Twenty-three

The next day, Mourgent would not let Zazriel out of his sight, which meant she had to attend the meetings with him. She didn't mind at first, as she didn't want to be away either, but then the testosterone levels grew so thick, it was suffocating.

As she was the only female to be at the meetings, she felt caged and trapped and without air. Zazriel wanted to ask Mourgent to step out for five minutes, but he was too busy with the conversations to glance at her. She was frustrated and annoyed.

Then, a topic arose that she was interested in and she sat up as Indrik began to speak. "We have problems with pups disappearing in our pack. One minute, they are playing in the yard, the next, they have disappeared without a trace."

"Who's watching them?" Mourgent asked.

"Everyone who isn't doing something else. Even I have watched and one has disappeared."

"No scent?" Zazriel asked, speaking for the first time in the five hours they had been stuck in the room together.

"For a time. But it ends after a few yards."

"No trampled dirt or forestry disturbed?"

Indrik blinked, but shook his head. "There's nothing, Luna."

Zazriel sat back and crossed her arms, thinking. "Do you have any rogue groups near your pack?" Mourgent asked.

"None that are large."

"Are you sure?"

Indrik nodded. "I keep track of what is happening beyond my borders. I don't want to be caught off guard."

"Indrik?" Zazriel spoke up again. "Have they been taken from anywhere else? Home, pack house, store?"

"No."

"Do you catch a whiff of the attacker?"

The alpha thought, eyes closed. "Once. It was a female."

Zazriel stiffened, as well as Mourgent. It was her mate who asked, "Find a similar scent anywhere else?"

Indrik opened his and looked straight at Mourgent. "It's possible."

Merric sighed. "No offense, but if you can't take care of your own pups, then why are you alpha?"

Indrik glanced at him with hard eyes. "I will spare you my lecture on alpha duties and whatnot since you are young and new to this, but don't think for a moment that all of us haven't lost someone due to rogues."

Merric scoffed. "I haven't."

"That's because you are defended from any threat on all sides," Hauser said slowly.

"Merric, no judging other alphas and their worth if you don't understand what they deal with," Mourgent admonished. He turned to Indrik then. "I will look into this further. But let's keep the pups from the play yard, for now."

Indrik nodded and slumped in his chair. Merric rolled his eyes and Mourgent decided to take a break.

Once everyone left, Zazriel turned to him. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, Z." He sat back and tipped his head back, groaning. Zazriel saw how strained he was and knew it would get worse before the week was up.

She squeezed his hand. "Mourgent?"

He turned his head and blinked at her. "We'll be fine. I'll help find the pups and make sure they get home safely."

"And if we don't?"

"We will."

Later, after another five hours of talking and arguing, Mourgent and Zazriel finally went to his house to sleep. They both were exhausted, but didn't do much at all. Zazriel prepared for bed, then went to the kitchen for a drink. When she returned, Mourgent was still in the bathroom, so she got into bed and turned on her side.

[DREAM]

"Hush little Zazriel, don't say a word, momma's gonna buy you a mocking bird…"

Zazriel giggled and squirmed as her mother continued to sing the song, even though she was five years old, even though she told her mother not to sing it. But she loved her mother's voice, loved her mother. She was the best thing in the world.

"Little Zazriel, do you want to know a secret?" her mother asked in a hushed tone.

Zazriel jumped up and down. "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!"

Her mother chuckled then brought Zazriel onto her lap, hugging the child to her. In a voice that both shook and wavered, she said, "I am not your mother. Your mother abandoned you…"

[END OF DREAM]

"Zazriel!"

Zazriel bolted upright, sweat running down her face and back, eyes wild and filled with tears, mind racing with the dream she just had.

"Zazriel?"

She looked over to see Mourgent eyeing her nervously, concern in his eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"It's okay. You're okay."

She laid back and curled her hands into the front of his shirt. Zazriel couldn't sleep however, not when her dream felt so real, felt like a memory she had blocked. But it would explain so much, it would explain why Zazriel felt as if her mother had hated her.

When she woke in the morning after drifting off for only a few minutes here and there, she was grumpy and didn't want to be around anyone. Mourgent had asked her several times what was wrong, but she pushed him away. She pushed everyone away. She didn't want to hurt anyone with her mood.

So, when it was time for Mourgent to go to the meetings, she had asked if she could be put in a room nearby to rest, be alone, to think.

Mourgent found a room for her that had a bed and a dresser and told her where he would be if she needed him. He also said that there were several pack members in wolf form staying alert to any sign of distress from her. Zazriel nodded and went straight to the bed after he left, transferring herself from her chair to the soft blankets. Then, she lay and stared at the ceiling, mind drifting.

Soon, she began to cry.

Mourgent paused the meeting with the other alphas after an hour because he sensed Zazriel was hurt – not physically, but like when the attack happened and she got lost in her mind. He sensed she needed some kind of anchor.

Indrik tried to stop him, but Mourgent slipped passed and ran down the hall. He went to open the door when Zelda opened it. He blinked. "What are-"

"Shh," she said, putting a finger to her lips. She walked out of the room and shut the door softly. Then, taking his hand, she led him to another room and locked them in.

"Zelda, is she okay?"

Zelda shrugged. "She could be worse."

Mourgent started to grow frustrated. "Just tell me what is going on!"

Zelda sat in a chair and held her head in her hands. "She keeps saying something about her mother not being her mother. I only went in to check on her, but she was crying. So, I stayed. Eventually, she fell asleep."

Mourgent was silent a long time. Then he went and knelt before her. "Will you keep an eye on her? I would, but I need to be at the meetings."

Zelda nodded.

"Call me if she becomes worse or starts to try and do something like run."

Zelda nodded again, and he left to go back to his meeting, however he couldn't focus on what was being said. All he could think about was Zazriel.