KIDNAPPED PATRICK

VALERIE "Shit!" Oscar muttered. "What happened?" Shawn asked confused. "It's Doreen." I heard him reply when I was about to jump out of the window towards Patrick's school. We spotted Doreen lying close to the road. There was blood pouring from her wound in the head. It looked like she was forcefully pushed against a tree. I started panicking when I noticed that Patrick wasn't there with her. "Where is Patrick?" I screamed. "Mark... He took my baby!" she sobbed and pointed her finger to her north before fainting. That was all I needed to run. If Mark does anything to Patrick then the fight will begin right theere and then! Shawn, Oscar, Nathan and Jasper were all running with me. We were following his scent and by now we were out of the town and into some interior region of the Pack. "That's Patrick's uniform shirt!" Oscar said pointing at the white shirt that was fallen near a tree. The white shirt had blood spattered in it but it wasn't Patrick's, it was Doreen's. "Patrick!" I screamed loudly when I saw that. My knees started shaking automatically. I was shivering and my heart was thumping loudly. "Patrick!" everyone started screaming his name. We kept on screaming and yelling his name again and again. Suddenly there was a very large gust of wind. It was almost like a storm. The trees around us started shaking and dust flew everywhere around us. When a tree was about to fall on me, Shawn pulled me towards him and held me tightly in his arms but that didn't stop me from calling for Patrick. I gasped when the tree fell on the ground in a thud almost blocking our path. The wind blew the dead leaves around us. It was difficult to stand straight and face the wind. Oscar and Jasper were holding on to a tree. Whenever we would try to run away, the storm would block our path and hit right at us! That was when I realised that the wind was being controlled. It was Mark who was doing this. He control's wind. He can control the wind just like I can control the water! Damn it! A few seconds later, it all stopped. "What the hell was that?" Jasper asked. "Mark." Shawn said looking at me and I nodded. "He has powers?" Oscar asked horrified. "Yeah." I said slowly. It only meant that though he wasn't able to shift during day time he can control the wind. How the hell do I fight against him now? "Patrick!" I screamed his name again. "Girlfriend." there was a reply so soft from Patrick such that if I wasn't a shifter I wouldn't have been able to hear it. "Patrick!" I screamed again running in the direction where his voice came from. "I'm... t-trapped!" he stuttered and I stopped running only to stand frozen in my spot when I found Patrick. Everything felt numb for me. I could sense Mark's presence here that had my wolf growling softly. He was gone, for now. There was a thick metal chain around his neck which was connected to a fountain tree. His hands and legs were cuffed. He was standing on a branch at least ten foot above us. The branch he was standing on was so weak that it would break any second killing Patrick instantly. One wrong move on the saviour's part then Patrick would be dead! I fell on my knees when I saw him like that. I inhaled sharply and then let out a breath when I saw it. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. Tears started forming in my eyes when I saw him like that. I couldn't do it. I couldn't save Patrick and I felt weak. His hazel eyes were staring back at me. He was crying and looking at me, then more tears appeared in his eyes. He was silently asking for my help and I... couldn't. I was trembling. "Don't panic sweetheart, we are going to save you!" Oscar said to Patrick. Whenever Mark would attack before, it was never on people I was very close to and so I was capable of fighting the rogues but today, standing so close to death was Patrick my baby. I love him a lot! I am very much attached to him. I may not be his mother but I had taken care of him. I would sometimes go to his room and tell him bed time stories in the night; I would train him to fight so that he was capable to protect himself in future. I used to attend all the annual functions in his school along with Doreen. I would play with him. I used to babysit him. I used to watch cartoon movies with him. I still remember the drawing he did for me on my birthday. He means a lot to me and I had grown very fond of him in the years. It was because of his cries that I had entered into the dungeon that day, six years ago. It was because of him that I had even tried breaking that window and entering the dungeon. Now seeing him here like this, it felt like a part of me was dying. I was still kneeling on the ground while Shawn ran and started climbing a tree that was close to this fountain tree in which Patrick was tied. He couldn't climb the fountain tree because little pressure from him the branch would break. I closed my eyes when I heard the sounds of branch croaking. The branch looked like it would break at the slightest sigh from Patrick. Jasper and Oscar stood right below where Patrick was tied. "Don't move, okay pup?" Oscar said to him. "We are here to hold you, but just don't move!" Jasper said to him very carefully. Nathan was