Page 111 of A Female Alpha for the Lycan Prince

Eric frowns. “I… no,” he mutters. “It’s just…”

“What?” Elden looks at him too now.

“Nothing. Let’s just find her fast.” Eric hands the sweater back to Jazz.

With Jade and Desmona attempting to reveal the entrance to the castle, the rest of us can only wait, so we work through various attack and rescue strategies. There will be a witch waiting for us, for sure. But what else, and who else? Eventually, Harmony returns from the city. She found an old historian and archivist, who told her that the photo could be around five to eight years old. Seeing as it’s a relatively recent photograph, she passed the info on to Elias and Garret, who are heading to a newspaper archive anyway to do further research on the people in the photo.

“Maybe she’s the one he wants to save?” Elden mutters. “The love for our mate will push us to our limits, but the love for a child might make us go even further.”

“What are you thinking?” Eric asks.

“That he’s desperate and hopefully, Valerie will play her cards right. She needs them to believe that she’s useful to them,” Elden points out.

Eric looks really worried. “We shouldn’t be just standing around. Isn’t there anything we can do?”

Not really, I want to say, but my phone rings, cutting me off. It’s Garret’s ID, so I answer it without delay. He talks fast, filling me in on what they’ve discovered. They found a very similar photo to this one in the archives with the photographer’s name on it. According to Garret, it’s a strange old man, a human, who lives alone on the outskirts of town. He and Elias went to see him, but he refuses to talk. “What’s his name?” I ask.

“Evans,” Garret answers, sounding annoyed. “Frank Evans.”

“Goddess,” I sigh. “Mr. Evans? Exactly what I don’t need after an exhausting day.”

“You know him, Alpha?” Garret asks, surprised.

“I wouldn’t say I know him, but he’s… infamous,” I explain.

“Really?” Garret sounds surprised. “What for?”

“For being a disgusting creep,” I point out. Mr. Evans has always been a creep, and a jerk… and a major womanizer. He isn’t just a photographer, but he also owns one of the bars in town. A few years ago, I went there with a date… and then never again. Later, I found out that a lot of women have had similar encounters with him.

He’s gross.

I contemplate my options. Jade and her group are trying to find the entrance to the mountain, but she said it will take hours. It’s still early afternoon, and I don’t want to sit by and do nothing. I strongly believe that knowledge is power, and the more we know about the man behind Val’s abduction, the better.

“I’ll be there in half an hour,” I tell Garret. “Just make sure Evans doesn’t leave.”

“Of course, Alpha! We’ll be expecting you.”

Once I’ve hung up, I repeat what Garret told me to the others, then I look at Harmony. “They clearly need more girl power,” I say in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Oh,” she raises her brow. “Do they?” She smirks. “So, it’s the two of us against Evans?”

“You think we can win against him?” I grin.

“With the right weapons, we can,” she wiggles her brows.

“You have five minutes to prepare your weapons,” I tell her. “We’ll meet back here.”

We ignore the confused looks of the guys and hurry to get dressed. I throw on a light blue sheath dress, making me look like the most clichéd secretary ever. And Harmony wears a tight, thigh-high pencil skirt, a white blouse, and fake glasses. On our return, the others look at us like we’ve lost our minds.

“Do we need to practice?” I ask Harmony.

Harmony looks at me. “Oh, Celine, darling,” she giggles and beams at me. “Let’s just go with the flow.”

“Harmy,” I say, brushing through my hair and flashing her a shy smile. “You’re my best friend. No man will ever come between us.”

Harmony clings to my arm. “Aw, I love you too, Ceci.”

At that nickname, I almost snort.