Page 131 of A Second Chance for the Beta

He nods in relief. “Alpha…” he starts nervously. “Is Charlie okay?” he asks. “You will find her, won’t you?”

“We won’t rest until we have found her,” Liam says before he sends Ty away for real. Silence engulfs us before I sigh.

“Wow,” I mutter. “Well, at least we won’t waste any more time looking for how they came onto pack grounds. Who would have thought they just spied on the kids?”

“It’s good to know that we don’t have a traitor,” Liam says, shaking his head. “But these kids…” He sighs. “We will deal with that later. But now that we know there is most likely no traitor in our pack, we can risk it to ask Julianus and Richard to get into action.”

The door opens slightly, making me turn around to look at it. Liam’s father steps inside. “Did you hear what happened?” Liam asks him.

“Annie filled me in,” he says. “I just talked to your mother,” he continues. “She is coming. And she is ready to take some heads.”

“Isn’t she scared about having to follow therules, as she calls it, and not intervene with fate?” Liam wants to know.

“She said that when it’s about her family she doesn’t give a shit about the rules,” Elden says. “And I agree. My gift doesn’t work on family, but part of hers always works. She is just trying to keep the balance. However, I don’t want her to feel any repercussions for using her power. So, I’ll give your plan a chance,” he says. “But if it’s not working, I won’t take any risks.”

“Fair enough,” Liam says. Before we can discuss anything further, Ella knocks at the door. I know it instantly when I see her, by the dangerous glint in her eyes.

Something happened.

She is holding a sheet of paper in her hand. “This was sent to me via email without a sender. I briefly contacted Dalila, but she told me it can’t be tracked.”

“Is this a message from the kidnappers?” I ask, hurrying to her side.

“Yes.” her lips curl into a dangerous sneer. “They want me in exchange for Charlie. Finally.”

“We can use this to our advantage,” Elden says.

“Yes.” Liam straightens his back, his eyes glossing over. “And this will be the perfect opportunity for Julianus and Richard to do something too. I told a guard to bring them to us. Ella was last seen at Aloysius’s castle and with Julianus. We’ll make it look like Julianus and Richard are working together… and have Ella.”

“I’m ready, but I want us to act tonight,” Ella says.

“I agree,” Elden says, furrowing his brows. “While I don’t think rash decisions take us anywhere, I think in this case we need to act fast. The fact that someone came onto pack grounds to snatch away a minor shows how desperate they are, and I don’t want to take any risks.” He pauses. “Did you find the necklace, Ella?”

“Yes,” she says, pulling it out of her pocket. Seeing it now close up makes curiosity fill me. That’s the item they want… but why?

forty-two

Show Time

*ELLA*

Richardtakesafewdeep breaths while looking at the phone in his hands. Next to him is Livia, her hand on his arm in a gesture of support. I’m not sure if she is aware of how she leans towards him, but one thing is for sure: this boy is certainly not heartbroken anymore. I think he probably can’t even remember Imogen’s name.

The mate bond is truly magical… in a weird and slightly scary way.

I don’t care how Richard finds his courage; he just needs to find it. In front of the others, I try to remain calm and collected, but I’m so scared for my girl. Elden isn’t coping much better. I briefly saw him without the others, and there was a whole storm in his eyes, his veins almost popping out in fury for someone having abducted his sons.

Like me, he is just trying to remain level-headed to find them. An alpha must always remain collected, so should a beta.

“You can do it,” Livia reassures Richard once again. “I believe in you.”

“Really?” he asks.

She reaches out her hand to squeeze his arm. We have filled him and Julianus in on what we expect from them. Both men are up for the task. It seems Richard is eager to prove himself as a good person, while Julianus wants to make amends… for whatever reason. It’s not the worst possible combination.

In the letter to me is a contact number. We make sure to contact them through a burner phone. Meanwhile, Annie and Dave did my makeup, making me look like I’d been through hell. A believable victim, hopefully.

Imogen’s contact man on the werewolf side goes by the name of Dylan, probably a fake name, but Richie has met him once. It has to be enough. Once he and Julianus are ready, everyone leaves the room, minus me, in case they need me to yell, beg, or sob. Alpha Elden has my necklace and is trying to open it. If it were up to me, I would have probably just broken it. It might be an heirloom, but Charlie is so much more important.