A/n: NOT EDITED, THIS IS A LONGER VERSION, When I first posted it was cut but I fixed it now. Enjoy.

Chapter 24 – Chelsea POV

One of the main reasons I never wanted a pack was because of the responsibility that is bestowed upon an Alpha. When Jack and Casey first told me that I was a wolf the first thing I did was do research online, a huge mistake. I’m not sure what I was hoping to find, but it definitely wasn’t what I did find, wolf pack behavior in specific species. The most frightening was the prospect that I’d be used as some type of breeding incubator, used to breed with different males.

Thank you Wikipedia.

Typing “wolf” into Google, with total chagrin I learned of Alphas, Betas and Omegas’ in a pack, and how they lived together, hunted together and that wolves were unbelievably social animals. Nothing I found though seemed better than previous information. I didn’t want to live as a wolf, and I certainly didn’t want to live with a group of people, or be considered in charge.



I did well on my own, especially when I knew Leo was after me, just waiting for the right time to strike and take me back. Then, after some time I learned of my extra abilities, and how I would eventually do if I joined an already formed pack, if they had an Alpha Male and Female. In short, I wouldn’t do well; I’d eventually want to take place where I belonged, at the top, despite not wanting to run a pack. So it would be easier to remain alone, keep to myself and worry about myself and for a good three years after shifting I had maintained this set plan for myself. All while knowing that I most likely had siblings since Leo used videos and photos’ during my ‘training’ as he called them.



I knew that I’d never be able to be around the family, my siblings, not after what I endured, how would I be able to see their faces and remain unaffected? So a long time ago I wrote off a few things, living in a pack, being in charge of a pack and engaging with my siblings on any type of personal level.



Fast forward, and I’m doing everything I thought I couldn’t, wouldn’t want to do, with a mate and daughter to boot.



“Chelsea, sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Gabriel approached me, concerned, his eyes flickering to those around me, Julia, Grant and finally he eyes Ben. “I can’t hear Oakley,” I tell him worried, “I’ve heard her before, I can’t hear her at all, Gabriel.”



Marlon stands, his youngest Kiley comes from outside to the kitchen, “What were you guys talking about?” I asked her she frowned, shaking her head, at her father and me, “Nothing bad, she – Ben wanted to play and he said that she was my age, so I thought I’d go talk to her,” her eyes wide and innocent, Kieran in wolf form, “She showed us her ipad… and we were talking about Kieran,” she lifted her eyes to Marlon.



“I had just finished saying that you said he likes to be in wolf form because he feels safe – and – and Oakley she stood suddenly and said that you were calling her,” I didn’t hear Chelsea calling her though, “She tapped the side of her head – then – and then Ben came up running and she told him the same thing, that you called her,” Kiley finished nodding at Ben who was silent, his hands straight down at his side in fists.



“Did you call her?” Ben asked monotone, I shook my head carefully, because I could see as well as the others that his sky blue eyes were darkening, “Could someone have been calling her the way you would without her knowing?” he asks but there’s no really effort behind the words, almost like he knows how far from possible what he is asking really is.



Marlon looks outside, “We didn’t cross her scent coming here,” Kiley whispers, “Even before the rain, well drizzle, and we’d be able to scent her right daddy?” Marlon nodded.



“If you can’t hear her, they can’t smell her, where is she?” Grant asked, I tried again, this time focusing on the Hellmanns.



“Chelsea I doubt they’d do anything stupid like taking Oakley,” Gabriel scoffed, but I concentrated on them instead, who does she think she is?



I just need to get close to her, I need her to trust me so I can find out who killed my mate, Jax thought. She ruined everything, setting rules, turned Walter against his family, Lynn thought, and so it went, not a single of them were thinking of Oakley.



“Whose ‘they’?” Marlon asked near me, Lux snorted, “The Hellmanns, she took two wolves away today, one from Greg and the other from Lynn.” Someone growled at the mention of her name, “No, it’s not them, they aren’t even thinking about Oakley,” I answered sighing.



