Tangled Hearts - The Alpha's Baby Mama-Chapter 282: The unseen barrier...

Kurtis POV

As soon as the mind link was cut off, a wave of panic surged through me. One moment, I was speaking to Lucius, hearing the urgency in his voice, and the next—silence. It wasn’t just the normal quiet; it was as if something had severed the connection entirely. My heart pounded in my chest, the dread growing.

I couldn’t afford to waste time. Whatever was happening at Greyhound, it was bad. And if Lucius had reached out to me, it meant they were in deeper trouble than they could handle on their own.

I stormed out of my quarters and quickly found a few of my most trusted men. Damian, my Gamma, was the first to fall in line. He had sharp instincts, and I needed someone like him if we were going to get through this. Next were the twins, Marcus and Elijah, fierce fighters who were known for their stealth in enemy territory.

"We’re heading to Greyhound," I told them as I grabbed my gear. "Lucius just warned me they’re under attack, and their communications are down. Something isn’t right."

Damian frowned, sensing the gravity of the situation. "Under attack? Why haven’t we heard anything about it?"

"That’s the problem. They’ve been cut off." I clenched my jaw, the urgency burning in my veins. "Get ready. We ride immediately."

It didn’t take long for us to saddle up. The sun was beginning to dip low in the sky as we rode out, pushing our wolves to move as fast as possible. We covered the ground quickly, the four-hour ride feeling like an eternity. The tension hung thick in the air, each of us on edge, knowing we were heading into unknown territory.

But as we neared the outer edges of Greyhound’s territory, something strange happened. The usual path we took into the pack’s lands was... blocked. At first, it looked like a thick fog rolling in, but as we tried to push forward, we hit a barrier, invisible but solid as stone.

"What the hell is this?" Marcus growled, his hand hovering near his weapon.

I tried pushing through again, but it was no use. Whatever this was, it wasn’t natural. It felt like magic—strong, ancient, and impenetrable.

"We need another way in," I said, frustration lacing my voice as I scanned the area for any alternative routes.

Damian stepped closer to the barrier and pressed his hand against it. "It’s not just here," he said grimly. "I can feel it extending further down. It’s like the whole territory is locked in."

Elijah cursed under his breath. "We’re not getting through, are we?"

"No." My gut twisted. I couldn’t leave Lucius and the pack to fend for themselves, not when they were under siege, but this barrier... It was beyond anything I’d ever seen.

I had no choice but to reach out for help. Pulling out my phone, I dialled Noah, my heart sinking as I waited for him to answer. Noah, the Lycan King, had the kind of authority and reach that might be able to help us breakthrough.

He answered on the second ring.

"Your Majesty, it’s Kurtis," I said, my voice tight. "We’ve got a serious problem. Greyhound’s under attack, and there’s a barrier surrounding the territory. I can’t get in, and their communication lines are down."

There was a pause, a heavy silence on the other end. When Noah finally spoke, his voice was grim. "It’s not just Greyhound, Alpha Kurtis."

"What do you mean?" I asked, the pit in my stomach widening.

"Several packs are under attack," Noah said, his tone cold and hard. "This isn’t an isolated incident. Greyhound’s just one of many. Whoever is behind this is hitting multiple territories at once. They’re coordinated, and they’re using some kind of magic to lock the packs in. My men are already stretched thin, and we’re still trying to figure out how to counter this."

I ran a hand through my hair, my mind racing. "So what do we do? Lucius is inside. The pack is vulnerable."

"I know," Noah said, the frustration clear in his voice. "But for now, there’s nothing we can do. Our resources are spread too thin, and we don’t have a way to break through these barriers yet. We need time."

Time. It felt like a death sentence. Every second we were stuck out here, Greyhound was suffering, and Lucius... freēwēbnovel.com

I exhaled sharply, trying to rein in the anger that was building inside me. "I can’t just sit here, Noah. We need a plan."

"I’m working on it, Kurtis," Noah said. "But right now, we need to regroup and gather more information. We can’t afford to rush in blind. I’ll update you as soon as we know more."

I clenched my fist, hating how helpless I felt. "Fine," I said, though it was the last thing I wanted to say. "But don’t leave me in the dark for too long."

"I won’t," Noah promised, before ending the call.

I stared at the phone in my hand, my jaw tight. There had to be something more we could do. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was all tied together—Greyhound, Lucius, Selene, and the strange tension brewing in the packs.

But with no way in and no immediate answers, all I could do was wait, and it was tearing me apart.

As I stood there, staring at the invisible barrier, the frustration gnawed at me. I could hear the distant howls of the pack inside Greyhound, the faint sounds of battle echoing from beyond the boundary. My wolf itched beneath my skin, desperate to break through and help Lucius, but there was nothing I could do. The barrier was too strong, too ancient.

"Dammit!" I slammed my fist into the ground, the impact reverberating up my arm, but the pain did nothing to lessen my anger.

Damian knelt down beside me, his face drawn in tight lines. "We can’t get in. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing. They’re isolating the packs, cutting off any hope of reinforcements."

I nodded, my mind racing. "And they’re organized. The attacks, the barriers... it’s all too coordinated." I paused, my thoughts drifting back to Lucius and the cryptic message he had tried to send before the mind link was severed. Something about Selene, Kragen, and an unknown role she was supposed to play.

Kragen. I hadn’t even considered his role in all this, but if Lucius was worried about him, then I should be too. Everything was spiraling out of control, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized just how deep the connections ran. Selene was gone from the Moon Whisper Pack, Kragen was missing, and now Greyhound was under attack.

The question remained—who was orchestrating all of this?

I stood and wiped my hands on my pants. "We can’t just sit here and wait. We need to find another way in."

Marcus stepped forward, his brow furrowed. "But what if there is no other way? We’ve scouted the perimeter, and every path is blocked by the same force. We could spend hours searching for a weak spot, and by then, it might be too late."

"I know." I ran a hand through my hair, pacing. "But we can’t give up. Not yet."

Elijah sighed, shaking his head. "Kurtis, we’ve been riding for hours. The men are tired. We need to rest and regroup."

Rest? How could I rest when Lucius and Greyhound were on the brink of destruction? But Elijah had a point. We were running on fumes, and my men wouldn’t be of any use in their current state.

"Fine," I muttered. "We’ll rest here for an hour. But no more."

The tension in the group was palpable as we settled down, the weight of our failure hanging heavy in the air. Damian kept his gaze on the barrier, his muscles tense, while Marcus and Elijah paced, clearly agitated.

I pulled out my phone again, dialing Lucius once more, hoping against hope that the connection would go through this time. But the call didn’t connect—just like before, the signal was dead.

"Dammit, Lucius..." I muttered under my breath, shoving the phone back into my pocket. I couldn’t help but feel that this was my fault. If I had been more attentive, if I hadn’t allowed my focus to waver, maybe I could’ve been there sooner.

I couldn’t help but remember the look on Lucius’s face when he first told me about the strange connection between me, Emilia, and him. I had been distracted ever since he left, and I wasn’t blind to the tension it had caused. Their relationship, along with Emilia’s involvement, seemed to carry far more weight than I initially realized.

I had refrained from getting involved, telling myself it wasn’t my business. But maybe I should have. Maybe I should have confronted Lucius sooner, pushed for more answers. Now, with him in danger and everything spiraling out of control, it felt like I had waited too long.

Suddenly, my phone rang, the sharp sound cutting through the heavy silence. We all turned to look at him, the tension in the air thickening.

I glanced at the screen, my face hardening as I answered. "Lucius?"I said quickly.