Alpha Ryker's Little Witch

Ryker's POV:

"What's even more weird is that there hasn't been any scent of Theo on the entire pack lands." Tyron had exhaustively carried out a protracted scour all around, and it ended up being futile.

"Curt, did you find anything?' They had been combing out the borders, trying to see whether anything bizarre was going on.

"No, Alpha, nothing stood out." My thoughts went back to what my mate had been telling me for the last couple of days. Deep down, I knew she was making a lot of sense, but again, were kidnaps supposed to be coherent? "Jayson, how is the search for Addanc progressing?" Only a disdainful taste filled my savory glands as the name made way past my tongue.

"We traced a trail of blood we have a plausible reason to believe belongs to him at the northern boulder." That was by far the most promising news I had heard since he vanished 5 days ago.

"He crossed the border because the drops of blood were present on the other side." If he was outside the pack lands, we needed to act swiftly and try and uncover how he even got inside undetected and without any breach on the border. That way we could occlude his entry back into the pack.

"Alpha, what if the blood is another trap?" Tyron posed, doubtful of the discovery.

"Did the blood have any scent on it?"

"Nothing except a whiff of the normal smell of iron." Jayson shook his head, squinting his eyes trying to remember whether he caught any different scents.

"Anything similar to the smell of it when Tamara clawed his face?"

"One and the same. It had no identifying particular whiffs other than the metallic smell," Jayson confirmed, closing his eyes briefly.

"The search for Theo, patrols for anything unusual, and the tracking of Addanc will continue until every single of them is fructuous. Is that clear?" Capitulating wasn't on my mind; as an alpha, I knew I wouldn't stop until everything had settled down.

"Yes, Alpha," the group responded, then proceeded to exit the meeting room one by one, finally leaving Jayson and me alone.

"Janette just mind-linked me. They are waiting for us to go pick them at your parents' place." They were to be constantly around my father and the former Alpha of the pack. He had chosen to have them around with some guards positioned in his place for additional protection.

"Right after we discuss the letters I sent inquiring about the supposed kidnap message left on the note Pete presented."

"I'm assuming none of the surrounding packs issued such a threat?" My beta leaned on the boardroom table, resting his chin on the back of his raised hands with his elbows resting on the table.

"I inquired as far as the northern side where the Mountain Pack dwells and every single reply was the same." I shook my head in disbelief at my uncle's blatant lie.

"No alpha had any idea who Theo was, and none ever wanted to be anywhere close to Addanc."

"So, something is not adding up about that note." Jayson tilted his head to the side and lifted one of his eyebrows. His eyes were fixed on my father's portrait that hung on the wall directly across from where he sat. "Something about my uncle's aura is quite unsettling." Tamara had pointed it out quite a number of times, and I had taken time looking into it.

Jayson hummed, nodding his head twice. "Janette is always afraid of being in the same room with him. She even says he's a hypocrite."

"I think I should ask Tamara to check his cloud." Only after the words had left my mouth did I realize that I was exposing Tamara's secret. It was her right to tell and I had just ruined that.

"His cloud? You are speaking Double Dutch, man." That was the same way I felt when she first hit me with the information.

"We need to go. I'm sure Mother has prepared a scrumptious buffet for your big stomach." I briskly changed the discussion. Jayson was up on his feet sprightly, successfully knocking his shin on the table leg. "Ow!" He held his shin and jumped on one leg while he attempted to rub the spot.

"Someone wouldn't know how gargantuan your appetite is given your tiny body." He sent a glare my way as he exited the boardroom, closing the door behind him with a bang.

I caught up with him, laughing loudly as he flailed his arms, taking long and hasty strides.

"You are 6'2" acting like a toddler and throwing ridiculous tantrums." I was enjoying his frustration. Moments like these reminded me of our childhood escapades.

"You called my body petite. Now you're saying I'm tall, acting like a..."

"Toddler. Hurry up, my mother told me Janette is attacking the buffet."

"And risk being called greedy again?" He crossed his arms, sending a playful side glare my way.

"No, Jayson, and save your portion of food from your mate's gargantuan appetite." We bickered back and forth until we finally arrived with Jay ahead of me. He had no control whatsoever over his salivating glands anytime he smelt my mum's food.

The front yard was decorated with a nicely cut green lawn and river stones surrounding clusters of flowers on the side. The pathway toward the front door had grass growing in between the pathway stones, giving it a natural look.

The porch itself had flower vases on either side, with climbing roses on the posts. As I climbed the steps toward the door, I couldn't help but admire the amount of plant life my mother relished in. The porch steps were adorned and leveled on each side by pots of flowers in purple and white.

Jayson just ran up the steps, closing the door behind him. I could hear laughter as he sprinted to the dining room. He was already seated beside Janette, who was stuffing her face by the time I got there.