“Chelsea you guys need to relax, chances are she just got lost…” I turned to face him, my brow lifted in total disbelief, “Really? There are paths? Roads that lead from the beach to my house to her house… how’d she get lost?”



I asked and immediately, drifting Grant thought, “Drifting?”



He sighs heavily, “Oakley could have gone exploring… something could have caught her attention. Are there things on this island that one wouldn’t see in the Virginia area? Species of an animal or tree that’s not found in a book, only common here because of…?” I scrunched my brow turning to Marlon, “Oakley is interested in those sorts of things, if she saw a plant that she’s never seen, she could have followed it to examine-”



Then it hit me, “Wait, Kiley, you said she showed you an ipad?” the little girl nodded, “Remy get your laptop,” I said before I teleported back to my room, changing into boots, jeans and a sweater, then went back to my office, grabbing my laptop and turning it on, going back to the kitchen, startling Grant and Julia, “sorry,” I murmured when their eyes widened, hands reached for each other and they took a very small step back.



Handing my laptop to Remy, “can you track her ipad, tell us where on the island she currently is?” I said bending over to tie my shoes, “I’m calling Leland and Roman, they know the island as well as I do,” Marlon said as we waited, “even if they can’t locate her with that gadget, we have to go soon, before her scent if completely washed off the forest floor with overnight rain,” he advised but I was still searching.



Lux?I called him and instead of turning to me as though I had done it out loud, he continued conversing with Marlon, Yeah? He replied.



Is there anyone on the island that has a gift of blocking? A shield so that I wouldn’t be able to get into their thoughts?



Not that we know of, it could be something they’re developing though, but as of the last inventory census we took, no one had that ability, or have ever hidden their thoughts from Marlon, Leland and I, I sighed in relief.



Send someone you trust to check out the Hellmanns just to be safe,I ordered wanting to cover my bases.



“Kiley, there are four paths and the one main road that lead to the beach where you guys were playing, which one did Ben and Oakley come in from? Do you know?” Marlon asked his daughter, “the first one, but Oakley didn’t use that same path to leave the beach Dad, when they walked over to us, she was under the shade between the third and fourth and she walked in-between, she had to use her hands to push some of the bush away to enter there,” knew it was weird, I mean she was in sandals, hopefully she isn’t hurt, Kiley finished.



“What?” Julia, not a wolf but in tune with facial expressions asked Kiley worried, “what’s wrong?”



Kiley glanced at her father before answering, he gave her a nod, “It’s just that, she was wearing, really soft looking sandals on her feet, if she went exploring and isn’t on a path, maybe she fell… or hurt herself…” she offered slowing down when Ben released a low menacing growl from his lips, his young chest vibrating. Hands shaking at his sides, when Grant approached him, he took two steps back, his baby blue eyes now a stormy cobalt blue.



Luna… Chelsea…Gabriel? Someone called, I stopped mid step towards Ben, yes? Who is this? My eyes went to Gabriel’s… are you hearing this? Yes.



There was a chuckle, it’s Logan, my crew and I went to the address you sent us, the one in Camden, London? Well we are at the loft, we dug up the plot that your source gave you and we have a concrete slab, four by five feet. It doesn’t look like it’s been touched since buried, we aren’t too sure, but before we bring it to the island, do you want us to use Ultrasound Echo to check to make sure this isn’t a trap? Logan offered, my eyes went back to Gabriel.



Instantly my mind went to answer him, tell him yes, what if someone has them, but did this – make it seem like no one has touched it? So that if Nora came back, this would lead to impairing her, making sure she couldn’t just go since her father wants her dead? Gabriel smiled at me.



Excellent thinking – and if it is being traced and tracked it won’t be led here, he added, Logan, be careful, don’t bring it here first, only bring the violin cases here, we don’t want anyone to track us, “Guys, I can’t track or find the ipad,” Remy answered sadly.



