Torn Between Her Fated Mates

Chapter 4 – Waking Up

ALDRIC'S POV

By the time I woke up, the blood transfusion was complete, and the wolfsbane was out of my system. My wound was completely healed, and I would have a scar, which is unheard of for a wolf, but that is what silver coated in wolfsbane will do to you if you're lucky enough to survive.

My mom sits vigil next to me in my hospital room, looking worn out and ten years older. Her hand holding onto mine, I turn my palm face up so I can squeeze hers. The light pressure is enough to wake her; her entire face lights up when she drifts from slumber to awake. Instant tears streamed down her face as she lifted herself from the chair and threw her arms around my neck, hugging me. Wrapping my arms around her, I take in her scent, which always reminds me of home and my childhood.

"How long have I been out?" The words burned my throat as I spoke. My mom released her death grip on me, grabbed a plastic cup of water, and moved the bendy straw to my mouth. "Almost five hours; once your blood was clean, you healed almost instantly. But both you and your wolf were…you both…oh Aldric, you stopped breathing, and you had no heartbeat, you were…."

I took the cup away, set it back down, and put both of her shaking hands in mine. "Look at me, I am okay; whatever you guys did, it saved me. So don't dwell on what could have been, and let's be grateful for how it all turned out. And I found my mate, so let's celebrate that, okay? Did you get a chance to meet her? Is she here? Is she okay?" Then it hits me, something has to be wrong, or she would be here, sitting next to me. My mom is shaking her head. I immediately sit up, panic surging through my body.

My mom is back, I mean, she didn't actually leave, but the scared, shaking, crying woman who almost lost her son is gone. My extremely strong, capable, and determined mother is here. Our hands have somehow gone from me holding hers to hers holding mine.

"She has been kidnapped by the three wolves that did this to you. Colton and Liam have….."

~~~~~~~

My wolf and I both lost it. I don't remember getting out of bed or ripping the IVs out of my arm. I don't remember running out of the room or leaving the clinic. Honestly, I don't remember tearing through the small town to my packhouse with my ass hanging out of my hospital gown.

But right now, this is where I am. In my office, panting like a rabid dog trying to keep my wolf from shifting. "What the f**k happened?"

Liam, Colton, and my dad are looking at a map they have laid out on my desk. The section of the Bayertown County Fair Grounds where the Farmers' Market is held has a pin stuck in the center of it. Approximately every five miles from the pin, there is a circular perimeter. Liam and Colton submit as my father just nods his head in respect. "I won't ask again."

Colton steps up, he is the Gamma, and the safety of the Luna is his responsibility. "A lot of what has happened is speculation. We know for certain that she was abducted by the three wolves you and Liam encountered at the Farmers’ Market."

I felt my wolf take over for a second. The rage in me is incomprehensible. "How?" The word is barely understandable through my growl.

Liam is about to speak when he is interrupted by Everett's weak voice echoing the same phrase over and over through the mind link 'I found her! I found her! I found her.'

~~~~~~~

Safe as to be expected. That phrase did not settle my wolf at all, but that was the only thing Everett could offer when it came to my mate. His mind linking was weak at best, but his exhaustion made it almost non-existent. After explaining that he didn't think he was being followed, but he needed to concentrate, we broke the connection. I felt like I lost my link to her when he went quiet; my wolf howled.

Relief in Liam's face pissed me off. Neither he nor Colton is off the hook, and the only reason they are still alive is that I need answers.

Maintaining enough willpower not to kill them, I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I force my body to turn to Liam, my best friend, my Beta, my second; when I open them, he has already submitted, his mind and body fully handed over to me. "Explain to me how you managed to lose my mate?"

Liam carefully raised his head, but didn't make eye contact; he was shaky. Had he been in wolf form, his tail would have been tucked so far under his legs it would have merged with his underbelly.

"We got you here, you had…Ummm….you died in the backseat of the car. Doc refused to give up on you. He started chest compressions and said you needed blood and lots of it. Doc said you would need every bit of our strength to survive this. So, we all donated blood, even our dads and Bryce. The nurses were moving quickly, getting the IVs attached to us, and the blood bags set up."

Reliving the chaos caused Liam to have a moment of pause, allowing Colton to step in, "When they were done, I was the first to speak, asking Liam what happened."

Liam tensed up and interrupted Colton, "As far as I was concerned, what happened didn't really matter. We all know the truth; if the Alpha has fallen, the Beta didn't do his job."

I have never seen Liam like this, beaten and doubting himself; I want to let him off the hook, tell him it's okay, but I am not sure everything is okay, at least not yet. "I told them why we were at the Farmers' Market; as soon as I mentioned you found your mate, Colton freaked out, demanding I tell him where she was."

