Welcome Home Mate
Chapter 52

LEX

I reached Roxie and Tim's house moments later and ran straight in.

Blaze was on high alert, growling. "Mate," he snarled, but his nose was in the air, sniffing out what scents were left in the house.

There was no sign of a struggle walking through, but Roxie's scent was everywhere and fading away fast.

I walked into the kitchen and saw Tim struggling to get off the floor. His hand was on his head. I ran over and helped him, but his hand went to my arm. "They took her," he slurred.

I nodded, moving a chair from the table for him to sit.

I walked over and noticed food that was overcooked but not eaten. They must have been waiting for them to come home. But how would they know if Roxie would come back here? She could have gone to the office with us.

Blaze frowned. "You know, mate wanted to take it slow, and her anxiety was strong on the way here," he said, still standing on his paws. "She was nervous coming back."

I moved back to Tim, who was slumped down, resting his head on the table. He didn't look good.

I knew I needed to get the pack doctor here, but my father, Sofia, and Jason rushed in. "Dad," yelled Jason. "What happened? Where's Roxie?"

I could see the concern on his face, and worry was plastered on Sofia's.

My father's mind was blank, but he returned to us to let us know he asked the pack doctor to come here to check on Tim.

Tim shook his head and tried to move, but he fell back onto the chair. He wasn't right at all. "They have her," he crooked. "We need to get her."

I could feel everything wash over me; I needed to get Roxie back.

"What happened?" I asked.

Tim looked at me and sighed. "We came here, and there was nothing out of the ordinary," he said, and leaned back slightly while Sofia placed a cloth over his wound. He was still bleeding; he should have healed by now. "I was cooking food for us while Roxie had a shower. I could hear the water running, and I thought I make her favorite food."

He looked at me, but worry washed through. He was in pain, but there was worry about something.

"I was cooking with my back to the back door," he said, glancing at the door. "I didn't even hear or smell them come in."

He looked back at me. "I was knocked over the head by something sharp," he said. "I looked at the one who hit me when I landed on the ground. He was a rogue," he muttered. "He kept on saying something about the boss wanting her."

Tim's eyes were glued to mine. Blaze was getting angrier with everything that was being said. But a question popped into my head, "what do you mean you couldn't smell them?" I asked before he could carry on talking.

Tim shrugged. "There was no scent," he said. "They had no scents to them."

I frowned. "I never heard of anything..." I started to say, but my father cut me off before I could finish. "I know what they used," he said with anger plastered all over his face. "They had a potion that could mask their scents. Witches in certain covens make a fair trade for our kind when they want to mask their scents from their enemies."

I growled.

Tim cleared his throat. "They held me in the lounge, but one of them went to check on Roxie and told the other when he came back that she was asleep on her bed," he said. "They seemed to think they had a lot of time to wait."

I looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

Tim looked back at me. "I mean, they never spoke to me; they made sure not to harm me," he said with a slight frown. "To be honest, it was weird." "That's strange," said Jason, saying what we were all thinking.

I nodded but looked back at Tim.

"What happened when Roxie came down?" I asked, feeling the flutters wash over me at the mere mention of her name coming from my mouth.

"When they heard Roxie move, that's when they moved me and hid out of sight," he said. "They pressed a needle to my neck, telling me that if I made a sound, they would inject me."

Tim leaned into the chair and moved the cloth from his head. "Roxie came down and turned off the cooker," he said. "She looked around but went to the back door to check, but when she came back, she was confronted with the man holding me, and the other one was back in the lounge on the phone."

Tim looked at me, but my father held his hand up to stop him. His face went blank, but he recovered quickly. "The pack doctor is here," he said. "I told him to wait for a moment as we needed to gather more information from Tim."

I nodded, but Sofia growled, which caused my eyebrows to shoot up. Sofia looked at me but then back to my father. "He needs to be seen by a doctor now," she said, placing her hand on his shoulder.

Tim placed his hand on hers and gently squeezed, reassuring her that it was alright.

"It's okay, Sofia," he said. "Alpha Frank and Alpha Lex want to know what happened to Roxie and me. I must tell them I need them to find my baby."

I could feel the emotion in his voice, especially saying the last part. It broke me; I felt it too.

Sofia looked at Tim, then at Jason and me. She nodded.

