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Reece

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Noah was lucky that I didn't bite his head off the minute I walked out of the room. I knew he hated thinking about me being with Trinity, but if this was just another way to separate us then I was going to be very angry. I know he was a good beta, I had known that he would be a good beta for years, but he was a fiercely protective man as well. I could just imagine the way he acted around Nikki.

"What is it?" I snapped at him once I was out the door. I kept my voice low enough that I was certain that Trinity hadn't heard my anger.

"Let's talk in your office, I think that will be better than outside the door." I could see the stress on his face as he spoke. This was more than his protectiveness, there was actually something wrong.

I stalked silently through the halls until I had gotten to my office, Noah marching silently along behind me the entire time. Once we were inside and he had slammed the door shut behind us I turned on him.

"What is so damned important Noah?" I demanded in a fierce tone. Noah glared at me, he knew exactly why I was upset.

"I know you are mad right now, but keep it in your pants a little longer."

"And why should I? I have every right to be with my mate." I ground out through my clenched teeth.

"There's trouble in the city."

"What kind of trouble?" I asked him. If it was worth pulling me back to the office then it had to be really big.

"There's been a couple of kids that have gone missing."

"Human or pack?"

"Both." His voice was solemn and angry at the same time.

"You think they're connected?" He nodded his head, I could tell whatever happened was serious.

I settled in behind my desk so I could listen to the explanation. Noah sat across from me in the high-backed leather chair meant for guests. With a sigh, I told him to tell me what happened.

"Alright, let me have it." Noah sighed as well. His normally calm face was filled with stress and worry.

"Someone has been snatching kids up like crazy. I know that they're all connected, there's no way for them not to be."

"What makes you think that."

"All the kids have disappeared in broad daylight without a trace. Even the wolves in the police department are stumped. They're calling in a special task force from the FBI to help them with this."

"How are they so stumped? Can't they follow the scent trails?"

"There aren't any." His words confused me for a moment, swirling around in my head as I felt the rage building inside of me. No scent? They can't be tracked? That only left one line of thought for me.

"Edmond." I growled the name of the man who had caused so many problems for us already.

"I can't guarantee it, but I believe so." Noah's anger was barely contained. He hated the warlock as much as I did, so he would want to track him down and destroy him too.

I let Noah tell me everything that he had figured out, all the details he knew so far. Apparently, a total of eight kids had been taken over the course of two weeks. Five of them vanished from school playgrounds the others taken from their homes in the middle of the day. Whoever was behind all of this had literally snuck into the houses to get them.

The children were between the ages of eight and twelve, there was an even split between boys and girls. No siblings had been taken, not even cousins, there were no relatives among any of the missing kids. What was his goal here, why was he taking these kids all of a sudden?

Noah had received a call from Andrew, a detective in town, letting him know that the FBI task force was going to be here Friday morning. That only gave us a day and a half to gather information before we were effectively blocked by the FBI.

I was not about to let that happen. We would not be shut out. I needed to gather as much as I could now before we had to worry about federal agents mucking it all up.

I told my Little Bunny that I had to leave on business and would be back later, then I left with Noah. I wanted to interview all of the parents of the missing kids, starting with those in the pack.

There were three missing cubs among those taken. Three little boys had disappeared from the school playground in the last week, and it seems no one saw anything. One minute they were there, the next they had simply vanished without a trace. No scent trail, no evidence, not even a footprint. It was a mystery, and it completely blew my mind.

I knew Edmond and his damn coven of rogues was behind it all. There was no proof, but I knew he was plotting something new and he targeted my city and most of all my pack as payback. I would hunt them down, to the ends of the earth if I had to.

We met with Andrew at the base of the mountain, and went with him to visit the three pack families whose little boys were missing. Marcus Black aged nine, Spencer Hall aged eleven, and Sammy Taylor aged ten.

Marcus was a quiet little boy who loved reading and sports. Spencer was a fireball that never sat still. Sammy was a devoted brother who loved to help his family out. These were the things that I learned about who the boys were from their families.

With my newfound appreciation for family and the future, hearing about these families being torn apart filled me with even more rage. Not only had these warlocks invaded my territory, they took children from my town and my pack. They were personally attacking me.