25

DAMIAN’S VIEW

Mikael came towards me with quick steps. He was breathing heavily as if he had run all the way. "The boy is in my house." He glanced at Celine who had just come running out of the woods and unlike Jack, the others and I hadn't come back in wolf form.

"If she wants, she can see him." I also now looked at Celine, who was unusually and disturbingly silent. I knew what it was like to lose someone you loved. It hadn't happened to me in a long time though - hopefully it won't stay that way - and I wasn't sure I was able to reason with her. Especially after she accused Alina. I wasn't mad at her, but her behavior bothered me. And that in turn bothered me.

I was an Alpha. I should feel sorry for Celine, and not want to berate her for finding Alina guilty of her brother's death. But Alina was my soul mate. I could never stand to see someone inflict physical or mental pain on her. Because I was sure that Alina had been hit hard by this accusation. Though she hadn't admitted it, the fact that she needed some alone time was enough for me. Connor noticed my look.

"I can talk to her. She probably needs to wind down a bit first and then go to her brother's," he suggested. I nodded to him in response. Connor cautiously approached Celine, who positioned herself a little to the side. He whispered a few words to her and finally she let him lead her into her house. Jack stepped next to me and watched the scenario as well. "Poor thing. I don't even want to know how she's feeling right now." Again, I just nodded in agreement. This seemed to confuse Jack, who turned to me and asked, "Hey, are you alright?"

"Yes," I answered quietly. "It's just Benjamin's death, the organization and then... I feel so weird too. Like something's wrong." Jack frowned and was about to reply when Egbert and his beta walked towards me. To my astonishment, Karl spoke first. "Our deepest condolences on the boy's death. This is really terrible." Jack glanced at me before replying, "It's awful for us, but it's his sister that's the worst." Karl looked at us sympathetically. Then his alpha took over the talking. "Any idea who that was?"

"No," Jack said. "But with the number of people dying here, we'll definitely have to call the police or something like that at some point. That's not normal anymore." The next moment I heard footsteps and turned around, hoping Alina would be back. But it was Ethan and Zabrina who walked up to us in an awkward silence and also placed themselves in our circle. "So," Zabrina rubbed her hands together, "what happens next?"

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels stupid when there's nothing you can do to stop what's happening around you." Drokor stood between Zabrina and Ethan, which the latter acknowledged with a grateful nod. "I didn't realize this was going to be an outdoor gathering," I said, glancing around my village and noting that all the residents were happily holed up in their homes. Which was probably better, considering who was out here chatting right now. "This time strengthens us in a way." Jack grinned.

Apparently he was completely surprised himself what had just come out of his mouth. "If I had alcohol here now, I would toast it." Drokor frowned. "Isn't he right next door in the pack house?" Jack now raised both eyebrows. "Do I look like I'm going to run into the house now?" " I expect the arrival of my beta in a few days. I also hope for the arrival of our spies at this time. We must finally act. I heard about your member's death," Zabrina said.

"We can safely assume that the organization is behind this again. Even if we don't have a logical reason for it yet." "It would be a guess. But I won't settle for that. I will find out who is responsible for Benjamin's death and I will hold those responsible accountable." I didn't look at the alphas in attendance or at their wolves. I looked at my loyal friends who I knew would help me through this .Who I knew were conscious of what something like this meant to me." Look, the eyes were closed and the mouth was caressed by a gentle smile. She had died happy. Finally freed from their years of burden. Hands were clasped on the chest and lavender was tied up in a small bundle on the cupboard. "I'm sorry," I said to Amelia.

"That Alina can't be here right now and none of us were there when she died." "It's okay," she answered in a whisper. I clearly heard that she was about to cry. "She wanted to die like this. In peace and surrounded by her dearest family. That's what she got. Now she can go to her soul mate with peace of mind." She smiled as tears ran down her cheeks. It was a real smile because she knew what she said was true.

"If your family wants it, we can do a big funeral for them. We would take care of everything." "No, it really isn't necessary. We're going to do something small right next to our home." She sniffed once before walking out of the room, which I took as a request to follow her. We walked side by side in silence, back to the others. Tears continued to stream down Amelia's face, but she didn't expect me to say anything comforting. "Did you have any encounters with Niklas?" I asked her instead. "Not really." She looked into the distance for a moment.

"Not really." I followed her gaze and now recognized who she had seen. It was Niklas, leaning against a tree and looking at the village. In the next moment, however, he turned around and disappeared into the forest. I frowned after him but didn't have enough time to think about it since we were already back at the others. Instead of a greeting I just said: "Truly too many are dying at this time."

"Definitely not the right ones," Jack murmured, earning a dig from Drokor. "What? It's like that. If a few certain people suddenly fell down, some things would be a little easier. I wouldn't wish death on anyone, it's just a fact." A tingling ran through my entire body. However, none of a pleasant kind. It almost burned my skin and made me grind my knees to my knees. Jack rushed to my side and put his hand on my shoulder. "

ALINA’S VIEW

Lips tightened in pain, I stared at the deep cut that was now running down my arm. "So it's really true," whispered the mad girl in front of me, still holding the knife in one hand, "you bleed normally, like any human."

