Unwanted

Des Moines, Iowa

Teegan’s P.O.V.

After what we encountered yesterday, we need something good to happen. I’m hopeful that when we go to this next pack, the man we want to see is one of the pups taken from Silver Moon. Jelena said he was in bad shape when they found him ten years ago, and he stayed at her brother’s group home for a while. Once they got him on the mend, they arranged for him to go to a pack where the luna and alpha fostered pups. Jelena said, according to the luna, he was doing well. He’s now twenty-three and hasn’t found his mate.

When we pull up to the pack, there are pups running around laughing and people smiling. Such a big difference from yesterday’s experience. We get out of our vehicles, and a woman with shoulder-length black hair with a few grey strands walks over to us, smiling.

“Hello. I’m Luna Marla. Are you the people looking for Scott?” She asks, looking at our growing group.

“Yes. I’m Teegan, and this is my mate Joel. We’re trying to locate the pups taken from Silver Moon.” She shakes all of our hands as the rest introduce themselves.

“I think it’s incredible what you’re doing. I don’t know what pack Scott was taken from, but it would be great if you can help him. Even though he has adjusted well in our pack, I know he would like to know what happened to his family.” Marla says as we follow her into the packhouse. It’s so bright and airy it makes me happy just walking inside.

“It’s beautiful in here,” I tell her as she leads us to the dining hall where people are eating lunch.

“Thank you. We take in many orphans, and I wanted to make the place they are going to call home as comfortable and welcoming as possible.” She looks around the dining hall and waves a young man over. Wow, he’s really handsome. He’s almost as tall as Joel, with curly black hair and blue eyes. He’s built like a warrior with the amount of muscles he has. Joel’s hold on me tightens as he gets closer, and I smirk. Someone is jealous.

“Scott, these are the people Jelena told us about,” Marla says as she puts her arm around him. He takes in each one of us and nods.

“It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for coming and trying to help me find my family.” Martina, who’s standing next to me, gasps. Scott’s voice is so deep it feels like it belongs to a much older man.

“Holy cow. You should be a country singer or something with a voice like that.” I try to hide my chuckle. Have I said how much I like her with her non-filter mouth? Scott’s face turns slightly red, but he smiles.

“I can’t sing worth nothing, darling.” Martina grips my arm and whispers in my ear.

“I swear if Ryker didn’t mark me last night, my panties would have just flown off.” Okay, how can I not laugh at that? Poor Scott’s face gets redder, so I’m pretty sure he heard what she said. Based on the look Ryker has right now and how he’s pulling Martina against him, I believe he heard as well.

“We’re glad to help. If you don’t mind, my dad wanted me to take a picture of you to see if you look like anyone in the pack before we take your DNA.” I pull out my phone, but Joel stops me and gets his. Does he think I’m going to keep Scott’s picture in my phone to drool over later? I would never think about another man like that, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate him being handsome. However, it also doesn’t prevent me from teasing Joel a little. I’ll have to remember this for later.

“Sure, whatever you need.” Joel takes a quick photo and texts it to my dad. A few minutes later, he calls us.

“Hello?” Joel answers, putting the phone on speaker.

“Hi, Joel. I have Karina and Steve here. I believe Scott is their son. The age matches, and look at the photos I just sent.” We look at Joel’s phone and see a beautiful couple. The woman is blonde with brown eyes, but the man is the spitting image of Scott. The picture looks like an older one because the woman is holding a pup in her arms. Joel scrolls over to the next picture, and it’s the same couple, only they’re older.

“Yeah, I don’t think there’s any denying he’s their son. The resemblance between him and Steve is uncanny.” I say before looking at Scott. He’s staring at the pictures in shock.

“Steve is our lead warrior.” My dad explains. No wonder he’s built like he is, and it looks like the genes spread to his son.

“Are they there with you?” I ask, and the phone suddenly switches to a video call. I see Scott’s parents crying, and I hand the phone over to him. They talk for about half an hour, and when they hang up, Scott wraps Joel and me into a big bear hug.

“Thank you. I can’t believe I found my family. A part of me always thought they didn’t want me.” I smile at him as he releases us.

“You’re welcome. Are you going to go to Silver Moon?” I expect he wants to see them in person. He looks thoughtful for a minute.

“Eventually. I would like to do for others what you just did for me. Would it be okay if I go with you for now and then go to Silver Moon when we’re done?” All the men groan, but I ignore them.

“Of course you can. After we leave here, we’re picking up a minibus. It can hold twenty passengers. In addition to all of us, we have six royal guards and Joel’s brother and his mate.” Scott looks from me to Joel with his eyes wide.

“You said, royal guards. Are you royalty?” He asks with his deep voice.

“Joel is a prince, and Kiana is a princess. Their brother Logan is the crown prince.” I answer. Scott starts to bow, but Joel stops him.

“Please don’t do that. We don’t use our titles or anything. Why don’t you go ahead and pack? We’ll wait for you outside.” Scott shakes his hand and takes off out of the room. I look at Joel and laugh.

“He’s growing on you, isn’t he?” I ask while we make our way outside.

“He’s a good guy, I guess, but can’t he look a little disheveled or have fewer muscles or something?” I bite my lip and shrug.

“I don’t know if you want him to look disheveled. That’s what women call the bedroom look, and it’s hot.” His arm tightens around me, and I have to turn so he can’t see me laughing.

“You think this is funny, don’t you? Hopefully, he’s like everyone else we add to our team and finds his mate soon. Then maybe you can get your priorities straight.” I look up at Joel and smile.

“I think my priorities are straight. You know I’m all about nurturing. If Scott needs someone to hold him while he cries, you don’t have an issue with me doing that, do you?” Joel freezes, and I burst out laughing. “I’m kidding. Will you stop with the jealousy? We’re mated, so the only man I’m thinking about is you.”

He relaxes and leans down to kiss me as we approach the vehicles. He pulls away just as Scott runs up to us with a couple bags.

“I’m ready to go.” He says excitedly. I will never get tired of that look on people’s faces when we give them good news and connect them to their families. That right there has helped us go through these bad days.

Blake’s P.O.V.

The spy in the palace texted me that the crown prince and his mate were going to meet the others in Des Moines, so that’s where we’re at. However, I don’t know what pack they’re going to, so basically, we’re just driving around the city looking for them, which is a waste of time, but we have nothing else to go on.

We map out the packs in the area when we stop at a restaurant to eat lunch. As we leave, I notice a group of people across the street getting into a minibus. Shit, it’s them. How many people are with them now? That bus is full. Oh, well, at least we have them.

“That’s them. I think we need to make that bus have an accident, and we’re leaving no survivors.”