“We go back where she was last seen, track her from there-”



“I’m coming,” Ben said, or snarled, everyone eyeing me, I sighed taking a step towards him, “Ben, I know you want to help find her, but we don’t know the island, you don’t have-” he had started groaning, and then I heard it, the telltale of a shift happening starting, Ben fell to his knees, panting.



“What’s happening?” Grant said coming right next to me, that same worried fatherly tone in his voice, I had never heard it from Jay, but from Jason.



“He’s shifting, Oakley missing,” it’s making him angry and instigating his shift, he needs to be calm though, if he fights the shift it’s going to hurt more, if he continues to be angry then it’s still going to be painful as well… I explain anticipating Grant to startle a bit but nothing happens. He just nods, “What do we do for him?” console him?



“No, oddly, when you touch him it’s going to be painful,” you just have to be calm around him, don’t worry all this is normal; he’s going to be feeding off of what you’re feeling, I told them both at once, Julia nodded as did Grant, “You just have to find Oakley, Chelsea, you go find her and we’re gonna wait for you here,” I nodded approaching Ben, kneeling next to him, “I’ll find her Ben, but you need to relax, think of something you and Oakley did together that was fun, or something that makes you calm, it’ll hurt less if you’re not fighting it or angry,” I said over his groaning.



“Do you understand? You have to be calm…” he just moaned, standing I followed the guys, Violet coming up behind me, Gabriel at my side we left the house, the three of us following Marlon, going where his daughter said we would find Oakley’s scent. None of us needing light we made it to the beach, still finding lingering traces of Oakley’s scent, noting right away that she never made it to my house, in fact she strayed off the trail immediately.



Following I started to note that there were only two distinctive scents, one I knew was Oakley the other, I hadn’t found on any trail that Lux had shown me, “Marlon, whose scent is that?” I asked, the woodsy area smelling more fruity than it should, “oh – that – you remember my daughter mentioning Kieran? Well that’s him, he is a young man, fifteen years old, but he hasn’t shifted back to his human form for nearly three years,” doesn’t belong to the pack, can’t hear him, after forty minutes following Oakley’s scent the rain had washed away the faintest traces.



“Would she have continued going?” I asked out loud – the rain pouring – when we stopped. The terrain became troubling, fallen trees, trapped falls, and unsafe land, I nearly fell and Oakley – her scent was gone, but the fruity one still thick despite rain.



“This is the only place we found her scent, it’s not leading us anywhere, the rain – maybe that has her trapped higher up-” Marlon said sniffing.



Chelsea… a male voice called out to me, anxious and uncertain, she fell – blood “Chelsea?” Gabriel asked as I stiffened, Kieran? I responded to the voice, ignoring Gabriel. Where – are you with Oakley?



Talking. Smells good. Leaving mountain, fell, hit head, no more talking, no moving, I close my eyes as images of Oakley hit me, ‘you don’t have to follow me down Kieran,’ he thought. He howled, tried getting in front of her, noting the rain falling, knowing that it would be trickery for Oakley to head back, but she sidestepped him continuing.



“She’s with Kieran, she fell,” Gabriel told them, reading my thoughts and the ones Kieran was sending me, ‘Chelsea can read the minds of everyone...’ Oakley told him.



The rain rainfall increased, more than just drizzle and Oakley’s foot slipped on a rock, falling in an incline, rolling down, and dislodging a large rock that fell on her leg after.



“He heard her head hit the ground hard and there’s a rock trapped on her right ankle,” Gabriel told them, explaining an echoing set of howls silencing him.



“That was Kieran,” I said my eyes snapping open, as Marlon gaped at me in shock, she’s progressed he thought to himself, she can hear Kieran. “Lux can you tell where she is?” I asked sending him the same images that Kieran sent me.



Don’t touch, hurt more, Kieran thought, followed by more howling, “I don’t think he wants to move her, incase he makes it worse,” I explained and that was all I needed to say before Lux turned climbing in the direction we were headed, up, the rain changing the forest floor, slowly Gabriel and I slipping as we follow Lux, the howls Kieran releases become closer until I spot a wolf, head thrown back, mid howl. Interrupted by a low curse from Lux, as we carefully climb towards the incline peering over to see what Lux has found, below us, I see that nearly eight feet down, Oakley is face up, with mountainous rock covering one of her legs.



