The untamed Alpha and his human mate

Chapter 13: Find her

Amaya

I nodded as Clayton spoke. The movement felt small compared to him, everything about him seemed to take up more space than it should, even silence bent around him, he was such a powerful physical presence. He shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled

out a credit card, holding it out to me between two fingers before handing it to me. “This isn’t my main card, so you may as well have it.”

“What’s the limit?” I asked carefully.

“No limit, buy what you need. I’m more than rich, so it doesn’t matter.” His eyes flicked to mine, sharper now. “Just make sure you use it sensibly and don’t waste it on stupid, senseless things.”

My fingers curled slightly around the card. “Like what?” I needed to make sure I didn’t accidentally do that, I had no idea what Clayton considered senseless and a waste.

He shrugged, then met my eyes and rolled his. “I know you like your stuffed animals that bliss keeps getting you.”

Heat crept into my cheeks.

“I don’t mind you spending money on those,” he continued, almost absentmindedly. “Or anything my daughter needs.” A pause, then more sharply, “I just mean don’t waste it on stupidly overpriced s.hit like jewellery or some lavish sports car.”

I nodded quickly and tucked the card into my jacket pocket and zipped it up. The drive to the city was silent, not the peaceful kind, the kind of silence that pressed in, heavy, like the air before a storm. I wisely didn’t try to ask anything, I could feel he wasn’t in the greatest of moods, could feel it in the way Clayton gripped the steering wheel, in the slight tension in his jaw.

Three hours later, he pulled over at the outskirts of a place marked by a tall, flickering sign: ‘Emerald City.’ The name glowed an unnatural green against the darkening sky.

I stepped out of the car, the cold air biting immediately at my skin. I fiddled with my new thick black leather collar with his name on it, adjusting it. He climbed out too, his gaze dropped down to it. “Is it too tight?” He asked.

“No,” I said quickly. “I was just straightening it.”

His jaw tightened. “I’m sorry you have to wear a collar like some f.ucking pet I own. I’ll figure something else out when you return, but like I said, you are free to do as you please regardless of this shitty collar, it’s only for your safety.”

“I know,” I smiled shyly.

He climbed back into the car with one hand already on the door handle, but then he hesitated. Looking up at me, and he said, “no running away, please.”

“I won’t,” I promised, but I could tell he didn’t believe me one bit. I was surprised he was willing to risk it anyway because he gave a nod and then started the engine up, the growl of it cutting through the cold air, and then he was gone.

I turned to face Emerald City, I was alone now.

I admit the thought of running did cross my mind. I was alone, free, for all Clayton knew, I could keep this collar I was wearing and escape. As long as I wore the collar with his name on it, everyone would assume I belonged to a master, and not just any master, seeing Clayton’s name would surely have people screaming and running in the other direction. I laughed at that thought, knowing I was being a little dramatic, or so I thought. As I entered the city, I passed by a couple, they sneered at me until their eyes dropped to my collar. The woman grabbed her partner’s arm. “Clayton Blackthorn? THE Clayton Blackthorn?” She whispered, her voice trembling.

They both stepped back, tripping over themselves in their haste to get away from me, their eyes darting around, waiting for him to appear any second. This. Was. Perfect.

I walked along the bustling town, the streets alive with movement, shops glowing warmly, voices overlapping, and footsteps echoing. Wherever I went, people noticed the collar. I inwardly smiled when people gave fearful looks as soon as they saw his name. Some stepped aside quickly, others avoided eye contact entirely, and two people had even outright run away.

For the first time since before the war, I was treated with just a little respect.

I found myself walking towards the bus stop, my step slowed. The thought returned that I could just hop on and go wherever I wanted. Clayton had been a little too trusting handing over his credit card. I knew he would eventually freeze the account once he realised I had run away, so I figured I could withdraw as much money as I could in one day and keep doing that for a few days.

The bus pulled up, the doors opened up, and people piled out. My heart was racing with nerves, and then I watched as it pulled away. I couldn’t go through with it. Clayton was not the most friendliest of people, he had a tendency to be blunt and cruel at times, but I also had come to learn he didn’t mean it maliciously, he just spoke what he thought and didn’t mince his words.

He had never hit me or abused me, never starved me. I had freedom, warmth, safety. A choice. He gave me free rein of the castle, if I wanted to come back to cleaning and go read for a while, then I could. I had clean clothes and a warm bed, and I was safe. I couldn’t run when he had given me so much trust, and besides all that, I couldn’t abandon some little girl no more than a toddler out alone somewhere, lost. If anything happened to her, it would be my fault.

