Belle's Beast | ?

Another two weeks had passed and Phoenix was getting restless. A few pack warriors had gone back to the rogue camp to see if it might lead to any clues as to the rogues whereabouts, but it had been completely deserted.

They had managed to surprise a small group of rogues who had either been left behind, or had been slow in leaving. Phoenix had tortured them for hours, hoping to get some useful information out of them. However, the wolves were unyielding, only revealing that they had gotten what they needed for now and would be back soon.

This worried Phoenix of their intentions. So far, he knew they had not hurt Arabella, he would've felt it from his mark. For this at least he had been grateful, but he knew at any moment her safety and the safety of their unborn child, could be compromised at any moment.

The Knights, though it broke their hearts to do so, knew that they had to accept the fact that this was no longer the Nathaniel they knew. This person was someone else entirely that they were dealing with. Though the realisation did not make it any easier, they all knew what was at stake and what needed to be done.

Phoenix had posted several groups of scouts, some within the old rogue settlement and some still working around the area where Arabella had been taken; there wasn't much else to go on. As the days passed his hope slowly dimmed, Arabella had told him before that 'sometimes you have to wait for the other person to make a move'. He didn't want to wait, his biggest fear being if he didn't act now then he would lose his mate forever, but it was beginning to seem like waiting was all he could do.

He stood pacing in his office, he was waiting for something... he wasn't sure what. Stefano barged into the office the same time his phone started to ring. He held a finger up to his father as he picked up the phone.

"This better be damn good news." He grunted, his patience wearing thin. He could feel his beast on the edge ready to break loose at any minute.

"Phoenix, we were attacked by rogues last week." Alpha Finn's voice came through the line.

"Is everyone okay?" Phoenix asked attentively, he saw his fathers eyes zero in on his filled with concern. Phoenix knew Finn was capable and had probably handled the situation, so he wondered why he had decided to call.

"Everyone is fine, it was just a small raid. Although I think we may have found something." Finn answered, "I wanted your permission for me and a few men to come up to your territory, I think this is something we should talk about in person."

"Yeah sure, how soon can you get here?" Phoenix asked, staring at the clock.

It had just gone past 10pm, he was spending as much time as possible away from their room in his parents' home. Her scent lingered there, slowly fading, and it just made him angrier that she wasn't there. He also found that without his mate, sleep was not fulfilling as he would always wake up exhausted, it felt as though he hadn't slept the night before. He didn't want to imagine how Arabella was feeling.

"I can get there by tomorrow morning at the earliest." Finn suggested. He preferred to run as a Wolf, which though it was slightly inconvenient to have to shift, it was much faster; what he had found was incredibly important and couldn't wait.

"No, come in the afternoon. The pack is going crazy right now, so it may take a little while for me to arrange everything." Phoenix admitted, he sighed tiredly. Even Finn could hear the exhaustion in his voice.

Finn wondered what had happened that would have the Southern pack in chaos. As he ended the call he could only hope that what he had found was enough, and that everything would be back to the way it should be soon.

After the phone call ended Phoenix sat for a few more moments in the silence of his office. He took a deep breath, turning to his father; his tiredness, like a lead balloon seemed to weigh him down. His usually tanned skin was ashen, his eyes sunken, his mouth seemed to be fixed into a permanent frown.