I tell all of the warriors that are not on duty through the mind-link. ‘Prepare for battle. Report to your commanders at once.’ To the commanders, I say, ‘Secure the northern border.’ The last thing I need is another fight we’re not prepared for.

I pick up my pace and jog down the stairs,  thinking I will shift and go see what’s happening for myself.

‘Alpha!’ another warrior, Mel, shouts in my head. ‘We need the princess! Fast!’

I stop in my tracks at the bottom of the stairs. ‘Why?’ I ask. 

‘Because… one of the wolves who’s coming from Darksky just shifted and is blasting us with some sort of purple magic. He just lit Greg on fire!’

“Fuck!” I shout so loud the maids dusting in the room next to the stairs stick their heads out. ‘I’ll get her there.’

I begin to hear more shouting as the attack begins. ‘Hezzlie, I need you to come to the border with me, now,’ I say to my beloved, wishing I hadn’t sent her away, but also wishing I didn’t have to involve her in this.

‘I’m on my way,’ she says without even questioning why. A few moments later, I hear her footsteps on the stairs above me.

‘They’re using magic,’ I tell her.

She nods. ‘Then, we’ll use magic right back.’

I stare at her for a moment. She looks confident. I know she’s very powerful, but I hate when she falls over after she’s depleted her energy. It’s the worst feeling in the world to see her so still, so death-like. “It’s probably Alistair,” I warn her.

She stares at me for a long moment before a catty grin spreads across her face. “Good. It’s about time I showed him what I can do.”

I want to ask her how she’s so confident she can beat him. He’s not a witch, after all. He’s half wizard, half wolf, just like she is. Apparently, that somehow makes them stronger, even if it doesn’t make any sense to me.

I don’t question her, though. Instead, I grab her hand, and we start running to the closest exit. We’ll shift, and sprint to Mel’s location. I know Hezzlie can do this. But in the back of my mind I’m scared. What if she gets hurt?

I can’t lose her.

I can never lose her.