"It's been two weeks," I say, feeling tears falling down my face. "And we still haven't found anything. Not a trace. How can we have not found anything? Rogues all over are keeping an eye out and even Lyria doesn't know where he is, all we know is that he's unconscious in some basement. Dad, how can we not be able to find him?"

"I don't know," Dad whispers, one arm around my shoulder, his other hand coming up to gently wipe away my tears. "But we will find him, Rei. We're not going to give up."

I nod, trying to stop my sobs. Over the fourteen days since Asher's kidnapped, we've done everything we can think of to find him. The scent trail of the rogues disappeared suddenly when we tried to follow it and they must've gotten into a car where the tire tracks were impossible to follow among those belonging to hundreds of other cars. I've told all my rogues to keep an eye out for the Rulers or Asher and asked Lyria. Unfortunately she wasn't watching Asher and when she looked, he was unconscious in some basement-looking room. She can only see him and his surroundings, she can't tell exactly where he is.

Clove's tried tracking any devices the Rulers have but they've left all their phones and such at their house and they themselves aren't there. Any store or highway cameras haven't picked anything either and if they've bought anything, it was under a fake ID.

We've tried everything and we're running out of ideas.

The pack's been told about my bond with Asher and how with him missing, I'm in charge of the pack, along with Raiden since he's the Beta.

"Rei, they're all here," Scott says softly, peering into the living room.

I nod. We arranged a meeting with the other nearby Alphas, the ones that were at the RedRiver meeting a month ago, to show them what to look for and to see if they have any other ideas of what to do to find Asher. It'll be the first time we formally meet so Raiden will be there to help assure them they can trust me, as well as the rest of the Royals.

I would be worried if I look presentable or not but at this point, I don't care. My mate is missing, I'm allowed to look like crap. Well, more like crap than I usually do. They'll understand.

"You look fine, Rei," Dad says. "Not as lively as usual but otherwise, fine."

I smile weakly, "Thanks Dad."

He smiles softly, gently pressing his forehead against mine. "I love you, Rei."

"I love you too, Dad."

We stay like that for a few seconds before Zaine interrupts, "Not that this isn't adorable and fluffy but there are Alphas waiting and bitches for me to intimidate."

I pull away from Dad. "I should probably get going, don't want to keep them waiting too long."

Dad nods, giving me a quick hug before stepping back. I walk over to where Scott and the Royals are waiting, Zaine holding Stitch, who's tail wags back and forth furiously as I approach. Over the time we've had the pup, we've found that she can't keep her tongue in her mouth. She loves licking, if you let her lick your face, she'll basically give you a bath. Or she can just be walking by you and she'll lick your hand. Zaine finds it cute, I'm starting to find it slightly annoying.

Chase and Rhea take my hands as we head towards the meeting room, the others following. Stepping into the room, twelve heads turn to look at us. The four alphas, River, Blake, Drake and Nick, their mates, Jamie and the boy who must be Zero, as well as Raiden and Dean.

"Fire girl!" Jamie says happily, running over to hug my legs.

"Hi Jamie," I say, ruffling his hair.

He whines and pouts, swatting my hand away before quickly petting Stitch and going back over to Zero, resuming their conversation.

"Rei," Luke says, "It's good to see you again."

I nod once, a gesture saying I agree with him.

"So you're Asher's mate," Drake says, tilting his head at me curiously. "Nice to finally meet you, Rei."

"You too," I reply, sitting down at the head of the table.

The Royals sitting next to me, Killian and Zaine on one side of me and Clove next to Raiden on the other. Zaine lets Stitch down, letting the pup wander around the room, the door closed. Chase, Rhea, Jamie and Zero sit together in the corner, talking happily.

We go through introductions, getting to know everyone's names and such, as well as telling the alphas of the abilities us Royals have as witches and warlocks.

"So you were at the Battle between Bloodlust and RedRiver last year?" Astrid, Blake's mate, asks curiously.

I nod. "We showed up shortly after it started and left before it ended to minimize the amount of people who saw us and wondered why rogues were fighting with them."

"So that's why you look familiar," River says, looking at Zaine.

He smirks, "You're welcome for saving your tail."

River gives him a thankful nod and says, "I think I like you. We'll get along fine."

"So how did this happen?" Nick asks. "Asher doesn't go down easily, he was either caught off guard or overwhelmed completely."

We go through explaining what happened, the others filling in things they saw.

"This Thatcher King," Blake says, "He's definitely not to be underestimated. You may have thought you knew him, at least a little bit, Rei, but don't doubt or rule out anything he might do. People like him can be capable of anything, things you never thought of."

