Wild and Free

(Mason’s POV)

La monde est aller a la merde

In translation: Everything was going to shit.

It was something that Auden had taught us how to say. apparently in addition to everything else, she was also fluent in French.

Cassie was freaking out about Auden. Holden was freaking out about Cassie and Auden. Kenzie was freaking out about all three of them. Riley was freaking out about Ben and Cassie. The pack was freaking out about the Ben and Chris. And over all, everything was going really, really, very, not well.

I didn’t quite know where I stood in all of it.

Riley was my best friend, and he was going through hell, not only because his brother was missing but because his mate was stressed too. Cassie and I had become close too so of course I was worried about her because she was on the brink of a mental breakdown not knowing where Auden was. And then there was just that.

Don’t think for a second that I wasn’t really worried about her too, but I felt like it worried me more not knowing why Cassie was obsessing over the girl’s disappearance. Auden had missed a day of school, not answered her phone a few times, and left her strange necklace at home. What about those small facts made Cassie stress so much? She was acting like those things meant she’d been kidnapped or something.

Despite the fact that my friends and Auden and her friends had gotten a lot closer, and had shared so much, there was still a lot that they weren’t telling us. I just had to figure out what that was.

Part of me didn’t know if Riley even knew that Auden MIA because he’d been so crazy about finding his brother. We thought that bringing his mate to him would help. Let’s just say that it wasn’t the smoothest of greetings

When we’d gotten back to the pack house with Cassie, it was late afternoon. The rain had stopped There weren’t supposed to be so many guards on patrol but everyone was worried about Ben or Chris possibly wandering back at some point so they wanted to be ready. However smart it was for there to be extra protection, it meant that getting a human inside our pack grounds had been ten times harder than it should have been.

The car had nearly been attacked when we drove into the borders but once the patrols realized that Mackenzie and I were there, they backed down. We were questioned a lot but I pulled rank on all of them and they let us go. For the time being at least. I was sure my father would be alerted and there would be some words exchanged about it later but it wasn’t my priority at the time.

We rushed back to my father’s office to see how Riley was doing and if he’d knocked Greyson unconscious or something. But we got there to find Riley handcuffed to one of my father’s desk chairs, scratching away a spot on the wooden arm with his claw.

“Greyson, what the fuck? Why’d you tie him up?” I asked angrily, looking at Greyson who had a new bruise in addition to the one he’d earned earlier.

“I had to! He was going to run. Why the hell did you leave me here alone? He could’ve killed me!” he exasperated.

I rolled my eyes, “Oh shut up you’re fine,” I glanced at Riley who looked a mix of bored and angry.

“Where did you get the handcuffs?” Kenzie asked him, her arms folded over her chest and her mate standing beside her.

Grey scratched his head nervously, “I might have stolen them from a guard,” I shot him a look, he put his hands out in surrender, “But in my defense, it did keep him here like you said. I say that’s a job well done.”

I whacked him on the back of the head and held my hand out for the key. He gave it to me and I let Riley go.

Cassie barely gave him a second to get to his feet before she jumped into his arms. They held each other for what felt like forever, cherishing one another’s embrace. I guess bringing the two of them together was the right decision for both of their nerves.

Cassie pulled back just enough to be able to look in Riley’s eyes.

“She’s missing, Ri,” Cassie whispered, and I could see the tears brimming in her eyes.

Riley looked at her in confusion before glancing at me, “What’s she talking about?”

I shrugged, “I tried to tell you but you were so worried about Ben.”

“What happened? Who else is missing?” he asked frantically.

I rubbed the back of my neck, “Well we thought that maybe Auden might know somewhere in the forest that Ben and Chris might go. So after we picked up Holden and Cassie, we went over to her apartment but she wasn’t there.”

“Did you try calling her? Maybe check the diner or something?” Riley suggested.

“She didn’t answer. We called one of the girls, Macy, that has her shift at the diner right now and she said that Auden hasn’t been in,” Kenzie answered him.

Riley looked back at his girlfriend with a guilty expression on his face, “Cass, I’m so sorry I had no idea. You know I would’ve been there if I did.”

