Page 119 of A Second Chance for the Beta

Liam’s eyes gloss over, and soon enough, one of our wolves steps forward and shifts. “Levi,” Liam tells him. “Now it’s time to show us what you’ve learned from the werecats. Take two or three trackers and analyze the traces here. We want to know how and where they came onto the pack and how many unknown men were involved. My brothers and my beta’s niece are involved; make sure to take this seriously.”

“Yes, Alpha!” Levi says promptly. There is a hint of anxiety in his eyes for getting such an important task, but he also looks eager and proud to prove himself.

“I will be following the traces to see where they lead,” Elden says.

Liam nods. “I will come with you.” He turns to me. “Dante, I need your analytical mind now.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“You need to return to the pack and analyze the video material. These guys came onto our pack grounds; we need to know why and how! We also need to know if it’s wolves or another species. Our security is tight; it should be impossible to sneak onto our pack just like that.”

“You think there is a spy in the pack?” Elden asks.

“That’s a possibility.”

“Do you think it could be Richie?” I ask. “He is the only outsider.”

“He is, but he also doesn’t leave his room unattended. Yet, before we involve him in reaching out to the wolves who hired Imogen, I want to be certain that he isn’t involved.”

Part of me would rather join Elden and Liam on their hunt, but at the same time, Liam is right. Analyzing and strategizing are my forte. Charlie benefits much more from me doing that instead of running around mindlessly.

“Silas is still here,” Liam says.

“Yeah, I was thinking about involving him. With his help, we can at least verify if it was the vampires.”

“You talked about the mercenaries being hired to find Ella,” Elden says. “Do you think this is connected?”

“Possibly. I think that whoever came was most likely after Charlie, and Felix and Dario just happened to be there,” Liam says. “We need to make sure first if the vampires are involved. If they aren’t, then it can only be the werewolves who hired Imogen. Levi and Dante will hopefully be able to verify that when they analyze what exactly went down in the pack. Anything else is just assumptions, but it’s likely that things are somewhat connected.”

“I agree,” Elden says with a frown. “If they are truly after Ella, it will be good for us. It will buy us time.”

“Let’s get going,” Liam says.

We divide our warriors and trackers accordingly. Levi takes a group and returns to the pack to analyze the traces there. Liam, Elden, and their team follow the traces from the cave further into the forest while another team starts strategically combing the area. Meanwhile I return to the pack to catch up with the IT security team and to meet Silas. I decide to involve my luna and Dave as well. Dave has good ideas and a more objective view on things sometimes, and Luna Annalise has excellent instincts.

*CHARLIE*

The time passes by in a blur. I can’t even properly remember what happened. I just remember someone knocking Felix out and threatening his life, making Dario and me follow them until we reach a jeep.

They tug me and Dario to the rear end of the car, where they seem to transport their cargo usually. “What are you doing with my brother!?” Dario yells.

“Shut up,” one of the men huffs and hits him with the back of his gun. Dario gapes, his head dropping backwards.

I want to yell and scream, but something holds me back. It’s like my mind kicks into emergency mode. This is like back in the days in that one foster home where the foster dad would harass some of us girls.

Stay quiet and hide.

Quiet and hide.

They tie us up and put a bag over our heads. It’s dark, so dark. I feel how someone lifts me up and tosses me onto the trunk of the jeep.

“Who are these boys? Can’t we just toss them aside somewhere?” one of the men mutters.

“No, they might find them. Let’s take them along for now and wait for what the alpha wants.”

They are not saying any more, but their previous words make the blood in my veins run cold. Toss them aside? Like… kill them? No way, I can’t allow this to happen. They are in this because of me!

I’m so scared, I don’t even dare to breathe. My heart feels like it’s going to jump out of my chest. Eventually, I feel a warm hand reaching out and finding mine. “It’s going to be alright,” Dario whispers, but there is a tremble in his voice, and he doesn’t sound too convincing.