12 Chapter 12: Caught in The Crossfire

Ryder's POV

I feel my phone vibrate and immediately pull it out to see if it's Violet letting me know she got home safe. It's been over an hour since I left to come help my dad, so she should have let me know something by now.

"I made it home. Thanks for tonight though, I had a lot of fun with you! I'm going to head to bed, so I'll talk to you later."

A feeling of relief washes over me as I read her text, and I finally relax a little and I place my phone into the back pocket of my jeans.

I walk over to my dad and stand against a tree with my arms crossed. "We've been waiting for her to get here for thirty minutes now dad, where is she?"

He takes in a deep breath, smelling the air before saying, "She's almost here."

I look around the thick forest and finally see my sister coming out into the clearing where dad told us to meet him. She slowly makes her way her over and grabs our dad into a tight hug.

"You look absolutely exhausted, Monica. Are you sure you're up for this tonight?" I ask while I place a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine. I've just been grading essays all night from my Occult class. I promise I can handle this!" She says while flashing me a huge grin.

My sister is the first in the family that hasn't gone into business. She told our dad when she turned 18 that "it's just too boring" for her. She said she had a passion for the Occult and supernatural, which kind of makes sense. She loves her job and is extremely passionate about it, so dad's just happy she's happy. Plus, he still has me. Once I graduate next year, I'll be taking his place as CEO and sole owner of the family company.

"Now that you're both here, we have to figure out what we need to do. I don't know why they come into our territory or even how they managed to sneak past the patrols on the boarder. I haven't announced their presence to everyone yet, since I'm unclear of their motives."

"One of them attacked Violet earlier tonight.. After I kicked his ass, I saw him run off to an abandoned building right off campus." I say furiously.

Monica grabs my hand and says worriedly, "Do you think they know about her?"

"How could they possibly know? Ryder called had only called the seniors to the meeting just this morning! The only people who know are the Seniors and us." My dad says as he shakes his head.

I let out a deep sigh and say, "That means we have a spy posing as one of our Seniors.. I thought I smelled something off about one of them.. I should have realized.."

"We need to get gather some of our fighters and scope out that building! Violet's home, right? She didn't go out anywhere?" Monica asked me.

"She texted me before you showed up saying she was going to bed, so she's fine right now."

"I want you and Monica to head to the pack house and get the Beta and Gamma. I'm going to round up a few of our fighters and we'll meet back up at the edge of the Garden before heading to the building."

"Yes, Alpha." Monica and I say in unison.

I start walking off toward the pack house when I hear my dad call out to me.

"Ryder, come here."

"What is it?" I ask, confused.

"I know you're worried that you think you won't be a great Alpha.. That's why I want you to lead our mission tonight. If it goes well, I'll place you in charge of taking care of the Blood Moon pack. Just think of it as a test. Of course, I already know you'll do an outstanding job, but you need to prove to yourself that you're worthy of being the next Black Claw Alpha. Now go make me proud, son."

"Thank you, dad. I'll try my best."

I finally head out to the pack house and I try to keep my mind off the fact that the Blood Moon pack is here for Violet.

I should have known if they found out, they would come after her.. I should have realized something was off about one of the Seniors and called the meeting off.. This is all my fault..

The Blood Moon pack and the Black Claw pack have rivals for centuries. I remember my grandfather telling my sister and I the story when we were kids. According to him, both of the Alpha's were best friends and had an alliance between their packs. One night, the Alpha of the Blood Moon pack found his Luna and the Alpha of the Black Claw pack sleeping together. The Luna pleaded with him, claiming that the Alpha of the Black Claw pack was her mate, and not him. This sent him into a fit of rage and he ended up killing his Luna in an attempt to attack to the Alpha of the Black Claw pack. This caused both of the packs to declare war on each other. The Alpha of the Blood Moon pack saying the other Alpha stole his mate, while the Alpha of the Black Claw pack saying the other Alpha killed his mate.

My grandfather had always said that this story should as a reminder that we need to be cautious if we chose a partner who is not our mate, because they could end up being someone else's.

I finally arrived at the pack house and went to the second floor, which is where the Gamma and his family live, and knocked on his door.

"David, the Alpha requested I come get you. It's important."

Within seconds, David opened the door and stepped outside.

"What's going on? Is Jonathon okay?" He asked worriedly.

"My dad's fine. The Blood Moon pack got past the patrols some time today and we believe they're hiding out in an abandoned building near Blackwood campus. My dad wanted Monica and I get you and Seth and meet him edge of the Garden. We're going to scope out the building and see how many of their pack members are here before we decided what out next move is."

"Okay, let me get changed and I'll meet you downstairs in five minutes."

I make my way upstairs to the Beta's floor to see if Monica has informed Seth yet. Once I reached the top of the stairs, I see the two of them making their way toward me.

"I assume Monica has filled you in on what's happening?" I ask Seth.

"RUDE! Of course I filled him in! Why wouldn't I?!" Monica exclaims defensively.

"Calm down Mon! I was just making sure.."

....

After meeting up with my dad at the Garden, we all start heading toward the building, making sure to use the alleyways to stay hidden. We stop a few buildings away and I send three of our fighters over to check it out, and after about fifteen minutes of them checking out the location, they return.

"What did you see?" I ask.

"There's at least twenty of them, sir. It also seems like they may be planning an attack on one of the humans. They have a board in the center of the room that is plastered with photo's of a girl." One of them replies.

As soon as the words left his mouth, I immediately knew it was Violet they were after. I could feel my entire body tense up as I got filled with rage.

My dad walks over to me and places a hand on my shoulder. "We need to find out if the spy is still with the other Seniors. If he is, we'll arrest him and have him questioned on what they're planning."

"I think it's time you tell Violet who you are Ryder.. This is really fucking bad and that poor girl has no idea what the hell is even going on.." Monica says as she walks over to me and grabs my hand.

"How can I possibly tell her now? She's going to want to know everything and be absolutely confused. We don't have time to deal with that on top of dealing with the Blood Moon pack!"

"Son, you're sister has an excellent point. If you tell her now, you can bring her to the pack house where we can protect her. If she's left clueless, she may be left unattended and they won't hesitate to the seize the opportunity."

They're right.. I have to tell her and I have to bring her to the pack house where she will be safe..

"You're right.. I have to tell her. Violet's in danger and I have to act fast before something happens."