Part A: Chapter 14

***Carter’s POV***

Camping had never been my favourite thing to do and it had been over a week since we left the comfort of our homes and I missed my bed like crazy.

Once in a while, the stupid rogues would show up and try to attack us but they all ended up dead, as usual. I scoffed at the thought that I had left my bed for a bunch of losers who weren’t even worth my time much less Aidan’s.

One of our men came running over to me and he looked panicked. “Beta, we have a problem,” he said breathlessly and I was already up, ready for whatever it was he had to say.

“What is it?”

He looked around before leaning in closer. “We just received word from Ivan that Ms. Jemila has been kidnapped,” he said.

My body tensed. Oh fuck, we were all screwed. “How long?”

“Over a week now,” he responded.

“What the fuck? A week? Why did he wait that long to inform us?” I was now pacing back and forth, trying to come up with a way I was going to break the news to Aidan. I hated having to be the one to do it to him.

The guy bowed his head, “he was said he was trying to find a way to track her but whoever it was that got her made sure they didn’t leave any traces,” he responded. “And he also said he had been trying to mind link with you but he couldn’t get in touch.”

I mentally rolled my eyes, Ivan was just scared of letting Aidan know because he’s arse would be handed over to him. I pitied the guy, he was in so much trouble already and he knew it. I wonder what Aidan was going to do when he found out that his mate had been kidnapped under his Gamma’s watch.

“Is that all?” I asked.

The guy nodded and I waved him away. I had to think of how I was going to break the news to Aidan once he came back but that wasn’t going to be an easy thing. Goddess, save my soul.

Taking a deep breath, I decided to mind link Aidan. Where are you? We have a situation.

Moments later, I received a message from him.

What is it? What happened? I’ve only been gone for an hour and you’ve already messed up.

I scoffed, of course he would be blaming me without even knowing what happened. Typical of him to always assume I could be the one always messing up when he wasn’t around.

Just get here.

I continued pacing back and forth after that all the men around me got scared and backed away. It wasn’t my intention to scare anyone but when Aidan finds out, we best be ready for a really long night.

Aidan came back after two hours and he was already glaring at me without even knowing what was wrong.

“Dude, chill out, I didn’t do anything,” I raised my hands up in surrender. “But you really aren’t going to like it.”

“Spit it out already, you’re wasting my time,” he growled.

I looked around at the men who were sitting close and turned my full gaze on them. I had to tell Aidan alone. “Leave us, all of you,” I yelled and everyone scrambled away in fear.

“Jemila has been kidnapped,” I said coolly and upfront. There was no easy way to say it and it hurt me even thinking about it.

Aidan froze, staring at me without saying anything. “What did you just say?” he finally asked, inching closer and closer to me until he was standing right in front of my face, devoid of any emotion.

I racked my fingers through my hair and looked away from him. “She’s been kidnapped, a message just arrived today and I didn’t know any better way of telling you,” I replied.
Aidan’s face fell and he sighed. “How long?”

“Over a week, give or take.”

Aidan visibly took a deep breath and tagged at his hair pretty hard. I was afraid he was going to pull out his hair. “And where was Ivan when all this was happening? Better yet, why didn’t he tell me when it happened?”

I placed a hand on his shoulder, the only sign of comfort I knew. “He was afraid and from the looks of it, even I am terrified and I didn’t know until today. So, cut him some slack, he tried finding her.”

That made him snap, “cut him some slack? Seriously, he let her get kidnapped and didn’t have the courage to tell me and now you tell me to cut him some slack for being incompetent and risking her life?” He was furious now and his eyes flashed black, making me take a step back.

“Okay, we can leave and look for her, let the men oversee things here while we search for her,” I tried to reason with him. “I’m sure she is okay. She has to be.” I whispered the last words to myself because I didn’t want anything to happen to her, she was really cool and I liked that she made him happy. The first time I had actually seen him happy even though he continued to intentionally fuck everything up.

He grabbed my collar and snarled at me, his control over his wolf waning. “We find her no matter what, got it?”

I nodded my head and he let go of my collar. I bowed and then left to inform our men that we were leaving because something important had come up and they could handle themselves. After that, I left to meet Aidan and we transformed into our wolf forms before zooming.

******
The place was the same as when we had left it but there was a different aura, one of dread as they watched us pass by. Everyone we passed, looked sullen and afraid, just how I felt but tried my hardest not to show it.

Aidan and I shared a look and he nodded in understanding. We planned on cleaning up and changing into new clothes before we met up with everyone and found out what had actually happened.

I transformed back into my human form once I was closer to my house. I took a quick shower and changed into a pair of fresh jeans and shirt before I went over to Aidan’s quarters where the loud crashing made me stop in my tracks. Sighing, I took a deep breath and continued.

When I got there, I entered without knocking and the sight that met me was devastating.

“Alpha?” I yelled and the crashing continued, coming from his room. I cautiously approached his room and slowly opened the door.

Aidan was throwing things against the wall and I sighed. This was going to be harder than I thought. “Aidan? Listen to me, have your wolf under control,” I said, making sure to enunciate each word. “You can’t have your people think you’ve lost your mind and are completely unstable, do you understand me?”

He turned to look at me and his eyes were completely dark. “I can’t lose her,” he snarled and threw the lamp against the wall and I watched as it crashed and broke into a thousand pieces.

I walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, making him look at me. “She is okay, you have to feel her,” I said and I could see him fighting with himself. “But you can’t rescue her if you lose control, do you understand?”

His eyes changed to a darker green and he took a deep breath. “It’s all my fault,” he said and his voice cracked as he fell to the ground, looking defeated. “I shouldn’t have left her alone, it’s all my fault. Fuck.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, we will find her. Just get your shit together,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. “Let’s try with tracking her scent and see how that goes, okay?”

“Okay, I think I can do that.”

“Good, now go take a shower and change into something decent while I prepare something for us to eat.” Aidan got up and I clapped him on the back as he stood up and walked into the shower. That turned out better than I thought.

I quickly made us something to eat and when Aidan walked out of the shower, he looked like a new person, someone who was determined to find his mate. We ate quickly and then Aidan grabbed one of Jemila’s clothes which were stuffed in a duffle bag by the door. I had so many questions and I was certain he had the exact same questions as I did.

Something was completely wrong here and whatever it was, we were going to get to the bottom of it and find out who had been so foolish as to kidnap the next Luna of the Black Sea Wolves.

“Whoever took her will pay, I'm sure of that,” Aidan said, a stern look and fire blazing in his eyes.