The Four Beta Brothers
Chapter 103

ETHAN

I ran to the library, not wanting to waste any more time than I already had. It was late, and there was hardly anyone on campus. The library was closed, but Moira made it clear that Juniper had told her this was where she was. It was the only lead I had to go off, but it was better than what I had before Moira showed up.

A student in a dark hoodie walked by the library, and I went straight up to him. "Have you seen someone with brown hair and amber eyes? Possibly being taken against her will?"

The man looked at me like I was crazy, and I was sure I looked like it, too. "No?" He walked away, not interested in entertaining me any longer.

I forced myself to stand still and think. I was becoming frantic the longer Juniper was away from me, but I needed to clear my head and think. I was the future beta of all werewolves. I was trained to fight and lead. Letting panic override my finely tuned skills would only cost Juniper her life, not help her.

For whatever reason, Juniper was taken somewhere on campus, or at least they passed by the library. If Juniper was able to send Moira a message, maybe she was conscious enough to leave some other type of clue. I walked towards the library, looking for anything that was unusual. Then the scent of blood hit my nose. I knelt on the ground and saw there were a few drops of freshly dried blood on the ground. It could have been from anyone, but my wolf stirred inside of me. There was no distinct scent to the blood, but I knew it belonged to my mate. Rage stirred inside of me, knowing my mate had been injured. When I finally found the bastard who took her, I knew my wolf would unleash with little restraint. I'd feel sorry for the poor sap, if he wasn't trying to destroy the one person I ever truly wanted to be with.

Looking around, I found another drop of blood not too far away. Then another and another. The trail led around to the back of the library, stopping at some old service door. Vines had grown over the door, and the handle was rusted. It looked like it hadn't been touched in years-only there were scuffs in the dirt that had built up in front of it. And a drop of blood. Juniper was inside the library.

***

ASHER

Despite the years I had spent training, I was losing the fight with the two remaining attackers. Ever since I started college, I hadn't spent nearly enough time in training sessions, since I had to spend more time in study sessions to achieve the grades expected of me. Ever since I came to CUW, I hadn't sparred with anyone. Between school and Juniper, I hadn't found any spare time to train. It hadn't felt like a priority. My father rarely sent me out on warrior missions, since I wasn't the one who was supposed to take over the werewolf army when the time came.

Now, I wished I had kept my skills sharp. Most of my training was embedded in my muscles, so it didn't take much to block and retaliate the blows I was receiving. However, my opponents were fresh and sharp. They saw openings in my defenses before I even realized it was happening. It was making it difficult to get in hits of my own.

My instincts were telling me I had to change into my wolf in order to overtake the men in front of me, but they seemed to know that. They sent hit after hit my way, refusing to give me even a second to breathe or change. Metal clinked against metal as I blocked every single attack, but blocking wasn't enough. I had to kill them and get to Axel. Then we had to get out of here and figure out where Nathan was.

I didn't have time to simply block attacks, and I knew I would run out of stamina quickly if I kept up this pace. One faulty move could result in a silver dagger to the heart, and I knew that was instant death.

Duck, Axel's voice rang in my head.

Trusting my twin, I dove to the floor. A roar erupted in the room as Axel's wolf plowed into the men fighting me. He knocked them to the floor, landing on the larger one of the two of them. He sank his teeth into the man's neck.

At the same time, I rolled from my position and stabbed the other man in the chest before he had time to recover. Then I twisted the silver dagger from his hand, being careful to avoid the silver, and plunged that knife into his chest. If he was a werewolf, the first dagger wouldn't have been sufficient, but the silver in his own dagger would stop him from healing.

Blood dripped down the mouth of Axel's wolf as he looked at me, silence finally filling the room.

She's getting away, Axel linked. He leapt into action, dashing across the room.

I looked at his path, trying to figure out who he was talking about, but I didn't see any other movement in the room. I jumped to my feet and started running after him, knowing if Axel was going after someone, it was important.

I pushed through the door of the warehouse after Axel, and he stood there in his human form, looking around at an empty parking lot.

"She got away," Axel said.

"Who did?" I asked.

"The woman you shot. She's gone without a trace, and we still don't know where Nathan is."

"We'll find him." The air around us grew chilly, as if it was unsure if that statement was true.

"Yeah," Axel said, but I could feel his mood drop. "Let's go see if there's anything in the warehouse we can gleam information off of."

"We need to call Ethan, too," I added. I wasn't looking forward to reporting that our mission was a failure, but I hoped I could hear Juniper's voice again. It would soften the failure just a little.

***

JUNIPER

I felt wobbly on my feet as I looked around the room.

"What are you doing?" Nathan asked. His hands were now freed from the restraints, but he was still sitting in the same place.

"I'm not just going to sit here and hope someone rescues us," I said. I pulled off one of the white sheets from the furniture, causing a cloud of dust to hit my face. I tried to hold back the cough, but the dust tickled the back of my throat, making it impossible to resist. "I mean, I do hope Ethan is coming for us, but there's no way to know if that's the case... Wait." I paused and looked at Nathan. "Can't you link him?"

Nathan raised his eyebrows. "Don't you think I would've done that already if I could have?"

"Right," I murmured, feeling foolish. I pulled off another sheet, this time prepared for the dust cloud. Beneath the sheet was just another chair with floral print. I scrunched my nose, unsure of what I was looking for.

"If they come in and catch you rummaging around, they won't be happy," Nathan pointed out.

I clenched my teeth together, trying to stay calm. I knew Nathan was right, but his words weren't helpful, and I was barely keeping it together. "I know, but I can't just give up because of these people. We have to get out of here. We have to warn Alpha Williams about everything that's going on. If this group is successful in taking out Alpha Williams and putting Beta Burrell in his place, then they will try to start a war with vampires. Lives will be lost, and it will be terrible. I can't let that happen."

I felt the tears starting to threaten my vision, so I looked up at the ceiling to force them to stop. I made sure my back was turned towards Nathan, because I didn't want him to see me fall apart.

I couldn't afford to fall apart, even though I was on the verge of it. My body ached, my head was dizzy, and it felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I was desperate to make it out of here alive and terrified either me or Nathan wouldn't. "Juniper?" Nathan's voice was quiet, but it called out to me, pulling at my heartstrings. I wanted to sink and give into that voice.

Nathan was my mate, but I had never even considered him an option before. I had been too caught up with Asher, then Axel. I had always felt drawn to him, but it was different. I wanted to protect him and make sure he was happy. Even now, all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around him to keep him safe.

But there was also something new mixed in with those feelings.

Nathan was one of my mates. The Moon Goddess had taken the broken heartstrings left behind from James, and she chose to tie some of them to Nathan. I still didn't understand why, and there was a good chance I never would. All I knew was that Nathan was my mate, and he deserved as much of a chance as the other brothers.

Nathan touched my arms, and my body instantly wanted to sink into him. "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to upset you. I'm just terrified they are going to hurt you."

I knew the moment I spoke or looked at Nathan, I wouldn't be able to hold back any longer. I took a deep breath, buying myself seconds before everything crumbled.

I turned around and wrapped my arms around Nathan. He was warm, and even though I knew I wasn't, I felt safe in his arms as his scent surrounded me.

"I'm terrified they're going to hurt you, too," I muttered, letting myself fall apart for just a moment.