Page 33 of Stalked By the Alphas
32
CARTER
A dull throbbing in my head pulls me from unconsciousness. I groan, blinking against the harsh sunlight. What happened? The last thing I remember is hearing a noise in the backyard and going to investigate.
Suddenly, it all comes rushing back. The masked magician. The knife... Groaning, I place my hand on my abdomen and grunt. Pulling my hand back, it’s sticky with blood.
“You absolute fucker,” I spit out, sitting up, ignoring the blinding pain of the stab wound and massive bump on my head. Whoever that masked magician fucker was, he was strong. An incredibly strong prime alpha who took me completely by surprise.
Hazel!
I spin towards the open back door, ignoring the wave of dizziness that threatens to send me back to the ground .
“No, no, no,” I mutter, staggering into the kitchen. How did this happen?
“Hazel!” I rush back into the house, calling Hazel’s name. But I already know it’s futile. They’re long gone.
Cursing, I grab my phone with my blood-sticky hand and dial Noah’s number. He picks up on the second ring.
“What do you want?”
I ignore the acerbic attitude, which I fully deserve, even more so now. “He took her,” I choke out. “The masked magician. He came here and took Hazel.”
There’s a sharp intake of breath on the other end. “What? How? When?”
“I don’t know,” I say, running a hand through my hair. “I heard a noise outside, and when I went to check, he ambushed me, stabbed me and knocked me out. He took Hazel.”
“Fuck,” Noah spits out. “She could be anywhere by now!”
“I know, I know,” I say, feeling guilt and a white-hot rage descend on me. “Who is this fucking masked magician? Call Leah back, and don’t stop calling until she gives you a fucking answer.”
Noah is quiet for a moment, and I can practically hear the gears turning in his head. “Okay. I’ll call Zach. Don’t do anything stupid until we get there.”
The line goes dead before I can respond. I slump against the counter, my head spinning. How could I have let this happen? I was supposed to protect her, keep her safe. Instead, I led her right into danger .
Picking up a tea towel, I try to stem the bleeding from my wound. I head upstairs to search for any clues this fucker might have left behind. But there’s nothing. There is no trace of Hazel or her abductor. It doesn’t even look like she was taken forcibly from the bedroom. Does this mean she came downstairs on her own?
Moving to the bathroom to wash my hands and examine the stab wound, I discover it’s not as bad as I first thought. That means the alpha who came for Hazel wasn’t out to kill me, only incapacitate me. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Well, for him, it’s a stupid thing. He should’ve fucking killed me because now I’m going to make him pay with every last drop of blood he has.
Noah and Zach burst through the front door minutes later as I am walking heavily down the stairs.
“Jesus Christ,” Zach mutters when he sees me. “What the hell happened?”
I recount the events again, feeling more useless with each word. Noah’s expression grows darker as I speak. He is going into the cold, clinical mode, and it’s good. We need it. I’m too fucking furious to think straight, and Zach... I glance at my packmate with a sigh. He is rocking in a corner, crouched down, hands over his ears as he goes into a total meltdown. Part of me wants to comfort him, but we don’t have time for that right now. Every second counts if we want to find Hazel.
Noah seems to be thinking the same thing. Even as he presses redial on his phone, he crouches down next to Zach, his voice low and firm. “Zach, I need you to pull it together. Hazel needs us. Can you do that?”
Zach nods jerkily, taking a deep breath as he looks up at Noah. His eyes are wild and unfocused, and I don’t think he recognises who we are or where he is.
Noah stands, his expression grim as the phone cuts out again. He redials methodically, not getting angry or frustrated. Just going through the motions. “Do you know if he was on foot or in a car?” he asks, even though it’s clear he doesn’t expect me to know.
I don’t.
“He came around the back. How? From which way? I don’t know.”
He nods and dials again. The incessant ringing of the phone over the speaker is driving Zach into a further frenzy. He rocks back and forth, hands clamped over his ears, muttering incoherently.
“Zach,” I say sharply, crouching down in front of him despite the pain in my side. “Zach, look at me.”
His wild eyes meet mine, unfocused and panicked.
“We need you,” I say firmly. “Hazel needs you. I know you’re scared for her; we all are, but we have to pull it together. Can you do that?”
Something in my tone seems to reach him. He takes a shuddering breath, nodding slowly.
“Good,” I say, squeezing his shoulder. I turn back to Noah, who’s still trying to reach Leah. “Anything?” I ask, though I already know the answer.
Noah shakes his head, frustration finally cracking through his calm facade. “Nothing. It just keeps ringing out.”
I curse under my breath, running a hand through my hair. “We need to do something. We can’t just sit here while that psycho has Hazel.”
“You try from your phone. Maybe she will pick up.”
I nod and grab my phone out of my pocket. Noah reads out the number as I dial it, the ringing tone agitating me almost as much as it’s getting to Zach.
“H-hello?” Leah’s weak voice filters down the phone.
I exchange a look with Noah and move away. “Leah, it’s Carter Richmond. Do you remember me?”
“Yes, of course,” she says quietly.
“Good. Leah, I know this is difficult for you, but we know you know who that masked magician is that was at your party... don’t hang up! Please, Leah, he has Hazel. He took her a few minutes ago.”
“Wh-what?” she stammers. “What? No-no-no-no.”
“Who is it, Leah? We really need to know so we can find Hazel before he hurts her again.”
“Again...”
“Yes, again. He hurt her that day at your party. Do you remember when she was hiding in the cupboard?”
“I remember. She was scared.”
“She was. But the magician hurt her, Leah. We can’t let that happen again. If you know something, anything , please tell us.”
“I—I can’t. He will hurt me. ”
I exchange another look with Noah. “He will hurt Hazel if he hasn’t already, Leah. He has her.”
“Try the Old School House in Westmoor,” she whispers so quietly that I barely hear her, and then she hangs up.
“Move out,” I say to Noah, who gives me a solid nod and hauls Zach to his feet. Westmoor is over an hour’s drive away. We don’t know how much of a head start this arsehole has. I couldn’t have been out for more than half an hour, but truth be told, I don’t know.
“We need supplies,” Noah says. “Is that stuff still downstairs?”
Grimly, I nod. By stuff, he means the power tools.
Bundling a shattered Zach into the car he and Noah arrived in, I slide into the driver’s seat, grunting as the stab wound flares up in pain. But I push it aside. I inhale once and exhale slowly, burying every slice of emotion and feeling into a box to deal with after I’ve removed every inch of skin from this fucker’s body.