Darkest Wolf

XI

Mike's POV

"My sincerest apologies, Alpha Phillip. Had I known where those girls were going I would have sent wolves after them."

"From what I hear all Wright's are this difficult to handle so I can't say I'm surprised that a few slipped through your fingers, Michael."

My wolf furrowed at the insult but I put him in his place. We don't have time to ruin allies and start wars. We have to find Jade and Eve before it's too late.

Tyler moved around off to the left with Jac standing calmly to my right. She was always a good, calm girl. She will make a good, calm Alpha. I do, however, have to say that I'm rather proud of her in a fight. Watching my little girl on the training grounds has been one of the greatest prides of my life. She throws hundred pound men to the ground like rag dolls and crushes seven foot tall wolves as if they were grapes.

Her mother is less impressed with this particular ability.

"The Wright family has become so intertwined with our own," Jac said, taking a step closer to the opposing Alpha so he could look into her sweet face and see her pain," You can understand our concern."

"Their actions on our land are deeply offensive. Some would even call them actions of war."

"Come now, father. Don't tell me you're worrying about battles again?"

We all turned towards the stairway to watch a tall young man only a few years older than Jac bounding down. His brown hair just a few inches too long and curling towards the end flopped in front of his pale eyes as he stopped in front of us. He had an air of charisma about him that hadn't faded since the first time I saw him at my wedding.

"Maldeo."

"Alpha Michael Stone and the young Ms. Stone, pleasure to see you."

"How have you been?"

"Oh, you know. Growing big and strong, learning to be an Alpha, searching for a Luna. The usual childhood of a werewolf."

"He is quite the Alpha to be," Phillip interrupted his son to talk about his son," He defeats every opponent he faces against."

"So does my Jacqueline."

My daughter beams at my words, shoulders squaring and chin high. I can practically hear her wolf purring in satisfaction. She looks so much like her mother but so much like me. She took everything good we had to offer and made it better.

"I'm sure she does wonderful for a she wolf."

"Maybe we can test your son's abilities another time. You are always welcome to visit the Jade Forest but right now we have serious matters to attend to."

"Right, right."

He walked us to the place where his wolves were attacked, exaggerating every detail as he knew none for certain. The place completely cleared from all the debris from the fight that happened only a day ago but there was a wolf waiting for us there with clothing from Jade and Eve all torn to shreds.

"We believe that they came here in peace but they attacked when they saw my scouts. They can be quite intimidating to outsiders."

"Do you know where they went?"

"No. They went all the way to the river but traveled by stream and we lost their scent. Those girls are smart."

"They were trained by our pack."

I watched as Tyler went over to his daughter's clothing. He picked it up gently, not wanting to ruin it worse than it already was. I would never speak of it again but I swear to the huntress that I saw tears in his eyes as he pulled the fabric to his nose and breathed in the scent of his little girl. 

That could have easily been my little girl.

"I'll follow them down the river," he volunteered, not letting the fabric go," they have to keep moving and at some point in time they need to get out of it and I imagine they already have. The waters of Greenland are unforgiving, even to a wolf."

"How do you know," Maldeo speaks for the first time in a while.

"I used to travel in this area. The rivers were good for hiding but if I was a full wolf I would have had to find another way. Eve is strong but not strong enough to withstand that. Jade wouldn't leave her in that."

"That's impossible, we would have noticed you."

"You might have," he glances at me, his eyes turning a lighter color," but few people are willing to mess with a wandering hybrid."

My lips wanted to quirk into a smile but I fought it. It took a long time for Tyler to be able to make a comment like that. 

We made a few more comments before heading back to the pack house. Tyler, Jac, and I were on a mission to bring Eve and Jade back home. A girl like Eve needs to be kept in her pack and as her Alpha it's my duty to keep her there. 

One of their Omegas showed us to our rooms but we all gathered in my room with the intention of coming up with a plan to track them down.

Tyler pulled an old map out of his bag and laid it down on the table for all of us to see. He had drawn big, red circles around the places were we know they were. Alaska, a Canadian harbor, a Greenlandic harbor, and here. The river they took is marked with a long red line going straight down the middle.

They couldn't follow it for long without running into water so they would have to leave it at some point but it goes for miles in either direction. They could have crossed to the other side or they could have stayed on this side, which also adds to the possible ways they could have gone.

We were going over which direction to start with when there was a knock at the door.

I traded confused looks with Tyler and Jac before opening the door to find Maldeo staring at us. He was about to knock again and brought down his hand with a breathy smile. I looked over my shoulder to see what he was smiling at and frowned when I found it to be Jac who was raising her eyebrow in response.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was thinking that I may be of help. I know the area very well, yes?"

I drew up one eyebrow at Jac who shrugged and then at Tyler who was still staring at this soon-to-be Alpha. It didn't seem that Tyler trusted Maldeo but I couldn't understand why he wouldn't, Maldeo is still very much a pup compared to us.

When you were his age, were you thinking about pup things?

I snarled in response to my wolf. I was years younger than him when I had my first kill. I was his age when Lacey and I lost our first pup. We are not comparable.

He is a future Alpha just like you were. He believes he is entitled to certain things just because he will one day rule.

I was ready with a good response to my wolf but Maldeo was already welcoming himself into the room and helping Tyler point out the river and where it goes. He thinks the girls went to the East. Jac nodded thoughtfully along as they created a plan to follow them along stream and carefully added in her thoughts when needed. 

This already seemed like a horrible idea.