This story "The Scorned" is copyrighted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights are reserved by the owner and creator of this work, Ary Rodriguez, and any unauthorized copying, broadcasting, manipulation, infringement of this copyright is punishable by law.

Prologue

She had to hurry.

Sarah looked over her shoulder for the hundredth time to make sure she wasn't being followed. Nothing out of the ordinary moved behind her and she kept moving forward. When she felt that she was at a safe distance from her Packs' territory, she came to abrupt stop.

Taking refuge behind a tree, she took deep gulps of air and began to disrobe.

She pulled off her shirt and toed off her shoes at the same time. Her pants and underwear were discarded just as fast with no thoughts towards modesty. Her movements were frantic as she picked up her garments and stuffed them into her sack without a care.

As naked as the day she was born, she began to run once again. With every step she took, she willed her body to change. Her gait became and awkward stumble as her legs shifted into furry hind legs but she couldn't stop.

She'd already wasted enough precious time when she stopped to take off her clothes.

The change took over the rest of her body. Her bones snapped. They realigned themselves and forced Sarah on to all fours. With her bag clamped between her teeth she sprinted across the land. Terror urged her on; her paws barely touched the ground.

She had to hurry.

By the time she'd managed to sneak away, Kate had already left. But she was in a car and she had to follow the turns and curves of the road, Sarah planned to go straight through. She would stick to the woods when it was possible but would take her chances when it wasn't.

Running in wolf form during daylight and in plain sight was a huge risk she had to take if she wanted to reach Nick on time.

She lost track of time as she flew across the terrain. Her lungs were burning from the exertion and her legs shook, threatening to give out under her. Towards the end, pure determination and adrenaline carried her forward.

Sarah crossed into Nicks Territory and made her way to his house. Knowing that she would need to speak to him, she shifted back to human form. After putting on her jeans and shirt she sprinted across his yard to his front door and swore when no one answered.

Looking around her, she made a split second decision to look for him in one other place. If he wasn't there, she'd go to Jessica's aid herself. And like with everything else; she'd figure out how to deal with the aftermath later.

She jumped over the porch steps and ran to the back of the house and as soon as she stepped into the woods surrounding the backyard, she caught his scent.

So desperately locked on to her brothers' scent, she was oblivious to the others until she rammed into a solid wall of flesh.

"Move I need to see my brother," she told his guard.

"I'm sorry but we have strict orders to keep you away."

"But this is important."

He shook his head, "I'm sorry we have our orders."

Knowing he had to be within hearing distance, Sarah took a deep breath and shouted, "Nick! I have to talk to you!" She tried to push past his guard but they were as stiff as a brick wall. "Nick!"

Sarah backed away trying to figure out how to get passed them. She'd come too far and this was too important to give up. One way or another she'd get him to see her.

She dodged to the left, and then to the right and rushed forward. She'd made them lose their balance enough for her to get through but she hadn't taken ten steps when they caught up to her again and tackled her to the ground.

They picked her up and began to carry her out of the woods.

"Let me go! I need to speak with my brother, its important. Get your hands off of me!"

"Sorry, we have our orders."

"Let me go! Nick, please! I know you can hear me! I have to talk to you, it's about Jessica!"

Sarah kicked, punched and bit her captor. She made use of her claws and caused enough damage that the guy was forced to put her down or risk a severed spine. Some injuries you couldn't heal.

She thought she won a victory but they just clamped her wrists together and began to lead her out.

"Let her go."

The words were spoken softly from behind them. He didn't need to scream to be heard. A gust of wind carried his power lazed words straight to his guards and they even made her shiver. The guards stepped away from her and Sarah straightened herself.

"Be warned Sarah, if this is just another one of your ploys...you are dead to me."

His warning was like a blow to Sarah's heart. Looking at her big brother for the first time in months, it hurt to see nothing but contempt in his cold eyes. For a second there she suffered second thoughts but she refused to be cowered by his disdain. She'd done what she had to do and her actions today would prove to them that she did care about him and his mate.

She straightened her back and looked straight at him. "It's not, they found her."

"What?!"

"Who are they?" Matt demanded from behind Nick.

"Kate and her accomplices." Matt and Nick looked at her in disbelief, they didn't make a move and all her composure fled out the window. "We don't have time for this! I snuck out as soon as word came in that they found Jessica. Please you have to believe me! They are on their way to her now."

Her brother stood his ground, raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. "How do I know you aren't lying?"

It was a good question and she had an even better explanation but now wasn't the time for it. "I'm not and you don't know but I will tell you this I heard they were following Danielle and that's how they found her."

Matt scuffed and shook his head, "we have someone on Danielle. If she was meeting with Jessica, we would know about it."

Sarah turned to look at Matt; the contempt she'd gleamed in Nick's eyes didn't hurt as much as Matt's look of indifference. He looked at her and it was as if he looked right through her. She could deal with anger from him-it meant he still cared but what could she do when it seemed that he didn't care anymore?

Her heart lay at his feet and Sarah was amazed to find that she could still stand. Hoping that none of the pain she felt showed, this wasn't about them, she raised her chin, "Are you sure about that?" She asked him, mimicking his stance. "Call them," she dared.

Matt eyed her with distrust even as he slowly pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit the speed dial button. Everyone waited in tense silence, after letting the phone ring with no answer, Matt turned it off and bit out a curse.

He looked at Nick. "No answer, something's wrong."

Nick turned to look at Sarah, "Where is she?"

His question was almost an intelligible growl. His canines began to extend, his nails turned to claws and his eyes began to glow, shifting into those of a predator. His arms sprouted fur and his whole body shook.

Matt grabbed Nick by the shoulders and shook him. "Get a hold of yourself," he told him then turned to look at Sarah and also asked after Jessica.

Sarah told them where she heard that Jessica and Danielle were meeting and added, "They were barely leaving when I snuck out, it's not far from here, if we hurry we can get there in time to save her."

Nick shrugged of Matts hold and took a step forward, "let's go."

"Nick wait," Matt rushed to stop him, "You can't just go in like this, we need to make a plan it could be a trap to get to you. What if they don't have her?" He tried to reason. "We need to think this through."

"I already did, there is no way I'm going to waste any more time, and if they have her they are dead." He looked at Sarah with eyes so cold they rivaled and an Arctic winter. "And if it's a trap, everyone involved is dead."

Sarah correctly interpreted his not so disguised threat and nodded.

Nick looked at Matt. "I'm going ahead with Sarah; you get a hold of Axel and Christian and meet us there."

Matt shook his head, "you aren't going alone, we're coming with you."

"I can take care of myself; I wouldn't be the Alpha if I couldn't."

Matt crossed his arms over his chest. "As your enforcer and your guards our place is by your side. We are going with you. I can coordinate with everyone else through the phone on our way there."

"We are running out of time!" Sarah broke in, "we need to leave now!"

"She is right," Nick agreed then looked at Matt and his guards. "Let's go."

Using their shifters speed, they were out of the woods and jumping into Nicks SUV. With dust swirling in their wake, they drove off as is the demons from hell were after them.

It was a silent and tense ride except for Matt who was busy relaying orders on the phone.

Looking out of the rear passenger side window, Sarah prayed she wasn't too late.

They reached their destination in record time and in one piece. No sooner had they parked and stepped out of the SUV when they heard a blood curdling scream. Everyone rushed forward, forgetting about her.

She didn't think twice about it before making her escape, there was nothing else she could do here without giving herself away. Now she had to hurry home and pray her absence had yet to be noticed.

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