Chapter 23

I sat in my office and ran a hand tiredly through my hair. How had I been searching for days and finding absolutely nothing in regard to this monster? There was nothing on how it got through, no noticeable scent to track, no ideas on where even to look. There was nothing in any book. There was no information from any of my stronger alliances. I was coming up completely empty no matter what avenue I tried, and it was beyond frustrating.

There was a loud knock on my office door, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Come in.” I called out, knowing full well that it was my Beta at the door.

“This is some crazy shit.” Leon announced as he walked in, slamming the door behind him and plopping into the chair on the other side of my desk.

“You’ve found nothing either?” I asked tiredly. This whole thing had me feeling worn and old.

“Nope. Not a single thing. Why don’t we go back to our original plan? Go back to the Red Blood pack. They are definitely hiding stuff.”

“No,” I said firmly. “That monster was no coincidence. Maybe it was them, trying to see if they could breach our borders. Maybe it was a way to draw us out of our territory in search of answers. I have no idea the actual point of what happened. But I have an increasing suspicion that it involves Grace. What they want with her, I have no idea, but it’s not a coincidence that she comes to us and within a couple weeks, a random monster shows up. I cannot leave her right now without the utmost protection. And part of that secure protection is me.”

“So, what is the plan, Alpha?” Leon asked, knowing I was rarely wrong about these things.

“I need you to find that stupid witch. Or any witch to start. It's rarely a good thing when witches are involved. Meeting with Sandra gave us a few places to start, but it also left us with more questions than answers. There is little we can do until we find more answers. So, whatever we have to do, acquire me a freaking witch.”

Leon nodded. We both understood the severity of the situation. If we didn’t get some answers soon, our pack would stay vulnerable, and as the King pack, vulnerability was not an option.

Leon stood up mumbling something about he had to go make a phone call, and I took the time to just breathe for a second. I knew the more I tried to force answers, the less likely they were to come.

I looked out the window when I heard kids' laughter. To my surprise Grace was standing in a wildflower field. There were 3 or 4 kids near her, and I was surprised to see how much she was seemingly enjoying herself. The kids were picking flowers and putting them on her head as they all frolicked around the field. It was sweet. They then started playing a game and they started moving toward the forest.

I immediately panicked. I stood up from my desk, and raced to the back door as my wolf just told me to, “Go, go, go!” I needed to get to her before something bad happened. I needed to warn her not to far. And her being out of my sight for even 10 seconds felt like too much time.

I would have completely blown by Sawyer if he didn’t reach out and grab my shirt forcing me back.

“Let go.” I growled at him.

“No.” He responded with a trace of laughter in his voice.

“Sawyer, I’m not kidding. I have to get to-”

“Grace?” He finished my sentence for me.

“Yes.” I bit out.

“Yea, I know, and I’m telling you as your brother, no you are not going to Grace right this second. She is having fun for probably the first time in her life, and you are not going to march over there and ruin it for her.” Sawyer answered calmly, making me freeze.

“She’s too close to the forest.” I tried. “And what if she gets hurt?”

“This is good for her.” Sawyer answered letting go of my shirt. “She is just playing with some kids and by the looks of it, it’s tag. You are overreacting by a mile. We played way worse games than that growing up.” He teased.

I had no argument for him. He was right, but the idea of something happening to hurt incited a panic in me like nothing else ever had.

“And I’m not an idiot,” Sawyer continued when he realized I wasn’t going to say anything. “I was keeping an eye on things. She told me she had never been outside alone, bro. As her doctor, it’s good for her to try things outside her comfort zone.”

She had never been outside alone before? My heart clenched a little, but I watched her play with the kids for a while. She was running when she caught sight of me, and she immediately stopped.

“It’s time to get ready for dinner.” I told her, trying to keep my voice even, despite my nerves. She nodded at me, but the solemn expression she often wore returned to her face and I hated it.

We walked back to our room in silence, but as soon as the bedroom door closed behind us, she was immediately scribbling on her chalkboard.

“I’m sorry. I was not running away. I was playing.” She wrote. It was one of the clearest sentences she had ever written, taking me by surprise. I hadn’t talked to her much in the last couple of days, but it was clear she had been working.

“I’m not mad. I just worry about you.” I told her gently, pushing a strand of hair out of her face that had fallen out of her ponytail. “I couldn’t stand it if you got hurt.”

“I wanted to try outside.” She wrote. “I’m okay.”

I nodded at her and cupped her face. I couldn’t control how protective I was becoming over her, or how much I really wanted to lean down and kiss her lips in this moment. My wolf wasn’t helping. He wanted her as much as I did these days. But I knew we couldn’t do that right now. I wouldn’t risk her, even if it was increasingly hard to keep my hands to myself. My wolf agreeing with me, suggested that we should just kill the one who marked her, so we could claim her for ourselves, and I couldn’t help but think that wasn’t a half bad plan. The only problem was, who was he officially?