38. Out in The Dark Woods

**XANDER**

Heavy is the head that wears a crown.
I heard it from a human when I was about ten-year-old, only I could never understand the weight of his words. For us, the wolves, it meant an Alpha. And being a leader was always a matter of extreme pride and status. Not that we took our place for granted; in fact, we earned them every day until death, but I felt jaded for the first time in years. Emotionally.
The Old Laws of the wolves were ancient and orthodox. Therefore, executing them was never easy. And back in my mind, I would always hear my father say:
An alpha must always guard his heart inside an iron casket, and the only time it is opened was for his mate.
That was all I had learned since I was a pup.
When Dylan had carried away Sedona back into their private chambers, and the rest of the members went back to their respective places, I stayed behind and reflected on my day as the leader of the Night Pride. Sadly, honor and pleasure were the feelings that flooded my mind. My mind felt scattered, and my thoughts were erratic. The wolf in my mind howled, wanting to be set free.
And subconsciously only registered one voice, one face - that could center my world and put it back on its axis. Maeve.
Not wanting to spend any more time by myself in the darkness, I was ready to be welcomed into the arms of my mate. Fates, I have already made her wait for far too long.
By the time I returned to the packhouse and advanced towards our bedroom, the lights were shut. A few paces closer ensured that not only was it dark but also empty. There was no sign of Maeve whatsoever.
Why isn’t she is the room?
Frantically, I began to search every room and corner of the packhouse, asking the guards around if they saw her. And when I finally came up with nothing, I found Eirlys returning home with a bunch of woods in her hands. A small ripple of concern flashes in her eyes.
“Eirlys, have you seen Maeve?” I asked, sounding as exasperated as I felt.
She looked around, confused. “No, Alpha. But she must be in her room because I have not seen her the entire evening. She treated Caleb and then…left.” She drawled out. “We were not supposed to be around as per your instructions.”
“Okay.”
She nodded and was about to walk past before I called her out again. “Eirlys?”
“Yes?"
“Has Maeve heard about Sedona?”
In a flitting moment, her eyes flashed a complete terror before she sighed in defeat. “Yes. Grecia was discussing about Sedona when Maeve was around and naturally, she asked a couple of questions. But that was it. I thought you would not like the matter to be discussed without running it by you.”
My heart catapulted so fast I could barely breathe. The worst of the worse fears were coming true, and it was all because I failed to see this through. I should have known that Maeve would have questions about Sedona and that she would try and find out the truth her way.
“Thank you, Eirlys,” I almost choked on my voice.
I sprinted out of their so fast I barely noticed the guards or the hunters in and around the pack house. Time was my biggest enemy right now, and if I did not work it out, I could Maeve forever.
There was only one person I could reach out to in times like this; the only one who was capable enough to see me in a vulnerable state. When I found the door, I simply stormed in without bothering to knock.
“Blaize, we have a problem,” I wheezed, slamming shut the door.
As expected, he was a little flabbergasted. “What happened?”
“Maeve was asking around about Sedona and now, I can’t find her anywhere. I have looked everywhere around the pack house and the grounds and the kitchen and then the halls, but she is nowhere to be found. I don’t…I can’t even reach her cellphone.” By the time my rant ended, I was breathing hard, and a light sheen of sweat crowded my forehead.
“Xander, Calm down,” Blaize implored. Placing his hands on my shoulder, he looked me straight into the eyes. “I thought you told Maeve about Sedona.”
“I didn’t find a chance!” I barked and shrugged off his hands.
“Isn’t is obvious that she will hear about Sedona, given every wolf in the pack is talking about her? But, wait.” I contemplated for a second before pointing. “You said that all the females were in the pack house, right?"
“That’s what I thought.” Sighing, I ran a hand through my hand and shook my head. “I don’t know, Blaize. I can’t of anything. Eirlys told me that she hasn’t seen Maeve the entire evening. I can’t even pick up her scent!”