Tim cleared his throat. "Roxie never batted an eyelid toward them; she never made a move. She must have thought that they would hurt me," he said. "I was slowly going in and out, but the man holding me told her about his boss wanting her. The other rogue came in and repeated and even told her that the boss was outside."

I listened on as he continued talking. "The other rogue stood near her, and she ran, after hurting both of them, but when she got to the back door, she was pushed back, and someone came in," he said, but he closed his mouth and looked at all of us. "Who was at the door?" I growled out; I wanted to know. Their heads were going to be ripped off their shoulders.

Tim's face went white, but he looked at me. "It was Naomi," he whispered.

I stared back at him.

What?

Naomi, she did all this.

But how the hell did she...I was pulled back from my thoughts when Tim spoke again. "She wasn't alone," he said and looked at me, anger riddling his face. "I don't know who, but whoever it was had the rogue holding me up, stab me with the injection, and I passed out. I was knocked out cold within a second."

I looked at Tim, but my anger was getting too much for me.

"I'm going to kill that b***h," I grunted.

Blaze was ready to kill her; she took our mate. She would never see the light of day, I thought, which made Blaze nod with agreement.

I could feel everything in my body burn, controlling every part of me.

"Lex," snapped my father, bringing me back. But the anger was too intense. I could feel someone place their hand on my shoulder. "Lex," muttered Jason. I stared at him as his grip on my shoulder tightened. "Stop."

I couldn't determine what was happening as I stared back at everyone. Jason was scrunching up his nose as if he was in pain. Tim and Sofia were doing the same, but their hands clutching their heads; what the hell?

The anger within me was intense. Blaze was losing it, and so was I.

"LEX," roared my father. "YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN, NOW."

My father approached me as Jason moved toward Tim with his hand on his head. My father stood before me, and I stared back at him. His wolf was forward with him. "PUP, YOUR AURA IS TOO STRONG; YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN," they said.

I closed my eyes and stared at Blaze. Blaze was beyond pissed, but he looked back at me. "We need to calm down," I grunted out. "We need to find Roxie and Bex; we need to do this as calmly as possible. No big alpha mad, well not anyway." Blaze nodded. And we took deep breaths together until I felt at ease. I opened my eyes and stared at my father, nodding with a small smile. "Well done," he said.

I blinked a few times but didn't say anything.

My father cleared his throat. "We need to come up with something fast," he said. "Roxie will need to be found."

I nodded.

"What do you suggest doing?" asked Jason.

My father stares at me for a moment and moves away, ensuring everyone can see his face.

"I have an idea," he said but glanced back in my direction before he carried on talking. "I think we should tell the pack about Roxie being Lex's mate," he said.

I stared back at him, but I could see Sofia's face change. "But isn't that up to Roxie and Lex," she asked. "Shouldn't they do it together?"

My father nodded but sighed. "It is," he said. "But we need help locating Roxie, and we need the pack's help to do it."

Blaze looked through my eyes as I stared at everyone. "We can find, mate," he grunted, but stepped back to look at me. "But the old man is right; we need help."

Blaze looks at me for a few moments and sits back. "The pack needs to know mate is their Luna," he said. "We should have done it before."

I knew he was right about the whole thing, but I wasn't looking forward to telling them the entire sodding details of how long I had known about Roxie being my mate. A few members will not be happy with my actions, especially the older generations. I looked up and knew we had to do it.

"I will announce to everyone in the next few minutes," I said, glancing around. "Tim, you will go with the pack doctor to get checked out."

Tim nodded but looked at me. "I need to tell Keith what happened," he said. "He will want to help."

I nodded. "Let him now, and have Keith tell Alpha Gareth and Alpha Dean too," I said. "We will need all the help we can get in finding Roxie."

Tim nodded.

My father mind linked the pack doctor to come in and see Tim.

Sofia told us she would stay with Tim to ensure he was alright.

Jason and I left with my father.

I opened a pack link for all members. "Everyone will need to meet outside the pack house in the next fifteen minutes," I said. "I have an announcement to make."

I closed the pack line down.

I knew I wanted to do this with Roxie, but now I needed the pack's help finding her.

I just hope we can find her soon. I dread to think about what Naomi has planned for her.