The Hunting

Meeting Tobias' father was less than pleasant, to say the least. Tobias was on edge and agitated the whole time and his father seemed to enjoy the effect he had on his son.

"Ah, so nice of you both to finally join us." Alpha Morris said, smiling at Kia and Tobias widely.

"I apologize if we kept you waiting Alpha, we had to wrap training up." Kia said, slightly bowing her head in greeting.

"Yes, of course." Morris drawled, stepping closer to Tobias. "You seem to be doing better." he said, making Tobias clench his jaw.

"He's an excellent warrior, just needed some proper training." Clayton said, coming to his aid.

"Well, now that he's got a reason to want to train..." Morris said looking Kia up and down. ".. I'm sure it's much easier to do so." he finished with a sly grin.

"Save me the bullshit, father." Tobias all but growled. "Why are you really here?"

Alpha Morris' eyes flashed black and then return to their normal blue, ice cold, staring daggers at Tobias.

"Manners my dear boy." he said, shaking his head at Tobias.

"I don't mean to be rude or to encourage this kind of behavior." Alpha Henry said, giving Tobias a stern look. "But we would also like to know the answer to that. You say you've come to see your son, well there he is.." he said, motioning to Tobias. "Besides its painfully clear that you don't particularly care for the boy much, so I have no choice but to ask for the real reason you decided to pay my pack a visit." he finished, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, I see you're not easily deceived Alpha Henry." Morris said with a smirk. "No, you're right, I didn't come to see my son, I was however very intrigued by his mate." he said, his cold stare landing on Kia, making her shift about uneasily.

Tobias let out a deep growl and his wolf surged forward, turning his eyes into dark pits of black nothingness.

"You stay away from her." he snapped at his father.

Alpha Morris chuckled before turning to Alpha Henry.

"My sleeping quarters?" Morris asked with an amused smile.

Alpha Henry called someone in to show Alpha Morris to his room, when they were left alone and he was sure Morris couldn't hear them anymore he spoke. "Why does he have such an interest in Kia?" he asked, not to anyone in particular.

"Beats me." Kia said, shrugging. "I've never even met someone from Blood Moon, aside from Tobias."

"I'm not the reason either." Tobias said, his face hard with suppressed anger.

"What do you mean Tobias?" Clayton asked.

"I mean, he's not interested in her simply because she's my mate. He's here for something else..." Tobias explained.

"What else is there?" Henry asked.

"I don't know Alpha, but be assured there is something." Tobias said.

Kia started pacing up and down the room, her nervousness getting the best of her. She felt uneasy, but it was an oddly familiar feeling, yet she didn't know why. Niri was acting strange as well, she was jumpy and kept growling the whole time, whenever Kia asked what was wrong she'd just bark at her and bar her fangs.

"Let's all just get some sleep, it's late, we're all tired. We can think clearer in the morning." Henry suggested, shooing everyone from his office.

"Tobias." Clayton said as they started walking away. "You've got watch at two, don't be late."

"Yes, sir." Tobias said, taking Kia's hand and leading her away.

"Tobias, should I be worried?" Kia asked when they entered her room. Tobias was shaking, he had been silent the whole way over to her house, his grip on her hand painfully tight.

"I don't know..." Tobias said, kicking the foot of her desk chair.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Kia snapped.

"I don't know, Kia. That's what I mean. His fascination with you could be the result of anything, it might even be harmless. But knowing him and what he's capable of I can't help but feel it's far from harmless." Tobias said, shaking his head.

"So what? He's here to kill me, for Gods only know what reason. Is that it?" Kia said, her agitation coming out in full swing.

"Yeah, or maybe it's worse..." Tobias said, his face draining from color.

"Worse?" Kia asked, her heart skipping a beat, her steps coming to a halt. "What could be worse?"

Tobias refused to look at her, his whole posture seemed ridget and tight.

