The Wolf and His Queen

Chapter 8: The Search Begins

Derek's POV:

I was indeed getting overly frustrated with all of this as I was really worried at the fact that she had been missing all day and so far there had been no clues and no apparent trails to follow. After everything we did, we did not even come up with a single lead. I could not understand how her scent could just vanish without a single trace like that. The only other scent that I noticed did not belong to anyone that I knew of. That was the scent that I discovered when I was back in the hall right outside the room in which she was staying. That scent was one that I had never been around there before, so I could not understand how a complete stranger managed to get in there, take down one of the best guards that I had on my security detail, and vanish without a single trace! I was getting overly frustrated with this indeed.

I could not understand how all this could have taken place right under our noses unless they had help from the inside. And yet, if that was the case, I had scoped this place out beforehand and everything had checked out, so none of that made any sense to me as I went over it over and over in my head. I continued to go through my thoughts as I thought about all of this. Where could I have gone wrong? What else was I missing? There had to be a leader, but where were we going to find it as so much time had passed us by already? I needed a positive note after all of this as I was getting nowhere.

I tried to take a moment as I slowly sipped a cup of coffee as I sat at the kitchen table behind the servant's quarters. As I sat there, I continued to ponder the what if's, as I tried to run over the events of today in my head one more time. I hoped that I may have missed something in the hundred times that I had already gone over this already. This cup of coffee was a poor attempt on my part to keep me in the here and now, as I could not help the constant flow of thoughts and questions that entered my head. Did I somehow fail her as I had failed her parents before her?

Who could have done this? What did they hope to gain by what they achieved today? It also made me wonder if it, even in the slightest, had anything to do with the sudden death of her parents, which took place not even a month ago. The events that surrounded her parents' death were still bizarre to me. As not many details came about that whole thing. I was not the one who was guarding her parents on their last trip to a nearby kingdom, and it was not the one that we were visiting either. They were supposed to have been going on a simple peacekeeping mission to help strengthen their alliance with that particular kingdom from a possible invasion.

If only I had been there with them, things might have turned out a bit differently. They were supposed to be escorted by a family friend and it was not supposed to be dangerous of any sort, so I did not see an issue with that. This is what I was told by the king himself. So why should I have been worried? The king himself is the one who told me that I could stay behind as he had someone else, this family friend, there for guidance and protection. Was I wrong about trusting my king when he told me to stay and not go along with him and our queen on a very simple trip? I beat myself up so many times in this very instance.

Back then, when I received word about this, I was taken by complete surprise when word finally got back to me that both the king and queen had been killed on their journey. This happened just before they had arrived at their destination. The information that I had received about this was that there was trouble on the road. I was not provided with many details as most of the travel party who went were either killed or captured, and the ones responsible were never found. I did not know what to think further as I did not have many details to go off of. Even sending out my own group of men to bring back information proved to be in vain.

I then tried to bring myself back to the current issue at hand. I tried to think about how the previous situation could have somehow been connected to the current situation at hand or whether it was a separate issue entirely. Whoever they were or whatever their reasons for doing this, I was going to make sure that they would pay for it. I was damned sure that they would pay and nothing was going to stop me from making that come true. I was so consumed by my own thoughts just then, that I did not notice my second-in-command enter the room from behind me. He attempted to clear his throat at first in an attempt to gain my attention, but I was not aware of his presence until he finally spoke.

“Alpha,” Denton stated as he walked into the room. “There is some information that I think you will want to know about.”

“What is it?” I stated in a startled tone, as I turned around to face him, trying to compose my previous state of shock.

“There were some tracks that were found just outside of our search area that were overlooked,” he said in his response.

Did I hear him right? Did I think I had somehow overlooked it? How could that possibly be? I knew each and every one of the men in the search party, or at least I knew them. We have added a few members here very recently and some not so recently. They had all checked out with an extensive background and with their family references and examples, it was quite an extensive security process, so who would it be, I wondered. I could not see any of them doing this unless their files were padded, but even that was hard to ponder. I could not figure out who had such a grudge against us to make all of this come to pass. So, unless they have turned against me, there will be a lot of unanswered questions.

“Who is the one responsible for the search area that was apparently overlooked?” I asked in a sharp tone.

I really wanted to know who was responsible for ensuring that our search ended up empty-handed. Denton lowered his gaze at my question and he looked down at his feet. He took a moment before he then peered back up at me again. He took a deep breath before he spoke. He seemed shocked to say it, as if it could not be true, but believed that it was just the same. I, in no way, was upset with Denton as I knew that none of this was his fault.

