Chapter 18

☆ ☆ Jayce ☆ ☆

I'm not sure what was happening to me. I had shifted a few nights ago, and now I can't return to my human form. I'm drawn to follow this barely visible red thread running at top speed. I've covered over 40 miles each day, resting only at the point of exhaustion.

My home was in Alpena, Michigan, but I was heading south. I was in Saginaw now, and the extreme snowy conditions were causing frostbite to form on my paws. I desperately needed to shift back, but my wolf had taken complete control.

At this rate, my wolf was going to kill or seriously injure us both. That wouldn't bode well for our pack since I was next in line to become Alpha. My father planned to step down when I met my mate.

A Luna is important to have when ruling over a pack. She gives the Alpha more strength and is typically a voice for the pack, always considering them in decisions. I was 24 but had still never felt a connection to any of the she-wolves that I had been introduced to. That didn't mean that they didn't throw themselves at me, hoping to claim the role of Luna for themselves.

I knew that she was out there somewhere and the moon goddess would guide us to each other one day. In the meantime, I focused on strengthening myself to take on the role of Alpha one day.

This inability to control my shift was problematic, though. I never really had difficulty controlling my wolf after my 21st birthday, and I had started shifting around 13 years of age. This strange occurrence was utterly foreign to me, as was the transparent red thread I was forced to follow. 

I was taking a brief rest, exhausted from running such great distances and hunkering down to avoid the current blizzard that was raging. How long was this going to last? I don't think I can take much more.

...

I awoke the following day to continue tracking the red line. My heart ached as though my mate was in danger. That couldn't be, though, as I had never met her, and no bond was formed between us. Regardless, I took off despite my frostbitten pads screaming at me. 

I had made it to Montrose, Michigan.

I was just over 20 miles into the 40-mile trek that I had been averaging each day when I smelt many other wolves approaching me. My pack must have realized that I was missing and asked our allies for help. Thank god.

The next thing I knew, I felt a sharp pain in my hind leg, and a burning sensation fled my body. I began to feel very tired to the point of blacking out. I struggled against this sensation, still following the red thread. Had they tranquilized me?

...

I woke up in a cage in an unfamiliar place, maybe 30 minutes later, with my paws wrapped in warm, wet cloths. I was still a bit dazed, but I could hear several voices around me. A woman approached the cage, saying, "Don't worry. We're treating your wounds now, and there's still time." Time, time for what?

I overheard her telling the others that the frostbite was in stage 2 and that, with proper treatment, I should be mostly recovered by two weeks. She would administer fluids later when she changed the warm rags and reassess my pads for blisters around the 12-hour mark. She also told them that I should be well-fed and rested so that I would be prepared.

What the fuck was going on? Why couldn't I shift back to my human form? Everyone around me seemed to know so much more about this situation than I did. I needed answers, and I needed them like yesterday.

Another man approached the cage a little while later, "Jayce, you have to trust us. We've been in contact with your father, Alpha Garren. He's on his way here now with the rest of your pack." I nodded. I needed to tell someone about this red thread that my wolf was following; that would have to wait until I could use mind link with a pack member. 

"I'm Alpha Grey, and you are at my pack house. You are safe here.", he said before leaving the room. The others followed him, leaving the woman there alone to treat me. "I know you must be confused.", she said as she administered an IV into one of my veins. I'm Grey's Luna, and I will try to explain as much as possible before your father arrives."

I listened attentively as she tended to my sensitive paws. She began, "Your mate is in danger. She was taken by vampires, and they have her held captive. One has begun a ritual with her called a blood bond. It is meant to sever your bond with her, and if they complete it before the sun rises the next day after the full moon, you will lose her forever." 

That explained my heartache earlier. Was this red thread that I was following leading me to my mate? Is this why I was unable to shift back to my human form? There were still so many unanswered questions. I let out a long cry, "Aarrooooooooo." 

She paused briefly, "This ritual is to fulfill a prophecy. If the blood bond is completed, she will spawn a Dhampir-Werewolf hybrid. This creature could decimate our kind as we know it, potentially erasing all of us from this world." I growled, displeased at this information.

"We will get you as healthy as we can and plan to fight the vampires alongside you so that you can rescue her. We know roughly her whereabouts, and we have time to plan; you need to rest and be ready when the time comes." I nodded again at the information she had told me. There was no way in hell I was going to let a vampire get away with stealing my mate from me. I bared my teeth at the thought.

After she finished telling me everything, she told me that she would return every 30 minutes or so to refresh the warm cloths on my paws; in the meantime, I needed to rest as much as I could. Before she left, she said, "We have someone out hunting for you right now." My stomach rumbled at the thought of a fresh kill. I hadn't eaten since my shift. 

I laid my head down and tried to rest, but the uncomfortable stinging sensation from my paws kept me from doing so. It shouldn't be long before my pack arrived, and it would be much faster to go by car, unlike what I was forced to do. The prophecy made this entire situation difficult for me. 

Since I couldn't rest, I focused on the pain I felt right now and turned that to rage. In my head, I imagined what I was going to do to that filthy vampire for touching my mate when I got a hold of him. Pinning him down and ripping his head off wasn't a bad start, but I wanted him to suffer like I had.

Who did he think he was? I tried to picture him in my mind. He was probably old and crusty, reeking of death, and my mate was probably terrified. I swear that every time he mistreated her, I was going to peel back a pound of his flesh with my teeth before ending his life. 

I didn't realize I was foaming at the mouth until the Luna returned to check on me. "Oh my god, are you ok?", she asked. I snapped out of my murderous thoughts and nodded. She swapped out the rags once more.

I nudged at the door to the cage. "We can't let you out.", the Luna sighed, "You'd probably just take off after her again, and she's in North Carolina. You'd be exhausted by the time you arrived, and with no backup, you would surely lose to a horde of vampires." 

She smiled at me to ease my mind and scratched behind my ear, "Your father called; he's 10 minutes out." She left again but was later joined by my father and his Beta. "We were worried, son, but don't fret; everything will be alright." 

"We have been in contact with all of our allies, and we have well over 500 wolves ready to fight against these blood-sucking cretins. There is no way that we will fail. You will be united with your luna and your seed with give us a Lycan King", he said. 

My head turned to the side as I didn't understand. I used my mind link with him, "A Lycan King?", I asked. He replied, "When you defeat the vampire who started the blood bond with your mate and take her as yours, marking her and mating her, you both will produce an heir, that will be born so powerful they will become the king of all werewolves, the ultimate Alpha if you will. 

My dinner arrived shortly after I finished talking with my father. Two men carried a large deer into the cage with me, and I began to devour it. My father and his Beta left with the men. I was alone with a full belly, and I finally succumbed to sleep.