ALPHA(41)

“Is everything okay?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.

“I don’t want Annabelle to experience war,” he said, he pain in his voice causing my heart to break.

“She won’t. You won’t let her.”

“I’m not going to have much choice. How can I sit by while these people hurt my family? What kind of Alpha am I? I’m putting the needs of my pack above the needs of my own family. Terrified of the repercussions for everyone, I’m just letting them get away with it.”

“No, you’re not. You’ve have got your men working around the clock to look after everyone. You’ve barely slept these past few nights, and keep waking to write down plans and strategies. I pretend I’m asleep so I don’t distract you from whatever ideas you have, but I’m awake and I see you. How can you not see what an amazing alpha that you are? The fact you are putting the people’s needs above your families is what makes you an amazing alpha, it’s not a negative thing. These people look up to you and they respect you. They wouldn’t do that if you were some crappy alpha who didn’t know what he was doing.”

“I’m trying to come up with something which will protect everyone, but if I have to get rid of the whole Grove pack to protect my family then I will. I’d give up my life to keep you all safe.”

“I know.” I threw my arms around his waist and pulled him in close for a hug. I didn’t tell him what I was thinking, in case he became even angrier. But I wanted to agree with him completely. I’d give up my life to keep him safe, too.



LAURA



It was a couple of days later, and I had arrived back at Jackson’s after spending the afternoon laughing and drinking coffee with Logan. As soon as I walked through the front door, I knew something was wrong. I didn’t know how to describe it, but it was like the air in the house had suddenly changed, and I could feel a negative energy surrounding me. My heart dropped and I picked up my pace as I heard the distinct sound of a woman crying further on through the house. I rounded the corner to the living room, and found the room full of people, each with the same look of fury on their faces. I tried to focus on the men pacing the room, but my attention was diverted by the scene happening on the sofa. Jasmine was sitting on the sofa in Noah’s lap, his arms wrapped around her while she sobbed on his shoulder, her eyes red and puffy. My eyes widened when I saw the various cuts and bruises covering her face and arms, and I shrank back at the fury on Noah’s face as he looked at her. Jackson was pacing by the side of the sofa, a matching look of anger on his face which if I didn’t know him so well, would have terrified me. I rushed over to the sofa, and knelt down in front of where Noah and Jasmine were sitting, grabbing Jasmine’s hand which was cold to the touch.

“Jasmine, what happened?!” I cried out, dreading what she was going to tell me. She looked at me and the desolation in her gaze caused tears to build in my own.

“They’ve taken her,” she said, her voice hoarse from crying.

“Who?!”

“The Grove Pack. They’ve taken Annabelle.” She moved her head back in to the crook of Noah’s neck, wailing so loudly I felt my heart shatter in response. Noah remained silent, but his emotions played out clearly on his face; heartbreak, fear and rage.

“How did this happen?!” I jumped up, and turned to Jackson who was looking at me with the same emotions in his gaze that were in Noah’s.

“Jasmine took Annabelle out to grab some food shopping, and head to the soft play area. Two enforcers followed behind in a car, but the Grove Pack turned up unexpectedly. Four SUV’s surrounded them, and ran them off the road. Jasmine was knocked unconscious and the precious minutes it took for my men to get out of their trapped, overturned car were enough for them to grab Annabelle and take her with them. We don’t know at this point if she was unconscious when they took her.” I heard a tremor in his voice and I knew he was about to lose it. Walking over to him, I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him, breathing a sigh of relief when his arms came up and embraced me back.

“We’ll get her back,” I said, with more conviction in my voice than I felt.

Jasmine started to cry harder from the sofa, and Noah tried to comfort her by running his hand across her hair and kissing her forehead.

“We’ll get her back, baby,” he said, but it caused her to wail louder.

“We don’t even know if she’s alive! I couldn’t protect her! The car rolled over and I was completely useless, I couldn’t do anything!”

“Shhh, look at me Jasmine.” Noah placed his hands on her cheeks and stayed silent until she looked him right in the eyes.