"Except she's not human." A middle-aged man walked up to me and stood in front of me, making me look up at him as I knelt on the floor with blood - my blood - dripping onto the floor. "Who are you?" I asked them both. After passing out in the forest, I woke up in a small room with gray walls and only one lightbulb.

I had lain on the floor as there was not a single piece of furniture in this room. After a while this girl came in who I would guess at 16 years old. She began to talk non-stop about her life. Eventually, when she got bored, she grabbed my arm and pulled a knife out of an inside pocket of her cardigan, with which she cut my arm without further ado and with a satisfied smile on her face. This act was enough for me to know roughly which humans or werewolves I was dealing with here.

The room had no window and so it was impossible for me to make contact with nature or the moon. Although I didn't feel able to do it either. Whatever these people put on my face, it seemed very long. My limbs felt very heavy and if I moved too jerkily I would get a nasty headache. I supposed, that was also the reason why I couldn't reach Damian.

As soon as I woke up, I tried to inform Damian of my current situation through our connection. After a while I realized that it probably didn't work as I still hadn't gotten an answer from him. The man with the cropped hair crouched in front of me and brushed a strand of hair out of my face. The braid that had held my hair together this morning had long since unraveled.

"You are in Amium Pack territory. My son, Fargo, is the alpha here." He pointed to the girl who had retreated into a corner. "This is my daughter, Helena." He straightened up again. "And I'm Victor."

"And what exactly do you want from me?" I glared at him mockingly. The regret and guilt I had felt about Benjamin's death had given way to anger. Especially about being interrupted in my grief over his death.

"Well, actually the council here isn't exactly sure about you. Some want you dead, others want to use you." Viktor took several steps to the door and let his daughter go out before him. Before closing the door, he turned back and said, "I think it's going to end in death."

DAMIAN’S VIEW

"Maybe she's just a little alone on the road." Egbert groaned in annoyance. It was obvious to him that he didn't care at all what was going on with Alina. And that only fueled my anger more. " If I want to know your opinion, I'll ask for it. If you don't bring anything important to the discussion, shut up."

The alpha straightened up indignantly. He kind of reminded me of a little kid who wasn't allowed to eat ice cream. "Watch the way you talk to me, Damian. I'm older than you and also much more experienced. And I'm telling you, most likely your soulmate is out there just talking a little more with some flowers. That's what women do."

When Ethan gasped audibly and Jack said something along the lines of, "I wouldn't have said that right now," I was sure everyone in the room saw and heard my patience snap. In the next moment I stopped standing at the table on my hands, but squeezed Egbert's air with my forearm, while I pressed him against the wall.

"That's right, you're older than me. That makes you weaker at the same time. Also, I'm the boss here and I want to give you a little advice. Stop provoking me. Stop telling me what to do And above all, don't you dare try to tell me again that I don't know what my companion's situation is." With that, I released him and said to Jack, "Not a pleasant one, anyway. That's for sure."

I clenched my teeth and resisted the urge to punch something. If the organization had Alina, she would probably be dead by now. We've already been made aware of that. However, I would feel if Alina were dead. For even if we had not yet made our connection, so it would still pass through the mark.

There was one thing that gave me almost more of a headache than anything else. What must have been done for someone to keep Alina somewhere? I knew roughly how strong and powerful she was. It definitely wasn't easy to overpower her. Of course, it was possible that she was too distracted by her concerns about Benjamin's death. Even then, I thought it unlikely anyone would be able to hold her captive. Also, I just didn't understand why I couldn't reach Alina. She hadn't responded to any of my mental attempts to ask her how she was doing. "What are we going to do now?" Ethan asked.

"Find out who has Alina and why. After that we have to plan as soon as possible, how we can get them home," Jack replied. The fact that he used the words "home" touched me more than I wanted to admit. "I have another crazy idea," Egbert interjected, which struck him immediately warning look from his beta, who was keeping a close eye on me and was probably just calculating when I would probably kill his alpha. Depending on what he said now, it would definitely not take that long.

"Maybe she is too gone voluntarily. I mean, maybe that was too much responsibility for her. An alpha as a companion, all the deaths and then also her task as a goddess." Egbert shrugged his shoulders. "You can understand if it gets too much for you. Of course that would be typical and I would have anticipated it, but of course that doesn't matter here and now."

"For your own good and that of my house," I managed to choke out, my hands clenching into fists of their own accord." , shut your mouth. It's best that you go. This is none of your business anyway and you obviously don't want to help. So go and leave me alone. You'll notice when I need you." "Well, that's enough for me now!" the alpha suddenly yelled at me. "I don't have to let myself be treated like that. You need me and I still have to listen to this." Jack stepped in. "Please forgive me, Egbert. But I hope you understand that we are in a very difficult situation right now and just need some freedom. Don't take it too personally."

Karl and Egbert exchanged a few looks, which I tried to ignore as best I could, after all they didn't get me any further and Alina therefore didn't get any closer either. "All right. We'll retire for now," I heard Karl say. "If you need anything, let me know." Jack went back to the table and, now that there was no one left to disturb us, asked, "So, how do we get her back?" I found my eyes turning to their darker shade as I thought about what would happen to the people who had hurt her. "Well," I replied.