Chapter 140


    Dropping the ball.


    (Patrick)


    “You don’t have to do this.” Eliza tells me from her spot on the armchair in the corner of the bedroom. I


    nce over at her and shake my head, I return to packing my bag with everything I might need. “You


    don’t even know this information is good, what happens if you get into trouble out there?”


    “Kitten.” I sigh, dropping some jeans into my bag. “Fraction is drinking himself into an early grave and


    wont let me within a mile of the Pack house. Anna is beside herself and won’t get out of bed. I need to


    find Aurora, if it wasn’t for me Zoe would never have gotten as far as she did.”


    “It wasn’t just you.” I know Eliza shares my guilt but I won’t have hering with me.


    “The information Mac gave me is solid, if it turns out the van went to this town then maybe that’s where


    these people are settled. There is at strong chance Aurora and James are there.” Mac calledst night,


    thanks to Jefferson they were able to track the license te number to a small town about fifty miles


    from us.


    “And if they catch you? What will I do then?” I zip my bag up and walk over to Eliza, crouching down I


    put my hand over her still t stomach.


    “Then you raise Lizzie and this pup to be as strong as me and you, they will be surrounded by family


    here.” It’s a miracle we never thought would happen but I can’t say I’m unhappy about it, “it’s our fault


    Eliza, if we weren’t with Doctor Lee getting the scan then we would have


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    been on that stretch ofnd. She would never have gotten away, I’ll forever carry the burden of Momma


    Beth’s death.”


    “I’ll carry it too.” Eliza cups my face and I lean into her touch.


    “No. You let me carry this one,” my poor mate has had enough heartache and pain for multiple life


    times. I won’t let her burden this. pain too.


    “Promise me you wille home.” I smile at her before standing and cing a k*ss on top of her head.


    “I’ll do everything I can to get back to you.” It’s the best I can do and she knows it, I won’t make a


    promise to her that I’ll end up breaking if things don’t go my way.


    “Go to the Pack house. Fraction won’t turn you away if I’m not there. I don’t want you doing Patrols, if


    you have to, you tell Fraction and Anna about the pup. Your job is to protect our family, you


    understand?” Eliza nods at me as she wipes at her face.


    “I understand, I love you.” I smile at her as I pick my bag up from the bed.


    “I will always love you, kitten.” I leave the bedroom quickly knowing that if I stay any longer then I won’t


    leave.


    Once I’m outside of our little cabin I jump into the SUV and drop my bag on the passenger seat. As I


    plug in the GPS coordinates that Mact gave me I try to contact Fraction onest time. Leaning back in


    the car sc at I close my eyes and try to find his link, it’s there but it’s fuzzy which tells me he’s


    hammered.


    ‘Alpha?’ He doesn’t answer me but I can feel him listening, I’m leaving. I have a possible lead on where


    the van went with James and I’ m hoping that’s where they took Aurora. I’m leaving Lizzie and Eliza


    Cropping the ball


    here, please protect her.’ I feel him close the link once I’m done, the fact that he doesn’t answer me is a


    true testament to how much I’ve messed up here. Putting the car in drive I look out of the window and


    see Eliza looking down at me from the bedroom. I leave as quickly as the car will let me.


    Although I’ve been away from the Pack before leaving without knowing if I’m going to make it back is


    not something I have ever done. The thought of James and Aurora is enough to fuel me forward, I drive


    until the sun starts to set. It isn’t until I am on top of the GPS dot. that I realise something might be


    wrong. The town that’s meant to be here isn’t here, instead there is a massive eight foot wire fence


    filled with ‘No Trespas sing’ signs. Double checking the GPS I pull my phone from my jeans and call


    Mac.


    “What?” Mac sounds annoyed, I guess I interrupted something. N?velD(ram)a.?rg owns this content.


    “This GPS, it’s brought me to a da mn fenced area. I thought you said it was a town?” I can hear people


    in the background before the clicking of a door tells me Mac has stepped somewhere more private.


    “It’s meant to be a town called, one sec let me look.” There is some rustling and then I can hear the


    creak of a chair. “Alright it’s meant to be a town called Moonrise, with a poption of around 3000


    people. Jefferson’s police contacts were pretty solid on this.


    “Great, another dead end.” I say mming my head back on the chair.


    “Maybe not, might be worth a look around while you’re there, want some back up?” I almostugh at


    him, what exactly does he think going to get me out here in the middle of nowhere.


    “No, there’s nothing here. I’ll poke around a little before heading back. How’s everything on your end?”


    So far it seems only Swiftmane has been affected by the abductions but I’ve been keeping tabs on the


    other


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    Dropping the ball.


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    Packs just in case.


    “Still got Patrols going but so far we haven’t had any issues.” I nod my head before I realise he can’t


    see me.


    “Call me if anything changes.” Hanging up the phone I quickly put it on silent before jamming it back in


    my jeans. If I’m going exploring thest thing I want is my ringtone letting people know where I am.


    Stepping from the car I pull on a coat and my backpack, it’s not that I need them but if someone sees


    me it easier to pull off the whole hiker thing if I look the part. I lock the car up and then set off around


    the edge of the fence, none of it seems all that special, it’s just a fenced area surrounded by dense


    trees. It isn’t until I’m about halfway round that I hear what sounds like music. I push through some


    hedges so I can see through the holes in the fence. I see what looks like a bunch of houses, they seem


    pretty basic and nothing like I would expect to see in a town. There is also no way there are only 3000


    people in there, with the amount of homes I’m seeing there has to be at least double that. The singing


    gets louder as the doors to one of the bigger buildings opens and the grassy area is flooded with light.


    From what I can see there seems to be a man up front carrying what looks like a young woman. I can


    see her blonde hair moving in the wind as the man moves her up to a wooden stage I hadn’t noticed in


    the dark. The rest of the people are still singing while they gather around the stage, it’s then that I


    noticed the young woman seems to have what looks like a veryrge bump around her stomach.


    “Gather to witness the birth of a new member of our fight, we will mould them to do our bidding. With


    the blood of an Omega and a Beta this child shall rise among the rest.” The man shouts out as the


    crowd hushes, it’s then that I notice the young blonde is gripping her stomach. I watch in horror as the


    woman goes through a long and painfulbor, the baby is picked up by its feet and shown to the crowd


    still covered in blood and attached to its mother. “A female, most likely an Omega


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    like its mother.” I turn away as the man raises a knife, I can’t watch this man kill a newborn. I just can’t


    do it. “The female shall rest for seven days before being put back to work and this time she will provide


    a male for The Shmaynes.” I barely hear the man over the scream of the woman, her pain is


    understandable if she’s just watched her newborn be killed. I don’t wait to see what happens next, I


    quickly push off the fence and run back to the car. There is no doubt in my mind that these are the bas


    ta rds that have James and Aurora, I just don’t know why they are quoting the name of one of our ghost


    stories.


    I’m mming the SUV into drive as soon as I close the door behind me, putting my phone on speaker I


    dial Mac.


    “What? I’m busy.” I can hear a female moaning in the background.


    “Put your co ck away, Swiftmane needs help.” I snap at him as I drop the phone into myp.


    “You found them?” I can hear a female mumble before a door clicks.


    “I found something, I don’t know what it means yet but I do know Swiftmane doesn’t have the numbers


    to fight them alone.” I tell Mac ast I pull onto the highway, I keep checking my mirrors convinced


    someone will follow me but so far I seem to be alone in the dark.


    “I’ll talk to Darryl, we wereing this week to pay our respects anyway.” Mac disconnects the call and


    I put my foot down, I need to get home and plead with my Alpha.