"Ow!" My mother had slapped his hand. He held the back of his hand with his face scrunched up.

"Wash your hands first. We don't know where they've been!" she reprimanded, pointing at his hands. He apologized with a smile before following me to the sink for a good washing.

"Do we wash our paws when we hunt fresh meat?" he complained in muffled words while he scrubbed his hands thoroughly.

I elbowed him to stop him from running his mouth like he always did. My mother had a very nice concentration and hearing, even more than us. "What!"

"I mean, we all just hunt and enjoy some good meat without wetting our paws with unnecessary water," he continued, with no idea whatsoever that the clanking of spoons had stopped.

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"Jayson, I will make you watch us eat if you don't stop talking stupid." He tensed when my mother's words filtered to him, mumbling an apology as he dried his hands.

After we settled down beside our mates, we served ourselves with an assortment of food, taking small portions from each bowl. There was an array of scrumptious meals, starting with both fried and wet meat. There was spaghetti with meatballs on the side and pieces of unleavened bread were neatly arranged on a tray. A bowl of asparagus sat beside one full vegetable salad, all waiting to go down to tummy town.

Tamara sat silently, and I could see her forcing her chewed contents to go down her throat. She was far away mentally, but she kept a tight lock and barricade on whatever she was ruminating about. My dad had his eyes trained on her, probably trying to conjecture about the same.

I placed my right hand on her thigh, making her turn to look at me briefly. It was the first time she had acknowledged me since we came in with Jay. I chose to let it go for a moment and decided to join in the chatter that was going on. "How far are you, honey?" My mum was nebby, no dispute about that.

"Two weeks." Janette spoke with a mouthful of food.

"Oh, I am so happy for you and Jayson," she gushed, pinning a sideways glare briefly on me.

"Thank you." Jayson shook his head as his mate swallowed loudly.

"Now that Addanc is doing all he can to get his hands on Tamara's womb, I was thinking..."

"No, Mother, keep your ideations to yourself. I know where you're going with all this and it's not happening." I cut her off, rubbing my hand slowly on Tamara's thigh.

"But Ryker," she probed.

"Jesus, Maggie, can't you just mind your own business." My father knew if he let her continue, she wouldn't relinquish her questions.

I pushed Tamara's dress up her thigh, tracing my fingers lightly in circular motions. Her face remained straight, but a visible shudder made me smile. I could catch a whiff of her arousal, and that meant that everyone could. By their puzzling looks that they threw our way, it was apparent that they had smelt it.

"We would like to let you leave and jump each other, but we have something to discuss first." My father leaned forward, his forehead creasing as he continued observing Tamara.

"Hey, honey." My mother snapped her fingers, but my little witch's eyes remained staring at a distance.

"Aaah! My baby! I think I'm having a miscarriage," Janette cried dramatically, clutching her stomach.

"Oh no!" That seemed to get her attention. Tamara jumped to her feet in an instant.

"It's nothing. The former Luna was trying to get your attention but well..." She licked her fingers one by one, cleaning the food particles. This pregnancy was turning her into a gluttonous hyena.

"I'm sorry." Tamara shook her head a little bit aggressively, as if trying to get rid of something crawling up her hair.

"No problem, honey."

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I had stopped my administrations when she had started releasing pheromones. I was so tempted to resume, but I knew it wasn't the right time.

"With Addanc on the loose and Theo and Monica missing, we need to be..."

"More vigilant?" Jayson chimed in.

"Yes, but we also need allies from the neighboring packs." My father concluded his statement, watching me carefully. He might have been the former Alpha, but he knew that I was the current one, who was capable of making good decisions for my pack.

"That is why I signed treaties before he surfaced again," I said.

"Well, that is really great," he praised.

"I knew you would make a good alpha. Do you see why I kept talking about it?" The last part was directed to my mother, and that had me on my feet before she could even give an excuse.

"You didn't think I could lead this pack?" I pointed at her, her gaze flickering between me and the wall behind me.

"You are my only baby. I didn't want you getting hurt."

"The only one that survived." I caught my father's muffled words, and by my mother's gasp, she did too.

"We agreed to never talk about it. Ever. Why now?" He refused to let his balls of vision meet mine, and that made my insides twist in incredulity.

"Ryker, honey, you should know the whole truth, but right now is not the right time."

"What are you so nervous about? I want to know now." My voice dripped low, my beast taking note of the shift in my mood. Tamara took my hand in hers, whispering calming words in my mind. "Maggie," my dad urged, lifting his shoulders toward me.

"You are our only surviving child." She was sporting moisture in her eyes, her lips quivering just slightly.

"Yes, I know that my sister passed during birth." We never talked about her passing. The pain was still unbearable.

"She didn't die, Ryker. We lied to you."

"What?"

"She was stolen at birth. Alive."