“Okay, let’s calm down and think this through,” Blaize tried. And yes, I did trust his council because even though he was younger, his wolf was wiser than mine in times of crisis. So I listened to his words carefully. “Even if she has heard about Sedona, she doesn’t where the punishment took place. Maybe, she is out…exploring?”
This did not sound right. “Maeve is smart enough to extract any information she wants. The last thing I want is, for the pack to get involved in this mess. I need to find her and fast.”
Blaize nodded, slipping the t-shirt over his head, and pocketed his phone. “Why don’t we go back in the woods and find out? If Maeve was indeed around, she would have left you a scent.”
“Okay.”
We rushed back to the old house in the woods where Sedona paid her penance and delivered her apology a couple of hours ago. And aside from the thick silence and desolate ruin, nothing much can ever be spoken about it.
“Do you think the Firehound Pack is behind this?” Blaize voiced his concern, although I did consider it at some point.
“The idea is far fetched,” I said, a little unconvinced. “But I wouldn’t put it past them. However, our territory is strongly manned. There is no way an outsider could get in without being noticed.” Shifter or not, their scent would give them away.
There was no sign of Maeve in and around as we treaded through the darkness. I called out her name a few times, in the forlorn hope that she would appear. But I seemed like the Goddess was not very kind to me today.
And yet the beast in me was far from giving up on his mate.
“Did you find anything?” I asked when I found Blaize lowered himself on one knee and suspiciously picked up something off the ground.
“I think I do,” he mumbled, bringing the chunk closer to his nose and inhaled. “Cigiofrass.” His eyes shot up to mine in disbelief. “The scent-masking herb.”
As pups, we would often steal these dried herbs from Asa’s laboratory so that we could hide from the elders. Ironically, Maeve got her hands on these too.
“Shit.” I cursed, grabbing the chunk from him, and inhaled. “How in the name of hell did she pull this off? How will she know that Cigiofrass is used to block our senses?"
Blaize rose on his feet and snarled at me, “Does it matter? She must have seen what happened to Sedona and took off. You should have told her Xander before she had to find it out from someone else.”
"You think I don’t know it?” I snapped back. “Of course, I would have eased her in about the Old Laws but I hardly got time. Last time, the pack chose me as their Alpha and I had to spent the freaking full moon night in the mountains to suppress the mating pull. I could not give in to the heat! And by the time I came back to the pack house, Sedona was here.”
His temper mellowed as he shook his head and gazed around. “I m sorry. But we have to find her before she lands up in another pack’s territory.”
It was another one of my fears.
Bad enough, she was carrying a wolf’s scent on her body; her ancient bloodline of psychic sisters did not help either. Maeve has already shown an involuntary episode of her dark magic. I was terrified if the wrong kind of supernaturals gets their hands on her.
“We might not have her scent, but we do have footsteps,” Blaize said, cutting into my thoughts. He traced a path where faint footsteps were highlighted under the bright flashlight of his phone. “Maeve was not very careful.”
“The footsteps end here,” I pointed a few paces away and looked ahead into the scarce woods. “It is already quite dark now. So, Maeve won’t be able to cross the woods, given she has no idea how vast the place is. The night is the only advantage we have.”
My brother, the beta of my pack, fixed me with a look. “How are you supposed to locate her without her scent?”
I had very little time to spare, so I started to take off the clothes as I replied, “The effect of Cigiofrass lasts for only about a few hours. My human self might not pick her, but my wolf will surely does.”
"Let me come with you then,” Blaize implored as I threw the clothes.
“No. I need to find her on my own. Stay here and see if you can find anything else.”
I did not wait for a reply as I leaped out of my skin and shifted. And sure enough, my wolf did find a scent, however faint it was.
*Maeve, you don’t run from a wolf, and you sure as hell, don’t run from you, mate*.

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***What do you think will happen next? Will Xander be able to get his mate back before she lands up in any more trouble?***