HUNTED-Chapter 427: Ongoings at Silver Crescent (1)

Racing through the woods, the Beta’s golden wolf followed the brown wolf of the youngest prince. Kane was returning from his search and reports from the lycans before he saw Koa’s fierce form determined to return to the pack. He wondered when Koa would discover his sister’s disappearance.

No matter what mission he had been sent on, Koa would return in a heartbeat to the only she-wolf who understood him the most. Kane ordered his men back to their homes for respite, to see their mates and their children, and to recuperate while he kept up to Koa’s pace. Although he wasn’t a Cross by blood, the werewolf was powerful, each stride pushing him forward at such speed, his urgency apparent.

As soon as the packhouse came into few, Koa picked up his pace and shifted mid-air, leaping towards none other than Keira’s balcony. He burst through the double doors, eyes frantically searching the room. Until he could see it with his own eyes, he couldn’t believe the news.

His sister had been taken. A Cross Princess!

Koa paced, all rage thumping his feet across the floor until he stormed out of the room and down the hall. ’Where’s Damon?’ Koa snapped through the mind-link to his brothers.

"Koa!" Amerie’s steps quickened as she tried to keep up with his long strides down the stairs.

Koa nodded once in greeting.

’Dad’s in a meeting,’ Came Eamon’s reply. Koa could feel Cato lingering in the mind-link like a lurker in a group chat, watching but not conversing. Koa was the same. What was the point in fake smiles and ’How are you?’ when things could be done without such gestures.

Koa changed direction. They were either in Aila’s office, which was large enough to host large meetings or Damon’s, if it was a smaller meeting. As Alpha Heir, Eamon was most likely in the meeting with him.

"Koa!" Amerie called after him again. "You can’t just go in there!"

Koa glared over his shoulder. "Watch me." He pushed open the doors and stopped as everyone in the room turned their attention to his disturbance.

Aila stood at the head of the table, hands pressed against it, hair pulled back in a ponytail, eyes flicking to him, going from fierce and pissed off from being disturbed to softening upon seeing who entered. The pack leaders and close friends were there, including Chase Hunt, who arched his brow at Koa’s entrance.

"For the love of the Goddess." Kane strode in behind him, slapping Koa on the back. "Put some clothes on first."

Eamon was already up from his seat and tossed some shorts at Koa. "Where’s Keira?" He grunted, uncaring for disrupting the meeting in all his naked glory. He put on the shorts, watching his mum straighten and Damon turn around from the window he’d been staring out of.

Kane sighed, strolling in, his golden hair a little messy, slicked with sweat and dirt. His body was also on display, but the Beta had found a pair of shorts before entering the meeting. "We are working on it," Aila spoke softly to Koa, whose shoulders still rose and fell like he’d been sprinting all night—he had.

The mission he was on didn’t need to take as long as it did. Fuck protocol. Keira’s disappearance had been kept from him so he would remain focused. The moment he heard the news, he pulled a plug on the mission, did it his own way, both succeeding and pissing off the ’superiors’ in charge and left.

"Kane, any news?" Aila looked to the Beta as Amerie gently pushed Koa towards one of the chairs. She didn’t want to be there. It brought back bad memories, but once the Beta strode past her, looking as battered as he did, she had to learn more about the situation.

It had been three days since her sister’s disappearance, but it felt like it had been weeks.

Koa shrugged off his sister, too restless to sit. Instead, he gestured to the chair while watching the Beta. Amerie sat, shrinking in the chair under Rune’s gaze. What was he doing here? He wasn’t the next Delta yet.

Rune sat directly across from her, his brown hair with natural highlights kissed by the sun that he’d meticulously style each morning to look perfectly dishevelled, so it looked like he hadn’t put any effort into it. His tanned skin only made his deep blue eyes smoulder more.

Amerie couldn’t help the way her stomach twisted and fluttered under his gaze. It had to STOP. She forced herself to look away and pay attention to what was more important- her sister’s disappearance. Rune, too, looked to the Beta.

"We got a lead,’ Kane began. "But it led us nowhere-"

"A wild goose chase then?" Chiara questioned, but it was more of a statement, a fact, as she crossed her arms and assessed the map before them.

"More than likely. They know we won’t rest until we find her."

"It should never have come to this," Koa clipped, his voice deadly. Everyone looked at him more in shock than because of his insult. "She was taken right beneath your noses!"

"Koa," Aila began in a soothing tone. "We are doing what we can now-"

"Where were you?!" Koa marched towards Finn and glared at Rune, who rose in his father’s defence. But Koa had already moved on, looking around the room. "Or Rex?"

"We were attacked, and you let her out of your sights?" He slammed his fist into the wall by his side.

"Jeez, you’re starting to sound like that rogue," Eamon murmured, his words snapping Koa’s attention to him. Eamon immediately regretted it when he saw the flash of hurt across his brother’s eyes. Koa didn’t know his origins, but they suspected he was from a rogue background.

The Hunters or Order took more from the rogue community than packs. Being lone wolves made them easier prey to pick from.

"What rogue?" Koa asked, returning to short sentences.

"Kodi," Aila answered with a sigh, pinching her nose. "And he has every right to act in that way-"

"That punk was disrespectful," Damon grunted from the side, allowing the meeting to proceed with its drama without his input. Some of it had turned into background noise as his mind raced. Koa voiced his deepest regret.

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He shouldn’t have let her leave his sight. At the time, he’d let his guard down. It had been years of peace, and although they’d always been cautious, aware of the dangers of the world, a small part of him had been too prideful, not believing they could pull off kidnapping one of his children.

The Order had tried and failed years ago with a significant loss on their part. Those who had attacked the schools had been taken care of. The mind-links reporting back to him and Aila confirmed it was clear. And that was his downfall.

They were werewolves, and no matter if it was Keira’s first shift, no one would dare sneak a peek at his daughter while guarding her until she received some clothes.

"Punk?" Koa was in front of Damon now. He was staring at him in frustration, and the silence of the room and their gazes fixed on the Alpha indicated this wasn’t the first time Koa had asked for his attention.

Damon didn’t even want to say the punk’s name. There was something about him that really got under his skin. It was like the slimy punk held some sort of claim over Keira. His eyes widened.

He looked at Aila.

’Not now,’ she whispered in his mind.

’Tell me it’s not true,’ Damon growled back. Darius paced back and forth, adding to Damon’s words. ’Did he leave that mark on her? I’ll kill him.’

’Nobody is killing anyone,’ Aila sighed back. ’FOCUS.’

"Well?" Koa snapped, looking around the room.

"Kodi Black," Aila answered, Koa’s hands clenching into fists.

Kodi Black, as in Marcus’ son?