The Black Alder Series (Books 1-3)

Kayla Pov I woke up in a dark cell. All I could hear around me were the scared moans of the people around me. Wolves from the sound of it, and it sounded like they were badly hurt.

I stood up immediately but felt weak after. I ended up back on the floor. The back of my neck stung. I realized someone had injected me with something. What the fuck!

As I was rubbing my neck, I heard footsteps. Someone approached my cell and grabbed me. I tried to access my powers, but I felt too weak. All I could do was let them drag me away. I closed my eyes and gave in to unconsciousness. Ethan Pov It seemed like we were fighting off waves of wolves. They just kept coming back-to-back. I had a difficult time concentrating because my mind drifted to Kayla. I need her. She is gone, and now all I feel is bloodlust. I had just grabbed the neck of a wolf and snapped its neck without a second thought. I did that before, but I couldn’t concentrate. If I thought I was bad, Aiden was just as bad. He had just decapitated a wolf and smashed the head of another. We used our strength and fought off the wolves that seemed to be coming from everywhere. I felt a familiar presence.

Our parents had just joined the fight.

“The moon is high, and so are your powers. Use them,” she commanded before her blue eyes lit up and she levitated. She shot balls of moon energy towards the wolves. Our dad had shifted and was now tearing into wolves. Serene was using her powers to make a shield around my mom. Nate and Lauren as they tried to get to her. Elle and Bonnie were slicing heads and hearts with their swords.

We have to channel the moon. I linked to Aiden. He nodded and agreed. We focused on the moon’s energy and felt its light through us. Our bodies were pulsing with energy. Aiden created his signature bow and arrow and shot at the hearts of the wolves, which dissolved their entire bodies. I channeled my energy by creating my signature weapon, my whip sword. My sword dissolved anything it came into contact with, ripping through them instantly. The whip part could retract from the sword, making it just as deadly. Something about this whole fight seemed off. Why now for the attack?

As we were killing, we saw lightning from the sky, and a man appeared in the spot where the lightning struck. He had a shield with spikes and a sword that was made of fire. It was Solem. He took one quick look around and nodded to my mother. She must have called him here. How is he here in person? I asked myself, but I dropped it. Solem began slicing the wolves with quickness. Solem’s entrance must have stunned them because they began to fall back as their numbers were decreasing.

Capture some of them. We need to find my sister, Solem shouted. Aiden and I knocked out some of the wolves, and our guards took them to the dungeons to lock them up, but the rest of the wolves had gotten away. I was going to chase after them, but Aiden grabbed my arm.

“We need to find Kayla,” he said, and I nodded. We raced back to the dungeons, only to find Solem already there. He had a wolf by the neck; his eye sockets were glowing with fire. He stabbed the wolf in the shoulder before dropping him and walking to the next cell.

“Fucking useless,” he mumbled. We walked to the cell she was in as he was smashing the wolf’s head on the wall.

“Where the fuck did you take my sister?” he commanded. The wolf shook his head, and Solem slit his throat, killing him.

Aiden and I followed. We used our tactics to question the rest of the captured prisoners, but no one seemed to talk. You could tell they were afraid and knew they were close to dying. We weren’t about to let them go that easily. Once we found Kayla, we were going to come down here and torture them slowly. At least the ones that were still alive. The way Solem was killing them, we would get nowhere.

Must find Mate. Mate is hurt.

How do you know? I asked Jevon. I can feel it as we speak, he tells me. I looked at Aiden with understanding. He must have been told the same thing. We ran to the packhouse to formulate a plan. We must find her. We need to find her. Otherwise, the darkness inside me will be released, and I fear I won’t be able to come back from it. Aiden Pov I am feeling that my mate is hurt. Must Find Mate, Enzo says I nodded in agreement. We needed a plan. We need Serene. Maybe she could help.

Aiden, Solem, and I rushed to the packhouse to find Nate. Serene, Elle, Bonnie, our parents, and Serene’s mate, Nate, were all sitting in the kitchen strategizing.

“How many were lost?” I demanded, and they all looked up at me. I knew I sounded different. I didn’t care. My mate is gone, and I feel something inside me stirring slowly. Stirring my anger and hate. I push it aside, though. I need to find Kayla.

“10,” Mom says. I could tell she was studying for my brother and me.

“Find the families, hold a burial, and the rest of you meet us in the strategy room,” Ethan barked, making everyone jump. Our auras were out.

“Let’s go,” I told Solem, and the three of us walked to the strategy room.

“Tell me everything,” Solem demanded. It annoyed me, but we told him about the events that led up until now.

“This doesn’t sound random,” Solem said.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Ethan said. I turned to him. “The number of wolves that came and the numbers they came in-no one brings that many wolves out of random. Someone had to tell them our numbers beforehand. Someone took Kayla, thinking we would be weak without our mate. They assumed we must have completed the mating process,” he said.

“Did your pack have any guests or visitors recently?” Solem questioned. I shook my head. No, we didn’t have visitors. We had a new fucking prisoner, though. As the realization shot through me, I could feel Enzo trying to take over, but I held him back. I needed to do everything I could to get our friend back.

“What is it, brother?” Ethan questioned.

“Armo!” I sneered. It started to make sense. Armo was here. He was snooping around our borders, most likely mind-linking his alpha to our numbers. Armo was captured purposefully and used as bait, so the real culprit could kidnap Kayla.

I sped back to the dungeon and Armos’ cell. A dark smoke shadow was in there, holding Armo up and dropping him, and then the shadow disappeared in thin air. I rushed up to Armo. He was dead. The shadow killed him.

“What the fuck was that?” Ethan asked, but I shrugged. I couldn’t help but notice Solem had gone stiff.

“Solem, what is it?” I asked, keeping my guard.

“I know who has Kayla,” he said.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

“Who?” Ethan and I asked.

“Our family’s killer, Lord Alverez”