Chapter 8

Sean ran as fast as his sturdy legs could carry him.

        He ran, and ran non-stop, his prime objective forgotten as he pushed his body to the limits for he knew he needed to hurry the hell up for time was not in his favor.

        It was a good thing that the 24 hours was almost up for he could feel his strength coming back in gradual increments. The scent disintegration pill was waning and in a few hours tops, he could blur like the wind and chomped the distance from where he was in to homeward bound.

        He couldn't care less if he was setting himself up for danger. That was the least of his damn problems as of the moment.

        At the back of his mind, Sean wanted to believe that Travis was lying, that his father wasn't dying but death wasn't something to be messed with. Only a fool would joke about someone on the brink of being six feet below the ground and Travis wasn't one. From his grave tone, he spoke the utter truth and that had Sean choking on his own spit, not able to believe what he had heard from his future alpha.

        'Hold on, pops. Just hold on. I'm almost there,' he thought with extreme determination, as he sprinted hard and fast.

         For hours upon hours, he had sprinted as fast as his current strength could offer him and by the time that the disintegration pill had left his system, all his strength went back a hundred percent and pumped up his speed even more, almost making him hazy looking when seen in human eyes.

         At that rate, he had passed three towns over, chased down by patrol wolves on those territories, but with his speed and fucking hell he was in human form, he was too darn fast to be caught.  To be honest, it had shocked him. Wolves were fast, but not that fast. For months, he had discovered things about himself that he didn't know he was capable of.

        But who was he to complain at this moment, considering a family member is dying from being poisoned. Whoever screwed his father up was going to pay a thousand deaths and he was going to make sure to take his sweet time in torturing the son of a b!tch.

         He wasn't a violent person but when it came to people he loved so dearly, without a doubt, he would go to extreme lengths all in the name of justice, served in a silver platter.

       Hours had passed of non-stop running - probably two days of total running, and finally the Crimson Moon border was within sight. The worry Sean had felt for his father intensified immensely. He knew he was tired; he could feel it in his bones but he needed to get to his father as soon as he can.

        "I'm almost there," he muttered as he crossed the border and sent a telepathic message to the patrol wolves to let him pass.

        The patrol wolves, however, were growing suspicious with Sean's in and out appearances on the pack's border for the past year. None of them dared question him for he was the son of the Beta and it would be rude otherwise but their pledge of loyalty was to the Alpha Trenton. This was the last straw and they decided to inform the Alpha later on for their daily reports.

        When sh!t hits the ceiling, they would pass it as doing their duties as defense wolves.That much, they knew, would cover their asses.

        As Sean plowed on in great speed, he saw that familiar white Victorian house he called home. He sprinted forth like a hurricane on red bull to the front door and wrenched it open with a loud bang, almost ripping off its hinges.

        "Travis!" he boomed out, his eyes roving around the premises. "I'm back! Where are you?" He was breathing raggedly, his emotions were in tumultuous disarray as he thought about his father.

        'In your father's room,' Travis responded through the mind link.

        Without so much of a blink, he blurred his way to his father's room. He didn't bother to knock; what would be the point and the moment he flung the door open and entered the room, his eyes landed on his frail looking father in his bed.

        "Christ," Sean breathed, not believing that this man he called his father had reduced to someone who looked so weak and helpless.

        From his deathbed, Nathaniel opened his eyes and saw his beloved son, Sean, looking distraught. 

        He gave him a sad smile and then followed by a coughing fit. It was getting harder to breathe as his pulmonary system had deteriorated due to the toxin and knowing he had a few days left was just taking the piss.

        He wanted to see his daughter before he passed on to the next life but after seeing Sean empty handed, He knew it wasn't happening anytime soon.

        On Nathaniel's left side, at the edge of the bed, Travis felt helpless as he sat there but through his eyes, he conveyed his support with the situation. Although, there was nothing he could do; the pack doctor did all that he could and it was impossible to have the toxin expunged from Nathaniel's system, even if it was caught on time. From what the doctor told him, even a small grain of the toxin was lethal enough to kill a human a day or two but he was a werewolf. With special enzymes fighting the poison, it had failed drastically and slowly assaulted his vital organs.

        As seconds that soon turned to minutes had passed, the silence in the room was deafening. Sean just stood there, rooted to the floor as he stared at his father helplessly. He wanted to say something, anything, but he couldn't get a word out.

        "Son, come here," Nathaniel rasped out, motioning him to come forth with his free hand.

        Breaking out of his stunned silence, Sean slithered to the other side of his father's bed and sat down, gazing upon him with sorrowful eyes.

        "Papa..." he choked out, feeling like a kid all over again as he used the endearment that he used to call his father. "Who did this to you?"

        Sean didn't care if he was showing his vulnerability. He was just a man after all, screw the macho image.

        He was beyond caring.

        "My little warrior, that is not important," Nathaniel said softly, cupping his son's cheek with his hand. "You're here and that's all that matters."

