Chapter 4 Markus

“No!” I growled in frustration at the pack elders.

“Be reasonable,” Jonas, one of the older pack elders, barked back.

“Be reasonable! You want us to take a chosen mate! How is that reasonable?” I demanded.

“Mark,” Calyx ordered, his voice barely above a whisper but still commanded the room. “I understand where you are all coming from, but I agree with my brother. We will not be taking a chosen mate. We know she is here, and we will find her.”

“You have been spouting this tale since you turned 18,” Allison sighed. She was one of the two female elders we had. “I understand wanting to find your fated mate, but you have met and talked with every female we have.”

“We are running out of time,” my father stated as he pinned the two of with a glare. “We are receiving more rogue attacks by the day. The pack will start to weaken unless you take over soon.”

“Father, you are still strong enough to lead as we search,” Calyx stated.

Neither of us like to bring it up, but we had been watching our father’s strength diminish over the years. Our mother had been killed four years ago in a rogue attack. It was a miracle that our father hadn’t lost his mind as the bond broke. The alphas, in our line, feel more deeply than normal wolves. We have a stronger connection to our mate, but that also transfers into being able to feel our pack members and have a stronger connection with them.

“Father, please,” I started to beg, “just a little more time?”

“You turn twenty-three next week, you will announce your mate or relinquish the claim on the title of alpha,” our father growled.

“Alpha Mathew!” several of the elders shouted.

“The boys need an ultimatum,” our father growled. He then stormed out of the room.

The rest of the elders followed suit. Allison being the only one who offered us a bow before she left the room.

“Well, that went well,” James laughed as he strolled into the meeting room. James was our beta. He was a great friend and even better beta.

“It could have gone better,” Sam hissed. He was our gamma. Sam took after Calyx, very serious, very broody.

“What did I miss?” Nick asked as he ran into the room. Nick was the youngest of the group. He was eighteen compared to our twenty-two, James’ twenty-three, and Sam’s twenty-one.

“You would not have missed anything if you had been waiting outside the meeting hall,” Sam stated in a scolding tone.

“Sorry, I had to finish a test. It’s not my fault I’m still in high school,” Nick grumbled.

“It’s fine Nicky,” I sighed as I sat down at the table.

“So, what is the plan?” James asked as he sat beside me.

“I’m not sure,” I sighed.

“She is still here,” Calyx stated as he stared out the window.

“Dude, I know! But we’ve looked everywhere! We’ve even checked homes during pack meetings. If Amalie is still in our territory, they are keeping her well hidden,” I say. I was worried about her. The pair of us knew that she was our mate when we started high school. We were waiting for her to get her wolf so we could announce it.

‘We should have claimed her the moment we surfaced,’ Aziz growled in our head. Aziz is my black wolf that towers over most of the pack. The exception being Zviad, Calyx’s wolf and our father’s wolf, Samson.

‘You know we couldn’t do that. Mom and dad were right. Letting the world know that our line gets their wolf at a younger age is dangerous,’ I sighed. As much as I hated to admit it, we had been trying to protect Amalie.

‘I don’t care, our mate is trapped, and we could have protected her,’ he growled back.

I winced at how loud he was getting.

“Aziz?” Calyx asked as he rubbed his head.

I nodded my head. “I’m guessing Zviad is causing a headache as well?” I asked.

“He says she’s here,” he growled as he gripped the windowsill.

“Have you thought about looking into her family?” Nick asked

“Gee, why didn’t we think of that years ago?” James snarked.

“No, you idiot!” Nick yelled as he got into James’ face. Being the youngest, he had been trying to prove himself. “I mean, her parents’ scent or her sister’s. If they are around her, they should have trances on them.”

The four of us paused. Was it really that simple as going to see them and see if they have her scent on them. We had been over a few times over the years. But we always gave them warning when we would be coming, as our parents had told us to give them common curtesy. The first time was right after she left. The house still smelled of her, so we were unable to get anywhere. The second time, it had been the anniversary of her disappearance. Mellisa had worn so much perfume that it clung to us for the next two days. The third and fourth times, only her father had been there. He had been drunk and the whole house smelled of alcohol. Then it had been Sam, Nick, and James going back and looking during the pack meeting and other functions.

“That, is actually a good idea,” Sam stated.

“It wouldn’t hurt,” I stated. Her mother, Marie, did not wear perfume. If we could get close enough to her, we could probably see if Amalie’s scent was on her.

“Tomorrow, after Nick gets done with school, we’ll go over to talk with them. With the five of us, we should be able to know for sure,” Calyx said.

“Tomorrow we find her,” I agreed.