The True Union

Chapter 9 Jared

It had been four days since he found out about the missing girl and Jared was still unable to tell his alpha about the meeting. Jared felt guilty that he hadn’t told Derrick about the missing girl though. He just didn’t want to tell him when he was distracted with the mystery girl. They had to leave tomorrow, and Derrick had only come out of that room once and that lasted all of five minutes. Jared had been taking his friend food, clothes and even shower supplies, so he didn’t have to leave her. They had been texting back and forth periodically as well as having a morning debriefing in her room and Jared was finding humor in his friends’ situation. If the girl didn’t wake up soon though, Jared would have to figure out how to go without his alpha. He knew Derrick wouldn’t leave the girl, and they couldn’t take a massive unconscious wolf into a hotel.

Jared was also extremely busy since Derrick had found the girl. Derrick was still working from where he was, but Jared had to handle all of Derrick’s meetings and report back to him. He also was still responsible for all of the training and patrol meetings. Rearranging his schedule without notice had taken some work, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. He already did morning meetings with the patrols and then the council meetings every day he just added a private meeting with Derrick after. He let his lead warrior Rick handles all the training classes and couldn’t join on any of the patrols, but that was okay. Honestly, he wouldn’t really care if Derrick was talking to his uncle still. Derrick’s Uncle Eric was driving him up a wall. He was in Derrick’s office at least three times a day asking for updates. He had also been in Derrick’s office the last two mornings before Jared got there. He’d found him sitting at Derrick’s desk rummaging through the paperwork both days, and when questioned he just responded he was just checking in on the pack since Derrick was busy. Like Jared wasn’t good enough to run the pack on his own, not to mention Derrick was still running the pack he was just doing it from behind closed doors. Jared was kind of annoyed that this behavior was going to be rewarded by Eric running the pack while he and Derrick were out of town.

Eric was still pissed he wasn’t going to the conference, but Jared had reminded him that he was neither Alpha nor Beta and had no right to attend an alpha meeting. Jared didn’t understand why Derrick put up with Eric’s behavior. He acted as if he was Alpha, not the former Alpha’s brother. Truly, he had no standing in the pack, just the respect afforded him from being close family. He also didn’t understand why Eric would want to go to this meeting or expect to. It was common knowledge of how exclusive Alpha meetings were. Betas were expected along with a few guards, but family would not be permitted. Guards couldn’t even enter the meeting hall, all guards were left in a separate room. Not for the first time Jared glanced at the poor girl’s photo. She was quite pretty if he was being honest. He set the picture down when he received an incoming text. Derrick, “She’s finally awake. Can you bring us something to eat? I’m sure she’s starving.” Jared let out a sigh of relief both for himself and his friend.

He ran down to the kitchen and asked one of the cooks for a variety of foods with two of every kind. Without question, she got to work. He didn’t know what she would like, but figured with different options she would find something. As soon as it was ready, he headed towards the elevator to the fifth floor. He was in a great mood walking into that room. They could all finally get some answers. He stayed in a great mood, until he got his first good look at the girl who had been staying in their pack house. He froze, caught off guard by the beautiful blonde sitting on the bed with his best friend. While pushing the cart of food over to his friend and sneaking glances at the girl, he faked a smile. Trying not to let his anxiety show, he was relieved when Derrick dismissed him. He ran straight back to Derrick’s office and snatched up the girl’s photo. Staring at unmistakable proof that Derrick’s mystery girl was none other than the Alpha’s missing daughter.

Why out of all of the packs in this country did she have to stumble into theirs? He already suspected they would be blamed for her disappearance, and now they had actually been harboring her for three days. How on earth was he going to explain this to Derrick? He paced the office trying to come up with some kind of solution. The girl would have to go to the meeting or leave the pack’s territory. Either way, her father had to be notified of her whereabouts. If he learned they kept her location secret from him, this would start the war. Derrick was going to be furious. He clearly had a strong connection to this girl and the entire country was looking to take her home.

Jared was still pacing Derrick’s office when his phone rang. The smile in Derrick’s voice and the way he was joking was infectious. Jared hadn’t seen or well in this case heard his best friend this happy since before his dad had died and he had been forced to become Alpha at only twenty-five. Derrick had been a responsible person before that, but he was still a reasonably young man. He would still stay out way too late and spend way too much time joking around and a lot of the time sleeping around. He was enjoying his life. At the time Jared hadn’t thought much of it, they were young, and it was their time to be dumb, but after his dad’s death Derrick changed. Jared couldn’t let his friend’s good mood end so soon, so he let Derrick’s infectious good mood take him over. He went and got Samantha some cake as requested and took it up to them.

When his phone went off again an hour later, he knew it was time to come clean. He had to tell Derrick what he knew. With a grim expression on his face, he walked down the hall and knocked slowly. Making the situation all that much harder, Derrick seemed to be in a great mood until he saw Jared’s face. “Hey man, can I speak with you in the hall really quick?” Knowing something was up, Derrick joined him. “What’s wrong? Did something happen with the pack?” Sighing, Jared shook his head, “Did she tell you her name yet?” Blinking in confusion, Derrick responded “Sam”. And there it was, the ultimate confirmation they had the missing girl.

“I don’t know how to tell you this, but there’s something I haven’t told you because of everything going on. Four days ago, we got word from the Elder Council that a girl named Samantha Hartly went missing. She’s the only daughter and youngest child of Alpha Jacob Hartly. There’s a meeting of the alphas in two days to discuss what happened and who kidnapped her. Man, we have to turn her in. It could mean war if we don’t.” He watched as Derrick got angrier and angrier as he spoke. When Derrick neglected to say anything, he continued, “I’m not saying we abandoned her, but it should be her choice what happens. I mean if she was kidnapped wouldn’t she want to let her family know she’s safe?” Finally, Derrick spoke, “She wasn’t kidnapped, she ran away, but you’re right, we have to figure something out. We can’t let this cause a war.” And with that final word his friend turned and went back into the room.

Jared could only hope everything would work out for the better. He had no idea what they were going to do, but he knew his best friend well enough to know Derrick would have a plan. He headed back into the office to wait for word from his Alpha. Sitting back in the chair, Jared picked up the photo of Sam and wondered what led her to run from her pack. He never had a sister of his own, but he and Derrick had protected Derrick’s baby sister from everything. She was spoiled in all the best ways. Jared couldn’t imagine something causing her to run.