Page 77 of His Fated Luna

The investigator tapped his notebook, not hiding his impatience. “Is there anything else you can add to this? Anything unique?”

“He was bigger than any other wolf I’ve seen,” I blurted out. “I’ve seen Dad, Aiden, and Auntie Hilda in wolf form. I’ve even run around with Auntie Hilda and Dad in the woods. This one was big. And… fast. Really fast,” I finished.

“Well, if he was bigger than an alpha, that rules out beta, gamma, or omega,” the investigator said, sounding satisfied. “I think we can safely say your kidnapper was either an alpha—or a rogue alpha.”

“Hey!” Aiden looked offended. “I’m pretty big! Even for a young alpha.”

“For the investigation, would you mind changing into your wolf form?” the investigator asked politely.

Aiden didn’t hesitate. He turned on the spot, clothes shredding off as his body shifted.

I couldn’t take my eyes off him. That brief flash of pain across his face—it stunned me. I’d never really considered how much it must hurt to change. But now, with my own turn approaching, I felt a surge of fear. Snapping bones. Torn skin. How did they handle it?

His wolf looked at me with such intelligent eyes that I instinctively reached out a hand. He came over obediently, and I scratched behind his ears.

“Are you sure your abductor was bigger than this wolf?” the investigator asked.

I hesitated. Seeing Aiden in his wolf form again made me second guess everything. Maybe I’d just been scared. Maybe the shock of a wolf lunging at me made him seem bigger than he really was.

“I’m second guessing myself,” I admitted, and Aiden licked the palm of my hand as if to comfort me. “But in that moment, when he lunged, he looked like the biggest wolf I’d ever seen.”

“But it’s possible you could be wrong?” the investigator pressed.

I shrugged.

“I don’t know… but the wolf was definitely bigger than my father and aunt. This is only the second time I’ve seen our alpha’s wolf,” I admitted.

Aiden nuzzled his nose against my palm before leaning forward to lick the inside of my wrist.

“He seems to be rather fond of you.” The investigator observed this with a small gleam of understanding in his eyes.

I shrugged my shoulders helplessly.

The older man, charged with getting to the bottom of my kidnapping, looked at me solemnly.

“I only have one last question. Can you tell me where you went to get your tires checked? We had no idea you hadn’t gone straight to school. At the beginning of your story, you said you were surprised over the flat tire because earlier in the day you had checked your tires?”

I nodded and Aiden stilled next to me, listening intently.

“It was at the local tire shop. I always stop there every two weeks to get my tires checked out,” I supplied.

“So you would say this is a fairly regular part of your routine?” The investigator tapped his ballpoint bent against his notepad as he waited for my answer.

I nodded slowly, a little uncertain. Where was he going with this?

“So regular that maybe someone that’s been following you from...let’s assume January to…up until now, we’re in the month of May, would be able to guess that you were going to stop there,” the investigator pushed.

“What are you trying to say?” I choked out, feeling as if all the air had been squeezed out of my lungs. Had someone really been following me?

Aiden’s wolf stilled next to me, tension rippling off of him in waves.

“I’m saying that we’ve viewed the university CCTV footage of your car. There is no indication someone tampered with the car there. However, the tire valve was purposefully damaged in such a way to let air leak out slowly. This was planned. Someone knew your schedule and timings. They knew how long it would take you in class and at what precise moment the air would decrease enough in the tire to make you stop on that road. It’s a long road. They had a fifteen-minute window to grab you. You say you noticed the car shaking a few minutes after turning onto the road, so it was timed perfectly. They just had to keep an eye out for when you’d stop your car.”

“So if I had stayed on campus instead of going home, or if I’d left campus a little bit earlier, this wouldn’t have happened,” I said dejectedly.

“What happened is not your fault,” the investigator said kindly. “And whoever this person is would have kept trying. There was a huge margin of error. Your professor might have held you up after class. There could have been an event going on that prevented you from leaving. But a tampered valve is inconspicuous enough that this person would probably try again a few weeks later if the first time wasn’t successful.” He shared a glance with Dad. “We all know the circumstances involving your kidnapping.” The investigator glanced at Aiden’s wolf now. “I think right now, the best thing you can do is not be alone. We are doing our best to find the people behind this.”

With that, he exited the house, bidding his farewells.