Alpha (Wolves Creek Book 1)(24)

I finally managed to finish reading a page, when Tyler walked in, a  solemn look on his face. I threw the book on the coffee table next to  me, sitting up properly.

"Is there any news?" I quickly asked.

"None. The whole town is out searching though; I know we will find her."

"God, I hope so."

"We have the best men working on this and none of us will sleep until we find her. This pack messed with the wrong wolves."

"I know, but a lot can happen in twelve hours." I cursed myself for my negativity.

"They have forgotten to take one thing in to consideration, though."

"What's that?"

"How intelligent she is. That girl has managed to evade me even when  I've been looking right at her. She's super smart and she will know that  we will be coming for her. I wouldn't be surprised if she'd left us  clues somewhere, or manages to escape from them herself."

I smiled in gratitude at his attempt to cheer me up. His words resonated  within me though and I felt slightly more positive as memories of a  clever Annabelle having us all fooled for hours during a game of  hide-and-seek flood my brain.

Just then, my phone chimed with a text and I pulled it out slowly, not  really caring who was texting me right now. My heart started to pound  when I saw the unknown number, a picture of Annabelle filling my screen.  She had a cut on her head and a bruise on her face, but she looked to  be sitting and talking with someone. The room around her was dark, so  all I could see on the screen was her but I let out a sob when I saw  that she was alive. My tears of joy soon turned to cries of fear when I  read the message that had been sent underneath the picture. Tyler lunged  forward to take the phone from my hand, reading the message as his eyes  filled with rage. I couldn't seem to focus as all I could see in front  of me were the cold words sent to my mobile phone.                       
       
           



       



We want to trade. You for the little girl. Follow the GPS coordinates  below deep in to the woods to where we are located. Come alone, and  within the next hour, or she dies. Painfully. You have until midnight.



I checked my watch in horror to find that the time was already ten past  eleven. I had 50 minutes to get to this location and save Annabelle! But  what would happen to her when I got there? I didn't care about what  happened to me, but how could I let them just release Annabelle in the  middle of the forest and hope that she found her way home? I didn't know  what to do!

Tyler called to the guys to join them in the room and Jackson rushed in,  a panic stricken look on his face. He took one look at the text message  and it was like the careful control he had managed to keep just  shattered everywhere. With a hoarse yell, he spun around, overturning  the coffee table and everything on it. He punched the wall ferociously  twice before regaining his senses, turning back around to face me. The  fury in his eyes was warring with the desolation and I could physically  see the hopelessness of the situation in his gaze.

"I have to do this," I whispered, my heart breaking when Jackson let out a devastated moan as he walked towards me.

"We can come up with a plan. I won't send you to them like a fucking gift, I'm coming with you and we are going to end this."

"No! Jackson, you can't. We have no idea where they are holding  Annabelle, they could kill her as soon as they see you! We can't argue  about this, there's no time!" I forced myself to leave the safety of his  arms, rushing towards the door, no plan in my mind other than getting  Annabelle back.

Pandemonium broke out behind me as everyone threw ideas in at once and I  felt Jackson right behind me as I hurtled towards the front door. He  grabbed my arm before I could leave, Tyler stepping in front of us, a  smile on his face.

"I've got a plan."

"Make it quick," snapped Jackson; the stress of the situation clearly getting to him.

"I'll go with her-"he started, holding up a hand when the guys started  to protest. "Look, they're not stupid. They know that Laura would be an  idiot to go walking in all alone, so will be bringing someone with her.  If I go with her, they'll presume I'm the only back up and write us off  as a threat completely. I'll tell them I'm just there to bring Annabelle  home and I'll leave Laura with them. You guys follow behind us but stay  out of sight, then come storming in to the rescue."

"Surely they must know that these guys will have seen the location on my  phone? They have to know they are inciting the wrath of the whole  pack?"

"These guys aren't that smart. Seriously, this plan will work. All they  are focusing on is having Laura, they won't be thinking about anything  else. We'll take them by surprise."

"It's not the best plan but it's the only one we've got," Jackson agreed  half-heartedly. Turning towards me, he grabbed me and pulled me in to a  hug, squeezing the breath out of me.

"Stay safe, I'm right behind you," he whispered, before opening the  door. I rushed through with Tyler on my heels, praying that we made it  there in time.



