The Lost Queen

Chapter 18. Overwhelming scent

Ace

I stared at the message which I got last night and still didn’t answer back. Everything was spinning in my head, and I didn’t have enough willpower to get up from bed today. It was Saturday, so technically I could lie in bed all day, but other duties were making me feel selfish and I rolled onto the other side. My eyes closed, but only a few minutes passed when a loud knock roared into the silent space, and I groaned.

“Ace, c’mon. We have a missing pup,” Zaven’s voice was nervous in my head.

Immediately, my eyes snapped open, and my body got out of bed by impulse. My gaze darted through the window and my thoughts were scattered. I put some clothes on and strolled out of my bedroom. At that moment, I didn’t care about my appearance, but when I entered my office I wished I had been dressed more properly.

My gaze landed on crying Mrs. Ardin and I smiled gloomy. Her fiery red hair was a mess and her eyes had the same shade as her strands. She wore baggy clothes and had a whole box of tissues in her lap. Zaven stood next to her, his brows were furrowed, and I felt his anxiety radiating through my body. My beta’s blonde hair was messy and looked like he brushed his fingers way too many times through them.

“When?” I asked softly, standing near the lost child’s mother.

“Maria left for school yesterday, and I got the message that she would go to the library with her classmates, but she didn’t return. I waited for her for a whole night and her phone was turned off.”

“What about her classmates?”

“Two other girls were humans and they said they parted ways at the bus stop after eight pm.”

“She’s a freshman, right?” Zaven clarified and Mrs. Ardin nodded. I caught my friend’s gaze full of distress. Immediately, a reminder of the note in my desk’s drawer popped into my head and I clenched my fingers into fists.

“Call all the warriors and patrols and tell them to gather into the dining hall in twenty minutes, we need to find her before it’s too late.” I linked to Zaven and his eyes snapped at me. My voice was full of unreleased anger and worry, but I couldn’t do anything else apart from call for a search party.

“Mrs. Ardin, I will need some things that belonged to Maria. Could you bring it to us?” I calmly asked and felt Nor’s presence.

“Yes, of course, Alpha.” She stood up without anything else to say and went out of my office. I slumped into the chair and closed my eyes for a minute.

“Nor, we have to find her,” I stated exhaustedly to my wolf. He puffed out his chest and stood proudly on his four paws. Even if he was in my head, I could feel an examining gaze from him, and it was unsettling feeling.

When I left my office and went downstairs, I could already hear people's murmurs and tried my best to hide any emotions that showed my unsureness. I fell into an alpha mood and stepped into the dining hall. My gaze scanned all the men in front of me and their stares were unnerving. Mrs. Ardin stood near the front row, and I smiled reassuringly at her. Everyone parted into two different sides, and I passed through all our pack warriors. Zaven and Kade were already waiting for me, and I nodded to both. Maria’s mother extended small bag with some items that belonged to her daughter, and I took them. Her hands were shaking, but eventually, she stopped crying and there was little hope that everything was going to be okay.

I turned around and faced all the men and women who were waiting for my commands. I saw Ares and Isaac on the left hall corner, also Will and Vincent stood on the other side with their hands crossed on their chests. My breathing was out of control, but I clenched my fist and leaned mentally into my wolf. Nor approvingly growled and I nodded to myself.

“I believe you already heard what happened. For those who didn’t hear, we have a missing she-wolf, and we need to act quickly to find her,” my voice echoed through the silent dining hall, “Mrs. Ardin brought us some things that belonged to Maria, so we pair up and we would search every inch of the town and the woods. Some will have to stay and guard the packhouse. Now is the chance to say who’s going to stay here.”

“I will stay, Alpha.” Will nodded to me confidently.

“Me too,” Isaac chirped in. Ares shook his head and elbowed him in the ribs, but I didn’t mind Isaac having to stay and guard our grounds.

Some other people said they would stay put and I nodded feeling hopeful. I hope Kayla won’t go into the woods today because I’m not sure if I can protect her, while my priority was to find Maria and I wouldn’t go back until it didn’t happen.

“Kade, you’re with me,” I declared, turning around. My brother’s gaze was disturbed, and he didn’t look me in the eyes. I thought about the waiting conversation and heavily sighed.

I turned around, not wanting to waste precious time, and went out of the dining room straight into the yard. Some of the warriors were already in their wolf’s forms and there was a sea of colourful furs before my eyes. I saw Zaven giving to others small things that had Maria’s scent and, with silent agreement, all the wolves sprang into the woods.

“Are you ready?” I asked my beta while reluctantly squinting at my brother’s back. Some knots were forming in my throat, and I couldn’t stop from feeling dread inside my soul. Something terrible was waiting for us, but I didn’t want to acknowledge it. I still had hope that we would find the missing girl and her mother would smile again.

“C’mon, let’s do it,” Zaven ignored my question and stripped from his clothes. For a moment, I just watched as he tossed his t-shirt on the ground and took off his pants, but a moment of doubt passed, and I followed others, shedding my own clothes and putting them into a small pile on the concrete tiles.

When Nor took control of our body, I looked at a small hairbrush left on the bench and sniffed it. My black paws anxiously tapped on the floor beneath me while I tried to locate the smell of our missing pup. It was strangely sweet and reminded me of an apple pie. I snapped my head up and found the wind's direction. There were a lot of different scents around the packhouse, but no one reminded me of an apple pie. Someone nudged me and I turned around to find a greyish wolf nuzzling into my fur.

“You know you can talk to me, right?” I linked to Kade, “don’t need to be in full wolf mode.”

“My wolf is still agitated after everything. He needed comfort.”

My gaze turned to his black wolf’s eyes curiously and I nodded stiffly.

“We need to move.”

Kade half barked, half growled and sniffed the same hairbrush as me. His ears perked up while he looked around, but I didn’t have time to wait for his answer and I sprinted in a different direction than everyone went. Even if I couldn’t catch her scent, something inside my gut forced me to move in another way.

“Where are you going?” Kade’s voice echoed inside my head. Nor growled disapprovingly and shook his head.

“It’s just a feeling, but I need to check it,” I answered, and my brother went silent. For a moment I thought he was going in another direction even if I told him to stay with me, but the quiet pacing behind was steady and I calmed my fast-beating heart.

“How’s your search?” I barked more aggressively than intended, but everything was getting on my nerves recently and I didn’t have a chance to cope with it.

“There’s nothing here. We went into the library but even there we couldn’t locate her scent. It looks like she just vanished,” Zaven’s voice was full of doubt.

The thought crossed my mind and I stopped. It couldn’t be it. Could it? When Zaven went missing it was the same feeling, like he vanished and wasn’t existing anywhere.

“Zaven” I growled, “I think it’s the same people who attacked you.”

For a long moment, everything was quiet inside my head and then loud cursing words spilled like a tide of tsunami. My heart beat so loudly that for a few seconds I had to close my eyes and shake the dizziness off. Kade nudged against my ribcage again, but I stepped to the side. Nor was growling and whining from the desperation and silence ranging in my ears.

Shit!

I have to find her.

I started running and my brother made a sound of frustration before chasing me.

I leaped into the small pond and winced when cold water caressed my black fur, but with a few steps I crossed it and my nose caught a burning flesh scent. My mind went haywire immediately. Please, no. My pace quickened and I darted through the trees and bushes. Dust from the ground stuck to my wet fur but I didn’t care. Hideous scent overwhelmed my senses, but I felt the need to find Maria alive.

I needed to know that this small child was alive, and it wasn’t her burning flesh.