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Teamwork is a term used when more than one person tend to work together on something important, something preplanned. This word is clearly out of Kassian's vocabulary after our recent training session.

I probably shouldn't have stormed away like a spoiled child but I could feel my blood boil. The last thing I wanted to do was explode whilst Alfie was standing directly behind him.

Instead I sucked in a breath and walked away, giving us both some time to calm down.

No one asked what was wrong as I stormed through the kitchen and past the pack, clearly having a face like thunder. But all I wanted was to have a shower, to rid myself of dirt and sweat.

Taking five minutes to myself whilst I stood under the boiling water, drenching every inch of my body and washing away my frustration. A metaphor I prayed worked because I didn't want to bicker with Kassian anymore, I hate it when we disagree on something.

After scrubbing my skin and washing my hair twice, I wrap myself in a towel and step out of the shower. Pulling on a pair of comfy bottoms and an oversized t-shirt. Anything to help ease my mind from the last thirty minutes.

With my damp hair clung to the fabric of my t-shirt, I don't even bother drying it. I head straight for the kitchen, desperate for some good food to feed my ravenous stomach. Growling so loud that I could feel it in my heart.

Nella, Hope and little Arlo are crowded round the kitchen table. Chatting away, feeding Arlo some mash potato and drinking peppermint tea.

I drag out a chair opposite them and choose to avoid their conversation, not that I had any clue what they were talking about. Hope sighs loudly and leans back in the chair. "You good, Cleo?"

My head nods in her direction and I focus my gaze on Arlo, grinning at his mother and then smashing potato into his mouth with his bare hands.

"What's wrong?" Nella's brows crease.

"Nothing."

They share a glance and Hope purses her lips, lifting her shoulders to release a shrug.

"I don't know where the hell Alfie and Kassian are," Hope checks the sports watch on her wrist, a look of confusion washing over her face. "They should have been back by now, it's been ages."

"I think Kassian needed an extra run," I mumble, folding my arms over my chest. Well that's what I heard him say as I turned away from him and walked back to the pack house. He wanted to blow off some steam from our conversation.

"Oh," she says shortly. "Still it's been almost forty five minutes, we've been training all day."

Nella waves it off like it's nothing. "Probably just having some guy time. Right, Cleo?"

"Right."

"Anyway, me and Mace are going to visit my parents with Arlo, it's been ages since they last saw us and Arlo has grown so much since then," Nella leans her elbow onto the table and rests her sharp jaw on her fist.

"When?" Hope asks.

"Next weekend, I'm too excited about it."

"I love your parents, they're so kind. I remember when they last came here the–"

Hope's voice is cut off, her expression drops and her skin turns white. Her lips begin to tremble as she looks down at the kitchen table, shaking her head frantically like she didn't know what to do.

"Hope?" I lean forward in my chair.

"What's wrong?" Nella's voice demands, growing concerned with the colour of Hope's skin.

"Alfie," she mutters out. Tears coat her eyes and she blinks rapidly. "Alfie's hurt, something has happened."

Both mine and Nella's chairs scrape across the floor as we stand at the same time. "Hurt?" I repeat.

"T-They've been ambushed, they've taken Kassian."

My blood runs cold, I can physically feel all the warmth drain from my body. The feeling of my heart ratting against my chest at the words that fall from her lips. My ears begin to ring, replaying what she said on repeat.

They've taken Kassian.

I can feel my chest tighten painfully, unable to wrap my head around this.

"Who?" I bark, licking my lips that have become incredibly dry.

"Rogues."

Before I can even register what I'm doing I run through the kitchen and out the back door, Hope close behind me. Nella calls after me but she doesn't follow, she can't leave Arlo alone.

Mace... Kassian has been taken by rogues and Aflie is hurt. Get the pack and follow our scents into the woods. Now. Get them to scout the area for any threats, take them down. Whatever it takes.

Shit. His response is imminent. Coming now.

