And Then She Was Gone

Measured Steps

"Mark, she has been found. She is currently under the hospitality of the Sand Stone pack in Colorado. All units have been recalled, you can go back to Shaded Mountain at your earliest convenience." Jacob said smoothly over the line, as he and the Alpha progressed down the road leading a convoy of four SUVs on their way to a private jet waiting for them.

Jason wasn't fucking around. He ensured that they took a combination of fifteen warriors and trackers with them. A deep seeded paranoia had formed within him, that she would once again disappear in the time it took them to pick her up and bring her home. It would take them a little over four hours to get to where she ended up, a combination of drive and flight time, her distance travelled on foot holding a deeper significance in consideration of their own travel duration in a vastly different mode.

"I don't know if I can do that." Mark said as he as he stood outside the motel room, smoking yet another cigarette. He already making a huge dent in his carton that he had purchased before arriving at the motel. His anxiety and frustration for his situation was through the roof, and the possibility of going rogue was still a looming thought that shadowed his mind.

"What do you mean you don't know if you can do that?" Jacob questioned back quickly, looking over to Jason who seemed to hold a light confusion on his face as well, being pulled away from his own brooding thoughts. "The op is over. You have to report back."

"I'm not sure if I can do that." Mark said again, his eyes trailing up to the sky as he was mulling over how to best handle the current situation.

"And why is that, may I ask?" Jacob asked for clarity, becoming more concerned about the betas recent change in personality.

"I found my mate." Mark said bluntly, taking another long inhale of his cigarette, his fingers shaking as he was beginning to tread into the murky waters of the sticky situation he found himself in.

"And? What does that have to do with your returning?" The master beta questioned not knowing how him finding his mate would seem to be an issue.

"... I don't want her to be killed." The beta said putting it out there, his voice now matched his shaking fingers.

"Mark, what is going on?" Jacob asked firmly, finding himself being frustrated with Marks illusiveness and unclear way of speaking.

"I lied to you, Jacob." His head shaking as he looked back over to the motel rooms closed door. "When I arrived at the last known campsite... I told you there were no survivors, but I lied. There was one."

Jacob had switched the phone to speaker phone, despite it being unnecessary the Alpha was clearly already listening into the conversation and a scowl immediately formed  on his face.

"The red head?" Jason spat out bitterly, his eyes swirling and growing in a darker shade.

"Her name is Samantha." Mark said back, expecting nothing less from Jason's instant reaction.

"Where are you?" The alpha questioned quickly, he was going to kill her himself, immediately irate that the bitch who took his mate and was responsible for her two weeks absence was still alive and under the protection of his own fucking beta.

"I'm afraid I can't say." The beta said, clearly knowing Jason well enough that he had run through all possible scenarios, and the alpha was falling into line with one of the most prevalent ones. "I've already shut off my gps location. So don't bother trying. I did it way before I got here."

"Mark, you piece of shit. How the fuck are you protecting this cunt?" Jason spat out, seething in unbridled anger at the disloyalty he was being shown by his longtime friend.