hunting the desert sun. ******COMPLETED******

#17 Cara

it had been three days since I last saw Liam. I had gotten all the girls out of the house and when I came back inside he was gone. I couldn't find him anywhere. warriors arrived and still no one could even find his scent. I felt it deep in my soul. I refused to give into my emotions until night fell. once I was in the privacy of my own room I was able to cry and let it all out. I didn't want to give into it but not knowing where Liam was was slowly killing me. I felt like I was going crazy. I was laying in my bed trying to go over who it might be. Alpha Gray had never left the pack. he was staying true to his word and staying sober. I checked in with him constantly to make sure he was doing better by his family and mate. It gave me a reason to keep going. I had to keep my mind busy.

my phone rang. I reached over grabbing it from my night stand. "Princess Cara, we found more mass Graves in every pack. we dispatching more hunters to interview every pack member. we believe these are inside jobs."

"these are definitely inside jobs but it is all orchestrated by one person. I believe that person is here in the desert sun pack. I believe they are working under the guise of mercenaries of enlightment but I believe it os just a front. I think humans are the target and their beta here has been taken. he was injured when we tried rescuing the girls. he was stabbed with silver. when I went back for him he was gone. he was definitely drug out of the house for a bit. there were trails of blood. even worse was the one we apprehended had been killed. I am going to have the alpha do a check on all his pack members to see if any of them have gone missing. my gut tells me this has to be a warrior or higher."

"do you think the beta could have done this amd his kidnapping was part of it?"

"the thought crossed my mind,but there is too much blood loss and the silver would have hindered him from healing. he was in bad shape. the alpha has been ruled out as well..." my voice trailed off when I realized who jad been missing. he hadn't been around since he brought me to the pack house. I was trying to remember if I had seen him. I had been so focused on the alpha and his problems and placing blame on him. His Gamma Benson was right there the entire time and I never saw it. the figure I had seen in my dream. It was Benson. "Gamma Benson! s**t! it was right there the entire time! it was Gamma Benson. I have to go but alert all hunters they have a bug following and the followers will need to be dealt with. no one needs to live to spread more hate against humans."

"understood. I will also send hunters to you. use them as needed. good luck princess." I hung up the phone running to the alpha suite. I was pounding on the door as his mate answered.

"I need alpha Gray right away! I'm sorry this is so late. " I was breathless. not something a hunter should be. I was usually in control of my emotions and lately I felt like I was all over the place. I watched her walk quickly towards a room. Alpha Gray was a large man. I could only assume his beast was too.

"do you realize how late it is?" he wa clearly irritated with me interrupting his sleep.

"I do. where is Gamma Benson?" I wasn't wasting my time or his. I needed these answers quick. I was almost positive he was the one who was involved.

"what do you mean? I'm sure with his mate."

" can we check without warning him or his mate?" he looked at me shock crossing his face.

"tell me what's going on."

"I believe he is the one who has been behind all of this and he took your beta. "

he stood there quiet for a moment. unsure of what to say. he opened his mouth then closed it several times. I was sure he wanted to defend him but was coming to the same conclusion I was. "let's go right now. we have the element of surprise. I will link warriors and have wolfsbane brought just in case. I hope you are wrong."

"you and me both." We waited for warriors to come to the alphas suite and they were debriefed before we secretly headed out to Gamma Benson home he shared with his family. "we need to be careful. There are children in the home." It wasn't far to their shared home and the warriors were then instructed to surround the home and two came to the door with the alpha and myself. The lights flickered on and the door slowly opened. A beautiful woman stood there with her hair pulled back. she looked confused as she saw all of ilus there on her porch.

"what's wrong alpha?" she waited for us to talk. She looked up at the alpha failing worry. I was certain she was a part of all of this and her only real worry was if she had been caught.

"we need to talk to Gamma Benson." she nodded as her eyes rolled to the back of her head. A warrior stepped forward and immediately injected her with wolfsbane while the other held her preventing her from falling. I watched the alpha take command. I was slightly relieved he was finally stepping up like the leader he needed to be. "take her inside and make sure the children get to the pack house safely. And remember they are innocent and should be treated as such." the door shut behind us as she was dragged to a kitchen chair. I watched as the children were whisked away with two other warriors.

