Page 88 of A Female Alpha for the Lycan Prince

Elden shrugs and looks at me. “I don’t know. What are your thoughts?”

“I think someone is desperate enough to try,” I say. “When people have nothing to lose anymore, they are dangerous.” I pause, looking at Val’s father. “I won’t let anyone take her, Dan. I won’t rest until we find whoever is after her.”

He bows his head gratefully. “I know.”

We are still in the middle of discussing the different possibilities and speculating about what this group might want from Val when Marcel finally calls me. He comes to the point immediately. “Alpha,” he says. “We did everything you asked. Everyone returned home safely. I talked to the restaurant owner, thankfully he is one of us, and we also dealt with the dead rogues.” He pauses. “Elias wants to talk to you.”

Now it’s getting interesting. “Good job, Marcel,” I tell him before he can hand over his phone to Elias.

I wait a few seconds until I can hear Elias’ deep voice on the other side of the line. “Alpha, I searched the whole area. The rogues didn’t leave any traces, nor did the witches.”

“Do the rogues belong to any specific group?” I ask him, well aware that some rogues stick together and build their own little camps and packs.

“Possible, but I can’t say for sure. They had no tattoos to indicate any belonging to a group, although they were too well organized to be lone wolves.”

I sigh. “So, we have nothing?”

“I’m not sure… I might be imagining it…”

“What did you find?”

“It’s only been a faint scent, very faint,” he admits. “But when Marcel showed me where Beta Aryanna fought the witch, I thought I picked up a similar scent to the ones at the campfires. It could be a coincidence though.”

I frown, tilting my head slightly. Elias is one of the best trackers I’ve ever met. He is a very rational guy and would never be led by assumptions. If he says he was able to pick up a scent, I’m a solid 80% certain there is something about it.

“Thank you, Elias,” I praise him. “You and Marcel both did a great job tonight.”

“Thank you,” he stutters, suddenly sounding slightly embarrassed.

When I hang up again, I’m in deep thought. It’s has to be connected… everything that’s been happening lately is connected with each other. The campfires, the witch spying on Jazz and Val, and the attack today. I don’t have any proof beyond Val recognizing the second witch and Elias picking up a faint scent, but my gut feeling tells me it’s all connected for some reason. Just… why? We have been speculating about the whys, but we have no facts. We also don’t know who is behind the attack.

“What did you find out?” Elden wants to know.

I tell him briefly what Elias just told me. “Am I reading too much into this?” I want to know.

“No,” he says shortly. “Definitely not. I find it very concerning.”

“I need to talk to my allies and fellow alphas later,” I point out. “We need to be prepared in case a bigger attack is coming.”

Again, Elden nods his acknowledgment. “And you?” he looks at me thoughtfully.

“Well, I’m half-witch myself,” I say dryly. “But you knew that already.”

He chuckles under his breath.

Valerie’s parents, who have been listening in silence, now stare at me in surprise. I ignore their looks. “You stay with your daughter,” I tell them. “Harmony and I will go back to Moon Blood and tell everyone.”

“Tell them what?” Dan sounds nervous.

“The details about what happened tonight. And that their alpha is a hybrid,” I state dryly. “The pack needs to know.”

Dan nods at me encouragingly. “They might be surprised, but after it sinks in, they won’t mind,” he says.

“I hope so.”

“Alpha Celine,” Dan and his wife exchange a gaze. “Thank you. For everything you’re doing for Val. It means the world to us.”

“Dan,” I say earnestly. “Val is a pack member, and it goes without saying that we protect our pack.”