Chapter 42
HUDSON
Alpha, the griffins are retreating.
I tore the wing off of the griffin I was fighting and let him run away with blood pouring from his back. He wouldn't make it back to the mountains anyway unless he stopped the bleeding somehow.
I shifted back and looked over at Breydon, who was struggling to get the feathers off of his fur. I kneeled and helped him pull them off before nodding at him to let him know that we were in the clear. He grinned and barked before running off to either check on his warriors or Lucy.
And speaking of mates, Alexis was not answering my mind-links. I kept sending messages and they wouldn't go through as if she had her mind block up, which didn't make sense since communication was essential right now.
Fear coiled inside of me as doubts ran through my mind. Was she hurt? Were they attacked on their way to the other pack? Was she–
There was no way she was dead. I would have felt the bond breaking.
My wolf whimpered in my head at the thought, and I comforted him gently, letting him know that his mate was probably fine.
Alexis was a fighter, an amazing one at that. Just last week, she nearly gouged Devin's eyeballs out with her nails during training.
Mate might be hurt. Find mate.
My wolf paced back and forth frantically, trying to reach out to Alexis's wolf. I pursed my lips and brushed myself off, heading towards the east border where Matthew and Boston were taking a head count of all the warriors.
"Who went with Alexis to the other pack?" I asked, trying not to alarm the rest of the warriors.
Boston frowned and checked his list, "It says here that Carlos, Devin, Santiago, and Markus went. Why?"
My eyes narrowed and I immediately mind-linked the four of them.
Warriors, where is my Luna?
The link was silent, but I knew they were listening. The messages went through smoothly.
Alpha, you might want to sit–
Devin, I swear to the Moon Goddess, if you don't tell me right now, I'm going to fucking kill all of you. Where the fuck is she?
She's gone, Alpha.
***
BOSTON
For the first time in my life, I felt a little afraid of Hudson.
He was seething with anger, and even that was an understatement.
The veins in his temple throbbed violently and his eyes were becoming darker with every moment that passed. His body shook with rage before he let out a roar that nearly had all the wolves around us trembling at their knees with fear.
I resisted the urge to shiver as his wrath rolled off of him in tsunami-like waves.
"Fuck," Matthew muttered beside me as we watched Hudson roar again and let his claws and fur start to come out.
"I'll go get Lewis. He's the only one who can calm him down," I said, rushing towards the west border where Lewis, Dorothy, Alpha Horris, and Luna Malia were checking on the wounded. I ran up to Lewis and grabbed his shoulder, "Lewis, you have to come right now. Something happened to Alexis and Hudson is out of control."
His eyes widened and I heard Alpha Horris growl loudly, "What did you just say, pup?"
I ignored my wolf's growl at the word 'pup' and turned to Alpha Horris, who was slowly starting to turn red in the face.
Great. Another Alpha on a rampage. Just what we needed.
Thankfully, Luna Malia was quick to wrap her arms around him to calm him down.
"I don't know what happened, but Hudson was trying to find out what happened to Alexis. He mind-linked the warriors and they said something that set him off."
Luna Malia looked ready to cry while Alpha Horris face darkened.
"Lewis, come on. Before Hudson does something stupid," I rushed, not giving him the chance to even comprehend what was going on. He seemed to be just as in shock as Dorothy, but he didn't need me to tell him thrice before running off in the direction I came from.
We followed him back to the east border where Matthew was trying to hold Hudson back from attacking the new arrivals.
Devin gave me a frantic look asking me to help him out, but I shook my head in response.
When Hudson stopped struggling, Matthew let go of him for a moment which was a huge mistake. Hudson had his hands around Devin's neck in a matter of seconds.
Devin clutched at his hands and gasped for breath as Hudson tightened his grip.
"Hudson, you're going to kill him. Let go!" Dorothy yelled, rushing to aid Devin.
Hudson growled, "They were supposed to watch over her and they didn't. Now, she's gone. She's missing."
"Hudson," Lewis said in a deadly, calm tone, "Put the wolf down. Now."
There was almost a simultaneous sigh of relief from all the warriors as Hudson released Devin and let him fall to the ground.
Unfortunately, that didn't mean Hudson wasn't any less angry. If anything, he was even more enraged than before.
It seemed like his wolf had taken over his mind.
He was letting out harsh rasps and breaths as he struggled to get a hold of himself. He fell to his knees and dug his claws into the dirt, sweat dripping down his forehead.
Lewis kneeled beside him and rubbed his back, "You need to calm down, son. If we're going to find Alexis, you need to have your head on straight. Logic over emotion is key right now."
It took a few minutes, but Hudson managed to get his wolf back under control.
He exhaled deeply and opened his eyes.
I swallowed the lump in my throat as I recognized the look in his eyes. It was the same look my dad had in his eyes when he found out my mom was killed in the rogue attack.
He was dead inside.
His eyes were the color of the clouds before it rained, dull and dreary, although they still seemed to glare daggers.
"What. Happened?" He said, looking at Devin, who was rubbing his neck nervously.
"We were almost to the neighboring pack when there was suddenly fog everywhere. We couldn't see a thing. We stopped and waited for a few moments until the fog cleared completely. When it was gone, we looked around and Luna Alexis was gone. It was like the fog had swept her away with it."
Hudson didn't say a word as he stood up and yanked his shirt off.
"Call the backup pack warriors. We're going to make a search party."
He walked off into the woods without letting anyone say another word to him.
