" lust rushes, love waits "

__

    Erin explains a little more, that is until I order them to take her to the hospital. I refused to let her continue answering questions until she was in less pain. She was now in her own hospital room getting treated and resting.

For now, there was a sudden meeting I was apart of in Nolan's office that I had never been in. I was being nosy and having a look around the mahogany themed room, Andrew and I were the only ones in the room currently as Nolan was getting Beta Jack up to speed.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Andrew quietly asks.

My shoulders tense, my back was towards him so he couldn't see my face. "I didn't want either of you to worry- especially Sarah."

"Cassie," He breathes out strained, "I just- we never knew..."

"That was the past, Andrew." I walk over to the leather chair behind the desk, running my hand over the soft cushioning. Then I sit down in it, finally looking at Andrew. "That whole Rogue thing happened and suddenly that seemed like the little of my problems after that."

"You've been through so much." His voice cracks surprising me.

I just let out a little laugh, it's not in humour though. "But look at me, I'm fine now. I'm still here. I survived and I'll be damned if I let what happened in the past effect my future."

"I get it now."

"Get what?"

"Why she chose you," he lowers his voice, like speaking more to himself if anything.

I furrow my eyebrows. "Who chose me?"

The door to the office swings open and both Nolan and Jack step on through, immediately glancing to where I am. I'm confused by their odd expressions until I realise where I'm sitting.

"Oh sorry," I quickly stand up, getting off the leather seat that was Nolan's, behind his desk facing towards where everyone else should be sitting.

I was in the King's seat.

"Stay," Nolan quickly sputters out before I move, "sit, please."

I do as told, slightly apprehensive as I lower myself back down but I still do so. He walks up beside me, standing and resting a hand on my shoulder, half of me thinking it's just to make sure I stay seated.

"So, I assume you're all up to speed Beta Jack?" I ask.

He nods.

"Great, now what do we do with all this information?" I glance up towards Nolan searching for answers, he was already looking down at me again with that look.

Nolan clears his throat blinking and looking away back at the boys in front of us. "Right, so far we've been told that there's an Alpha going by the name Hex, who is running a pack called Hexer."

"A shit name if you ask me," Andrew grumbles to himself but clamps his mouth shut when shot a look by Nolan.

"The Pack has been running for fifteen years under our radar, with nothing out of the ordinary." Nolan trails off and I sense the anger again, causing me to reach up to press a comforting hand the one that he had rested on my shoulder.

I smile comfortingly, squeezing before looking back at the boys. "She says there's a witch helping him."

"Which isn't possible, witches are on a whole other country. After the peace treaty was made we haven't seen one since." Andrew points out.

Nolan agrees. "Exactly, but it's still plausible. There's no way a whole pack without our knowledge could escape us, there has to be some spell casted."

"So, some spell was casted to hide the whole pack." I recall Erin telling us that was how he was hiding in broad daylight. "Do we think she's actually working for him or..."

"You think she's being held hostage." Nolan finishes my thoughts.

"That could be it." Andrew shrugs, "but there's no way to know, didn't Erin say she was rarely seen in the pack just known of?"

"Yes. It was all she could offer on that."

"Are we really believing this whole story?"

"You think she's making it all up?" I fire back, frowning.

"Maybe. I don't know. It just, it seems a bit of a stretch don't you think, a bit far fetched?"

No one replies for a brief moment. Silence falling on us. Yes, it seemed a bit crazy but what other explanation could there be? Also, for some reason I just knew Erin wasn't lying.

I bite my lip, chewing on it as I think. When I glance back up I'm met with all three pairs of eyes on me. "What?"

"What do you think?" Nolan asks.

"You're asking me what I think?" I say surprised. "Why?"

"You have some sort of second sense about people." Andrew responds this time, "you glance at a person and seem to instantly know whether they're good or bad."

"Josh." I quickly sit forward with wide eyes, aware that it was a random change of topic. "Do you think he can confirm it? If we ask if he can recall his name? He seemed to remember the Alpha part."

"You think he is apart of this Pack?" I nod at Andrew.

"It is worth a shot." Nolan shrugs.

I look to Beta Jack but he wasn't even paying attention, I had noticed he seemed a bit distracted or thinking heavily about something.

I place that thought away to ask him about it later.

It happens so suddenly, the shift in the room. All three men eyes glazed over as they stand abruptly. Next thing I know, Nolan is leaving the room Andrew following behind whilst Jack stays behind, still standing alert.

"What just happened?" I blurt out.

"Rogue." Beta Jack responds, shifting on his feet.

"What are you still doing here then?" I ask, he was the Beta wasn't he?

"Orders."

I purse my lips, it didn't answer my question but that was all I was getting, I knew that. "You know something, don't you?"

His head snaps to look at me.

"You've been thinking heavily this whole conversation. Do you think you have an idea?" I ask softly, not meaning to sound so accusing. "Or at least some sort of lead?"

"A thought." He reprehends.

"Care to share?"

