She’s gone!
1014 Words
Connor POV
I leave Beth in the lobby and head into the kitchen. Removing my jacket and tie, I place them on the back of a dining chair, before rolling up my shirt sleeves.
Turning on the oven, I head to the fridge and start taking out the ingredients I need. I chop the vegetables, my eyes watering a little with the onion. Browning the meat, I add the various vegetables to make the lasagne filling. I then started on the white sauce, trying to remember what Sarah told me to do.
I finally got the lasagne put together and in the oven and set a timer on my phone, before tidying up and setting the table. Looking at the timer on my phone, I saw that I had half an hour before it was ready, so I picked up my jacket and tie and went in search of Beth.
Picking up our bags, I headed up the stairs. I could smell Beth's scent lingering in the corridor and could see the door to the room I normally use when I’m here with my family. I was not surprised she had found my room.
Dumping the bags and my jacket and tie outside of the main bedroom, I headed down the corridor. Entering the room, I looked around but didn't see Beth anywhere. All I see is a pillow on the floor near the window.
Walking towards the pillow, panic starts to grip my heart when her scent suddenly disappears. Swirling around, I ran from the room and down the corridor, opening all the doors on the way and checking for Beth as I went.
I get back to the stairs and find no sign of her except for her lingering scent. My heart is pounding and my palms beginning to sweat. I ran down the stairs and entered the lounge, the room she was heading into when I last saw her.
I followed her scent through the room and into the entertainment room, before heading back into the lobby and up the stairs. Her scent was in the corridor, but none of the rooms I passed, except for my room where it ended.
Scanning the room once more, I saw the window was still shut and everything looked normal outside. Crouching by the pillow, I noticed a slight scratch on the wall under the window. Looking closer, I find it was actually a scuff mark.
Rising to my feet, I mind-linked the leader of the security detail allocated to me this weekend.
Is everything okay out there?
Yes sir. Everyone checked in ten minutes ago.
Beth's missing, check again.
What! I will check in with the others now.
I rubbed my sweaty hands on my trousers as I waited for an update, my eyes scanning the treeline from the window in my room.
Gareth isn't answering the mind-link, I'm heading towards his position now.
Panic caused my heart to pound. Where is he stationed? I asked through the link.
The treeline opposite the first-floor fire escape, sir
I'm on my way.
I ran out of the room and towards the door at the end of the corridor. Bursting through the fire escape and down the metal staircase, I missed the last few steps in my rush. Entering the treeline, I see a warrior kneeling next to a body lying on the ground.
"What happened?" I asked.
The warrior holds up a dart, "Wolfsbane. I called in the other warriors."
I scan the ground around the body and sniff the air. Seeing a broken branch, I carefully approached it, sniffing as I went. As I got closer, I noticed the absence of any scent, just like I had found in my room. I also noticed two sets of boot prints, one set deeper than the other, suggesting that two people had passed this way and one of them was carrying something. Beth!
"She's been kidnapped." I shouted moments before I shifted into my wolf, my clothing shredding as my form changed. I take off through the woods, following the boot prints and the lack of smells.
I hear an engine revving and the squeal of tyres and increase my speed, racing towards the sound. Coming to a road, I sniff the air, smelling car exhaust and burnt rubber. Looking down the road, I glimpsed a black car far down the road just before it rounded a bend.
A whine escapes my muzzle as I realise that I have lost her, I have lost my mate, I have lost Beth. Lost in grief, I lay on the tarmac, my muzzle nestled in my front paws as I continued to whine.
I didn't hear the car pull up beside me or even hear my dad's words as he approached me. I suddenly find myself shifting back into my human form, forced to do so by an alpha command. I shiver as the cold wind brushes past my now naked body as tears fall from my eyes.
A pair of jogging bottoms landed on my head. "Get up and put those on, we have work to do."
I rose to my feet, grabbing the joggers and putting them on. Turning to my dad, I felt the tears running down my cheeks. "She's gone dad, someone took her."
My dad wrapped his arms around me and drew me into his chest. "I know son, but we will find her and bring her back home. But we need you to push this grief aside for the time being so we can figure out who took her and why."
Taking a couple of deep breaths, I pushed myself away from him and stood up straight. "Let's get to it then."
“That's my boy." My father said, pride showing in his eyes. "Let's get back to the cabin. I have asked Stuart and David to meet us there with our best trackers."
I got into the passenger seat of the car as my dad got into the driver’s seat and we headed back to the cabin to search for clues.
- Writer
