Gamma No More - Book 3

Toni looks around at her team.

“Any other business?”

“Just one” Karl looks uneasy.

“Yennifer and Samuel haven’t returned; I’ve phoned their aunt and uncle who confirm they left the Westmoor pack four days ago as scheduled.

They spoke to them two days ago; they had passed close to the borders of the Blood Moon pack and expected to be home that night.

Since then, their phones have been off and they haven’t contacted their parents, but there has been no further trace of them, either with their parents or aunt and uncle.

Their parents are worried, but unfortunately, they didn’t report it until today.”

Toni nodded, Yennifer was sixteen, and Samuel just turned seventeen, the first pup to become an Adult in their pack, they joined six months ago and their family had remained wary of authority and now, Toni was regretting not trying to get them engaged with ranked wolves more, if she had, maybe they would have raised their children’s disappearance earlier.

Samuel was a gentle wolf, training to be a medic alongside Leah, he’d been planning to train in Alpha Dimitri’s pack once Leah’s pups were three months old, Yennifer was quiet and withdrawn, blaming herself for the banishment of her family but never explaining why.

The whole family lived on the outskirts of the pack, worried about ‘upsetting’ anyone in the leadership and Toni knew this, she’d hoped that time would build that trust, but right now, she felt like she was at fault for not being more active in building that back.

If she’d been a little more approachable, maybe they would have raised the alarm earlier, the evening they didn’t come back, not two days later. She didn’t want to restrict a wolf’s right to leave the pack, but maybe they needed a better system or recording them out and in, especially with the younger wolves, something they needed to think about.

“I’ll phone Alpha Joseph of the Lowlands pack, and see if he has seen or heard anything, but we have Silver Dawn and Shadow Stalkers pack after Blood Moon and before Lowlands pack.

Time to test out The Veiled One’s training, send three pairs out, Eleanor and Mike to scout Silver Dawn, Brand and Danny to Shadow Stalkers, and Cam and Liam to Blood Moon.

Primarily, get them looking for the car, but if they pick up the pack scent, then even better.

They may not engage, distance recognisance only and tell them I expect them all to report back, no heroics.

If we find any trace, we need to surprise them, not give them a heads-up that people are searching for lost pack members.”

“Cam’s mate is due to pup in the next few weeks. It’s her first, so they are both nervous, can we send Felix instead?”

Leah offers running her hand over her pup bump, knowing she would feel uneasy if Karl were to be pulled away from the pack on a mission so close to her due date.

“Sure, remember absolutely no engagement, though.”

Toni is firm with that part of the rules, they have been training hard for the last year, and have done well, they didn’t train in fighting only, but in moving silently and leaving limited traces of their movements, but that’s far too early for them to cross boundaries and rescue pack members’ solo.

Toni hadn’t wanted them to be called Elites, which had been the first suggestion for a band of wolves whose training went beyond the normal pack warriors and while it was only a term used between Karl, Leah and her at the outset, it seemed to put them above the others and they weren’t; they were just ten wolves that showed an aptitude for what Toni thought of as the darker arts.

Karl had originally suggested Shadow Walkers, but that seemed too much like an assassin’s name and that’s one thing she never wants them to become, if someone has to die, she will be the person to pass judgment and take a life if needed, she could not and would not ask that of another wolf, outside the heat of a battle.

Leah eventually suggested ‘Veiled ones’ and it had taken, Toni rubbed her hands over her face, trying to be fair and not set anyone up above others had been more difficult than she expected, Wolf packs thrived on hierarchy normally, but this pack was not the usual pack, not made up of ‘normal’ wolves, but outcasts and rogues, people that struggled with the traditional packs, as well as those unfairly treated by that same hierarchy so Toni and Karl had tried to keep it as low key as possible.

Toni was concerned for the missing wolves, but if they found no trace, she’d call in the favour owed to her from the hacker trio, and see if they could trace the last known position of their phones, but she hoped they will find them sooner.

They had been travelling by car, so should have been safe from rogues, who rarely, if ever, approached cars, looking for the easy prey of lone wolves, those moving between packs and crossing no-man’s-land rather than travelling by road.

“Two days late, their scent will be weak now… why did the parents wait so long?”

“It was their first unaccompanied trip, so they wanted to give them some freedom, but also didn’t want to worry us in case it was just young wolves getting distracted.

It wasn’t until Samuel didn’t turn up at the Medical Centre today that Leah went to see them. They were so worried, but didn’t want to cause problems in the pack.” Karl sighed.

“I’ll go see the parents, what pack did they come from before?”

Delta Brendan is looking through the papers.

“Shadow Stalkers,”

His eyes met Toni’s, they were super hierarchical and unpleasant in the leadership, what the ranked wolves wanted, they got, it wasn’t any wonder that the parents hadn’t wanted to approach them, but it gave them a better place to start the search.

“Send Felix and Liam to the Shadow Stalkers as well, that seems the most likely place, they can move onto Blood Moon if they find no trace, but it all seems far too coincidental that they go missing when they have to pass their old pack land.

I want to be informed as soon as they have any information.”

Toni knows just how easy it is to make bad things seem like an unfortunate event, she’s done it enough herself. She stands up, signalling the meeting is over.

“I’m off to see the parents and apologise that we weren’t approachable enough for them to come forward earlier. Hopefully, they can give me more of an insight into their old pack.”

Yennifer crawls closer to the bars, there isn’t much light and for that she’s grateful, the stench of the cells is enough to not wish to see the reality, her body is repairing the damage already from the earlier beating, but it’s slower than normal, she knows it’s because she refuses to eat the food they give them, it’s not even fit for animals.

