Xander's POV

"How," my fists slammed down on the table, making my Gamma, Tess, flinch, "is it possible we still haven't found him?" I said, walking around the table and flattened out the map, leaning over it. "We're fucking wolves for Goddess' sake. How can we not find one of our own?"

"We're doing the best we can," Tess said calmly, crossing her arms.

"The best we can do is not good enough. He could be dead for all we know," I growled, marking the map for the sixth time.

"We'd know if he was dead. We'll find him," Tess encouraged, setting a hand on my shoulder.

I straightened and pinched the bridge of my nose. My beta had been missing for two days. Other packs were on alert, trying to help us but no one had found a goddamn thing.

"Xander," Tess said, tapping my shoulder.

"What?" I snapped, turning towards her. "Sorry," I added, shaking my head.

"What's going on with you?" She said, frowning.

"Kaden is missing, what do you think is going on with me?"

"That's not all it is," she said, tilting her head to the side. "Your asshole meter jumped about ten times higher a couple hours ago."

"I'm just worried," I defended, turning back to the map.

"Come on, it's me," she tried again.

"I don't fucking know, all right?" I said, hitting the table and knocking over a glass of water.

It spilled over the map and I quickly picked it up.

"Fuck!" I growled.

Tess stepped forward and took the map from me, giving me a concerned look.

"Stop looking at me like that," I snapped.

Her frown deepened and she opened her mouth to speak but my phone rang. We both jumped for it but she reached it first, holding up her finger and showing me the screen. Unknown. She set the phone down and accepted the call, putting it on speaker.

"Gamma Tess speaking," she said calmly, although her repeated tapping against her arm showed how anxious she was.

"I'm only interested in speaking to the Alpha," the voice responded. One I recognized. Alister. Blood-sucking cunt. "You have five seconds to get him on the phone before his precious Beta," a whimper sounded through the phone.

Kaden. At least, I thought it was Kaden. It was hard to tell. I lunged forward.

"This is Alpha Xander, who the fuck is this?" I said angrily. I knew who his voice but I wanted him to admit it.

Tess set her hand on my arm and motioned with her hands for me to calm down. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair.

"You should be nicer, Alpha Xander. Your Beta's life does lie in my hands."

"What do you want?" I said through gritted teeth.

"It's very simple. I want you. I want you alone at the base of Knox valley in two hours or your Beta dies."

Tess shook her head fervently and reached for the phone but I stopped her movement.

"How do I know Kaden will be safe if I do this? For all I know you'll kill him the moment we hang up or he's already dead," I challenged.

There was a laugh and suddenly the phone alerted me of a video request. Tess shook her head again but I accepted. It was dark at first then the phone moved around and I saw Kaden. He was laying on the ground, beaten and bleeding, silver chains burning his wrists and ankles.

"Kaden," I breathed out.

"Let me put it this way," Alister said, sending a swift kick to Kaden who groaned in response. "You don't have a lot of choices. Either you meet me and see what happens or you don't and he definitely dies. And not just him. I have something else belonging to you."

Tess and I frowned as the camera moved away from Kaden and was shrouded in darkness again. The camera stopped moving but I couldn't see anything. I heard a whimper. A female this time. A light turned on and then I could see her. The air knocked out of me when her eyes lifted to the camera. Perfect, brown eyes. Perfect in every way. My mate.

"Luna," Tess breathed, clutching her chest.

My mate's lip quivered then a something smacked her in the face, snapping her head back. An involuntary growl came out of me and I nearly crushed the phone as she let out a small cry, her face jerking to the side from the movement.

"Two hours or your mate and your Beta die. And believe you me, it won't be slow for her. She's awfully pretty isn't she? We all think so. We all want a taste of it."

"Alister I swear to Goddess if you lay a finger on her," I snarled.

"That's entirely up to you, Alpha." The call ended.

I stared at the blank screen and sunk to my knees. My mate. My mate and my Beta in the hands of fucking vampires. I breathed out unevenly, barely hearing Tess call for others.

