Another incident. Another kidnapping. Same pattern. A second time.
The first time could have been a rogue.
But a second time? This time it was personal.
Aleksandr took this as a personal failure. That he failed to protect the kin of his pack. He was determined to do everything to set things right and get his pack members back.
Aleksandr asked his batya (father) to inform them of everything he knew till now since it was Ivan who had sent Maxim to Aleksandr's location, knowing that mobile network failed at Lake Krasnyy.
"I got a call from Marta the day before yesterday. She was hysterical on the phone, panicked. When I understood what she was trying to say, I found out her son, Pyotr*, had disappeared. He is just a nine-year old pup. It was sometime in the evening and he hadn't turned up home from school."
Ivan recounted the events. "I called Vlad's father and we immediately went to the school. We also asked a few other elders to meet us. I checked through the nearby cameras, from the roads and the shop owners and found out that Pyotr had left the school at the same time as the other kids."
"However, he had gone to play at the Median Park and from there, he had taken a different route for his house. Pyotr's father, Oleg, informed us that the route was a shortcut for their house and that he'd taken Pyotr with him once, through that road."
Ivan frowned as he continued, "Except that road is still not fully developed and so there are no cameras on that road. The last footage we have of Pyotr on camera is going towards that road."
"I went along with Krillen and Krizek on that road to look for Pyotr. They're damn good trackers and since they knew the scent found at the first incident as well as you, Sasha, they confirmed that the same distinguished scent was also present on that route, from where Pyotr had disappeared."
Ivan shut his eyes and dragged his fingers slowly over his brows, the gesture carried the quiet weight of mounting worry.
"Poor Marta is inconsolable. Her and Rurik's mother are suffering the most right now." Natasha, Sasha's mother, spoke emotionally.
"You need to go address them now, Son." Ivan mentioned. "The pack needs their Alpha the most right now."
"I'll come with you." Leo instantly jumped, determined to help.
~~~~
Aleksandr had wanted the introduction of his mate to the pack a happy event.
Rather, he was now forced to introduce Leo to everyone in such trying times. He wanted his omega to know everyone in the pack and to make sure every wolf who had turned up for the patrol in the woods, knew Leo's scent. He had also mixed in his own scent with his mate, as much as he could do so outdoors.
He really needed to mate with Leo. Not only because he was dying to do so, not only because looking at Leo drove him nuts with his eyes, his lips, his body, his scent, his sassy remarks, and not only because he wanted everyone to be aware of his mate but also to provide ease, comfort and familiarity to Leo.
Aleksandr left the car parked at the base of the woods and let his mate and his father out who had come to help. He went deeper in the forest towards the gathering of the pack.
The pack had grown too quiet.
Aleksandr Ivanovich Darkov had spent his entire life in these woods. He knew every sound they carried, the rustling leaves beneath paws, distant laughter from pups racing home before dusk, patrol whistles echoing from the borders, birds arguing somewhere high in the trees.
Tonight there was almost nothing.
The silence felt wrong.
He stood at the edge of the forest path where the second pup had disappeared and stared into the darkness between the trees. The moon filtered through the branches and shone its light in fractured pieces, moonlight cutting across the forest floor and allowing his wolf to see distances in the night.
Around him the wolves moved in disciplined lines, searching, tracking.
Disciplined, but not calm.
He could smell fear, uncertainty and anger. And so much restrained fury.
It was everywhere.
Fear smelled bitter.
Sharp.
Sweat mixed with unease and restless energy.
His pack was drowning in it. They considered each wolf pup as their own and they were ready to fight for the ones that were lost, that were taken without permission.
Behind him, voices rose.
"Search farther east."
"I checked east!"
"You missed something-"
Aleksandr closed his eyes briefly. "Enough."
His voice wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be. The arguing died instantly.
Even now, with tension spreading through the territory like poison, instinct remained instinct.
The Alpha speaks.
You listen.
He opened his eyes and turned.
The wolves near him straightened. No one met his gaze for long. No one wanted to be the one to explain failure.
Again.
Two pups.
Two disappearances.
Inside his territory. Inside his pack.
Aleksandr's jaw tightened.
Impossible.
The word had repeated itself in his mind for hours.
Impossible. It had to be.
The borders around pack territory were constantly watched. Patrols rotated day and night. Every wolf that entered their land was questioned and scented.
Children traveled in groups. Safety wasn't a suggestion here. It was law.
So how had someone taken another child? How?
One of the trackers approached cautiously. "Dimitri found something."
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