        Sean glared at him."Are you crazy?" he asked him in disbelief."You have been poisoned and it doesn't bother you?!"

        Nathaniel dropped his hand and shook his head. "No, it's not important to me," he said. "Karma will do all the work."

        Sean snorted. Trust his father to use words of wisdom. As much as he wanted to agree with his dear old dad, he didn't believe in karma. He was a hands-on type of guy; he would rather take action, and deliver it himself through blood and pain than waiting for that age-old what's-that-word to happen. If he did, it was like waiting for rain in a drought. Pointless and a total waste of time.

        "Unbelievable," he muttered with a shake of his head. "So fucking unbelievable... karma he says."

        Nathaniel chuckled. "I knew you would say that," he said, mirth underlying his tone. "Like I said, all that matters is that you're here even though..." he paused, taking a deep breath as he willed himself not to cry."... Serena's not."

        Serena was a touchy subject for the three of them. For a year, they worked together for a common goal and so far, there were no leads. Nathaniel at one point wanted to give up because he thought his baby girl never wanted to be found but seeing the determined faces of Sean and his daughter's mate, Travis, he pushed that negativity at the back of his mind and plowed on with the search.

        But now, that negativity was back at full force and the thought of dying without seeing his daughter one last time brought sadness into his heart.

        "Lester got something on the feeds," Sean blurted out. "There's something sketchy at the Southwest part of Denver. He couldn't get a proper live image since it's heavily cloaked."

        "That area is a human zone," Travis piped in, frowning at that piece of information."What could possibly have that area cloaked?"

        "Lester's working on infiltrating that area," Sean said. "He should be calling anytime today..."

        Right on cue, their human associate's voice resonated on Sean's minuscule earpiece communicator, delivering them good news.

        "Who's your daddy," Lester spoke with pure smugness in his voice. "Who's your mothereffing daddy?"

        Sean rolled his eyes."Just lay it to me, Les," he said, annoyance leaking out of his tone.

        "Fine," he huffed. "You are no fun."

        "Lester Monroe," Sean ground out through gritted teeth.``Just freaking say it. I am not in the mood to be playing homeboy with you."

        "Okay, okay! Jeez man, don't get your thongs in a twist," Lester muttered. "I got in and I'm zooming in on the feed."

        Sean's face lit up. 'About time,' he thought with elation. Looking at his father and then to Travis, he said, "Lester got in."

Meanwhile, back in Lester's apartment in New York, he sat in his work station with intense concentration. His fingers breezed through the keyboard expertly as he stared at his screen, looking at the developments.

        He had to admit, when he was trying to infiltrate, he wanted to bang his head on the wall out of sheer frustration for getting in with difficulty. Heck, he was an Einstein!  He could even break through the toughest firewalls but the mothereffer was like Fort Knox. If it wasn't for his stroke of genius for using other means of resources, he would consider bludgeoning his skull with his fuck buddy's high heels.

        Whoever took extreme lengths in covering that area had juicy equipment.

        "Alright, here we go hombre," he said to Sean on the communicator as the image got clearer and clearer.

        "Okay... I see trees, trees and more trees," he muttered. "What the hell! It's all freaking trees!"

        "Don't be such a spaz," Sean said dryly. "Look further, you moron."

        Did Sean just call him a moron?

        "Look, butt head," Lester began. "You can't talk to your savior like--" He wasn't able to finish as something caught his eye.

        "Did you just call me--"

        "Shush!" he interjected Sean."I got something so hold your breath."

        Squinting his eyes, he zoomed in on the figure that was pressed up against the tree and when he got closer, he grinned like the Cheshire cat. He didn't mind that his cheek muscles were starting to hurt

        Bingo!

        There she was, as what the picture describes her, the exotic beauty they were looking for. It was unmistakable.

        He had found Serena.

        Grinning, he sent the image to Sean's PDA and the coordinates of the location.

        Leaning back into his leather seat with his arms behind his head, looking like the picturesque of total relaxation, he said,"Check your PDA. I sent you something."

        Smiling, he waited patiently for any reaction from Sean and finally, after a few minutes, he heard a gasp and he smiled wider.

        "Now, who's your daddy?" he asked.

        Sean chuckled. "You are," he admitted. "Thank you, Les. You have no idea how much this means to me. I'll get in touch with you soon."

        "Will do," he affirmed and that was the end of their conversation.

        "It's great to be king," he said, smiling like an idiot.

        For that, he needed to celebrate so he called his FUBU of two years for a celebratory jiggy with it. Due to all the stress he was having, he needed some infiltrating of his own with a certain female body part and thinking about it had his buddy twitching to stand up.

        Jesus...

        After the fourth ring, a sultry voice purred on the other line. "Hello, handsome."

        Lester smirked. "Hello, Tammy boo. Daddy needs some lovin'."

