Lost and Found (France - Open) [Backstory: 2004]

[Daphne Frank]

Daphne had been running for at least six hours without stopping for even a second's pause. The last touch of the heroin in her system had drained out long before she had managed to escape from the clutches of her latest 'john.' As soon as the money was in her hand after the deed was done, she had split.

It was the third time that month that she had tried to escape from the clutches of Etienne Robert - the 'businessman' who moonlighted as a drug dealer and a high society pimp (specializing in supernatural beings). Once her body could no longer handle the pits, her handler passed her off to the highest bidder. The highest bidder that she tried to escape from every time she got enough money to run. He always found her, though.

"Not this time," she murmured to herself as the sound of her feet hitting the ground echoed inside her head. She knew that Etienne would soon send out his dogs to find her, but she wasn't worried this time. She made sure to pay them off a week or two before. That, and leaving them a few decent sized steaks, was enough to keep them from searching as hard as they should when the master decided to release them.

The only thing keeping her from shifting into her animal form was the fact that lynxs and snow leopards were not animals that were found in the wooded parts of France; at least not the part of France that she was from. Chartres was hardly a rural town. It did have enough back alleys and such for her to utilize though. She only had to make it a few more hours, and she would be free.

Then, the growling sounds began.

[Daphne Frank]

Fear quickly began to set in for Daphne. The growling noises were nothing like the usual sounds she was accustomed to hearing from Etienne's henchmen. The growls were too feral; too vicious and untamed to be mere wolf shifters. She knew the sound of each of his men by heart anyway, so the unknown growls unnerved her greatly.

On top of her mounting fear, Daphne could feel the stings and shoots of fatigue coursing through all the muscles that composed her body - especially her calves. She knew that she had less than ten minutes worth of stamina left in her. She had ten minutes before she would be hunted down and overtaken by whatever - whoever - was following her.

"Daphne," she heard echo from amidst the growling sounds. The voice was definitely male, distinct. Almost familiar. She shook it off quickly, though. There was no time for her to think while she was running for her life.

[Daphne Frank]

Tristan Frank had been searching for his daughter for the majority of her natural life. After his rise to alpha and their disappearance, he could feel her presence in the world and developed a desire to protect her from whatever life her mother had forced upon her. He had mated with several females of his pack, as by the protocol of his alpha role, but Daphne was the only child that held his heart. The last image he had of her was her chubby cheeks and soft blonde curls.

He had gotten close to finding her location several times, but somehow his daughter managed to elude him. There was something in her life that seemed to keep her always on the move, until that night.

Someone had given him a tip to her location, having caught a whiff of her scent while traveling back to the pack. He knew the likelihood of her having already moved, but he went after her nonetheless. He prepared five of his best trackers and took off on a mission.

They had been hunting for her for two days before they had picked up her scent. It had been mangled by heavy perfume and fear, making Tristan hunt even harder.

[Daphne Frank]

Daphne sucked in a hard breath as she forced what little energy she had left into her legs. She already knew that she would only make it a few more yards before she faced the inevitable. She was going to collapse onto the ground and be overtaken by whatever had been following her.It was only a matter of minutes until she would be devoured.

"Aiee!" she exclaimed in pain, the charlie horses in her calves bringing her to her knees in the middle of the wood. The growling sounds were drowned out by the heavy sounds of her stressed out heart. Fear tensed in every muscle, making her heart try to beat even harder. She wasn't sure what would get her first, a heart attack or the animals tailing her.

"Mon dieu, aidez-moi. Je ne veux pas mourir maintenant. Il n'est pas l'heure que je parte. Aidez-moi, s'il vous plaît," she muttered fervently - over and over again. All she could do was pray, and that is exactly what she was doing.

"Daphne," she heard a voice whisper. It was the last thing she heard before the world went dark.

