Hate to Love

13

Alice

I did not like to talk about Javier, I felt like betraying my brother. Maybe I should have told someone about him sooner? No. I did not know for sure if he was linked to my brother's disappearance. That was why I never mentionned it. But when Julian was looking at me like that... I knew that I had to tell him. He was Charles' best friend so I was sure my brother would not mind.

"What were they talking about, Alice?" He asked.

"Well, it's probably nothing but... They were talking about the King." I said.

We all had Alphas to lead the packs but we had a King that ruled over all the Alphas. Some thought that we did not need one, that the Alphas were enough but others were very glad that there was someone above the Alphas to keep the peace between the packs. I did not know my brother's views on this but I definitely did not mind the King.

"What were they saying?"

"They were talking about the Royal Guards, saying how it would be too easy to break into the castle... You know that Charles dreamed of being a Royal Guard when he was young. I don't know if that's any help though..."

Royal Guards were chosen among the best warriors in each packs. There was a rough selection to become one and sometimes wolves would die during that selection but it had been Charles' dream. We all checked to see if he became one without telling us but his name did not appear on the list. Maybe he did die during the selection?

I felt anxiety creeping in again. Was it possible? Could he be dead all this time and we were just searching for him for nothing?

Julian must have felt the change in my mood because he stood up to come closer but without touching me. He seemed to hesitate. Was it because I cried earlier? Did he think that I did not want him to touch me anymore?

I closed the distance and buried my face in his chest. He seemed confused but he soon wrapped his arms tight around me. I felt his warmth seep into me and it calmed me down a bit. I was grateful to the mate bond right now because it felt like nothing could get to me as long as I was in Julian's arms. Of course, it was only an illusion and the spell would be broken as soon as I would part from him but it was nice...

"I'm sure he's fine. He's tough and we both know how strong he is." Julian said softly.

"I don't know... Do you think it's worth investigating?" I asked, parting slowly from him to look into his eyes.

"I know that his name didn't appear on the lists of the new Guards but... I think it's still worth looking into it. We could also try to contact Javier, maybe he knows where Charles went." Julian said.

"I don't know his last name, only his Pack."

"We have access to this kind of information as Beta." He smiled at me.

"Let's try Javier first. Maybe he can tell us if Charles went to the Royal Guard or not."

Julian nodded and he went to fetch his laptop. We sat at the kitchen table and opened the annuary. It was a file that compiled all the Alphas', Betas' and Gammas' numbers. If we reached out to the Beta of Blue Mountain, maybe he would be willing to give us Javier's number.

Julian took out his phone and dialled the number. I was getting more nervous as we waited for the Beta to pick up the phone. Would he be able to help? Was it that easy all along? I would slap myself real hard if it was.

"Beta Jensen." The voice sounded at the other end of the phone.

"Hi, here is Beta Julian from Dark River, I was hoping you could help me with something." He said.

"Sure, what can I do for you?" Jensen asked.

Good, at least they were friendly. That was not always a given with some Packs. Rivalries were supposed to be erased with the King but... Well... Some Packs still feared that the others wanted to invade them because that was the case before we had a King. The weakest Pack would be absorbed by the strongest and so on.

"I wish to speak with one of your wolves, Javier was his name." Julian said.

"Oh... He left the Pack a year ago, became a rogue. I don't know what happened to him after that." Jensen explained.

Damn it. We would never be able to find a rogue. A year ago though? It meant that he did not leave with my brother. Or perhaps my brother waited a year to come pick him up?

"Did you have the visit of someone from our Pack around the time he left? What was Javier's specialty?" Julian asked as if he read my mind.

"Now that you mention it... We did." Jensen said. "A man came to see Javier and a few days later, Javier disappeared. Javier was our IT guy. There was no computer that could resist him."

"I see." Julian answered. "We might know who visited Javier and he was a rogue from our pack."

"I see... Are you trying to find the rogues?" Jensen asked.

"Yes, I hope that we'll be able to find him thanks to you."

"Do tell us if you find our rogue as well. That might interest my Alpha."

"We'll be sure to do so. Bye."

They hung up and I looked at Julian. How could we find rogues? They basically lived outside a Pack and there was no way of knowing where they could be. My brother probably chose to live like a rogue so nobody would be able to find him. What was he thinking? What was his goal here? Why did he need Javier? We were left with so many questions but at least we had our first lead. Now what to do with it?