Chapter 18

Sebastian

“Buddy, could you go get Monica?” I ask Jax, trying to keep the edge from my voice.

He looks up before nodding. Handing the phone back to Micah, he leaves. Minutes later, he’s back with Monica in tow.

"You called?” she says as she wipes her hands down her apron.

I stand up gently with Krystal in my arms. I didn’t want to wake her up. After the events of the day, she needed the sleep. I can't fucking imagine how it was for her, dreaming of what happened to her mother. The fact that she tried calling her father and the dick didn’t pick up makes me more furious. Maybe—just fucking maybe—if he had picked up, they would have been able to help Red.

“Please take her to her room. She's tired,” I tell her, handing Krystal over to her. Thankfully, she doesn't stir.

“I'll make sure to tuck her in. Should I take Jax with me too?” She must have sensed the atmosphere in the room.

I nod my head and she calls for Jax to follow her.

“You'll find Miss Lauren, right, Dad? I don't like seeing Krystal sad, and I love having her mom here with us... she cooks delicious food,” Jax says, then turns to Monica. “No offense to you, Nana.”

“None taken, champ,” Monica replied with a smile.

I needed them to leave so I could get down to business. Don't get me wrong, I love Jax more than anything, but I had a missing wife to find.

“I will, Jax. Now go with Monica so your Uncle and I can focus on finding Krystal’s mom.”

With that assurance, he leaves, following Monica and closing the door silently behind him.

I turn to Micah. “Fuck! After the last attack, I should have placed some of the warriors as her bodyguards,” I say, hitting the table.

I hated feeling like a fucking failure. I had promised her that my name would offer her protection, but it clearly didn't, because someone still fucking kidnapped her.

"Don't beat yourself up. It wasn't your fault,” Micah tries to reassure me.

“We need to find her now,” I growl.

My mind is in turmoil, trying to figure out who was trying to kill her. It could be one of many enemies, given the attacks started when she began associating with me. But for some reason, this seemed a bit more personal. Whoever was behind this wanted her dead for some fucking reason. The investigation we conducted led us nowhere. The four men who attacked her had nothing useful to tell me. All they said was that their contact just gave them the job. Told them they would get paid once they killed her. They never met the person personally, so they had no fucking idea who it was.

"Get Hunter on the phone,” I command, referring to my head warrior.

Hunter wasn't his real name. We just called him that because he was fucking good at tracking. Micah nods his head before dialing his number and putting him on speaker.

“Boss?” he answers immediately.

“I want you to meet us at Ruby's collection. I want you on a trail.” My tone comes out harsher than I intended, but fuck it.

"On it, Boss,” he replies before hanging up.

“We driving or running?” Micah asks.

It was night time, so it wouldn't be easy to spot us.

“Running. It's faster,” I answer.

Opening my back door, we get outside. Fang takes over, ripping our clothes and roaring. For some strange fucking reason, he's taken a liking to Red and her wolf.

Our paws pound the ground as we dash through the thick forest. Our only thought was on finding Lauren. After about thirty minutes, we break through the forest. We're careful to keep in the shadows as we approach the parking lot.

We find Hunter already there, standing next to Claire and her mate with a set of clothes. I notice that Darren wasn't present. What a fucking bastard. We take them in our mouths before going behind a truck to change.

“Can you show us where Lauren's car is?" I ask.

"Yeah, sure.” Her voice trembles and it's clear she’s been crying.

She leads us to Lauren's Mercedes. Thankfully, she didn’t touch anything; she left things as they were. Hunter gets to work doing his thing. He stills after a few minutes.

“You found something?” I ask him.

"Yeah. I found a trail leading north. The attacker's scent is mixed with blood and that of the Luna.” Fang growls and it slips past my clenched jaw. “Good, let's head out.”

“I'm coming with you, but shouldn't we take backup with us?” Darren's Beta says, making Micah and Hunter chuckle.

"Your Alpha may be a weak fucker, but I'm not. I don’t need fucking backup.”

He doesn't say anything, thankfully, because I was about to blow up. Hunter starts following the trail and we follow him.

Heads were about to roll. Whoever was responsible was going to fucking pay.

Lauren

The hit jolts me awake.

"Wake up, you fucking bitch.” The snarl made me open my eyes.

