Chapter 140

Alaric’s POV

Now that I know the scent to search for, I patrol with a fresh enthusiasm. Pushing back my mental and physical fatigue, I send the photo to everyone on my security team, as well as Cara’s brothers, Noel, and Cara herself.

They should all know who we are dealing with. I also let them know that where George is, Lilia is likely to be as well. The two were exiled together, after all, and George seemed stuck on Lilia at the time. Lilia might have been indifferent in the moment, but in the struggle of being exiled, I’m willing to bet that she came to depend on him.

This would track with the rest of her behavior up until this moment, and might explain why she’s been in contact with some of the DuskWood’s elders. She and George could have been plotting this together for some time.

It’s been five years since I’ve last scented George or Lilia, but as my former Gamma and my former fiancé respectively, I am very familiar with their scents, even after all this time.

With the image sent, I set aside my phone and shifting, I continue my search. By now, I’ve gone up and down these streets a thousand times searching for Mia. Now, I search for George and Lilia too.

I stay out all night, pushing my body past the point of exhaustion. I can’t give up. I will never give up.

Yet, by morning, I have patrolled all the way to the edge of the forest and still have not – wait.

I lean down at scent gently at the dirt. I sense a familiar scent.

Is it George? Lilia?

I try to remember. It’s familiar though, and unsettling.

I need to follow it. This could be it! The scent that I’ve been searching for.

Throwing my head back, I let out a howl of victory. Then, in a rush, I race into the forest, allowing my nose and my wolf to lead me. We need to follow the scent. Find Mia. Save her. Hurt the ones who hurt her.

I totally pass over my instincts to my wolf, allowing him to lead the search. I feel his desperation alongside my own, matching it, as we search ever forward.

He move deeper into the forest, all the way to a winding brook. It’s there I lost track of the scent. It disappears, swept away by the water.

I search to one end of the brook and then the other, but I cannot track the scent anymore. It must still be here, surely. Somewhere! It’s not like the scent just up and disappeared.

Yet, despite my best efforts. Despite searching all around, I cannot find the scent path again.

I’ve lost it.

I’ve lost the scent.

I’ve lost Mia.

I throw my head back again and howl once more, this time with grief and fury.

I’m filled with frustration, and with nowhere to vent my rage, I take it back to the elders.

They are two towns over, in a much bigger city. I run the whole way there in wolf form, pushing my body hard.

Discovering that George and Lilia are likely responsible has been a massive step forward, but it’s not the only step. I need to know the truth. I need to hear it from the source. I need these bastards to look me in the eye and tell me what they know.

Perhaps they need reminded of what’s on the line. Who is on the line.

Little Mia. So young and innocent. A pup who has never hurt anyone.

No more games. No more deceit.

I want the truth, and I will have it now or I will burn the whole thing down. I care about my pack, of course I do, but this is my family that they are messing with. To save Mia, I will turn the whole hierarchy in turmoil.

The elders are a tradition carried down through the generations only out of respect. They have no real authority. It’s only by my kindness do they continue to have respect in the pack at all.

If I shared what they were doing, secretly harboring an exiled wolf – what would the pack have to say about that?

Especially if that secret aided in the kidnapping of my daughter?

By the time I reach the headquarters where the elders take residence, I’ve built up a bit of a fury inside of myself. It doesn’t allow for me to do things the socially acceptable way.

Instead, I burst into the conference room where the elders are socializing, sharing donuts and coffee for breakfast.

I open the door so hard, it rips off of its hinges and smashes into the wall.

All of the elders stop, some midsentence, others with their donut or coffee lifted to their lips. They all turn to look right at me.

“Alpha King?”

“Tell me everything you know about our ex Gamma George and Lilia,” I demand, a growl hiding under my voice.

A few of the elders glance at each other. The one who is their unelected leader takes a step forward, away from the rest.

“Let’s calm down, Alaric. Let’s talk about this with the kind of dignity and respect that we all deserve.”

“To hell with you dignity,” I snap. “To hell with decorum. I have reason to believe that this pair has kidnapped my daughter, and is hiding her somewhere on pack lands. You all know something, and aren’t tell me.”

A younger elder steps forward. “What makes you think we know anything about –”

I snarl so loudly that he falls quiet and steps back into the pack, looking like he wants to disappear in the face of my rage.

The head elder steps to the side, blocking my direct line of sight to the younger man.

“Alaric,” the head elder says. “You have come in here hot with anger, ready to throw baseless accusations around.

“Baseless?” I scoff. I don’t want to call out the elder who tipped me into the secret the others have been keeping, so I don’t mention the note.

Instead, I try to focus on appealing to the basic decency these men must have. I don’t believe that they are bad people, even if they are currently doing back things. They must have good intentions for wanting to keep what they know about George and Lilia a secret.

Maybe they don’t believe me that the pair might be to blame for the attacks on Cara, or the disappearance of my daughter. It’s only that hope in their decency that keeps me from getting the answers I need with my claws and teeth more than with words.

Still, a low growl escapes me. I hope they can appreciate how much I am holding back for their sake.

“Do I need to remind you that my daughter’s life could be on the line?” I ask. “A little girl has been kidnapped, and every moment you lie to my face and deny me the truth of what you know, she is in a more perilous circumstance. We can argue social norms and decorum later. Right now, I only care about my pup.”

Some of the elders are close to breaking. I can see it in their faces.

The head elder holds his tongue. One of the others though, a man as old as the head elder, but perhaps more compassionate, steps forward.

“If she’s is innocent, then she is innocent,” the man says, when the head elder glares at him. “But for the sake of the kidnapped girl, we should not be trapped in our own hubris. We need to be sure.”

To me, he says, “We’ve granted Lilia permission to return to pack lands, though we have kept that decision secret from you and the rest of the pack.”