Knox's POV

What a fucking mess. My poor mate looked close to breaking down. The day's events were finally catching up to her. The 2 hours I spent in the infirmary allowed me enough time to rest and re-energize, but my mate was starting to tire and it was showing.

We were sitting in my office looking over maps. Gaea had finally latched on to their location, now we just needed to find it on the map. Everyone in the room was tense and awaiting our next move. Vlad and his two top men, Raine, and Patricia and her two sisters waited patiently.

Alex and Jane were currently in charge of running the pack while we searched for our daughter. We had to continue to protect ourselves because we just didn't know what could come our way. Yes the threat of the Council may be gone, but Mae and Brian remained.

As we quietly watched Sophia scour over the maps I purposely kept putting food right in front of her. She needed to eat to keep up her strength. And even is she was unaware of it, everything I handed her was eaten quickly. A small smile graced my lips as she briskly grabbed the last bit of the sandwich I had in my hand.

With her mouth full she yelled THERE and pointed to the lower right hand corner of the map. Everyone gathered around the desk looking at the spot where her finger was resting. It was in the center of a mountain range.

Next to me Vlad swore. "Sophia are you sure this is where you sense Ella?"

Looking back to my mate she closed her eyes for a few minutes and then looked back at the map. She nodded back to him.

"Well at least Mae has balls I will give her that. Sophia the spot that you just pointed to is the location of the Grand Council's Castle. Other than the 5 members only a few other's know of its whereabouts. I am one of them. And apparently Mae is too."

"Okay then, how do we get to this castle Vlad? Since it appears to be in the middle of the mountains, how do we get our men there in time to attack?"

"Knox that is why it is in such a secure position. On foot it would take days to reach the top. Also the mountain is protected by magic, anyone who steps foot within a certain range will sound the alarms inside the castle. The good news is there are no guards, as they were not needed. No one has ever found the castle and if they did, they never made it to the top alive."

"Well then Vlad how do you propose we get inside? Our daughter is in there."

"I know Knox, I know. Sophia, Raine, and I each possess the ability to transport to anywhere we need. Raine, Sophia how many can you take with you?"

Raine had the ability to take two the same as Vlad, but Sophia was unsure. The most she did was the kids and me at the same time, so that is three. She never tried to take more with her. Deciding to test her ability Vlad instructed his two guards, the three witches and me to all stand in a circle. Sophia was in the middle and we all touched her shoulders.

"Okay Sophia, transport to the forest and then come back here. You have a total of 6 with you now, if you can do this we are going to add more."

A few seconds later our group appeared in the forest by the lake with no problem. Seconds later we were once again in my office. Sophia didn't seem to have any trouble completing the task.

Pleased with the results Vlad smiled boldly at Sophia.

"Vlad what are you thinking. How many do we need to take with us? And please you are not required to go, only volunteers." I quickly grabbed my mate and brought her to chest. My arms circled her waist as I rested my head on her shoulder. For some reason I needed the closeness of my mate and she didn't seem to mind.

"Knox, Sophia I won't lie. Going up against Mae is dangerous, but it is unavoidable. We also don't know how powerful Brian is. I suggest with addition to both of you, myself and my two strongest warriors who possess magic. Anyone who does not will be committing suicide going."

I agreed. Without magic you were as good as dead.

"Excuse me. My sisters and I would also like to volunteer. We may not be powerful individually, but together we can pack quiet a punch." Patricia stated as she and her sisters stepped forward.

I agreed and thanked them for volunteering. Raine also stepped forward offering up herself. That gave us 9 people. I just hoped between all of us we could win. The next hour we laid out our plan. After finalizing all the details I instructed everyone to head back to their homes for some rest.

We planned to depart at 7am the next morning. We needed to have our minds clear and right now everyone was exhausted. Especially my mate who was stressed with worry and fear.

Taking her into my arms I lifted and carried her off to our bed. Praying that tomorrow we returned with our daughter. Emphasizing the we part.