Page 115 of A Second Chance for the Beta

It’s only then that I notice that Dario is clasping his arm to his chest. “Hit it against a rock, but it’s nothing major.”

Felix stays silent at his words, but the worry doesn’t leave his eyes.

“And now?” I mutter.

“We need to hide somewhere,” Dario says.

“At least this should have diffused our trail and scent,” Felix says with a smile.

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Dario says. “Momentarily it worked, but if they have a skilled tracker with them, they will find us eventually.”

“What do you suggest?” Felix asks.

“Finding a place to hide and trying to get back to pack grounds,” Dario says. “But I have no idea where we are. I don’t know this area.”

“How about you?” Felix asks me.

“I do know that we should be west from the pack grounds,” I say. “I know the river and waterfall. Ella took me here to show me. But I’m not acquainted with the whole area,” I admit.

“Right, you haven’t been living here for long,” Felix says. “Then let’s hide for now,” he suggests. “Dario has hurt his arm, and we need to treat it. Frankly… I think we all need that break.”

“I bet I’ll be black and blue tomorrow,” I mutter.

“I wish we could call someone,” Dario says. “But I don’t have my phone with me. Well, I’m not sure if it would have survived the waterfall anyway.”

“Mine would. But I can’t believe it,” Felix groans. “The one time in my life that I’m without my phone, I need it. It’s just comfortably resting in a beautiful guest room in Red Claw.”

“Well, we can’t help that now,” Dario says while carefully getting up. “Come, it’s better to find a place to hide.”

*DANTE*

By now it’s clear neither the twins nor Charlie are anywhere around. Liam has a team of trackers comb the whole pack grounds searching for them. Part of me hopes they are just off to do some silly teenager stuff and snuck off… or pull some stupid prank, but deep in my heart, I feel something is off.

I know Charlie had those moments where she just felt like she had to run off to deal with her pain, but I doubt that is the case now.

She is too worried for Ella; she wants her to come back. There is no way she would run away now. And even if she wanted to do that, I doubt that Felix and Dario would have just let her. At best, I could see them accompanying her, but for sure they would have called by now.

Fuck, this is all my fault.

Ella is off to save the world, and I just had the one task to keep Charlie safe… on pack grounds, and I failed miserably. And now I need to tell her.

I let Dalila make a safe connection to her and video call her. Ella is happy to see me first, her eyes lighting up, that is until she sees my expression.

“What happened?” she asks, sitting up. She is lying on her bed, but now she grabs her notebook and sits up, pacing around. I can see Ari in the background and… a young vampire with her. “D, what happened? Goddess, it’s Charlie, isn’t it?”

“I’m so sorry,” I say. “It’s all my fault.” I just blurt it all out, telling her what happened, how it’s my fault, and how I know I let her and Charlie down.

“Dante,” Ella interrupts me. “I need you to calm down now! Nefeli and I are not there to kick you to knock your senses back into you. So, I need you to calm yourself down! Charlie is with the twins; I’m certain she is. This is not your fault. Now I need you to keep it together to find her! I will make sure to cut my visit here short too. Charlie needs me, and I’m so utterly useless here. I didn’t achieve anything. She needed me and I wasn’t there. If anything it’s my fault.”

“You shouldn’t do anything hasty either,” I tell her. “And it’s not your fault either. It’s not true that you didn’t achieve anything. You are with the vampires to protect Charlie’s future. Now you need to make sure that Aloysius believes the content of the letter.”

“Maybe I can help.” I can hear a quiet voice behind Ella. It’s a male voice. Maybe the vampire who talked to Ari?

“Dante.” Ella turns her attention to me. “I will hang up now. Please do everything in your power to look for Charlie. I will do everything I can on my end here and try to meet you as fast as possible.”

“Stay safe,” I say. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”