Several people entered the room before I was able to regain focus. I stood and looked around the room, my eyes landing on Cassie, our witch.

"How could they find her before I did? I would think they were lying but... They weren't. I felt it," I said, walking towards her.

"I heard it was done once before, a long time ago. It's a dark ritual. If what I read was true, they had to have something of yours that was very important. It usually requires a sacrifice as well."

"Kaden," Tess realized, glancing to me. "They took Kaden."

"It's possible they used Kaden's blood with a sacrifice to be able to locate her," Cassie confirmed with a nod.

"All right. We have to strategize. Were you able to trace the call?" Tess asked Nick.

Nick handled a lot of cleaning up for us, he was a good hacker, good at a lot of things in regards to technology. Nick shook his head sadly.

"There's nothing to strategize. I have to go," I said, shaking my head.

"You can't. They'll probably kill you and them," Tess protested angrily.

"I won't do nothing, Tess. They have all the cards and I'll be damned if I don't do whatever it takes to save them both," I said, stalking out the door.

Tess was quick on my heels, grabbing my arm and jerking me to face her.

"You cannot do this," she said firmly, shaking her head.

"Remember who you're talking to," I growled.

She rolled her eyes and set her hands on her hips.

"Don't pull that Alpha shit with me. You can't do this, Xander. Your pack is counting on you. They can't lose their Alpha, Luna and Beta all in one night. We have to come up with a better plan. Cassie's been working hard on the masking scent. We can come with you unnoticed."

"And what happens if you are noticed?" I pointed out, lifting my arms in exasperation.

"We won't be. Trust me," she urged.

"I can't put their lives at risk."

"You can't put your own at risk, you idiot. As your Gamma one of my responsibilities is keeping you alive and I'm not letting you walk into this trap alone."

"I can feel her, Tess," I whispered, setting my hand on my chest. "That's what's been wrong. That's why I've been irritable. I could feel she was in danger I just didn't realize that's what it was. I have to help her."

"I know. She's my Luna too," Tess said, frowning. "I'm not saying we leave them to rot. I'm saying don't get so freaked out you do something stupid. I've always been the best strategist you had. Let me take care of making a plan. You're too upset to focus."

I raised my eyes to her concerned ones and nodded reluctantly. Cassie stepped into the room with a hopeful expression on her face.

"Alpha," she said, walking towards me. "You saw the Luna, right?"

"Yes," I answered.

That face was ingrained in my memory forever, now.

"That was their mistake. Now that you've seen her you're more connected. I remember reading a way for mates to track each other. We might be able to find her if you're willing to give me a little blood and time."

"Yes. Of course," I answered quickly. "But it can't be too much time. We have less than two hours."

Cassie nodded confidently and brushed past me out the door. I followed after her, praying to the Goddess that my mate would be safe. We ran to Cassie's house and she flipped open a book, handing it to me as she picked up another.

"Look for anything that brings up mate tracing," she said, opening her own book and setting her finger on the paper as she skimmed the words.

I went through my book as quickly as careful allowed. Reading about the sacrility of mates was not helping my mood. I tried to focus, looking for key words but it was difficult. All I could see was her face. Him hurting her. I gripped the book. The fucker was going to pay for hurting her. For taking her from me. I took a deep breath and leaned closer to the book in the hopes it would make me focus better.

"Alpha, I think I've got it," Cassie said.

My head jerked up and she murmured something before nodding and carrying the book with her.

"We need supplies. Just a few things."

"Whatever you need," I said, rising from the table.

Renzo, her mate, came around the corner holding a bowl of food.

"Oh, hey Alpha," he greeted with a grin.

"Renzo," Cassie scolded, shaking her head. "Put the food down and go to the Emily's for me. I need these herbs," she said, turning the book towards him and pointing at it.

Renzo nodded and sped out the door. Cassie stepped further into her house and I followed after her. She busied around the kitchen, pulling out a pot and some other things before setting the pot on the stove. She paused and looked over at me with an encouraging smile.