"Tobias! Look at me." Kia yelled, stomping over to him. She grabbed his chin and forced his eyes to hers. The look in his eyes made her gasp. "He wouldn't..." Kia stumbled, realization hitting her like a ton of bricks.

"He would.." Tobias said softly, his whole being seemed deflated. "But I won't let him..." he said, grabbing her face between his hands. "you're mine."

"Let's just get some rest, you've got a long night ahead." Kia said, shaking the sinking feeling in her gut away.

She got onto her bed and Tobias followed, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Breathing in her scent. Kia sighed, relaxing in his arms even though her mind was going a million miles per hour.

"I won't let anything happen to you, Kia. I promise." he whispered before lightly kissing her ear.

-- 2am --

beep beep beep

"Mmmhhh..." Kia groaned as she pulled her pillow down over her head.

Tobias chuckled softly as he moved to switch his alarm off, he gently kissed her cheek after seeking her out underneath her pillow before he got up and left for his watch.

When he arrived, two other warriors were already there, four walking away towards the pack house.

"Hey guys, who else is joining us?" Tobias asked as he joined the other two.

"Beta Clayton." The taller warrior answered.

"That I am." Clayton said as he rounded the corner.

Tobias stared at him, his uneasiness growing.

"Sir, I really think you should be with Kia and Elaina right now. We can't both be away from them at the same time." Tobias said, panic in his hushed voice.

"Tobias, Kia can handle herself. So can my mate, they'll be just fine." Clayton said, patting Tobias on the shoulder. "Jason, Dustin, take the back of the house, rotate around so you can check the sides from time to time, we'll do the same from the front." he said, the two other warriors nod and made their way to the back of Alpha Henry's house, while Clayton and Tobias stayed at the front.

A few hours into the watch and nothing had happened yet, the sky was slowly turning lighter as the sun prepared to make its way into the sky to grace everyone with its warm rays. Tobias still felt uneasy, he wanted to get back to his mate as soon as he could.

Only one more hour. He thought as he paced around the front of the house, looking closely for any signs of unwanted movement.

"Tobias." Clayton called out in a hushed voice.

Tobias looked over at him to see he was pointing out towards the end of the treeline on the West side of the house. There was a soft snapping sound and he could faintly make out that the branches were moving slightly. Which was odd, considering there wasn't any wind tonight.

"I'll check it out." Tobias said, briskly jogging toward the sound. He approached slowly, making no noise he peeled back a few branches to see on the other side. He breathed a sigh of relief before he turned to jog back to his post.

"It's just a deer." he said as he passed Clayton.

Soon Tobias noticed men approaching them, the sun was lazily moving up into the sky, it's soft rays casting light out around them.

"Next watch." Clayton said as he moved towards the group. They had a short discussion after which Clayton whistled. Jason and Dustin came running around the house and Clayton dismissed them.

"Come on..." Clayton said as he started walking back to his house. Tobias jogged up to him and then walked in silence, his anxiousness to see Kia only multiplying.

Before they even made it to the house Clayton stopped dead in his tracks. Growling, he sniffed the air.

"Someone was here..." he said, but before he could finish his sentence Tobias was off, sprinting the last few meters to get to Kia.

The front door was open, the unknown scent stronger inside. Tobias walked slowly through the house, his eyes scanning for any danger. When he reached Kia's room he sucked in a sharp breath.

"No..." he whispered, clutching onto the door frame so hard he dented the wood.

"Tobias?" Clayton called as he walked in. He stopped when he saw him standing at Kia's room. "Is she okay?" he asked.

"She's gone.." Tobias said, pain twisting his stomach into knots.

Clayton rushed past him to his own room, only to come back a few seconds later.

"Elaina is still here... Looks like they knocked her out. I'm going to get her to the infirmary." Clayton said, turning to go get his mate.

As Clayton made his way out with Elaina in his arms he gave Tobias a serious look. "Don't touch anything. I'll send our trackers over to catch the scent." he said, walking to the front door. "We'll find her Tobias."