Cassie nodded as Riley wrapped his arms around her again.

We were all quiet for a moment, processing everything.

“So what do we do now?” Greyson asked, spinning around in the chair behind my father’s desk.

I shrugged and folded my arms across my chest, “I guess we go to school tomorrow and see if she shows up.”

“That’s too much time, she might be in trouble!” Cassie protested.

“I don’t know what else we can do,” I replied. “We’ve checked everywhere so unless we want to go roaming the woods all night-”

Riley held up a hand, cutting me off, “I vote for that idea-”

I shot him a glare, “We’ll just have to trust that she knows what she’s doing. We know Auden, she isn’t a child. If she’s in trouble she’ll be okay.”

Cassie didn’t look too satisfied with my reasoning or my plan but she kept her mouth shut, leaning back into her mate for comfort. Comfort was something that I think everyone needed in that moment.

~*~

Let’s just say that Cassie’s or really anyone’s fragile state of mind did not improve as a result of my plan.

The day after the boys and Auden went missing, we went to school as we normally would, trying to keep out minds off of the two boys and our friend that could possibly be in danger.

I guess it crossed my mind that Auden could have just been on a run like she said she likes to do, at the time when we visited her apartment, or she could’ve been on her way home from a shift at the diner. But something about the way Holden and Cassie seemed so freaked out about it, made my suspicions changed a little.

My mind didn’t seem to want to even consider the possibility that Chris, Ben, and Auden might be together. Maybe the pack of grey coated assholes had found the boys in the woods and Auden while on her run and just taken them. I mean on the night of the encounter with them, they didn’t seem very much convinced that she wasn’t the person they were looking for. Perhaps they had come back with the intention to find out for themselves and the boys had gotten caught along the way.

It made my skin crawl to think that there might be people in the world despicable enough to do such a thing.

Needless to say, neith Auden or the boys had made a reappearance the day following and Kenze, Cassie, Riley, Greyson, and I were back to square one, sitting in my sister’s bedroom the next day.

“Have you tried getting one of the hackers to locate her phone? It’d at least give us an idea as to where she last was if not where she’s disappeared to,” Greyson suggested.

Holden knit his brows, “You guys have hackers? Seriously?”

I nodded, “Never know when they might come in handy.”

“Plus they monitor new and media platforms to see if there’s any danger in the area or something that could possible pose a threat to us and our pack,” Kenzie added, resting her head on his shoulder, where they sat against her headboard.

“Cool,” he commented. “So should we give it a try?”

I shook my head, “Already tried it. Nothing, the last known location was at her apartment, and the signal is dead. She either turned it off or it was broken.”

Kenzie shot me a look as Cassie’s already worried face turned sickly.

“What about the boys? Didn’t they put GPS trackers in their backpacks in case this would happen?” Greyson asked.

I nodded, “Yes but it’s the same with them, they last known location was on the pack grounds right before the woods. The trackers went dead there.”

“So they were just dropped like nothing-”

A knock at the door cut off Holden’s statement. Olivia peeked her head in after we called back to come in.

“Good evening, Mr. Royal, Ms. Royal,” she greeted us each with a nod. “Your father wanted me to come up and ask if you and your friends would be coming down for dinner.”

I looked at everyone, “You guys want to go down?” I asked, being met with uneasy glances in silent answer.

I turned back to Olivia, “If it’s alright with him I think we’ll just eat up here. It’s been a long day and we kind of want to relax.”

She nodded in understanding, “I’ll have an attendant bring up meals for you all and leave them outside for whenever you’re ready.” I thanked her before she left, presumably to go report to my father.

“So wh-” Holden started again, when Riley stood up abruptly.

I knit my brows and stood up with him, “What’s wrong?”

“They’re back,” he whispered before bolting out the door.

Everyone else was on their feet in a second, dazed and confused for a second before we ran out after him.

The sun was setting but it was still light enough outside to see Riley speeding toward the tree line that led to the woods. We yelled after him but our calls fell on deaf ears. I ran ahead of the others behind me, sprinting toward my friend.

“What are you doing? Get back inside!” I shouted.