I notice his hand squeeze Astrid's, as if he's trying to not think of someone who gave him experience to go with his words.

"What have you tried in order to find him?" Nick asks.

"Everything we can think of," I reply. "The scent trail disappears, they got into a car and the tracks merged in with those from so many other cars. Clove's tried tracking their phones and hacking highway and store cameras and I've even tried asking the spirits. We've got nothing on where he is, only that he's unconscious in a dirty basement somewhere."

"How are you holding up, Rei?" Lily asks.

"Fine for now," I say honestly. "Still fighting. Frustrated though. I have rogues all over looking and after two weeks, we haven't found a single hint on where King's taken him."

Rhea holds her hand out to me, wanting me to take it. My fingers grasp hers and she squeezes my hand in a reassuring way. I give her a small smile in return, one she returns, keeping our hands together.

There's a knock on the door and Riley peeks in hesitantly. I can see the nervousness in his eyes, mixing with determination and a look that says he has something important to say.

"Come in," I say, gesturing to one of the empty chairs. "What is it, Riley? Are you doing alright?"

He shakes his head softly, sitting down, movements skittish and unsure.

I hear Stitch let out a little bark. Zaine looks under the table and around the floor, eyes searching for the pup.

"Stitch, Accio," he says.

The little white pup comes trotting over him, tongue hanging out happily. Zaine picks her up, cuddling the pup as Killian scratches behind her floppy ears.

"You trained him with Harry Potter spells?" Astrid asks curiously, grinning.

Zaine nods. "I got the idea off a post on I think it was tumblr and I couldn't just not do it. I'm like Tonks. I now have a puppy being trained with spells as commands. It's perfect and I will not be told otherwise."

Zaine sets the pup on the table, letting her walk around on the wooden surface, sniffing around the visiting Alphas and their mates and enjoying the attention she's given by them.

"Anyway, Riley, what is it you have to say?" Clove asks.

"About... about King," Riley says quietly, eyes darting around nervously, stuttering and having trouble turning thoughts into words from how scared he was.

"How do you know about him?" Killian says sharply.

I can tell he's falling into defensive mode, the one where he's highly protective of family and basically everyone he doesn't know and trust completely is a threat in his eyes. And since we didn't tell him, the only way Riley could know of Thatcher is if he met him.

"He's been... been getting me to report to him about things... about things going on in the pack," Riley whimpers.

"You've been his spy?!" Raiden demands, his power as beta coming forward.

Riley whimpers and nods. "I never... I never wanted to, I swear. He would threaten me and say he would... He would kill members of the pack if I didn't. I didn't... I didn't want any of their deaths to be on, on me. I didn't tell anyone because of... because of the same threat. Remember two years ago, the teen killed on her first time... her first time patrolling? That, that was King, because I didn't want to tell him... tell him about the pack."

Raiden relaxes slightly but keeps his guard up, knowing King's capable of it and understanding a little more why Riley did it.

"How long?" Scott asks.

"He wants... he wants reports about every two weeks, the last time was the... the night Asher was taken," Riley says. "I first met him and he first demanded I report a few... a few months before Asher's... before Asher's sixteenth birthday. I was by the edge of the territory waiting... waiting for a friend and he showed up instead. He said she was dead."

"Who was she?" Drake asks softly.

"She... she was a rogue, but nice," Riley replies. "Didn't treat me rudely or..o or anything. Her name was Pearl."

My eyes widen and Clove, Killian, Zaine and I say in unison, "What?"

The eyes of everyone else turn to us, confused.

"You knew her?" Riley asks.

"Pearl was King's mate," I say. "Killed by a pack before we met him."

"So he lost his mate," Nick says. "That would contribute to his unstable state of mind."

No one says anything for a while.

"Why are you telling us about this, Riley?" Zaine says finally. "I mean, it's good you decided to but why?"

Riley looks up at him, then lowers his gaze back down to the table, mumbling ashamedly, "I don't want to hurt my pack, more than I already... than I already have. And in case anything I know could help, could help find the Alpha. It's not much but maybe... but maybe it'll help."

I give a nod when he glances up again, telling him to continue.

"I swear, I don't know where they took him. But King's... King's had his eyes set on taking over the most powerful packs. Nightstalker, RedRiver, Bloodlust, Moonblood and... Moonblood and Silverblood. He tried Nightstalker already but Dominic Mallor failed. So he was going to try... going to try one of the lower packs. The increase in rogue attacks is how he's started... how he's started trying. He plans the best attacks to draw out the alpha."

