Twenty-three

"Truent!" the Alpha roared as he entered the infirmary late at night. A girl was in his arms, thin, dehydrated, and bruised. Behind him, Nico was on the phone with someone, snarling quietly as to not override Zane's voice. "Truent, where the hell are you?"

A crash sounded and he set the girl down on a gurney a few nurses provided. He unwrapped her arms from around his neck carefully, making sure he didn't hurt her anymore than she already was. "What is it?" the doctor asked, panting and disheveled from being woken up so late.

"She needs help," Zane spat.

Truent looked at the girl. She was hardly recognizable under all the beatings she took as well as the dirt and grime. Her hair was caked with blood and dirt to the point it looked like a maroon color. Her clothes were more or less rags on her and her feet were bleeding from blisters that had been infected. "Name? Mate? Anything?

Zane said nothing about the name or who she was mated with. He didn't find it important. He just told the man what she had been through and mentioned a few broken bones. Truent nodded and ordered a few nurses to get the girl's skin around the cuts as cleaned up as they could while he ran off towards another room.

The alpha turned to Nico. "Well?"

"He's on his way. He said he should be here by morning."

"Good." Zane sat down on a chair and sighed out a long breath, relaxing for the first time since they left earlier that evening. They caught and captured the men who framed this girl, made them confess, then demanded they release her. The officers obliged, apologizing profusely. But it ended up taking much longer than necessary when the criminals had backup arrive. So of course, it was fifty against two. Being an Alpha and Beta, they were stronger than any of them, but that didn't help to not getting grazed every now and then by loose claws and teeth.

It was a few minutes before the door to the outside opened and Anton walked in with Kiera. The Alpha looked up and raised his brows at the numerous shopping bags hanging off Kiera's arms. "May I ask why you came in here with all of those?"

"They're for her," she whispered. "Whisper. I apologize for breaking the rules. I let my pride take over my body and wasn't thinking. I will still accept my punishment in whatever form, but please take these. They should fit her and everything she needs is in here, plus in the back of the car."

"Damn!" Nico hissed under his breath. "Better be everything, because that's a lot of damn shopping bags!"

Zane nodded. "Go ahead, Kiera. Anton goes with you." He looks up at the man beside her. "Make sure Whisper is alright. She should be sleeping either upstairs or on the couch."

Anton nodded and left with Kiera. Nico chuckled. "Good luck finding room for all of that."

"I'm moving out," Zane muttered.

The Beta looked at him in shock. "What? You can't be serious?"

He nodded. "Just out of the tree. I'm going to make something a little more spacious."

"Are you planning on having pups? You haven't even mated her yet."

"I know. I've been waiting. She's not been ready to hear all the details yet. But I plan on it soon. Between her having panic attacks and trying to live here and socialize with everyone, I didn't think it was a good time."

"She's more than ready, I think."

Zane looked at him. "Why do you say that?"

Nico shrugged. "I just do. She's definitely more comfortable with people than she used to be. She even let me look at her wounds, which healed beautifully by the way."

Zane felt a pang of jealousy at Nico looking at Whisper's wounds when it could have him, himself. But he couldn't lash out. Nico was his friend and the only other person he could rely on to see her safe. If it wasn't for Nico, Whisper would be the laughing stock of the pack by now. The fight with Kiera wouldn't have mattered because they'd have seen her panic and vulnerable all those times something triggered a hallucination. "Scars?"

Nico shook his head. "Not one."

Zane nodded appreciatively. From down the hall, Truent stormed up to them. "I can't believe it!"

The Alpha stood up, thinking something was wrong. "What is it? Can't believe what?"

The doctor went up to him and, to Zane's and Nico's surprise, hugged Zane fiercely. "Thank you! Thank you so much for finding her!"

"Who?"

Truent pulled back. "Simone. You found Simone!"

Just then, Zane's phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at it. Kiera. Sighing, he put it back thinking she was going to ask where to put all the bags. He couldn't deal with that anymore. "Yes, I found her. She was in a nearby jail for a crime she was framed for. I called her mate and—"

"You called Reed?" Truent asked hopefully.

"Alpha Reed, yes. Well, I got his Beta, but nonetheless, he's on his way."

Truent nodded with hope in his eyes. "You don't know how much this means to his and my pack. Not to mention couple other packs as well."

Zane's phone buzzed several more times, but he ignored it. "No problem. But she doesn't leave until I talk to her." Truent tensed, catching the Alpha's eyes. "Don't worry, doctor. I need to ask her some questions and see if there are anymore people behind her kidnapping. This is for the safety of her and others."

Truent relaxed. Nico walked away, phone to his ear. A nurse came up and said, "Dr. Truent, there's a problem."

"What is it?"

"Well, um…" Out of nowhere, a loud crash sounded. The three of us looked in the direction where the patient had been taken. A loud roar vibrated through the walls and Zane started running.

Slamming the doors to the recovery room open, he saw Simone as a large black wolf, amber eyes glaring at him. Her body was shaking, her hackles up, and her teeth bared. Truent pushed his way through and stared wide-eyed at her. "Simone!"

She looked at him but backed away a little.

"Simone, calm down. Reed is on his way!" At the sound of his name, Simone let out a painful whine. Truent nodded. "Yes, my dear. He's coming. Now, I need you to shift and get back in bed."

Simone glanced at Zane. He smiled at her warmly. "I'll turn around."

He did so and heard cracking then shuffling before the bed groaned. "Truent, please tell me he's close!"

Zane turned back around and froze. Her hair was golden, complete contrast from her black fur. Her eyes were the same as her wolf while her body—although bruised—was a sun-kissed tan. What he hadn't noticed before was her stomach. "You're pregnant."

She looked at him and nodded. "He wanted to know! He wanted to know so much and it's been two months! Two damn months since we've seen each other!"

"How did you find out?"

"When I started puking for no reason and gained weight when I was barely fed any food."

"I'm surprised you're still alive," Truent said gently. "We need to get some food into you. The baby must have taken all the strength from what little food they gave you."

Zane got out his phone and dialed the Alpha's number. It rang twice before someone picked up. "Hello?"

"Alpha Reed?"

"It's me. How is she?"

Zane hesitated. "She's awake. Would you like to talk to her?"

"Yes!" he breathed through the line.

Zane smiled and walked over to Simone. "Just give it to Truent when you're finished."

Simone took the phone slowly, looking at him with suspicion, then held it up to her ear. "Hello?" After a moment, a smile broke out on her face. "Reed! Oh Goddess! Where are you?"

Truent got up and left a tray of food on the table for Simone to eat. Then, both men left her alone to talk to her mate. When Zane got back to the waiting room, Nico was nowhere to be seen. A nurse from behind the desk said, "Alpha, Beta Nico said you need to go straight home when you're finished."

"Why?"

She shook her head. "He didn't say, but if it helps, he was in a hurry."

"Thank you," he said and turned to Truent. "I need to go. I'll be back to check on her soon." With that, he ran out the doors and towards home.

When he got there, Kiera's car was parked outside and there was a commotion inside his home. He heard, "Don't tell me to calm down! It's your goddamned Luna we're talking about!"

Dread settled inside Zane's stomach as he entered the house to see Nico and Kiera face to face in a staring contest and Anton in wolf form, sniffing around. "What is going on?"

Nico turned to him with fearful eyes. Kiera shook her head and went upstairs, completely ignoring him. Anton looked up at him and shifted. "Someone was here. They only came to the couch and left, and I assume they took Whisper with them."