Page 118 of A Second Chance for the Beta

*DANTE*

LiamandEldenarealready waiting for me. A bit further away there is a group of warriors and trackers. Jun is here too.

Liam looks angry, while Elden looks more worried than upset.

“I can’t believe this happened,” Liam growls. “Felix and Dario were on my pack grounds. I apologize for not keeping them safe.”

Before Elden can say anything, I shake my head. “No,” I say quietly. “This is my fault. I should have watched Charlie. The boys just got dragged into it.”

“This doesn’t take us anywhere,” Elden interrupts us. “Not so long ago Annie was abducted off my pack grounds. I hate that my boys are in danger, but it wasn’t you who endangered them. I will get very mad if we don’t start looking ASAP.”

“One of the members of the IT team checked the security cameras, and it seems like four men were on pack grounds,” I say. “How were they even able to enter?”

“That’s a question we need to delay to later,” Liam says. “Dad is right. For now, we need to find Charlie and my brothers.”

“Whoever it was who chased and threatened them, I want their head,” Elden says, and his voice is darker than usual.

None of us wastes any time. Liam has us all shift before our main tracker takes the lead with us. Charlie’s and the twins’ scents start from different points, but they seem to have met in the middle of the forest, very close to where the IT team reported that the cameras recorded some unknown men. Their scents are not detectable, as these assholes probably masked themselves. There are traces around, though, and Liam sends a team to investigate where they came from.

It seems like the kids were able to run, their traces leading us away from the pack and towards a river where their scent and traces stop.

Fuck, they probably jumped into it. A smart move on one hand, because it diffused the scent for their attackers, but very dangerous too. Liam obviously thinks the same as he picks up his pace, chasing alongside the river and towards the waterfall.

They didn’t…

Goddess, I hope Charlie is well!

My head starts spinning again, making me imagine all kinds of outcomes, all of them ending with Charlie dying or being severely hurt.

Focus,Sylvan growls.We lost our first mate and child; we won’t let it happen a second time.

He is right. I try to channel my thoughts to something more positive, although it’s difficult. The group separates a bit, some of the trackers jumping to the other side of the river, while Liam, Elden, and I take some of the other warriors to find a way down to the lake the waterfall ends in. There are no traces of the kids anywhere on our side.

We would have felt if something happened,Liam links me.I… I would have felt the bond to my brothers being altered,he adds without verifying what exactly it means. I understand nevertheless, and his words put me slightly at ease.

Felix is an extraordinary swimmer, so hopefully he got Charlie through this safely. Elden… or rather his lycan, Regis, meanwhile runs around the lake, sniffing the ground everywhere, before he lets out a howl that makes us all rush towards him.

My heart skips a beat as I can feel Charlie’s scent filling my nostrils. There are traces on the ground. The three of them must have laid down here before moving on. Footsteps lead us further into the forest and towards a cave.

They were here!

But—

Elden shifts back to his human form, looking around with a frown. Liam and I follow suit. “They were clearly here,” I say.

“Yes, but there are more footsteps and traces,” Liam mutters.

“Could they have come and left?”

“They look too heavy for three teens,” Liam analyzes.

His words seem to flip a switch in my mind, and I find myself kneeling down, checking on the footprints. There are trackers who are better at this than I am, but it’s something I learned early in my work as a beta.

“What do you think?” Elden asks me.

“You are both right; it’s not only them. There are different profiles here. I want someone to analyze these closer, but it looks like three teens entered, then three men. Five footsteps lead outside again, meaning one of the kids was carried.”

“What do they want from them?” Elden asks, his eyes turning black in anger. He is so much in control now, almost a bit too much. I wonder what he will do once he finds the person who abducted his sons.