I was walking along the path when I realised I didn’t even know what I was looking for. What did she look like? Where did I begin? This was going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

It was nearing evening and wintertime, so it was colder, the temperature had dropped. I shivered when the wind picked up, rushing through the streets and whipping my hair across my face. Spluttering, I moved my hair out of the way, my fingers numb, and went to find a hotel or motel to stay in.

I found a hotel just on the end of the town shopping centre, a little run-down, faded with flickering lights above the entrance, but I didn’t need anything fancy. I went inside, the warmth hit me immediately, and it felt good. I booked a room with two single beds in case I found Clayton’s daughter and we needed somewhere to sleep before returning home. Huh, when had I started thinking of his place as home?

I booked the room for a week, I could always add extra time if I needed later on. The clerk’s lady handed me the card for my room, her hands trembling slightly as her eyes kept flicking down to the name on my collar.

“If you need anything at all,” she said quickly, forcing a bright smile, “please don’t hesitate to ask.” She probably thought the other bed was for Clayton.

I headed back outside and breathed a sigh of relief. Ok, somewhere to stay was sorted, now I could focus on his daughter, whose name I still didn’t know, and wondered if Clayton even knew it. He must do.

The only thing I could think to do was to retrace her steps, go to her home, and maybe the nanny, if she was still there, she could give me some more information to go on.

I pulled out the phone Clayton had given me, it only had Bliss’s number on it. He’d only given it to me to use while he was gone for three days in case I needed someone. I sent a message to Bliss asking for his number.

I walked around the shops, the city buzzed around me while I waited for her to reply. About half an hour later she did with his number and asking why. I gave a quick reply explaining, and then I messaged Clayton asking for the address his daughter had been living at.

He called me almost immediately and said, “call if you need information, it’s faster than messaging.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s—” I heard static and the sound of the phone falling to the floor, muffled noises, and then he said, “s**t, sorry, I’m still driving, and it fell out of the f.ucking hand holder.”

I let out a small laugh before I could stop myself. I always found it cute when he did something a little clumsy, it made him feel more real somehow.

He jolted me from my thoughts and said, “uh, hang on.” He was quiet for a moment and then carried on, “ok, so the address is 107 Winters Lane. It’s about a mile’s walk from the town centre, I don’t know much, to be honest, but if you’re stuck on anything, call me and I’ll tell you what I can.”

“Ok, thank you.”

“Sure.” He hung up on me, and I shook my head smiling. He was a strange creature, and I noticed he always threw out a ‘sure’ when I thanked him, as if he wasn’t used to thanks or was shy about it.

I would have had a panic attack just thinking about it before, but I managed to ask someone for the local taxi company, and while they did notice my weight and the scarred side of my face, they didn’t sneer or shoo me away, their eyes were locked on the collar, and they quickly rushed out the number for me.

I thanked them, but they were already rushing off. Sheesh, what exactly had Clayton done that terrified even the supernaturals?

I called the taxi, and it arrived within ten minutes. The supernaturals acted like they hated us humans, and yet they seemed so keen to carry on living as one. Public transport, shopping, schools—it had all stayed the same.

I was always curious what supernatural a person was, and feeling a little confident knowing I was safe with this collar, I asked the taxi driver, “can I ask what supernatural you are?” Ok, I wasn’t completely brave, and I barely whispered the words, but he heard me, and with his eyes flicking to the collar through his rearview mirror, he said, “of course, I’m a weretiger.”

“That’s cool,” I smiled. He seemed a little thrown off by my comment and then smiled back and asked, “so is it Clayton Blackthorn I’m taking you to?” I could see the beads of sweat on his forehead, he licked his lips nervously.

“No, he sent me to get his daughter.”

“Of course, I forgot he’s banished from entering this place himself.” He relaxed more, and I worried he might get too confident with the idea I was alone and Clayton couldn’t come into the city, so just to be safe, I added, “yes, he dropped me off just outside the city. He said if I don’t return within a couple of hours, he’s just going to come in and find me anyway. He’s quite unpredictable, isn’t he?” I laughed.

That set him on edge again, and I felt a little bad when he was being friendly, but I also knew that his friendliness could drop in an instant if I wasn’t careful.

He parked down a quiet street with rows of houses either side, and I paid him the money. Standing on the side, I looked at the house she had grown up in before her mother had passed, poor baby girl.

As I walked up to the house, I wondered why Clayton hadn’t been a part of her life. Had her mother thought him too dangerous to be around their child. Had something awful happened between them, and she ran away?

Then I wondered why he was banished from this city. I knew he had s.laughtered thousands of humans, and I’d heard rumours that he wasn’t above killing supernaturals either if they got in his way, so why just this city was he banished from?

I grew nervous as I reached the gate, and I cringed as it squeaked loudly. I touched the collar to calm myself, it had kept me safe so far. I knocked.