Help, Kieran howls.



Even in the dark I can see the pool of blood, two of them, a small one near Oakley’s head, another where the great boulder has her foot trapped, her heart beating slower than normal. Jack?



Yes, he responds quickly, I need you to get sedatives and bring them here quickly, I followed that up by giving him snapshots of the path we took, knowing it would help along with our scent, “Gabriel you and Chelsea get long thick pieces of wood, so we can secure her leg, and find vines, or fern and braid them so we can stop the bleeding up at her thigh,” Lux instructed as Marlon peered from side to side, Kieran growled, flicking his head towards the left, going out of sight around the corner of the mountain, but reappearing below in the small space below, “I can get in that way?” Yes. Yes, Kieran yelped, as he thought the words. Moving quickly, Gabriel and I went back, finding pieces of tree bark, and then vines to twist and braid working hurriedly.



“Damn it,” Marlon’s voice echoes up from the small space between the walls, “she’s too cold, how long has she been here?” I know he’s asking Kieran but I’m not sure how he expects the non-talking wolf something dealing with time? Right? She was leaving right when it began drizzling, still light out, he thinks surprisingly, helpful. I think back to when it began drizzling, “It’s been two hours, nearly three she left when it was lightly raining,” I answered from the spot next to Gabriel.



“Jack is on his way up here bringing sedatives because once we move that rock,” the rain making everything worse right about now, “I’ll go back,” Violet offered and started her descent before I agreed. After doing as Lux instructed we went back staying off the edge in case it were to fall, trampling Oakley more than before.



In that spot I began listening to the thoughts of Lux, Marlon and Jack, wondering what the next step would be, “It’s good that he’s coming, we need the strength to lift the boulder off her foot,” she’s a wolf, hasn’t shifted though, Marlon didn’t finish out loud. Both he and Lux, thinking while trying to hide it; toxins, fatal blood loss, check for crush syndrome, damaged tissue, listening but not interrupting I glance back down seeing a sack, sandals, one near her head the other half underneath her torso.



Should have stay with me, didn’t stay, Kieran thought, an almost possessive overtone in all his thoughts concerning Oakley.



“She has a lot of swelling on her belly Chelsea, and bruising on the left side of her torso, throw me down the twine you braided.”



Doing as he asked I remained silent lost in my own thoughts, for a intelligent as Oakley appeared, I couldn’t understand what she thought she was doing by coming all the way up here without telling anyone? Is this how she did things back in Middleburg, going off on her own, and in the end she just became forgotten? I mean how long would she have been here, had we not realized where she was because of Kieran? But I think what saddened me the most was that Oakley didn’t reach out for help. She told Kieran that I could hear the thoughts of everyone and I know she must have been panicked as she fell but she didn’t call me. Did she even call out to anyone? It was a relatively small island, but her voice could have traveled down, we had great sense of hearing and smell.



The dread that filled my stomach, was rivaling the scent of her blood traveling up to me, “Chelsea…” Gabriel said near me, “she’s not use to people caring, I don’t think she would call even Grant and Julia and they obviously care a great deal about her,” he whispered but I felt uneasy.



Then I noticed, on the outside Lux and Marlon kept their cool, their minds were frantic running over complications for the longest almost hour of my life, until Jack appeared, Nonno, Casey and Violet in toe. Under Nonno’s arms a stretcher, a large duffel bag across Jack’s chest, “We brought supplies,” Casey said following Jack, disappearing and reappearing below with Lux and Marlon, the three moving quickly, Jack working under the rain, placed an IV and I could tell he had brought my blood with him, once that was done, the men lifted the boulder off of Oakley’s leg and ankle, exposing her mangled leg, the loudest reaction coming from Kieran but the confusion in his head just as loud.

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