"This will work. We'll find her," she assured.

I nodded because I trusted Cassie but I couldn't help the anxiety filling me, wondering what they were doing to her because of me. Patience wasn't my strong suit.

Renzo gathered the supplies and Cassie took some of my blood. She poured my blood as well as other herbs and shit into the pot and stirred, murmuring some words with her eyes closed. I glanced over at her obnoxiously loud ticking clock. With all the gathering and prepping, it had almost been an hour already. I tapped my foot impatiently and turned to walk out of the kitchen. I was going to snap if I didn't take a breather. I stepped outside and Tess was approaching.

"How's it coming?" She asked.

"Slowly."

"I have a plan," she informed me confidently.

I nodded and leaned back against the wall.

"It's going to work," she added.

I opened my eyes and her face crumpled.

"Oh, Xander. It's going to be okay," she assured, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around me. "We'll get them both back."

I couldn't manage to say what if we didn't. Now that I knew what was happening I swear I could feel her. I could feel her fear. It spiked a while ago when I snapped at Renzo but it was less now. I wondered if she could feel mine. I didn't know how it worked. She may not feel me at all. But she hadn't seen me. Our video wasn't on. Just theirs.

I needed to keep it together in case she could feel me. My anxiety wasn't going to help her. Tess stepped back and leaned against the wall next to me.

"I think we need to consider a certain Alpha working with the vamps," she said.

"That's a strong accusation to make," I commented, tapping my fingers against the wall.

"I don't see you denying it."

"I'm not. I'm just saying an accusation of that degree would need quite a bit of evidence to back it up."

"We might get that evidence tonight," she said, turning her body towards me and crossing her arms. "However this goes, if Rego's involved he won't be able to help but rub it in your face. He'll try to make you look weak, make him look like a stronger Alpha because he got your mate and your Beta."

"I'm aware how Rego works," I snapped. "If he's involved he'll be lucky if he lives to a trial."

"You have to play by the rules if he is," Tess warned, narrowing her eyes. "I'm serious."

"If I need to kill him to protect them then I will, unapologetically."

"Xander," Tess sighed, smacking her head with her hand. "You know the game. You already get in trouble for breaking the rules. If you kill him without a trial it will start a war with his pack."

"I'd like to see them try to take us down."

"People would have to take sides and even people that don't like Rego would back his pack if you don't play this right.," she said, frowning. "Some of the other packs are very traditional. Their respect for you won't matter, the law is held in higher regard."

"That's enough," I growled, pushing off the wall. "I'm not discussing this right now."

"Xander, you need to get ahold of yourself. Your mate is making you agitated."

"Fairly certain you're the one making me agitated," I countered, brushing past her and walking into the house.

The smell coming from Cassie's kitchen was strange and yet somehow... calming. Intoxicating. I followed the scent into the kitchen and Cassie glanced up from the pot, smiling.

"It's ready," she said confidently.

"What is that smell?" I asked, frowning as I walked towards the pot.

"Hopefully something close to your mate's scent."

My mate's scent. I stepped closer, leaning over the pot and breathing it in. If she smelled half this heavenly in person I was in trouble. She's bound to have me wrapped around her finger the moment I saw her.

"Ugh, what's that horrible smell?" Tess said as she walked in the room.

I growled and Tess scowled at me.

"It's his mate's scent. We hope," Cassie explained.

"Goddess, that's going to take some getting used to," Tess said, wrinkling her nose.

"It doesn't smell the same to us as it does to him. It's catered just to him. What we smell now won't be what she actually smells like. As her mate, he's the only one that can find her scent in it," Cassie said.

Tess started to speak but froze. A buzz entered my mind. A familiar buzz. Tess and I locked eyes. She felt it too.

Xander

My heart leapt. It was Kaden. 

A/N:

Hi all :)

I'm going to be switching between Addie and Xander's POV's so next chapter you'll get Addie again.

Let me know what you think! :)