Angel's POV

　　"OMG my eyes! That is something I will never be able to unsee" I tell Jake as I make gagging noises while we run away.

　　"Babe its normal, their mates you know how the marking process works. Besides you have seen him naked when he shifts back from Maximus"

　　"That different Jake. I turn around until he is covered. Believe me seeing your parent like that isn't something you want to see" I tell him.

　　"Like what? Naked or doing the sexy time" Jake said as he shook his hips whilst wiggling his eyebrows.

　　"Both"

　　"I have seen both of my parents naked, and when I was younger I walked in on them having sex at least three times. After the last time they locked the door. Anyway, you wouldn't have seen anything you didn't want to see if you had of just knocked on the door instead of picking the lock"

　　Rolling my eyes at him we headed into the rose garden to find Uncle Nick who seemed to be deep in thought. The closer we got to him I was glad to see he had almost fully healed, well physically. After what he had been through, he wouldn't mentally heal overnight; it would take years.

　　"Are you ok?" I asked sitting beside Uncle Nick.

　　"Hey kiddo, I was just thinking about something that William said. Apparently, Rita started saying something about Marie but stopped. I was trying to work out what it could be but for the life of me I just can't think straight"

　　"Yeh she was talking to me when she said what sounded like the beginning of Marie's name, but she stopped before she could finish. To be honest mate it's been a hectic day, Rita could have been going to say something completely different and I just misheard. I'm sorry I can't be sure" Jake told him.

　　"Don't worry I will get to the bottom of it that's for sure. You wouldn't happen to know where your dad is by any chance would you Angel?" Uncle Nick asked as he stood up.

　　"Yeah actually the last time I saw him he was in his old office doing things a man of his age shouldn't be doing" I told him faking sickness noises.

　　Uncle Nick looked confused before turning to look at Jake.

　　"Angel picked the lock and saw them mating" Jake laughed.

　　"Ah right I guess I'll find him later then ha-ha. And Angel serves you right" Uncle Nick walked away smiling though it didn't quite reach his eyes. It was obvious that losing Aunt Marie was taking its toll on him, his eyes had lost the sparkle they once held and were replaced with darkness. All I could do was prey to my grand-mother that she would take pity on him and give him the strength he needed to heal.

　　As Jake and I continued our walk around the Kingdom he told me what would happen once the Elders arrived. According to werewolf law, the body of the deceased will be inspected by the head elder and a doctor of their choice. Once the wolf's identity has been confirmed usually a funeral would take place where pack members could show their respect for their fallen Alpha, though I wasn't sure if my dad would be willing to do that. After all Jason had taken so much away from him and others. A ceremony would then be held in order for my dad to take back his Alpha King position, Jake said that normally the two wolves would just challenge each other for the position but as that now couldn't happen it had to happen this way instead. I however thought that being as my dad hadn't technically died, that he should just simply be given back his title but hey I can't be right all the time.

　　The elders were due to arrive tomorrow which meant we had to stay her overnight. I really had hoped we could go home as I missed my own bed and missed Alice, especially with her so close to term and not to mention I still had a baby shower to throw. Jake had sent Benson and the Moonlight Pack trackers home along with the Alphas that had assisted us, Benson had been away from Alice for long enough and Jake needed him to take over pack duties until we returned. Alpha Brad had upped and left before Sid had even run off, but Alpha Rick remained. Judging by the state of this place we would need all the help we could get and was grateful when he offered. I had asked him if his Luna would mind him being gone for so long, but he said that he had already asked his gamma to bring her to the Kingdom. She was also pregnant with their first son, the next alpha to in-line to the Blood Stone pack.

　　"How could Jason just let this place go to rot? I bet it was beautiful when my mum and dad ruled"

　　"It was, from what I can remember the whole Kingdom was a happy place. There were flowers everywhere and sounds of joy rang out through the streets. Don't worry Angel, William will restore this place" Jake told me giving my hand a reassuring squeeze.

　　"I wouldn't hold your breath if I were you" A large man came running at me shifting midair before attempting to reach me before being met with Hunter first.

　　I hadn't even notice Jake shift for I had been to focused on the brown wolf coming at me. The wolf was strong, to strong I could sense a darkness within him. He had rendered Jake unconscious before continuing to stalk towards me. I could feel a heat rising from within me, it made my skin tingle and start to glow. The advancing wolf didn't seem to care about the glow my body now held as he jumped straight for me. Suddenly I felt like I knew what I had to do. I raised my arms in his direction causing him to stop in his tracks before watching him shift back. Somehow, I knew I had forced his wolf to recede.

　　"How the…" was all he managed to get out before Jake walked in front of him sucker punching him in the jaw knocking him out.

　　Sid's POV

　　Tan had dropped the wall that prevented us from communicating which allowed me to see where we were and what he was doing. By the looks of it we were in some woods, yet I didn't know where. I could smell the metallic scent old blood gave off, forcing Tan to look to the side I felt sick. We had to be close to a human town, for in front of me were the bodies of people ripped to shreds. They had been camping, their tents also torn apart. I was disgusted with how Tan had lost such control, killing humans was against out laws. The taste of their blood lingered on our tongue making me feel queasy. Forcing Tan to shift back I rummaged through the humans back packs finding some clothes to put on, luckily one of the men seemed to be around the same size as me. His clothes fit me like a glove. Pulling their bodies into a pile I found there can of accelerant and squeezed it over their remains before setting them alight. Gamma or not we had just broken one of our highest laws, if we didn't dispose of this scene quickly then we could be caught out.

　　"I'm sorry" Tan muttered in my mind.

　　"It's ok, we were both hurting, its not everyday your mate rejects you before getting to know you" I chuckled dryly trying to lighten the mood yet failing to do so.

　　"I followed her scent here; these humans were in wolf territory. I thought she may have been in human form hiding out in their tent. I saw red and slaughtered the lot of them. After searching the area further, I picked up her scent heading west"

　　"Vampire zone, why would she have gone there? She could be in real danger if she doesn't know wolves are forbidden from being there" I told Tan worried that out mate could get hurt even though she had rejected us.

　　"Let's find her Sid, we need her" Tan spoke his voice broken.

　　Tan was right, we needed our mate and if we could find her before something bad happens, we could gain her trust and maybe, just maybe, she would take back her rejection.

　　Heading west we picked up on Ariel's trail. We followed it deep into vampire territory coming across a hut. Smelling the air, I could tell she had masked her scent. She didn't want anyone to know where she was. As we walked to the front of the hut the door had been smashed in, the inside was a wreck. It had clearly been searched which could only mean someone knew she was hiding in here.

　　"Where is she" Tan mumbled as a sense of unease filled me.

　　"I don't know but we will find her don't worry"

　　Exiting the hut, I found drag marks leading further into the territory, a trail of blood inside the tracks yet one thing smelt off; a wolf had been with whoever had taken Ariel. Tan confirmed the blood was Ariels and began to whimper in my head as he walked around in circles. Ariel was hurt, that much was clear, but why didn't they just kill her on the spot and why the hell was there another wolf here? So many different scenarios were going through my mind. One thing I did know was that I couldn't save her by myself. I would need help from someone that I trusted, I just hoped that they would forgive me for my behavior. Pushing my pride aside I mind-linked Jake.

　　"Alpha I need your help"