I panicked while I waited. What if the house had been sold? What if there were new owners now? My mind was racing, and then the door opened, and I looked up at an older lady with grey hair that was slowly becoming more white with time. She was plump and had a warm smile with warm brown eyes.

“Can I help you?” She asked.

I saw a name tattooed on her wrist, ‘Arla burns.’ It must have been the mother’s name, so this lady was a human like me?

“Hello, I’m sorry to disturb you, it’s just that, well, you see—” I sort of trailed off as I stumbled over my words, I tried again. “I’m looking for the child that was living here before she ran away, her father wants her back.”

Her eyes fell to the collar around my neck, and I saw her hand grip the door so hard her knuckles turned white. “Of course, I should have known he would make an appearance sooner or later. Come in.” She looked like she wanted to bolt and run, not invite me in, but I did as she asked, and she ushered me into the living room.

“Please have a seat,” she said. I chose the olive green armchair, and she sat on the three-piece sofa. Lowering her voice, she whispered, “is he here?”

“No, he dropped me off and went back to his place.”

She breathed a sigh of relief and said, “so you are his slave? I’ve never known him to have one before, I hope he isn’t hurting you too much.”

I shook my head. “Oh no, thank you for the concern, but I’ve found him to be the kindest master I’ve had. I’m fed and clothed, given freedom to do things in my own time, a warm bed.”

“He’s never hurt you?” She asked, surprised.

“No, he can be grumpy, but he’s never hurt me.”

She sat back and looked a little more relaxed. “I suppose that makes me feel a little better knowing Odette will be safe, and I take it you’ll be there too?”

I nodded. Odette, so that was his daughter’s name, pretty.

“If things were to ever get out of hand, would you be willing to step in, take her place, and keep her safe?”

“Of course, and I know he would never hurt her.”

She gave a small smile. “You’re still so young and hopeful, I’m not sure you’ve known him long enough to be certain of that.” I swallowed.

“But,” she continued, “I do feel a little better if his treatment of you is true, besides, he is the father. I can’t stop him, and right now I’d say she would be better with him than out on the streets, if she’s even still alive, the poor thing.”

“The police won’t help?” I asked.

She shook her head sadly. “They did at first, but once they got word she was Clayton’s daughter, no one wanted to touch the case, too afraid to risk his wrath.”

“That’s insane, she’s a child, and God knows what’s happened to her.”

“Hopefully nothing. If people know she’s his daughter, then it would only be a madman who would dare go near her.”

The words lingered in the air. Heavy and fragile, as we secretly feared the worst.

“A four-year-old can’t survive alone out there,” I said quietly.

“I try not to think like that, I can’t bear to. I just pray someone has been kind enough to take her in or, at the very least, feed her or give her something warm to sleep in at night.” Her voice wavered, hope thin and desperate threaded through every word.

I shifted in my seat and leaned forward, the fabric of the armchair rough beneath my palms. “But us humans, we know what it means when a child goes missing,” I said gently. “Don’t we? The chances of finding them again or even alive goes down dramatically after seventy-two hours.”

She nodded and started crying, her shoulders shaking as the reality she’d been trying to avoid cracked open. I hadn’t meant to upset her. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, guilt twisting in my stomach.

“No, it’s not your fault, you’re right, and she’s little more than a toddler. Do I really think she’ll still be alive? Ha!” She fell into sobs. I crossed the small space between us and gently rubbed her back until she was calm again.

I threw a quick text to Clayton.

: Do you realise the chances of me finding her alive or at all will be extremely low? How long do you want me searching for? Because I’ll do it, of course, but I’m afraid the results might not be good.

Within two minutes he called back, and I answered. “I told you to call, Amaya.”

“Sorry,” I winced.

I heard him sigh down the line, and I looked up at the nanny across from me. Hearing Clayton’s voice down the line, she had frozen and was staring at me fearfully.

“I don’t care how long it takes, find her.”

“But—” I tried, but he cut me off and said, “I know she’s alive.”

“How?”

“Perks of being a werewolf god, I’m connected to every werewolf line, it all originates back to me, and if I focus, I can feel their lifeline. My daughter is my flesh and blood, so it works the same way, she’s alive, I can feel her.”

I hadn’t known that and was sort of blown away by the idea of feeling someone’s lifeline or, from what he said, thousands of people. I wish I could have felt my sister’s, just to know she was ok. I wondered if after finding his daughter he would allow me to try and find my sister.

I didn’t realise I was silent for so long until he asked, “is that all?”

“Oh, um, uh, yes! Thank you.”

“Good,” was all he said, and then he hung up. Clayton was not one for small chit-chat.