He mulls it over. "It's a long shot."

I shrug. "At this stage, we could make use with any lead."

He sits back down, legs bouncing up and down and for the first time I see him look anything but calm or impassive. I see his Adam's apple bob up and down in nerves.

"Jack-"

"Twenty years ago, I was taken. One of the first of a hundred to be kidnapped throughout a span of five years, five hundred people were taken."

"A hundred per year." I say.

He nods. "I was the first hundred. His name was Raymond Fleur. That much I know. We were placed in some facility and tortured into not only submission but there was an objective; only the strongest survived."

"You were in there for five years." I whisper out, heart aching.

"Fifteen years ago a tally of five hundred werewolves had been reported missing, no pattern and no leads. All random. Fifteen years ago, King Nolan found my facility with pure luck, rescued us but out of the hundred that entered only one survived."

"You." I quietly say.

"Yes, me. He didn't expect anything from me but I was persistent in helping out, yet the case was shut five years later after no other leads were found except for the knowledge of that one name."

"That doesn't explain what this has to do with anything."

"I know this may sound a little... but the pack has been running for fifteen years."

"You think this is all linked?"

"How else would he create a pack? You can't do it without any members."

"Do you still have the case files? The missing people reports?"

It's a blur from there, the both of us hurriedly searching through the case files. Boxes upon boxes were stored related to it. There were now papers scattered everywhere in the office, majority on the floor where I sat circled amongst them.

I was scanning the contents, eyes flying from one sheet to another, missing people and their names scattering in my brain. Jack was across from me, a lot more frustrated now that we seemed to be coming back to nothing.

"Don't think like that," I comment, "it's a good hunch."

He huffs, throwing down another file on the growing pile beside us we had labelled no clue. "We're wasting our time."

"It's a gut feeling. You feel like this could be linked. I feel like Josh and Erin are linked. What if it's all linked? We don't know until we look at every possible corner."

"Thank you." His voice comes out quiet, appreciative.

I give him a small smile.

My eyes catches something in that moment, "Erin," I murmur out to myself, thumbing through the papers, "hold on, hold on, hold on." I shift through the papers. "I think I saw something before, about a little girl though."

I keep frantically searching through the mess of a pile, Jack watching me keenly. I keep the other report in my hand to make sure I don't lose it, then I find it, a missing persons flyer.

There was a picture of a little girl, no older than one. She had very little blonde whispers of hair, and was in a pink onesie bright blue eyes staring into the camera. Below was her details.

Missing Person: Erin James
Age: eleven months
Last seen with her father at Bloodmoon Pack, shopping centre. Please contact with any information, money reward if found.

Other details included but it was the photograph that has my attention. I hold up the two sheets of paper to Jack. "One is the flyer and the other is the Beta's report. Erin James, kidnapped at only eleven months."

He gently grasps the papers from me, looking over them. "You think..."

"It has to be. Says both her and her father went missing, her father works for Alpha Hex, she was nearly one when she was kidnapped and now she's sixteen. The time frame adds up."

Beta Jack all of the sudden stands, "we have to go. King Nolan is asking for us."

I fold the two pieces of paper and hold onto them, he watches my movements as I do so before we quickly exit.

When we arrive to the dingy prisons, a shiver passes by me as I spot both Nolan and Andrew talking amongst one another in the corner and the window comes into view, where I see a man shackled by both wrists, ankles and neck.

I'm not the only one who freezes, I see Beta Jack completely still. Watching his eyes flicker through anger and pain with a hint of fear in them. "Jack," I murmur, "you okay?"

"It's him." He whispers, so low that only I can hear.

I freeze, standing beside him mouth slightly agape as I stare at the man who right from the beginning gave me the creeps. He was most likely in his mid fifties, a bulky man with a greying bald patch on the top of his head.

"Are you sure?" I whisper back.

"You don't forget the face of a man who tortured you for five years."

"He won't talk. He hurt two of our best warriors and still managed to fend off four of them before Drew and I arrived."

"Are they okay?" I worriedly ask.

Nolan smiles reassuringly. "Yes, not fatal."

I breathe a sigh of relief. "You said he won't talk? You both know nothing about him?"

"You won't be going in there, Cassandra." He frowns, "I won't allow it this time."

"No, goodness no. Just looking at him is enough to know he's no good." I shake my head, "I may be naive and trustworthy at times but there's a difference between seeing fear in people and seeing cruelty. Besides, I was going to say Jack knows who that is."

Nolan and Andrew look towards him. Jack looks at me pleadingly and I smile understandingly, knowing what he wanted me to do. "That man in there," I nod to the window.

"That's Raymond Fleur."

The fact they currently had one of the guys both Nolan and Jack had once been chasing for five years right in their captivity now stumped them. Nolan was angry, that much I could feel and I was still staring at the creepy guy who held an air of superiority despite holding no power in this situation.

"He won't talk, now what do we do?" Andrew says.

