The Prince’s Unwilling mate

119 Griffin

I knew we had to be close, I sensed her, but I could not feel what side it was coming from. We combed through every inch of the forest, but we didn’t find any building where they could be hiding. No, new pack forming, the most logical thing for them to do was to move to another territory, an unclaimed one. And build their new pack there, or their leftover pack for that matter. But for sreason, they hadn’t there was no way I could still sense Ayla this strongly if she wasn’t here anymore. For a moment, my heart fell to the floor when I noticed the shallow grave at the foot of the three I had marked. The fear he had killed her ever since I had been close, that the photo was her last goodbye had gripped my heart.

“Prince Griffin, it does not work like that you would know if your mate dies, you know that right!” Rob, the warrior Lmet the other night, had asked to be in the group withand now calmeddown.

Talking to him had been somewhat useful, he wasn’t sure of anything. However, he seemed to be one of the first Pack members who saw something was off with David. When his parents died, Rob was the first one to suspect David was involved he still was, swith David’s sister going missing. Rob and his mate had been wanting out years ago, Rob being a warrior though caused Alpha Philip to forbid him to move packs. He couldn’t risk becoming a rogue not with a mate and two teenage children.

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119 Griffin

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Even now that Jay was leading the BloodMoon pack, it was clear how much the pack was damaged. There was no telling if we could bring the pack back to how it was supposed to be. But the threat of

someone so unstable, someone worse than the Alpha who brought an entire pack to the brink of ruin. A wolf capable of killing his family to get what he wants. Having kidnapped my sweet, gentle mate worriedmore than before. So every second I was coming up empty–handed, I felt more and more desperate. Hopelessness had settled in my chest like it was there to stay.

Not that I was about to give up, neither of us was. Still, for now, we had to retreat. We had been at it for four hours now, and we didn’t find anything. Chances that we wouldn’t find anything new were very high. We were however at risk of being discovered by David and his pack.

The marked tree had already served as a reminder to him, it was am action I already regretted now. Yesterday I was arrogant, thinking I would find her today. Not caring if David noticed how close I was or not. Only now did I consider he could lash out and hurt Ayla. But what s done is done. There was no way back anyway, so there was only one, thing left forto do. Make sure I found her as quickly as possible, and that meant I could not lose my cool. I could not stress out now, and I was about to. So when everyone said we should go back to the pack home, I reluctantly agreed.

We said we would rest for about an hour or two, just to shower, eat and nap. After those two hours, we would meet up and discuss a new plan. There had to be something we were missing. Maybe a break and or a fresh set of eyes would do the trick. All I did in those two hours was toss

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119 Griffin

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and turn in bed. Waking up so early after not getting a lot of rest the night before lefttired and a bit drowsy. As soon as I stepped into my bed, anxiety drove away my sleepiness.

***

“You look rough, son, you need to rest, stay strong for her” Jay warnedas I walked into his office.

It was the sthing everyone had been tellingever since she went missing. Like I was not taking care of myself on purpose. When it was never like that, I just couldn’t rest. My mind kept racing about her, and my body kept aching for her.

“I know Jay, but that is easier said than done with how much I am missing her” Jay’s gaze softened as soon as I told him what was bothering me.

I did not want to waste too much time, so I asked Jay what he thought we were missing. We could estimate how old the picture was, or how long ago Ayla had left it. That couldn’t have been more than a week for the scent to be so strong. We needed a way to drive David out, to make him show himself. The problem was that he was so mentally unstable that there was no telling how he would react to whatever we were planning. None of us wanted to risk Ayla even more, all of us were very aware of the fact that we were already putting her at risk, if only for a bit.

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119 Griffin

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“Well, if we cannot lure him out, we need to keep looking. There must be something we are missing” Jay thought out loud.

very

He was right, but David had no ties left to this pack. When given the chance, nobody had left to join David’s pack. Of course, that could still

well be because they did not want to give his whereabouts away Still, there was no sign of anyone not being loyal to Jay now. Not a single pack member had seemed shifty or extremely nervous when I spoke to them.

All of them had been a little nervous, like Rob freaking out the other night when he bumped intoIt was the fear that was pushed onto these wolves, the fear that leaders could punish you for even the smallest. little mistake. That was trauma, not the nerves one would get when you are trying to hide something from a higher–ranking wolf

Jay and I just sat there in silence, unsure of what to do next, when there was a knock at the door Since I was closer to the door, I stood up to open it. When I did, I stood face to face with a sweet–looking girl who was fidgeting with the hem of her sleeves. And an adult wolf behind her looks like the mirror image of the girl with a few more years on her

“I am

sorry to bother you, Prince Alpha, I am Marianne, Rob’s mate” The woman was almost as nervous as the girl who must have been about fourteen years old.

“Ah, Marianne, I hope you did not give your mate a hard tafter I kept him too long?” I smiled at her, no matter the stress I was under I

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would always be a kind and understanding leader and these wolves needed it more than anyone I ever met.

“No, how could I after the voice you sent” she chuckled, clearing thinking back about the voice I had sent with Rob’s phone made her feel a little more at ease.

“I am just here to invite you to dinner at my hin an hour, Lizzy here thinks she might have some news about David. But she has been scared to talk to you” Marianne’s words were enforced by Lizzy’s trembling lip.

Anger swirled in my chest, how could so–called leaders of the pack put so much fear into young and innocent children? I wholeheartedly believed in the fact that as leaders, you were like the parents to your pack. All we needed to do was to guide and love them. Swallowing down my anger, so as to not frighten the teenager more, I looked at her.

“It’s very brave of you to cforward now Lizzy, and you know what like your Dad a whole lot. So it would be a pleasure to have dinner over at your house regardless, okay?” I told her, and it wasn’t a lie if Rob still wanted to leave the Blood Moon Pack’s memories behind after all of this I could use another warrior, and he would be welcto be a royal guard.

Lizzy nodded at me, a smile cracking through her pale and nervous face as she said her goodbyes. They were going hto prepare dinner and I would be there in an hour. Once the door was closed, I turned to Jay to wrap up our meeting, and I was surprised to see him smiling at me.

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“You are a good Prince Griffin and you will make a damn good King, that is why my daughter loves you. And that is why I believe the Moon Goddess will reunite the two of you. Because the kingdom needs you, the two of you” He stated before dismissingto.get ready for my dinner.

And I did, clinging on to the hope that Jay was right, and to the hope that whatever Lizzy knew would actually be useful.

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