[Daphne Frank]

Tristan's face contorted into a look of terror when they reached his unconcious daughter. He could sense that she was alive, but what life force she had left was very faint. "Ma petite fille," he murmured softly as he dropped to his knees beside her body. Slipping his large hands under her side, he lifted her carefully. Her eyes had dark black rings around them, her hair was stringy and thin, and there were bruises all over her pale skin.

"What have you gotten yourself into, ma petite? So frail." His voice was almost a whisper. "We have to get her up and out of here. I'm not sure how much life she has left in her, but I want to do everything in our power to try and save her."

"Yes, pack master," chorused the males around him. With a few hand gestures and a lot of lifting and moving, Daphne's limp body was hoisted onto the back of one of the faster shifters. Tristan gave him strict orders to get her to the closest safe house and call the healer as soon as he had a chance.

Sending a few prayers up to the creator, Tristan watched as his daughter was swiftly carried away.

[Daphne Frank]

Tristan ran faster than he ever had before that night, fear for his daughter driving his powerful legs hard against the ground. After no more than a mile, he commanded his inner animal to take over. His large, muscular body swiftly contorted into the significantly slimmer body of a snow leopard.

Being the alpha gave Tristan an exceedingly large amount of strength to use to his benefit. He would need every last drop of it to reach her as quickly as he wanted to. His paternal instincts were going crazy at the thought of losing her just as soon as he had finally found her. There was little telling just what he would do if something happened.




Daphne's consciousness fluttered in and out as she was being carried to a place where she could be taken care of. "Où suis-je ?" she asked. She could tell that she was being moved through the forest, but she didn't know why or how. If she had been fully conscious, she would have fought back, but there was no fight left in her.

"Dieu, aidez-moi," she managed to force out; her last plea to God to save her. She didn't know where she was going, but she was almost certain that nothing good was going to come from it.

[Daphne Frank]

"Daphne. . Daphne. ." a masculine voice called softly to her, trying to rouse her. Disoriented, it took her a body a few seconds to catch up. Her eyes shot open quickly, trying to take in her surroundings. "Qui êtes-vous ?" she screamed in an almost ear-shattering octave. She had no idea where she was or who she was with. Pushing away the men on her sides, she forced herself to sit up.

"Who are you?" she asked again, this time in English. "Where am I? What have you done?" She was frantic. The only time she ever saw men was when she was on a job. Had Etienne gotten to her somehow? What were the men expecting from her? Doing the only thing she knew, she grabbed one of the straps of her tank top and slid it down her shoulder. "Qu'aimez-vous?" she asked them collectively. Before she could slide the other strap down, a large hand landed on her shoulder.

"Arrêt."

[Daphne Frank]

"She's awake," Tristan heard someone shout in the other room, making him come running to her bedside. She was obviously surprised by the people around her; her eyes were wide in terror, and she was as white as a sheet. She kept asking frantically who they were and where she was. So, he did the only thing he could think of and placed his hand on her shoulder gently.

"Arrêt," he said softly. "Stop, my daughter. I know this must be terrifying, but you need to calm down until we can explain things to you." He could see the shock still in her eyes, but her mouth clamped shut as she stopped fighting back.

"I am your father, Daphne. I met your mother a long time ago, back before you were born. She was my lover and would have been my mate if she had not run off with you as soon as I became the alpha of my snow leopard pack. I only got to see you once before she took you."




Daphne could not fathom how to reply. Ever since she could remember, her mother told her that her father wanted nothing to do with her; that he was the one who sent them away because he didn't want a half-breed daughter. It was the reason she had ended up as bad off as she was.

Her mother was awful to her from the moment she could remember, making her do chores while her full-blooded siblings got to get away with everything. It was what pushed her out of the house and into something where she could make a little money for herself to stay fed.

"Wh. . what?" she stuttered out. "Mamman said you didn't want us." It was the only thing she could think to say. She was still so flabbergasted.

"Well, your mother lied to more than one of us," he said back. Walking around her, he sat down on the edge of her bed. "I'm going to protect you from now on, Daphne. I promise."