Hope and I take off through the trees, letting her guide us to where Alfie is. She keeps in contact with him, trying her hardest to keep him awake. She mutters that he has a head injury and he's concerned with how severe it is, floating in and out of consciousness.

"He's there," Hope points across the clearing, his body slumped against a huge rock. Dark red blood splattered across the floor, staining the grass, leaving a gruesome mark on the stone.

Lifeless bodies lay around him, wolves ripped to shreds. Some almost nothing left of them, pure bloodshed. Bones poking out through skin, limbs dismembered, eyeballs scattering the mud.

The smell churns my stomach, stopping for a second to steady my mind but my feet almost slip from underneath me. My vision slows, the rays of light smearing as my eyes glance around. Slow-motion, so slow that time felt like it almost stopped.

Hope skids through the mud and cradles Alfie's bludgeoned head between her hands. "Oh my God," she sobs, inspecting his injury. "Are you okay?"

Alfie grunts as he repositions himself. "I'll be fine," he grumbles deeply. "But Kassian."

Kassian. My heart throbs agonisingly.

"What happened?"

They both snap their eyes to me and Alfie releases a shaky breath. "At first it was only a few rogues, we fought them off. Then before we knew it, we had been bombarded, twenty, thirty of them. Maybe more. There was a guy, in his human form. I didn't see him but I could hear him."

Alfie's words are slow, trying to remember what had happened. Hope studies his face, tears escaping her eyes. His blood covers her hands as it runs down the edge of his face.

"I wasn't fully conscious but I'm sure I heard him say something about Kassian being the Alpha and to take him, leaving him still alive so he could have his way with him." Hope caresses Alfie's cheeks gently as he speaks.

"Fuck," I cry out, looking around frantically for a sign but they were long gone. I couldn't even sense their smell in the air, nor Kassian's comforting scent. I felt nothing. "Hope take Alfie back to the house and get him looked at by Gemma."

"Yes," she nods, attempting to pull his large body into her arms. He tries to cooperate with her but his injury made his balance wobble, one of his eyes clenching. They stumble onto their feet and Hope throws Alfie's arm over her shoulder.

Hope is strong but Alfie is heavy, especially with his slumped body on hers. But she'd do anything for him, so getting him back to the pack house wouldn't be a concern. It would be an objective that she had to complete.

I can hear the pounding of footsteps from behind me, Mace leading members of the pack directly to us. We nod at each other once and some rush to Alfie's side, helping balance the weight of his body off Hope and between them all.

Hope exhales a sharp breath, one of relief. At least he'd get his head checked out quicker if she has more people to help her. They charge past us, leaving Mace and I alone with the rest of the pack.

"Anything?" I shoot towards Mace.

His head shakes. "Nothing so far, they've clearly made a run for it."

I suck in a shaky breath, keeping myself calm and collected. Otherwise I'll release my wrath into an uncontrollable manner and I'll end up destroying myself.

"Let's just search, past our territory and as far as we can," my voice booms across the trees, directing it towards the pack. "Mace you take half the pack north and east, I'll take the rest south and west."

"Got it," he bows his head. He quickly splits up the pack and we shift into our wolves, not wasting another second of Kassian being taken. God knows what they'd be doing to him, rogues are ruthless and they will not hesitate to break someone down for their own sick mind games. "Let's go!"

Half of the pack filter to follow Mace right before he shifts.

Follow me. Keep your eyes peeled, senses sharpened and we look out for each other. I yell through the mindlink.

Their eyes blink back at me and they nod, determined to find their Alpha.

We race through the trees, covering as much area outside of our territory as possible. Not once do I slow down and the wolves behind me don't falter, they deliver. Exactly what I need from them today.

Kassian. I try our mindlink. Where are you?

No response.

I curse in my mind. Kassian, please. If you can hear me or if you can sense me. Please just give me a sign, tell me that you're okay. We're looking for you and we will not give up until we have, okay? I will not give up on you.