"There's other means to get him to talk." Nolan speaks darkly, a tone of voice I'd never heard before that would scare me if it wasn't for the fact my thoughts had turned pretty deadly itself.

I wasn't entirely dumb enough not to realise that meant torture, yet I didn't even flinch. In fact I solely believed he deserved it and nobody would change my mind. Here sat a man who had tortured and perhaps killed more than anybody could count.

"Beta Jack and I have another lead with Erin, we think she was one of the children kidnapped fifteen years ago." I state out loud, gaining their attention but I still stare at the deranged man in anger, "we'll go chase that lead, you two do whatever it takes to get answers out of him."

There's a stunned silence, I see their reflection in the window. Even Nolan looks stunned before his lips lift up in a smirk, sharing a look with Andrew who was grinning ear to ear.

"Is that permission I hear?" Andrew taunts.

I shrug. "I don't care what happens to him. That being said I want no part of it. This one is on you Nolan, but Jack and I will chase the other leads. Right, Jack?"

He nods in agreement.

"Sweet. We'll leave you both to it." I smile.

"Wait," Nolan halts everybody, except he sends a look, eyes glazing over to Andrew and Jack who nod and exit the room together leaving me alone with him.

"You okay?" I ask, stepping forward to be closer to him.

He closes the gap between us, hands falling to my hips. "I'm fine. I wanted to ask if you were okay."

"Yeah," I breathe out suddenly the air in here seemed minimal. "I'm good. I hope it's okay I steal Beta Jack for a little bit, I just realised I may of bossed everyone around."

He chuckles, sending my toes curling, "what I care about is how you knew about Raymond Fleur."

"Beta Jack and I talked."

"Talked? As in words out loud?"

I laugh lightly. "What? You think I can suddenly mind link?"

"He hasn't spoken out loud since... did he talk to you about that too?"

"Yeah, yeah he did. Him and I are pretty similar in terms of scars."

"We haven't spoken about what you told Erin yet either."

"You heard that?" I meekly reply.

"I was listening in since the beginning," He murmurs, golden eyes seeping into my own soft and fond, "you have a way with people you know?"

"Andrew said that the other day too." I say, "I think it runs a bit more deeper then that though. All you have are males down here and since they were hurt by males..."

"...they've become more wary and scared of them. Understandable. This is why I need you. Without you I don't think we would even be aware of this Hex."

He didn't even give him the title. I didn't blame him, no man deserved the title of Alpha unless trained and properly initiated to be one.

"Whoever this person is disgusts me." I grumble, wrinkling my nose and feeling my anger return. I breath in and out. "Okay, we need to get a move on. We'll talk later, yeah?"

"Of course." He replies, dipping his head down to give me a soft kiss on my forehead, "tell Jack to keep me updated, alright?"

"Got it."

___

We get confirmation from Josh that there was indeed an Alpha Hex. Even the mention of his name had taken me thirty minutes to calm Josh down from a panic attack.

There was no denying it now. This was fact, Erin was telling the truth and somehow a witch tied into this, Raymond Fleur did and the two innocent children did too.

We were currently in Erin's hospital room, she looked different, having been cleaned up and been given fresh clothes.

"Hey, how you feeling?" I gently ask, after arriving in her room. Sitting myself down on a chair on the side of the bed.

"Better. A lot better actually, I've never been in a hospital before." She uncharacteristically smiles, "I never got to thank you, Cassie."

"Don't mention it." I wave her off. Her eyes glance apprehensively to Beta Jack whose mere presence looks scary enough. "That's Beta Jack, he's helping us too."

She nods, a look of understanding flashing over her face. "You know, I first thought you were the Alpha King."

"Really?" I laugh lightly.

"You have the same feel of power, you know? Your presence has the same hold as his." She must see my look of confusion. "You know how you can feel the Alpha King before you see him, the level of power he has over everyone? I felt that with you before you entered the room."

"Really?" I say again, apprehensively.

"It made sense when he arrived though, since you're his-"

Beta Jack clears his throat, interrupting the talk and I glance over at him silently asking if he needed anything. He taps his wrist the universal sign to hurry it up and I shake my head rolling my lips between my teeth.

"I came to ask you something, Erin." I begin, slowly.

"I understand." She nods, head casted downwards.

"It's about your father. I know it might not be easy to talk to him but if you could answer to the best of your abilities I would appreciate it so much."

"I'll answer whatever questions you have."

"Thank you. If I recall, you said the pack has been up and running for fifteen years. You're sixteen. Do you know where you resided before then?"

"Talk of the outside world is prohibited in the Pack." She recites, like a robot who was taught an array of commands.

"Okay. What about your mother?" She flinches at the mentioning of her and I instantly feel bad, "I know it's a tough subject but do you know what happened to her?"

"My father said she died when I was born. Every time I asked about her he would- he would-" She stutters out.

"It's okay," I cut off, "I understand. Your father, do you know his name?"

"His name...his name is Raymond Fleur."

I balk. "Sorry, sweetheart. Say that again?"

"My father's name is Raymond Fleur."