William's POV
"What do you mean you cannot find that animal? Have you even managed to find out how he escaped your custody? Need I remind you, Alpha Jake, what happened the last time he was free? My daughter, your mate, was nearly fucking raped! He wouldn't have gotten out if you had ensured he had a constant flow of silver and wolfsbane in his system. He would be too weak." I roared at Jake down the phone.
"How many times do I need to tell you? He was being injected regularly, so someone else must have helped him. We think we know who, but the elders won't notice the allegation without proof. You are the Alpha King, for fucks sake; I know you have been in hiding, but fuck me, you should know how werewolf law works."
"You forget, 'pup', I helped make the laws!"
"Do NOT call me a pup. I am an alpha, so fucking talk to me like one! Look, we tracked his scent to a cottage of a pack member; inside was one of my wolves dead and his daughter missing. Now his daughter could have been taken as a scapegoat, or she's working with Jason."
"She?" I asked, making sure I heard him correctly.
"Yes, she. Crystal. We found her dad in his armchair with his throat ripped out. He was a good man; I've never heard anyone say otherwise. I owe it to him to determine if his daughter was involved. Whether that be of her own accord or against her will."
"She's the one that stalked you after you slept with her, is she not? I agree she needs to be found even though she won't be a great loss. Alright, we will be heading back in a few hours; these witches have left it till today to go shopping for whatever they need for their spell. I will call you when we are near, and Alpha Jake, please watch my daughter closely until I return." Before he could respond, I hung up the phone.
Jake's phone call couldn't have come at a worse time. Last night, Carl and I had to batter some sense into a few wolves, then visit Alpha Oliver. I wanted to hear why this sorry excuse of an alpha thought he could send his wolves to try and force me out of this city. Crescent City may be his territory, but I'm the Alpha King meaning he had no right to refuse me entry. After finding Alpha Oliver at one of his ranches, the look of shock on his face was something else. Did he think I, of all wolves, could be intimidated by some low-ranked wolves?
I challenged Alpha Oliver for his pack, something I only ever did if an Alpha showed disrespect. He refused me, knowing he didn't stand a chance. Forcing my Alpha command over him, I forced his body to shift into its wolf. His wolf, Shade, was small, much smaller than a normal Alpha. This was because his bloodline wasn't pure. His father was a pure-blooded wolf, but from what I remember, he rejected his goddess-given mate choosing a human instead. Hence producing a smaller, weaker Alpha.
The fight between us didn't last long. I had him unconscious within ten minutes; this was an embarrassing blow for his pack. Being the winner of the fight, it was well within my right to absorb his pack, making it my own. Unlike Oliver, I didn't disrespect wolves like that. I took the alpha title from him and gave it to his eldest daughter's husband. Just like he should have done years ago. A few cuts to the palms and a blood oath later, and the Crescent Pack had themselves a new worthy Alpha.
"Alpha king, Henrik said they are ready to leave. He's asked me to tell you, though, that there are risks involved with the spell they need to cast." Carl informed me.
"We will cross that bridge when it comes to it. Are they following us?" I asked him.
"Yes, they are going to follow behind in their vehicle. Apparently, only six of them are needed, so it should cause less attention to be drawn when we return to the Moonlight Pack." I just nodded at Carl's response.
The long drive back to the Moonlight Pack was exhausting; it didn't help that we had been up all night. Carl called Beta Benson to let him know we were coming up to the gates at the entrance to the territory. It didn't take long for his wolf to come into view, allowing us to enter the pack. As we arrived at the front of the pack house, Jake was waiting outside with Nick.
"How'd it go in Crescent City? Hear you ran into a bit of trouble." Nick grabbed my hand and patted my shoulder with a smirk. I missed this man's sense of humour; I really did.
"Let's just say they are now under new management." I chuckled.
"About time their Alpha retired." Jake was just as glad to hear the news as he walked towards me shaking my hand.
"So, this is the all-powerful Gemini coven."
"Beta Benson, nice to see you again. This is Henrik. He is the leader of the coven." I introduced him to everyone present.
Henrik stepped forward and shook everyone's hand.
"May I suggest we take this to my office? We know Jason isn't on the territory anymore, but that doesn't mean whoever helped him isn't still around." Jake was right; Crystal was only a suspect, so we had to be careful.
His office was fairly large. It had a big bay window in the centre of the wall on the far side of the room, draped with silver velvet curtains. The walls were a dove grey shade, and the floor was black wood. Jake's desk sat in front of the window; the desk was white wood fitting the room's decor.
"We can speak freely in here without being heard, as my father had this room soundproofed when he was alpha."
"Ok Henrik, how does this spell work?"
"Before I go into that, you will need to know a few things. Firstly, a spell of this magnitude will emit a huge amount of power, leaving my coven extremely vulnerable. I trust that you will leave only your most trusted outside the door to the room while the spell takes place. Secondly, I need to make you aware of the risks involved for your daughter. Spells of this nature could cause her to lose some or all of her memory. If that happens, I do not know if it will be possible for it to return."
"I'm sure we can all agree that is a risk we are willing to take." I replied.
"Is there a way we can lessen the risk to her memory? If she forgets everything, she will be easy prey for whoever wants to take advantage of her." Jake was rightly worried, but we didn't have any other options.
"I'm sorry, Alpha Jake, this is the only way. The Longer she stays in the condition she's currently in, the harder it will be to wake her." Henrik was confident in his plan.
"Fine, but I'm warning you, Henrik, if this goes wrong and harm befalls her, I swear to the moon goddess I will hunt down your entire coven and kill the lot of you!"
"I understand your protectiveness over your 'mate' Alpha Jake, but you need to understand that magic always comes at a price and must be paid one way or another. If her memories stay intact, payment will take another form." Henrik explained.
"Okay... so Henrik, what must you do for the spell to work?" Benson spoke, trying to ease the rising tension in the room.
"A full moon, a few herbs we brought, and a quartz stone. I believe tomorrow night is the next full moon, so we will begin when the moon reaches its apex."
"Then it's settled. Tomorrow night we get my daughter back."