"I am the f*****g Gamma, Liam; she is my responsibility."

My dad, Harlan, puts his hand on Colton's shoulder, calming him down a bit. "He nearly ripped the IVs out of his arm to go and find her," Harlan winks at him; I don't know how he can be so calm right now; maybe that's his years of experience as Alpha before me. "But his dad reacted quickly enough to stop him. We asked a nurse to check on her and Galina, and that's when we realized that neither of them was there."

Colton finishes for my dad, "I had our best trackers try to get their scent, but they couldn't since the car was covered in wolfsbane-tainted blood. At that point, we didn't know what to do; we were just guessing what could have happened."

Liam steps up again, this time showing more confidence, "Then Topher showed up. He was terrified and nearly peed himself; the poor pup found himself in a room with two Betas, two Gammas, and an Alpha, giving us what he thinks is bad news. He told us that he and Everett were packing up the truck at the market. The customer parking lot was empty except for a few cars. The next thing he knows is they both smell a she-wolf, but it was so faint, he barely picked it up. She's walking from the edge of the woods towards a car in the lot. Everett seemed like he knew her, but she didn't look or smell familiar to him. He went back to loading the truck when he smelled at least three unknown wolves.

"Everett doesn't even say a word to him; he jumps from the truck's bed, shifts midair, and links to Topher a message, telling him to leave everything, get in the truck, and haul ass to us. The message was that Luna had been kidnapped by the three wolves, and he was following them. Once he has their location, he will come to get us."

The room is quiet; no one says another word which tells me the story is over. I know that they didn't do anything wrong; it seems like she chose to walk away, but why?

My wolf is still angry, and I try to speak calmly. Still, my words and tone are taking orders from my wolf, "Colton, you better be the first f*****g wolf Everett sees when he….no, in fact, use that damn nose of yours to figure out what direction he is coming from and you go to him."

Colton rushes to the door without a word. My gaze following his every step is harsh, cold, and furious, making him drop his head in respect and shame as he passes me to the exit. My father follows him, stopping for a moment as he approaches me. "You need to control your wolf and trust your boys. The three of you will get her back, but only if you work together as a team." With that said, he walks out, leaving me with Liam.

"I am going to take a shower and get dressed. When I am done, I expect you to have all the information we need to go and get her. You and Colton better have a full squad of warriors ready to rage war on those f*****g bastards."

Exiting the room, I shoot out my alpha aura in waves, crippling Liam and forcing him to drop to his knees.

~~~~~~

Showering calmed most of the anger; however, I needed more, more information, more action, more…fuck, I need her. Once the initial shock dissolved, I realized that Colton and Liam weren't entirely at fault, at least not to the point of me going full Alpha on them, but I am not letting them off the hook that easily either.

Autopilot takes over as I dry off and put on black jeans and a dark blue tee shirt. Throwing my trainers on, I head down to see Liam so we can get the rescue mission on its way. Entering my office, he is alone, sitting on a chair with his head held low; he doesn't even look up at me when I enter. Going straight to the wet bar, I grab a bottle of our own Crescent Falls Brandy and two glasses. Filling it with a heavy shot, I set the bottle back down with a loud thump.

"I didn't know she was gone." Liam's words broke the heavy silence. "When they pulled you out of the car, you weren't breathing. The doc got your heart beating, and you started breathing again. He needed blood for you; you were too heavily poisoned for your wolf to heal you. I assumed Galina had taken her to get checked out. I am so sorry, Alpha."

I take my first drink of the amber liquid and let the slow burn make its trail down my throat. My wolf fighting for control, he wants his mate, and he wants to punish Liam for losing her.

"I forgot about her. That is what haunts me every single second; I forgot to take care of my Luna, your mate, f**k me."

Grabbing the other glass, I cross the room and hand it to Liam. Sitting down next to him, I take another sip; I motion for him to take a drink. "I can understand. You just met her; she was in our lives for what? Less than an hour and your Alpha died, so let's set the guilt aside for right now. I am going to say this once; many mistakes were made, starting with the decision of not bringing Colton with us; that's on me. But we need to focus on getting her back, and to do that, I need you level headed and confident."

"Colton put together a welcoming party for Everett; the minute they had eyes on him, they had him shift and escorted him home. Colton also has two trackers and six warriors backtracking his path."

"And Galina, what happened to her?"

"Topher, since he knows what she looks like, a tracker and three warriors have gone back to the Farmers’ Market to try and find her. I don't know what her involvement is, if any."

I put my hand on Liam's shoulder. "I don't know why she went back, but it's not your fault. So stop the f*****g pity party, finish your drink, and when Colton has the wolves rallied, which should be any minute now, we will go get my mate back."