I sat in a chair further away as the alpha sat silent in front of her. the warriors had put silver cuffs on her wrists preventing her from changing into her wolf. she looked cautiously at all of us then settled on the alpha. her face changed and tears started forming on her cheeks. "what is going on Alpha Benson? why are you doing this?" her voice quivered as she spoke.

I couldn't stifle my laugh. Her fear was forced and I could tell she was lying. she was playing at the emotions of everyone around her to try to hide the truth. Alpha Gray glanced at me knowingly. " where is your mate?" Alpha Gray wasn't buying it. he knew this was woman was forcing herself to vry.

"he is not here. He had business to attend to outside the pack." She was no longer forcing herself to cry. Her face showed no more emotion as the Alpha grilled her. I leaned foward in my seat and chuckled a little before she turned to face me.

I didn't second guess myself. I looked her dead in the eyes and my voice held no emotion as I spoke to her."I don't think she will give us anything important. Kill her now and her children. Her and her mates crimes are serious enough and once I tell the council that's what they will want." I stood up still not showing any emotion. Her face fell no longer playful. She suddenly realised how serious the situation was.

"Wait," her voice was less confident. There was no more smug attitude. She knew I was serious and that I could have her kids killed as well."Please, I will tell you everything I know, just please not my kids." I sat back down in the chair I had been sitting in previously. I studied her before speaking a word. She was at war with herself. I could see it all over her body. She didn't want her kids to be punished for what her and Benson had started but she didn't want to betray her mate either. It was abattle all shofters seemed to struggle with.

"So start spilling or I let you watch. And just so you know," I made sure she was looking at my eyes as I spoke. she needed to know I meant everything I was saying even if even I wouldn't kill an innocenet child. "I don't bluff." Even the Alpha was looking at me in shock. They were unsure of what I was capable of and they both knew I had the authority to do it.

My eyes never left hers as she gaged my seriousness. I was unsure how far she would make me take this. If it meant stopping Benson and finding Liam I would have to use her kids. I didn't want to but I knew I would do what needed to be done. I could feel the Alphas gaze boring into me. "I know where he is. He mind linked me when you guys found the house. He took Beta Liam to an abandoned apartment complex in the city. It used to be for low income housing for the humans. Thats all I know. He has others helping him. It's like a cult following. He hates humans. He even blamed the death of the Alphas child on that human girl. He was in the process of killing the human when the child saw. It wasn't humans. It was him. It was Benson." Alpha Gray stood suddenly anger in his eyes. I didn't even bother stopping him as he grabbed her by the neck choking the life out of her as she gasped for air. He reached with his other hand looking deep into her eyes. His eyes a steel cold as he snapped her neck and dropped her to the floor.

"We need to get this cleaned up and we need to get Liam. The only way to stop this is find Benson and kill him. He does not need to be left alive. I already have hunters on the other packs." I stood up looking down at her lifeless body. I had no remorse for her in that moment. She was given the punishment she deserved. Death seemed like an escape for her. It was far swifter than what Benson would get. "No warriors burial for either. I will let the council know." I moved out of his way as he stormed to the door.

He stood there with his hand on the door not moving. I coud hear his sobs as in his voice."Benson killed my child. All this time I hated humans for what I bleived they did and it was my own kind all along."

I walked over slowly gaging his demeanor before placing my hand on his shoulder. "I will allow you to kill him for what he has done. Torture him for all I care, but alpha I need you to understand something. Liam is my mate and we have chosen to honor it. I hope that you can allow this and allow Beta liam to keep his position and his life. Being without him these last three days has been a torture and I don't plan on leaving his side ever again." He sighed heavily as his head dropped low.

"I ca accept you. Get my Beta back. He is my best friend and it seems I don't have as many of those as I thought." we left the house as warriors came in cleaning up the mess that was created. It was a long drive and we would need to leave soon. We walked swiftly towards the SUV that was waiting. Another pulled up filled with warriors. Then without another word we were headed to the city to find Benson and bring Liam home.