Chapter 16
An hour later, reinforcements arrive in Lativa from the Council's S.W.A.T unit – men and women of subordinate and elite warrior ranks within the three packs: Marcana, Lativa, and Crescent Hill.
Since it's a pack issue, a unit was dispatched from the division that tackles Were-oriented disputes.
Beta Chad phoned in, requesting immediate firepower and backup. The unit came with two trucks: one for transporting its people and another for the apprehended rogues.
The S.W.A.T team have the borders secured and Lativa is on temporary lockdown, pack warriors conducting a thorough search of every corner and building for trespassers.
I'm stitched and bandaged, left with strict instructions from Caleb to check in with my pack's head doctor though we all get check-ups and medical attention from the team at Lativa. They gave me a clean shirt to use.
Dad is also here, harboring minor injuries. A bullet grazed his right shoulder but he's mostly unscathed.
Annoyed from the scuffle and injuries but alive and breathing.
If I'm being honest, I almost passed out from relief when Dad himself came back to the Vault to tell us it's safe to leave it.
Alpha Isaiah has scratches and shiners too but is now less agitated with Luna Nicole's injuries showing signs of healing and Jessica's safe return to his side.
Aside from the rumpled clothing, wild hair, and minor scratches, she's fine.
Reports are that she put up quite a fight.
Killed two of her kidnappers, critically injured a third and left her for dead.
The clothing and hair came as a result of being manhandled.
Even with her hands tied behind her back and her mouth duct-taped, she kicked and thrashed until she broke free, unleashing her wrath until help arrived.
From what I heard, Alpha Isaiah nearly went ballistic when he saw Jessica's unkempt state, assuming the worst. A killing spree almost ensued but by the grace of his daughter's quick thinking, he came to his senses.
The living rogues involved in Jessica's kidnapping are being cuffed and tossed into the second S.W.A.T truck.
The rest were killed as a warning. A clear message that we know this isn't some spontaneous attack and whoever hired them, they're now on our radar.
"We'll keep them in holding overnight and come tomorrow, we'll be questioning them," Beta Chad informs.
"Put them in Marcana's holding cells. Not the Council's," Alpha Isaiah orders, and his second-in-command complies, understanding that this is personal.
There might be a political motive but the moment our currently nameless enemy targeted his family they made this war personal. The order serves as a reminder that he's not afraid to play dirty.
"If it's alright with Marcana's heads," Ezra says, glancing to his mate who offers him a reassuring grin that makes him melt, "I'd like to be present for the interrogations. Also, they shouldn't know I'm listening in."
I raise an eyebrow, crossing my arms over my chest. The wound on my arm where that stupid rogue bit me burns like hellfire and my face naturally reacts to the sting. "It wouldn't have anything to do with your secret investigations, would it?"
"Maybe, maybe not." He shakes his head, running a hand through his jet-black hair.
He's roughed up too, a little more than the rest of us, as if he was deliberately attacked.
I wouldn't doubt it. He has a nasty cut running diagonally across his face but it's not deep – a surface wound.
His wrist is bandaged, stained red with blood where he was bitten.
An array of scratches litter his arms, and fresh bruises are forming on his jaw.
He took a beating. And it would seem he unleashed unbridled rage onto those rogues if the numerous cuts on his knuckles give anything away.
"All I know is that this attack was too convenient," he says, watching as the last captured rogue is tossed into the back of the S.W.A.T van.
The rogue whips around, baring sharpened canines but meets the butt of a rifle to the face.
He topples back and the doors slam shut, the S.W.A.T officer rolling his neck and muttering something about rogues being a pain in the ass.
Ezra continues with, "They weren't here for the rest of us." He pauses, his anguished gaze settling on Jessica.
Her face falls, realization glimmering in her eyes when the attack's motive becomes glaringly obvious. So, he's not the only one who noticed it. Jessica, though, doesn't look troubled by this revelation. She just looks pissed.
"They were after me." Jessica tucks her hands into the jacket she's wearing. It belongs to Ezra and he pulled it off to wrap around her the second he saw her return safely. "Disappointing attempt."
Luna Nicole growls, eyebrows pinched in pain and her skin clammy with perspiration, her vexed reaction telling volumes of her displeasure.
"This is the main reason we are against your bond to Ezra," she grits out, her voice hollow with fatigue.
No one misses the quiet glare Jessica sends her mother, or the shift in Ezra's confidence. Almost as if he's accepting that no matter what, Luna Nicole will never accept him.
She has no choice.
And I don't think the mate bond can be helped. They're fated together by the Goddess and maybe, whatever plan our deity has, this is the trouble that comes with it.
Ending a decade's old feud isn't an easy task. It's ten times as difficult when mates are thrown into the equation and they happen to belong to feuding alpha bloodlines.
"Regardless," Beta Chad says, attempting to simmer the tension, "it would be best to remain vigilant. We may have killed off some of the rogues as a warning but whatever they want with Jessi, this may not be the only time they strike. Hopefully, tomorrow we'll get something useful."
"Good," Alpha Isaiah comments. "If they are a threat to Marcana, it will be best to keep our children informed so they'll know to look out for anything suspicious."
And I couldn't agree more!
