Alpha Feud BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance Series - Books 1 to 5

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Andrew, Hayden and Theo decided to work together, but it was a tension-filled agreement, one that felt ready to blow if anyone even so much as breathed wrong. They also agreed to wait in the girl’s room until they returned. They knew they were in the area. Melissa’s car was still parked in the same place, and they had been at the bar until three or so in the morning.

At least that was when the bartender had seen them last. He confirmed that they left around that time, headed back to the hotel. From there, it was anyone’s guess as to where they had gone. What was stranger still was that their scent was recent, right up to the elevator doors and suddenly, it was gone... nothing. Now even their older scents were gone, erased by the harsh chemicals that the hotel used to clean the floors of the lobby.

Hayden told Andrew and Theo that he would catch up and headed over to the front desk. He caught the attention of the desk clerk and pulled out his phone. “Have you by any chance seen this girl?” He flashed a photo of Eliza to the desk clerk.

The desk clerk shook his head. “No, I am sorry. I have not seen her, but I just came on duty. Hold on a moment.” He disappeared into the back and a few moments later the manager appeared.

“Yes, sir, how can I help you?” he asked in an upper-class snooty tone.

“I was just curious if you had seen my girlfriend. I thought she came into the hotel from the restaurant, but I can’t seem to locate her.” Hayden showed the hotel clerk the phone with the picture on it.

The manager looked closer at the phone and then at Hayden and sighed. “Sir, it is hotel policy to keep guest matters private for as long as they are staying with us here. We are not at liberty to tell anyone if our guests have checked in or out.” The manager really punctuated the word out and Hayden raised a brow. “However, I can tell you at this time that we do not currently have a guest in the hotel, checked in, who matches your girlfriend.”

Hayden understood then and sighed. “Thank you.” He walked away from the desk and pressed the button for the elevator. Waiting for it to come was killing him slowly. He could barely contain himself. All he wanted to do was run from the hotel and chase her down. She had left! He drew in a deep breath through his nose and shook his head. Where was her scent? When the doors opened to the elevator, he got in and headed for Eliza’s floor. Reaching her floor, he exited the elevator and walked down the hallway, then spied the housekeeping cart in front of the room Eliza had been occupying. He also found Theo and Andrew fuming outside the door.

“They left!” Andrew and Theo said at the same time.

“While we were next door, they came to the room, packed up and left,” Andrew stated.

“And they still have no scents, so we can’t track them now,” Theo said, peeved the girls kept slipping through their fingers.

“Well, that’s actually a good thing. That means that no one else can track them either.” Hayden sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Andrew stepped angrily toward Hayden.

“We will have to fill you in after.” Hayden glanced at them both and raised a brow. He plucked out his cell phone and dialed Eliza. It took a few rings but the phone was answered.

“Hello?” said a sweet voice that was not Eliza’s.

“Uh, hi, this is Hayden... is Eliza there?” Hayden asked, happy that the phone was answered at least.

“I’m here, Hayden, Melissa answered since I am driving,” Eliza said in the background.

“Oh, good to know you are being safe, but are you safe?” Hayden asked and heard some laughing.

“Yes, we are fine, just had some things to work out. We’re heading back to Melissa’s place. Naomi wanted to rest,” Eliza said. “Hey, got to go. We do need to talk to you. Meet us at Melissa’s.” The phone clicked off.

“They’re fine and headed back to Melissa’s house. We’ll meet them there,” said Hayden.

>>

An hour later, the girls had arrived back at Melissa’s house. They had taken Naomi in and set her up in the spare bedroom so she could rest. Melissa and Eliza had some coffee and were discussing Naomi’s involvement in the murders while they waited for the boys. They shouldn’t have been too far behind them.

“Let’s go look in the basement. We might be able to find something in my grandpa’s stuff. He always had weird books and odds and ends down there. I always thought he was a bit looney with the odd stuff he would say,” Melissa said as they picked up their coffee cups and headed down to the basement where Melissa kept some of her family’s things.

They went through old boxes and sorted through things Melissa’s grandfather had hoarded over the years. They were getting nowhere though, just old pictures, letters, note cards, postcards and clothes. Eliza picked up a box that had been labeled ‘books’ and set it down in favor of a different box. After a few hours, Melissa and Eliza had found nothing and made a big mess. Melissa waded over to sit down next to Eliza and sighed. “We went through all the boxes in here and nothing.”

“Actually, we missed one, Melissa. You’re sitting on it.” Eliza laughed and Melissa got up and groaned.

“Okay, one more box.” Melissa sank to her knees and opened the box. They went through it carefully, looking at each book, the titles, flipping through them. Near the middle, a piece of fabric caught Eliza’s attention and she picked it up. It was a book wrapped in a silk cloth.

“Hey, look at this...” Eliza unwrapped the book, which was old, black and worn. The cover was a soft leather that wasn’t the least bit stiff or aged. Eliza set it gently on a table. They both started to scan the pages when they heard Naomi call for them.

“Down here...” Melissa called. “Be right up.” She collected the book and the silk.

Eliza grabbed the coffee mugs and followed her friend upstairs.

“Look at what we found in Grandpa’s stuff,” Melissa said, handing the book over to Naomi, who took it carefully. She went into the kitchen and set the book on the table and sat down. Pulling it a bit closer, she started to read.

Eliza was about to sit down when her phone rang. She picked it up and saw it was Jim calling.

“Hi Jim. How are you holding up?” She moved to the living room to talk so as not to disturb Naomi and Melissa.

As Eliza talked on the phone, Naomi and Melissa huddled around the book. “Oh...” Naomi said every now and again. Melissa was trying to read along, but none of it made any sense to her.

“I have to go. Someone else was attacked by wolves!” Eliza entered the room, looking shaken. Eliza grabbed her purse and headed out the door. She tried to call Hayden, but there was no answer. She tried Andrew, but there was no answer from him either. Oliver, her cameraman, was going to meet her at the scene with a change of clothes and a makeup artist to make her presentable for live TV.

Naomi and Melissa looked horrified and wished her good luck and to be brave. They frowned at the idea and knew they had to dive into these tragedies and find out how to stop them. Maybe the answer was in the book.

Eliza was a little bit worried about where the guys were. They should have been at Melissa’s over an hour ago. Her wolves were missing and someone was just attacked by wolves. It didn’t exactly look good for Theo and Hayden.