JACKSON



"Max! Liam! Follow right behind them, don't let them out of your sight. Message me the location too."

"Yes, sir."

Watching Laura get in to that car and drive away had been the hardest  thing I had ever had to do. Laura and I may have had a whirlwind  romance; but I knew in my heart that she was the one for me. There would  never be anyone else that I would love as much as I loved her; I just  prayed I got a chance to tell her that. There were so many emotions  waiting to burst out, I could barely think straight; rage, despair and  ice-cold terror. I could barely see through the red haze that had  descended after finding out about Annabelle. The thought of sweet  Annabelle in the clutches of that disgusting pack, made me want to find  every member and kill them in the most hideous ways. However, I needed  to get my emotions in check. As alpha, everyone looked toward me for  support and guidance and I needed a level head if this plan had any  chance of succeeding. Trying to put thoughts of Laura out of my head, I  focused on the next part of the plan. I had sent two of my best men to  follow Tyler and Laura, because something felt off. I always taught my  men to trust their instincts, so that's what I did. Tyler had sent the  text message through with the location for where to find them, but at  the same time I received a message from Max, advising they were heading  in a completely different location. Shit, we were being sent in the  wrong direction deliberately. Tyler. After gathering my men, I told them  about the most recent developments and everyone started to shout at the  same time.                       
       
           



       

"Why the fuck is he sending us the wrong way?"

"It doesn't make sense."

"Do we all split up? Half of us go there and the other half to the other location?"

"It's a trap."

I used my loudest alpha voice to call the room back to order. It fucking  broke my heart to say what I was about to say, but this was a prime  time when the duty to my pack needed to come before my personal  feelings.

"We are going to the location Tyler is sending us to."

"What about Laura?" Ethan asked, already halfway out of the door.

"Max and Liam are there and will hopefully bide us enough time. My gut  feeling is telling me there will be an ambush awaiting us at the  location Tyler has sent us too. I'm hoping that means less wolves  wherever he is taking Laura. I need all of you to come with me, if we  have any chance of beating these bastards."

"If you're so sure it's an ambush, why don't we just go the location Laura is at?"

"The pack have been after Laura since she arrived. They took Annabelle  to use as a bargaining chip, but she is not who they really want. It  makes sense for them to separate the two. I'm not taking any chances  with Annabelle's life. If she's with the bulk of the pack at this  location, we need to go and get her back. Annabelle is the priority."  Fuck, I'm sorry Laura. Just hang on until I can get there.

"We don't have time to argue about this. Let's go."



****

Yep, it was a fucking trap. Thanking god for the intuition which made me  bring all of my men to the fight, I watched as our men heavily  outnumbered theirs. The location Tyler had sent us too, was in fact on  the outskirts of Grove Pack territory. Clearly, they thought being on  their home turf would give them the advantage. They had forgotten about  the skill of my men though and from the minute we arrived, there had  been wolves flying at us from all directions.

My men and I shifted as soon as the attack started; and what they  brought to the fight in anger and just plain violence, we more than made  up for with skill. I could barely concentrate on anything that was  going on, with the fighting happening all around me. To my left, I could  see Blake fighting two wolves, who were clearly injured. Knowing Blake,  he was probably thoroughly enjoying himself. To my right I could make  out Ethan, who seemed to be struggling from the full force of three  wolves who were attacking him. I raced over to him, hearing a distressed  whine come from his throat, when I felt a huge weight land on me and I  squared off against a wolf who was clearly the alpha of the pack. He  didn't waste any time, charging at me, using his claws to scratch deep  marks down my face. I lunged for him and sank my teeth in to his back  leg, blood filling my mouth and his whines filling the air. The next few  minutes were filled with growls and the scent of blood, before the wolf  I was fighting just turned suddenly, limping in to the woods. Pussy. My  men seemed to have the fighting under control, so I shifted back to  human in order to focus better, when I heard my brother's shouts  somewhere in the distance. Racing towards the trees - back in my wolf  form - I ran quickly through the forest to a small house which looked to  be empty, until I saw my brother Noah, running out of the door. My  heart rejoiced when I saw him carrying the young Annabelle in his arms, a  blanket wrapped around her.