Marie's POV

　　It was finally Angels eighteenth birthday and even though we weren't her parents, Nick and I still thought of her as our own. We were so proud of her and knew William and Vanessa would be too. Nick had left early for work he was supposed to be gone all day but was coming home at lunchtime. After stopping by the pack house to introduce myself to Alpha Jake and reminding him about Angel's party tonight, I headed over to the community centre to decorate. A few of the she-wolves that ran the centre was there to help, having given out my orders I went into town to pick up the cake. I tried calling Angel to wish her a happy birthday but had no answer so I tried mind linking her instead. This time I was hit by a wall. Knowing her she was still asleep, this girl would sleep the day away given half the chance.

　　By lunchtime the hall was finished all we needed was to wait for the DJ to arrive and set up. Everything was perfect. There was a balloon arch shaping the stage in different shades of pink and lilac, these had always been her favourite colours. The cake was set up on its own table and was made to stand out like a centrepiece. The windows were draped in white voiles with the twinkling effect of stars beneath them.

　　The hall looked like a winter wonderland, Angels favourite time of year. Nick had turned up shortly after lunchtime and was convinced that I had gone over the top. This guy knew nothing, a she-wolves eighteenth birthday was a big deal and deserved to be celebrated in the right way.

　　After not getting through to Angel I gave Jake a call and asked if he had seen or heard from her. He hadn't so I became worried.

　　"Marie hun she's most likely gone shopping for a new dress, you heard her the other day she said she didn't have one that gave the right look of something like that… women" he chuckled the last word while rolling his eyes.

　　"I just wished she would answer her god damn phone so we knew she was ok that's all"

　　"Hey if I remember rightly you and Vanessa used to disappear all the time, your mum tried to constantly get hold of you, she even scowled me for not telling her where you had gone"

　　"Yeh I guess your right… I love you" I said hugging him tight.

　　"I love you too"

　　-   Unknown POV

　　I arrived too late, I had overheard a couple of wolves talking about the plan to take Angel while she was sleeping and knew I needed to intervene. As I got there she was gone, I followed the tracks from their cottage to a dusty old back lane however I lost them there. By the looks of it they had loaded her into a big vehicle, most likely a van of some kind. I knew the phone call I now needed to make but didn't know how to tell him I had failed.

　　I decided I would go to Alpha Jake first and get his help, at the end of the day she was his mate and he deserves the chance to save her from this fate. As I arrived at the pack house I was cuffed and taken straight to the alphas office.

　　"Who are you and why are you here?"

　　"My name is Carl and I'm here because of your mate"

　　"What business could you possibly have with Angel?" he growled his eyes turning pitch black.

　　"I was hired by someone who's cares deeply for her safety, I was ordered to keep an eye on her. Last night I overheard a couple of wolves talking about how they planned to take her, to take her alpha power in a way that she shouldn't have to suffer."

　　"What alpha power, and where are these wolves now?" Alpha Jake asked growing more impatient.

　　"Alpha do you not know who your mate truly is. She is the lost Princess of the royal pack and she is in the utmost of danger"

　　"F*ck I knew her name sounded familiar now I know why she wouldn't tell me her full name. Tell me who hired you" He roared shaking the office.

　　"That I'm afraid I cannot do. I have been sworn to secrecy by that of a blood oath"

　　"Ok tell me what you know. If she is in fact the Princess of the royal pack then it has to be the old beta that has her yes?"

　　"Correct alpha Jake, but I don't know where they have taken her. He isn't stupid so he won't have taken her to the kingdom. The alpha transfer ceremony needs to take place under a full moon which is tonight as I'm sure your aware. They most likely have a corrupt elder willing to do the ceremony meeting them at a different location"

　　"How does this ceremony work? I know with alpha men it's a simple blood magic transfer by cutting the palms of the hands, but I don't know the details of how it works when a woman is alpha"

　　"I'm afraid your not going to like my answer"

　　"Just tell me" he roared

　　"In order for Angel to take the royal alpha power she would need to be crowned. Though in order to be crowned she must be marked by a mate. And you know as well as I that you can only mark a she-wolf while completing the mating process."

　　"NOO" he shouted while chucking the table at the wall.

　　Alpha Jake's eyes turned pitch black with rage, his mate had been taken and was going to be forced to mate with another male unless we could find her in time. Wolves were possessive creatures but as an Alpha their possessiveness was almost triple that of the average wolf.

　　"We need to find her and NOW" he roared in his alpha tone.

　　I could only hope we found her before it was too late.