        Oh yes, he needs to get some lovin' alright.

Meanwhile, back in Crimson Moon territory, Sean was gripping at the PDA tightly. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was his beloved baby sister, Serena and she was in a freaking human zone? What the hell was she thinking?!

        "Sean, what is it?"Nathaniel asked.

        Sean took a deep breath and showed the PDA to his dad.

        "Serena." Nathaniel took in a a sharp intake of breath, his eyes going as wide as an owl's.

        Travis perked up when he heard his mate's name. 'Could it be?' he thought. "Did Lester find her?" he asked, hope bubbling inside of him.

        Sean nodded. "Yes," he said and stood up. "I'll go get her while you stay with my dad."

        Travis stood up. "Serena's my mate. I have to go with you," he said angrily. There was no way, no way in hell that he was going to stay here and just wait.

        Sean glared. "Just stay here, Travis. It would be better if it's me who will go get Serena."

        "But--"

        "But nothing," Sean interjected him. "It'd be best if it's me who will go considering what happened between the both of you."

        Travis stared directly at Sean's brown eyes. He wanted to convey to him that he wanted to go, for he had missed Serena so much but from the look on Sean's face, he knew Sean wasn't backing down. In his eyes, he had let his wolf slightly come forward as it glowed just to let him know that he was being serious. After a few tense moments, Travis sighed and gave up.

        "Fine," he conceded though he was pissed that Sean was right but he couldn't risk having Serena running away from him when he saw her.

        As Sean walked to the door, he glanced over his shoulder and said,"Hang on, dad. I'll make sure to bring Serena back."

        That he will, with all his heart.

'Come out, come out wherever you are sucker...' Serena thought as she pressed herself up against a tree. She was gripping her twin Ninjato, a lethal weapon that Phil gave her a year ago when he decided to teach her the skills of combat, in each hand.

        She sniffed the air for his scent, but it was faint but that didn't stop her from searching his location and she knew he was close. The crazy dude had gone downwind on purpose and tough luck, the wind was in tune to his favor.

 

        What did she expect? Phil was an ex-hunter and he knew what he was doing.

        Yes, she knew about Phil being an ex-hunter and he too knew that she was a werewolf.

        A month after Phil found her, she spilled her guts out to him about her true nature. She knew about the Laws of the Supernatural but Phil had done so much for her and for some reason, she could trust Phil with her secret.

        Turns out, she wasn't the only one with secrets.

        Phil assured Serena that he would not hurt her and told her that had left the Order of Immortalis for good. He shared his grief to Serena at how cruel the organization was and they both learned that they shared the same sentiment.

        That brought them close, like best of friends. Although, it was different for Phil. He was attracted to Serena and as months passed, he was sucked into her vortex, but he knew Serena has a mate. She told him the reason why she ran away and he could only conclude this: he was one stupid as$ of a mate, who let go of a girl who is beautiful inside and out.

        Crouching down behind a tree, Phil knew Serena's location. It was a good thing that the wind blew his way but since she was a werewolf, chances are still high on getting his ass kicked by her lovely legs. For the past year, their weekly mock skirmishes had improved her skills, almost up to par as a hunter but knowing she was a supernatural, her adaptability, agility, flexibility, strength and cunningness were a given. He only helped her hone it and he always instilled this knowledge to her mind that this was a survival skill, not for waging war nor for showing off.

        The art of combat is a discipline, not for war driven lunatics.

        Standing up slowly, Phil's customized six barrel silver magnum gun glinted in the mid afternoon's sun rays. It was his weapon choice and he snickered at the thought that Serena can stand a chance with her flimsy Ninjato.

        'Oops,' Phil thought as he made a mistake in making a sound.

        On the other side of the woods, Serena shook her head at Phil's stupidity.

        "He had the nerve to snicker?" she muttered in disbelief. Is he crazy? He gave away with his exact location now that he made a sound.

        Phil forgot the memo about her sensitive hearing.

        Grinning, she blurred like a hazy tornado towards Phil. Though she was fast, her movements were fluid as though in slow motion as she went behind the tree that he was hiding, held the edge of the Ninjato to his neck and said, "Meet my little friend."

        However, Phil was quick too as he was aiming the gun to her forehead with a cocky smirk on his face.

        Oh, how she loved to smack that off his gorgeous face-- wait. Gorgeous? Where the freak did that come from?

        "Nice try, but bullets travel faster than beheading."

        Serena smiled impishly. "True, but I feel sorry for your balls."

        He frowned. "Huh?" was his genius reply.

 

        She rolled her eyes and tapped the blade that was aimed on his junk. "This is what I meant about your balls," she said.

        He cringed. Anything but that. He valued his junk way too much.

        A beeping sound prematurely ended their skirmish as Phil dropped his gun and went to get his PDA from his back pocket. As he got it out, he frowned as he saw the screen readout.

        Security has been breached.

         Ah, crud...