“He’s here! They both are, I can smell them!” he replied, not pausing for a second before we both ran into the woods.

Right as I heard the crunch of the first leaf under my foot, that scent hit me again. The same one from the first day in White Chapel. The same one the the grey wolves were looking for. And the same one that I knew might lead me to my mate.

Riley and I both looked around frantically, both for different things however. The sound of a branch snapping in the distance drew our attention and we bolted toward it. I got to where the scent was strong and saw exactly where the noise came from, a broken stick. But it wasn’t just like a normal broken piece of wood that’d you’d find fallen on the forest floor. No it had been deliberately broken.

My friend and I glanced at each other confusedly, but neither of us had time to think about it because our attention was drawn by another noise back where we originally stood. And when we turned, Riley nearly collapsed in relief. Instead he gathered himself and ran, picking up his brother and swallowing him in a hug.

I ran up and gave Chris a hug too, thankful that he was safe. They both were.

“Oh my god, I’m so glad you’re safe,” Riley breathed over Ben’s shoulder as the boy cried into his older brother’s shirt.

Kenzie, Holden, Cassie, and Greyson all came into the area, joining us panting and out of breath. Their eyes widened when they saw the boys and looks similar to mine and Riley’s of relief crossed their faces.

I could tell that Cassie was glad to hear that her mate’s little brother had been found but there was also a touch of disappointment in her eyes. She thought that it was Auden.

I pulled back slowly from Chris, looking him in the eyes, “Are you guys alright? You had everyone so worried.”

Chris nodded and looked at his friend, “Ben tripped and hurt his ankle but it’s better now thanks to-” he cut himself off and Ben pulled away from his brother, trading a look with Chris.

I glanced between the two of them skeptically and opened my mouth to question them when I was interrupted by footsteps as more people joined our ever growing group. A pair of on duty patrols came up with confused looks on their faces.

“What is going on here?” one of them demanded. He turned to me and a look of regret shadowed his face when he realized he’d just been rude to his future Alpha. Normally I would call him out on it but I didn’t want to worry about it.

“Inform my father and Beta William immediately that the boys have been found and we are bringing them to the infirmary to be checked out,” I commanded, earning a stiff nod before him and the other behind him bolted off in the direction of the pack house.

I turned back to Chris, “Who is what thanks too? Did someone take you guys?”

“I swear to god if they did I’ll rip them-” Riley started angrily before Ben cut him off.

“She didn’t hurt us, I promise!” he told him. “But we shouldn’t talk about it with every else around. There’s something she wanted us to give you but we have to do it in private after we talk to the Alpha and Beta.”

Kenzie looked at the boy confused, “If you won’t tell us what actually happened what are you going to tell them?” she asked.

Chris shrugged, “We’ll just tell them that a nice old lady found us in the woods and let us spend the night because we said we were lost. They won’t ask anything else and if they do we’ll just say we’re tired or something.”

“But-” Riley started again.

“I swear we’ll explain it to you later,” Ben cut him off again. Riley, me, and the rest of the group all looked like we wanted to argue but arguing with adults was hard enough, I couldn’t imagine it’d be any easier with kids, so we all just agreed.

Riley picked up and carried his brother so he wouldn’t have to walk on his twisted ankle. I rested my hand on Chris’s shoulder and guided him after the others to the infirmary.

Something didn’t sit right with me. I had this itching feeling we were being watched and my suspicions were confirmed when I turned around and saw a familiar black fur covered face looking at us from behind a tree.

I stepped forward, almost challenging her to come back. She had been with the boys, I was sure of it. Kenzie’s vision had been right. But she didn’t hurt them like I thought. It was all very confusing. The wolf that stood there was not the same one that had fought Riley and I that day.

What surprised me the most though was that she didn’t turn and run immediately, as if hesitating to leave. She held my gaze in her burning blue one for a moment. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was trying to tell me something.

But I never found out because in the second that it took me to blink, she had disappeared.

~~AUTHOR’S NOTE~~

Hope you enjoyed!

As always, comment, don’t hate, and read on!

~your Cheshire Cat loving friend