"So he's had a whole motive and plan we never realized," I say as a cold sliver of dread rolls drop my spine.

Riley nods and continues, "It's likely that he'll use the alpha... use the alpha as bait, a way to draw the other alphas in and try to take them all down at once."

"We won't fall for it then," River says. "We stay alert and ready, keep an eye out for any large rogue activity and if there are rogue attacks, we," he gestures to himself and the other three alphas, "Don't join in, even if we really want to."

"And we'll call if we find anything," Blake says.

I shake my head, "There's no guarantee we'd be there and ready at a call. And they can be intercepted, if you were to find where they were and King were to listen in, he could move locations before we got there."

"You're saying we use Chains," Luke says.

I nod, glancing at the golden chain around his neck. "You and Lily are wearing the ones I gave you last year, I can see that. So it's just River and Blake that need them."

"Need what?" Blake asks curiously.

I hold my hand out, palm facing up. I let flames swirl on my hand, magically solidifying and forming the links of gold. Using my power of telepathy, I cast spells on the two new necklaces, adding them to the web of mind-links that Chains give access to.

"Cool," Heaven breathes.

The necklaces are a little warm and glowing softly as I hand them to River and Blake, explaining what they can do. Lily gives the one around her neck to Drake, while Luke hands his to Nick.

"So mind-link if you find anything," I say. "Asher has one too. He'll be able to mind-link if he wakes up. We can't reach him, King must've used something like wolfsbane but stronger, 'cause normally we would be able to reach him. But right now, Asher has to reach out to us."

"Wolfsbane mixed with some silver," River says, "A little something Nightstalker found out. It blocks mind-links and mate bonds so you can't feel your mate's emotions or pain."

"Oh, I hated that," Heaven says, pursing her lips.

River nods, agreeing.

Zaine starts snickering suddenly, quickly covering his mouth to hide it. It's too late though, everyone is already looking at him questioningly.

"What now, Changeling?" I ask tiredly.

"Noth-nothing," he says, trying to hide a smirk. He glances at Luke and Nick, "Just thinking how their ship name would be either Nuke, Nike, Lick or Luck."

Killian and River start snickering too, while everyone else glances at the RedRiver wolves. Luke looks at Nick, then chuckles, leaning against his mate and smiling.

Grinning widely, Zaine points to the other couples in the room, "Blastrid, Riven, Lake, Dott, Raive, Rasher and my favorite, Zaillian."

"Or for nicknames," Killian says, "It would be Doctor Thunder, Windog, Reniza or Cena and Flashling."

"I ship Zaillian," Zaine says. "I think it sounds better."

I sigh, exasperated. It was only a matter of time before Zaine's humor snuck back in. You could never expect him or Killian to stay serious for longer than ten minutes, much less half an hour. The only time those two are (mostly) serious is when someone they care about is in danger and even then, they try to lighten the mood of others around them.

"Riley," I say, making him glance up at me. I can see he's still nervous but he's happy and proud of himself for getting out what he needed to say even though he was terrified. "Don't think you won't be punished for what you did, though it will be lessened because you told us on your own rather than us finding out from someone else. But we'll wait until Asher's back before deciding on a punishment."

Riley nods. "I really am sorry, Luna."

"I know," I reply, "And what have I said about calling me Luna?"

"Not to?" Riley offers weakly, a tiny smile on his lips. He glances at the clock, "Shoot, I have to go. I promised some of the younger kids that if you didn't kill me, I'd play with them outside."

I nod, telling him he can go. In the days I've been here, I've noticed that the kids really do like playing with Riley and the other omegas and I can see the pure honesty in his eyes.

After he rushes out of the room, I glance around the room. I can feel a weight starting to fall on my shoulders, seeing the others with their mates and lovers.

"Don't worry, Reina," Killian says, taking my hand and squeezing gently. "We'll find him."

"And we'll kick some rogue butt!" Zaine adds.

"If that's the case, then Changeling, get over here and let me kick your butt," Clove says, since we're technically rogues still because Asher never officially made us pack members and only he can do it as alpha.

"We will find him, Rei," River says determinedly. "And we won't give up."

I nod, thankful for his help, along with the help of Blake, Drake and Nick.

I never thought I would miss Asher much, not after he rejected me. But since we've started bonding, I've found that being away from him is hard. He's on my mind constantly. He's my mate and I do love him. And I won't give up on searching.

We'll find him.