“That is upsetting news, Alpha," he said in a surprised tone as he finally looked back up at me. "The person in charge of that search area came from the next pack member in command."

Wait, he could not be talking about who I thought he meant, could he? I have been friends with him since we were little. There was no way that he would be the one to do this to me. He knew how much I cared for her. Why would he think of doing anything like this to me? Why would he even turn his back on me? I have saved his life more times than I can count. I was hit with so many hard questions all at once that I had to clear my head before I went mad.

“Where is HE?” I shouted before I could stop myself and Denton flinched at my sudden outburst as he even took a small step backward.

“That is just the thing, Alpha,” he said after he swallowed hard, as I could tell this was hard for him to say. “We have searched everywhere but he is gone without a trace.”

None of this made any sense at all when I thought about it exactly. How could that be? I remember seeing him earlier that morning and everything seemed normal and nothing seemed to be out of place. How could he disappear without a trace? I did not want to have to deal with this today. I knew that it was hard for him to bring this information to my attention, but he knew that I needed to know this. I could not believe the news that was presented before me just now.

However, how could the one who I trusted for more years than I can count on, even be a part of something like this? Why would be the first question I guessed as to why he would even think about doing something like that to me. Someone else had to be running the show, but who could that be? I knew everyone that we were in contact with. We were like brothers, it just couldn't possibly be true. But the issue is the evidence was overwhelming against all odds, which put me in a tricky position to be in. I was not prepared for the shock that sank in and developed in the center of my chest. I was truly speechless with a massive amount of anger wheeling up inside me at that moment. I got up quickly and ran out of the room to get some fresh air.

As soon as I reached the outside, I fell down on my knees and let out a loud and piercing growl. It was full of pain and anger that could be heard for miles. I could not believe all the information I was faced with or the fact that it all happened right under my nose. I was so angry that I could destroy just about anything in my path right now. How did I not know that my friend, the one who has been with me through thick and thin, longer than Denton has been around, that is, could do such a thing to me? How could I not see this coming from everything that has happened in the past? I can count many instances in which he saved my neck and I was there to save his. We even knew each other as we were younger. Why would he choose now, above all, to do something like this to me and to double-cross me?

I did not know Denton until it was the later years of my young adult life. However, when Denton recommended playing, he came to me highly recommended. I hardly get those kinds of recommendations either when I think about it. I could not see how he, my friend of all time, would do this when he was indeed the one to state that I should make Denton Blake the second in command of my pack, instead of him! Was this a setup all along from the start? Did he do this all knowing that he would one day betray me as he has done so on this very day? There were so many more questions that I certainly wish I had answers to. Just then, Denton came rushing outside of the castle to check on me as he had heard my growl a few moments ago. It was apparently so loud that it ripped through the castle and shook the very walls themselves, it seemed.

“I need to go for a run,” I told Denton as I shifted into my wolf, tearing all of my clothes in the process.

"Do you need me to come along, Alpha?" Denton asked me as he watched me shift into my wolf, right before his very eyes.

As I shifted into my wolf, Denton saw the various pieces of my clothes get shredded as they fell to the ground. That was all before my wolf turned his gaze to face Denton, as he asked that last question. Once my wolf turned to face him, he looked at him for a few moments without moving. Then that was when my wolf lifted his nose straight up to the sky. My wolf then sent out a piercing howl into the night air that echoed all across the area. The growl I managed to make earlier was one of sheer pain and anger. However, now, it was my wolf's turn to make his voice known by calling out to the dark and vast night sky.

I did not wait for another word to be said by either of us and so, my wolf turned and ran swiftly towards the woods. He even ran and jumped right over the castle walls and headed outside of the perimeter of the land that stretched around the castle walls. I think he was needing this trek out into the woods just as much as I was, as he had a caring notion for Rosalynn as well. She meant a great deal to us both, considering what happened to her parents before her.

As we traveled through the woods, we did not bother to look back, we just kept going. This was a feeling of pure rage fueling all of my emotions right now, not to mention my wolf's. Never had I been so enraged before. To be betrayed on top of everything, it took all I could to try to remain calm. I had to get a chance to let out some anger before I did something I might absolutely regret. I had to find her, I just had to. She meant more to me than I could ever explain and I did not understand why. My wolf felt my frustration and agreed with me too. The only way to escape was to go for a run.