beside me with his arms wrapped around my shoulders. "I'm coming just hold on okay?" Shawn said to Patrick. I saw Shawn stretching his arms to the metal chain. His claws were out and it would be enough to break the chain provided he does it carefully. Before Shawn's claws could connect against the chain, I closed my eyes shut not able to watch it. "They have him!" Nathan exclaimed. Opening my eyes, I saw Shawn dropping Patrick carefully to the ground. "Girlfriend!" he screamed and rushed towards me. I tried my best not to flinch when I saw the mark in his neck caused by those metal chains. I spread my arms and held him tightly in my arms when he was close to me. Holding Patrick soothed me. The fear that I felt since this morning finally calmed down. I ran my fingers through his blonde hair repeatedly. "Patrick!" I heard Doreen calling. She and Evie came near us. "Mama!" Patrick called. "Oh baby!" she sobbed and I let Patrick go to her. She hugged him tightly and kissed all over his face. "My baby is safe!" she exclaimed repeatedly, calming herself. "He is fine." Shawn said wrapping his arms around my waist. I looked at him and hugged him tightly, closing my eyes to compose myself. "Thank-you!" I told him. Shawn didn't reply but just pressed me closer to his chest. I just realised one thing today, when it came to save the people I loved, I would panic and I would go weak. They are my greatest strength and they are also my greatest weakness! It was the first time I felt this weak in years. I almost forgot the feeling but now, it was back knocking the breath out of my lungs! My hands were tied and I was trapped. I couldn't move. If Mark came to know about this then I am doomed. And by now, I think he already knows! I wanted to be alone. Away from everyone and that was why I was sitting on the rock and staring at the ocean. I wasn't meditating either. I just wanted to be alone. My knees were pressed against my chest and I was watching the waves rise and fall. I was like the waves, always rising but I seemed to forget that waves fall too. I almost forgot what it was like to fall down but after today, I remembered how much falling down hurts. I wiped the tears from my cheeks and blinked rapidly. I needed her, to at least hear her voice because it would comfort me. I needed my mother! Sniffing and wiping my cheeks with the back of my hands, I sat in the lotus position and kept my hands on my knees. I closed my eyes and started the breathing exercise but I couldn't concentrate. At the start I was crying and so I stopped and then composed myself. Even then it was difficult for me to concentrate. After a long time I started getting pictures of the place in the woods were Patrick was tied. I didn't want to recall that again. I wanted to talk to the goddess but all I could get was only that images. I shook my head and finally opened my eyes because the images were continuously popping in my head. It didn't help me concentrate. It was difficult to push the thought aside. Growling loudly, I dived into the ocean. My whole body was shaking with anger and hence the waves were dangerously large. When I dived inside the ocean, I could literally see the fishes going away from me. They would look at me and go away sensing my mood. Scowling once, I swam towards the shore and then ran to the place where Patrick was tied. I was soaking wet and my hair was damp but I didn't let that bother me. Looking around, I could sense Mark's presence here but it was a long time ago. He was here in the morning and now the sun was ready to set. The branch that he made Patrick to stand in was there. A very frustrated growl came from my chest and I jumped and ripped the branch apart from the tree. I then broke that branch into pieces. If there was no such branch, then he wouldn't have been able to tie anyone that. If Mark wanted to kill Patrick, then he would have done it even before I blinked. I knew his intention wasn't to kill him; he just wanted me to get scared and I really achieved that! My chest was rising and falling from the heavy breaths that I was taking. I ran my fingers through my hair roughly and looked around. "What did you keep this time?" I yelled loudly. I closed my eyes and concentrated on all the sounds around me. I could hear the fluttering of leaves from the breeze. The light flapping of the dead leaves on the ground. Faint noise coming from some insects on the ground and slight clanking sound. What was that? I concentrated more on that clanking noise and it looked like two metal objects clashing against each other. It was silver, the piece of statue clanking against what? And the noise was coming from the same fountain tree to which Patrick was tied to. I looked above and sure there was a black cloth tied to one of the branches. I climbed the tree quickly and went and slashed the whole branch from the tree. Jumping down, I went and untied the cloth from the branch and opened it. Sure, there were the last two pieces of the statue, the nose and the lips. I traced my fingers on the lips of the silver statue slowly. But that was not the only thing in the bundle. There was a letter in it addressed to "WHITE WOLF"... It was definitely addressed to me!