Dad rolls his eyes, catching my gloating grin and the fact that I stand taller, happy that the heads are beginning to trust us more. We might still be children in their eyes – maybe will always be – but in a few years, we'll be taking over.
We remain in Lativa for another two hours, the instinct to help coming naturally at this point.
The feud between Lativa and Marcana temporarily forgotten, I witness Jessica upholding the virtues expected of her as a luna.
She speaks with every Lativa Were who approaches her with calmness and reassurance treating them like old friends.
It's no wonder Lativa likes her.
In assuring the pack that we aren't going to abandon them we also have the displeasure of witnessing an argument between Ezra and his father.
The old fart isn't the least bit bothered by his son's anger or the attack. Jessop's nonchalance toward the entire altercation and his comment, "You seem to have it under control," flares Ezra's anger leading him to storm off.
It gnaws at me, a little voice in my mind telling he has something to do with this attack. He's been the model citizen since his return from prison a few years back, but it doesn't mean he hasn't been making moves against Ezra and Marcana in silence.
I feel it in my gut that he's somehow involved. But how?
If Jessop is involved in tonight's attack, what is his end goal? And what does he mean by targeting Jessi?
If he's planning to scare her off, it's going to take more than an attack and a kidnapping. She's tough. Fierce. I've seen her size up opponents during training, men twice her size and with years of experience on their belts. But it's more than her prowess during training.
She carries herself like a luna. Speaks like one who isn't afraid to fight fire with fire.
"Can we leave, right now?" my father pleads upon witnessing the altercation.
He's ready to beat Jessop into a pulp and it has nothing to do with his general hatred of the man or the grotesque history between them. It's Jessop's indifference. The disrespect to his flesh and blood that pisses us off.
Ezra's pulling his weight, trying his hardest to rebuild his pack. He jumped into the fight without hesitation, risked life and limb for his pack while that irritable bastard was nowhere to be found.
Jessi wants to remain in Lativa for the night, as their luna and to ensure her mate is doing okay after the argument.
She doesn't trust Jessop either. The glare she casts the old bastard says that she's not just staying behind to support Ezra emotionally or politically.
She's staying behind to bodily protect her mate.
Her request is met with immediate refusal from both her parents, but after giving her a listening ear, Alpha Isaiah agrees to let her stay.
He doesn't like it that she's staying behind like some kind of protector but he's proud of her anyway.
He's beginning to realize that despite her stubbornness, Jessica isn't doing this for herself.
She has an obligation to Lativa and its alpha, and he saw that responsible side of her tonight.
Alpha Isaiah commands the warriors we arrived with to remain behind and safeguard her.
To return when she does, and to ensure that nothing unfortunate befalls his only daughter.
Then he takes Ezra aside and exchanges a few words. He abandons the stoic demeanor of his rank, looking more like a father-figure unintentionally fulfilling a role in Ezra's life he's never had.
And Ezra needed that pep talk because he stands taller, prouder when we leave.
When we return to Marcana, we're physically and mentally beat. My friends meet us along with Carter's mom and Asher's mom. Both women are fussing over their husbands, agitated that they're hurt, but relieved that it's not so bad.
Beta Chad and Commander Rick wear complacent grins. They delight in the fact that their women fuss over their safety.
I won't lie. I want that too, but at the rate we're going, I don't see Jace fussing over me any time soon.
Asher checks on his dad, poking fun to lighten the man's mood and save him from his mate's wrath because Marissa Stone might be a small lady, but she's got a big heart and a lot of passion to go with it.
Carter does the same to Beta Chad, poking fun at how his old age is catching up to him, slowing him down when a few years ago, he'd come away from scuffles with no injuries and not a single bead of sweat in sight.
Typical of Carter Hayes. He never passes on the opportunity to mess with his father, but then again, that's their relationship.
Beta Chad is no better because he thoroughly enjoys annoying the shit out of his oldest. Their bickering deflates Judy Hayes' fussing and her aggressive method of demonstrating care for her mate – full body inspection for injuries through not-so-gentle manhandling.
"Hey," Carter says, tapping my shoulder when the heads start moving along to the infirmary to be properly examined.
I finally have a moment to check my phone and I'm scrolling through the number of notifications – calls and messages – that's come in since my brief interaction with Jace earlier tonight.
There are numerous missed calls, some from unknown numbers, and others from my friends. Particularly Carter and Ash.
"Are you okay?" he asks, a curious edge to his tone that has me raising an eyebrow because he's not referring to my injuries or the attack.
"What's with all the calls? Was there an emergency?"
Dale and Ash walk over, catching wind of the conversation.
"Dude!" Ash scolds, then breathes deeply through his nose. "The only reason I'm not hitting you is because you had a valid reason for not answering your phone." He pauses, looking me up and down. "And because you are badly injured."
I glance at Dale awaiting an explanation for the unexpected verbal thrashing.
He sighs and shakes his head.
"Don't fly off the handle," he warns, placing a hand on my uninjured shoulder and I get the feeling it's not to calm me down but rather to restrain me.
"Did something happen?" I push. Uneasiness begins to creep in. That vague feeling that something isn't right – a feeling I've ignored all night in light of our visit to Lativa – suddenly comes surging to the surface.
"Jace is missing."