My jaw tightens when I listen to radio silence in my mind. I just want to hear his voice, just once. To make sure that he's okay, to make sure the rogues haven't done anything to him yet. To hurt him, torture him, mentally abuse him.

When I raise my snout in the air, I hope each time that I'll get a waft of Kassian or even a scent of the rogues. But I get nothing, no matter how far we run.

It was driving me insane, it's like he left without a trace. Not one tree that had rogue fur brushed against or blood dripped on the floor as they ran away. Nothing, there was nothing to follow.

The sun set over an hour ago and now we're running in pitch black, we've all been running for hours. I could hear the loud, deep breaths from the wolves behind me. Keeping up but struggling with how fast we've been moving.

Anything? I shoot to Mace.

Not yet. You?

No.

We continue running, we have to find him. We have to.

Cleo. Mace's voice echoes through my brain. It's getting dark and we don't have a plan.

Fuck! I yell and halt my feet into the mud.

The pack behind me following my actions and stopping beside me, giving us a chance to catch our breaths.

Let's group and discuss our tactics and try and find him. Rather than going off alone, risking more of us getting hurt or taken. We need to think logically, not rationally. That won't help Kassian.

Deep down I knew Mace was right, but I didn't want to give up looking right now. But we need a plan, we need something to follow. A map to cross off where we've explored and know not to go back to.

Cleo, please. Mace begs. I know you want to keep on looking but we need to devise a plan, we need to work together.

Okay. I say in defeat, it's the last thing I wanted to say. We're coming back now.

I gaze over the pack and take two steps back towards our pack house. We're heading back to the house as fast as we can, then we're making a plan to find Kassian. Let's go, let's go!

It doesn't take long for us to get back to the house, listening to the stampede of wolves behind me. My heart races like a kid on Redbull and blood pumps so quickly I can feel it filter through my veins like venom.

I knew that I was exhausted but I didn't want to admit it, my body can be pushed to extremes when I'm focused. Tiredness doesn't exist when you need to complete something important because you will do anything for the success.

And in this case, my success is finding Kassian and bringing him home. Tearing those rogues limb from limb, making them wish they didn't mess with our pack because I know I won't go easy on them.

I won't even give them a chance to beg for their lives before I tear it right away from them.

You take away my whole life and I'll take away yours.

When we reach the pack house, my body was covered in mud, head to toe. I pull on the clothes we left outside and head straight to the kitchen. Mace, Alfie, Hope and Nella were already standing around the table with the rest of the back spread through the room.

Their attention turns towards me and the rest of the pack as we enter.

"Let's plan this shit right now," I order, walking straight up to the table and glancing down at a map that Nella's hands were currently working on with a red marker. "We cannot waste another second, this time is valuable."

Hope nods in agreement and I glance at Mace who was feeding Nella information from their search moments ago.

"Cleo," Nella catches my attention. "I think you should give Everett and Fran a call."

I purse my lips and nod. "Yes."

"We need all the help we can get and I'm sure they'll be willing to help after everything that happened before." She tells me. "We need allies right now and Everett's pack can help us find him."

"Can someone give them a call now?" I shout before searching for my own phone.

Hope shoots from the chair beside Alfie, his head bandaged tightly. "Yes, I'll call them right now and explain."

"Thank you," I tell her gratefully as she takes the phone from my fingers. "Right, the first plan of action."

Everyone round the table leans in to listen to the plan I had devised on the run back to the house.

Knowing Kassian is missing hasn't quite hit me yet, not because I didn't want to believe it but because I haven't done anything without him since I came here. He's always been the one to lead, to give orders and now that's my responsibility.

To find our Alpha for an amazing pack he built.

Doubt doesn't cloud my mind because I know he's coming home and I won't stop until he does.

. . .

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AHHHH Cleo is out for blooddddd! What did you guys think of this chapter?

I love twisting the stereotypes, it's not everyday the Luna is taken, let's make it the Alpha and show how much of a badass Cleo can be when it comes to Kassian. No man will walk out alive with her determination.

What do you think is going to happen?

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