She keeps to the edge of the cell as she moves, running down the middle is the open drain they need to use as a toilet, at least being in the first cell she’s close to the start of the drain she thinks, thankful for small mercies.

“Sam, are you there” she whispered as loudly as she dares.

She learnt on the first day that using normal voice levels brings the guards and guards pain, especially if Linden is on duty.

“I’m here Yenni. How are you doing?”

“I’m okay. Linden tried to get me to change my mind again, but it’s just bruises this time, nothing broken.

What about you? They threatened to hurt you if I didn’t accept Simon’s offer.”

Her voice is close to being broken, she can take the beating, but the idea of threatening her brother makes her sick to the stomach.

“Yenni, don’t agree with it. Our pack will know we are missing by now, and they will find us.

And whatever they do to me will be nothing I can’t handle. Even death would be a blessing.

But you hold fast, Simon is a monster and you aren’t even an adult yet, he can’t do anything for eleven more months.”

“I’m scared,” she finally admits.

Her voice sounds broken, barely audible, and it breaks his heart that he can’t protect his sister. Samuel reaches his fingers between the bars. Taking a little silver burn is a small price to pay just to touch his sister’s shoulder, giving her support.

“I won’t leave you, sis, even if they kill me, I will come back and protect you.”

Three days they’d been in this hellhole. He wouldn’t mind, but they hadn’t strayed off the road. The Shadow Stalkers’ pack had ambushed them, acting like rogues, looking for a ‘payment’ to pass, before realising who they were.

Samuel knows his promise isn’t worth the energy to speak it, but he will do and say anything to keep his sister strong.

Simon the Gamma had wanted his sister from the moment his mate had died and it was her parent’s refusal to agree for them to be matched when she hit seventeen that had caused them to be banished.

They weren’t the only ones in the cells, Linden’s mate was in the cell opposite Yennifer’s she had tried to reject her mate, but he wouldn’t accept it, so she was here, to be beaten and forcibly mated until she bore him a pup.

Occasionally, they could talk to her, but the distance made whispers difficult and anything louder brought the guards.

The sound of the door creaking open silences them as their ‘food’ gets delivered, a bowl of slop and a mug of water.

Diane guzzles it noisily, drinking, licking each drop of food from the bowl. She’d been down here for over a month and no longer had qualms about the food; her survival instinct had kicked in.

Yennifer drank her water and poured the slop down the sewage channel once again, still feeling strong enough to be defiant even with her reduced healing.

“I wish you’d eat,” Sam sighed.

“You need the food to heal yourself and keep your energy to fight them. They aim to wear us down.”

His words are gentle, and she feels a pang of guilt at the sadness in his voice.

“I can’t eat it, Sam. You know what Diane said before, they tried drugging her so she wouldn’t fight the marking. I won’t risk that.”

“You can’t fight if you don’t eat Yenni, remember that, three days isn’t too bad to go without food, but it can’t go on much longer or you won’t be able to fight.”

Sam looks concerned but continued

“We are late back to the pack, we phoned them when we were less than a day away, so I trust they are looking for us, but…” He shrugs,

“As the Alpha teaches us in training, plan for the worst and the best.”

Yennifer looks over at Sam, shaking her head. She can’t be that optimistic and yet she hates the idea of breaking his spirit, but she needs to accept reality. Taking a deep breath, before replying.

“The Shadow Stalkers’ pack won’t let them onto their land to search for us, so we need to just assume the worst.

But maybe if I agree, then they will let you go. I could play along with accepting until you text me and let me know you are safe.

Especially after the rest of you stood up for me and accepted the banishment, you shouldn’t have to be punished again for it.”

“Not going to happen, sis, we both know what happened to his first mate, his fated and if he can kill her, you wouldn’t be safe.

Plus, they wouldn’t risk letting me go, in case I brought help or reported it to the Royal Pack, we both know how this pack runs.

I would stay in here to force your compliance, or they would kill me outside the border where you can’t see it, so either way, I’m not getting out of here.” Samuel’s words are firm

“We are in this together. No matter what they threaten me with, you will not cave, agreed?”

Yennifer stays quiet, she can’t let her brother throw away his life, he’s a gentle soul who just wanted to help others and their new pack need him, they need someone prepared to train to be a medic and while it’s always been his dream, he was refused permission as a pack member, too low born to qualify for the medical program.

“I need to hear your agreement, Yenni, verbally, so you won’t back off,” he growled.

“Samuel…”

There’s a pleading tone in her voice. He knows to nip it in the bud before she can deny his request, his sister doesn’t like to disappoint him and he has to use that to his advantage now.

“Yennifer,” his words take on a harsh tone.

“You think we went through banishment just so you could give in now?

The weeks we were packless after the Alpha spread false rumours to the nearest packs… was all that for nothing?”

A small sob escapes Yennifer as the guilt weighed heavily on her shoulders.

“I’m sorry Samuel,”

“Don’t be sorry, just promise me that no matter what, you will refuse to be his mate,” he whispered sternly

“I promise I won’t give in.”

She took deep shuddering breaths and Samuel knows that it’s from the sobs she is trying to repress; he feels like shit, but he needs her to remain strong.

“That’s the strong sister I know.”

This time his words resonate with love and compassion, he wants to hug her and make false promises that it will be okay, but he won’t do it again, he won’t openly lie to his sister, but he prayed for a miracle to happen.