I wince because it seems he hit my eye and it was already starting to swell. I take note and realize I was in a chair and my hands were tied behind my back. The room I was in wasn't much; it looked like I was in an old cabin. I could hear the wind howling, so my guess is I wasn't in the city.

“Look at us, bitch, do you remember us?” A different man says.

I turn to look at him and I almost groan in frustration. Looks like the men who kidnapped me were the same guards I fired on my first day of work. I know I complained when Sebastian kidnapped me, but I would rather be kidnapped by him than these two idiots.

“No, I don't... Am I supposed to?” I snicker at them.

The hit comes without warning, making my head swing to the side. I had a pounding headache and I could feel the swell on the back of my head. This hit just made it worse.

“You fired us, you snotty cunt... But now we can take our revenge on you,” the tall one says.

He hits me again, bursting my lips. I wondered why my luck was so terrible. Did the Moon Goddess hate me this much? Since this shitstorm with Darren started a year ago, I haven't had a moment of peace.

“Tell us you're sorry and maybe we will spare you,” the other one says.

As if that was ever gonna happen. “I'd rather scrape my eyes out with nails than apologize to you two idiots.”

The punch to my stomach makes me lean forward in agony. Who would have thought it would be this painful? Actors in movies don’t do these types of scenes justice.

The punches keep coming. The more they hit me, the more I feel my anger rise; the darkness in me rising. They had tied my hands with a rope. Luckily for me, I had claws, so I was keeping them distracted as I worked on the ropes.

When they stop, my whole body is aching. I cough up blood and spit it on the floor. “You've got to tell me. Did you two come up with the plan to kidnap me? I have to say it was sort of brilliant and well-executed. I had no idea what was waiting for me when I went down to the parking lot.”

I didn't for once believe that they came up with this plan. They two were clearly too idiotic to come up with such a well-thought-out plan.

“No, we didn't. Someone who shared the same hatred for you as we did approached us with a deal and we accepted. They wanted you dead and we wanted you to suffer.”

Bingo. Just like I had suspected.

I didn't know if anyone knew I was missing yet, but I couldn't wait here for someone to save me. I was going to save myself.

“They forgot to tell you how dangerous I can be... I'm going to kill the both of you,” I say with a sinister smile.

They snort as if it were a joke before resuming their torture. I scream when they plunge a knife into my shoulder.

"Scream all you want, darling. There's no one here to save you. No houses around or people. Soon we will end you, and as your body rots, you know what we are going to do?” they ask.

I don't answer, just breathe through the pain.

"We're going to find your beautiful daughter and do the same thing to her. It will be so much fun for you to watch from hell as we torture your little girl,” the tall one sneers before they both cackle in laughter.

That was the final straw, because I blew up. A growl leaving my lips, I finish the rope tying me. “Look at her eyes,” I hear one say in fear, but it sounds far away. “Back up from her. Fuck, something isn’t right. She's not normal. Run!”

Before they could, I leap out of my chair. I kick one of them, sending them crashing to the wall, while I pin the other, my nails digging into his neck. Nothing registered in my head. I just wanted their blood. I needed to hear their screams.

“I told you I was going to kill you,” I say with a smile before I tear his throat. Blood splashes on my face, but I don't care. It felt good to bathe in the blood of my enemies. At this point, the darkness and I were one. No one was going to lay a hand on my baby girl.

I hear the other one scream and I turn to face him just as the door bursts open. A naked man walks in followed by others. If I was in my right mind I would have recognized them, but in the moment I didn't.

“Looks like she doesn't need help,” one says.

The bad man scrambles and goes to the men. “Oh thank God. Please help me. She's a fucking monster. Just tore the throat of my friend with her bare hand.”

I chuckle at that. He had no idea how much of a monster I could be.

The leader's eyes change color as he advances on my target. “You took my woman, there's no way you're walking out of here alive.”

The look on his face when he realized the man he thought was his savior was just like me is priceless. Before he can do anything, a hand punches through his chest before his heart is ripped from his body. His dead body crumbles to the ground.

The need to flee and kill consumes me. I'm about to do that when a crashing pain takes over my brain. It was as if there were two entities fighting for dominion inside my heart. I scream at the pain that was not only wreaking havoc in my mind but my body as well.

I feel someone hold me as I scream and then everything goes quiet and peace follows.