The Alpha's Lost Mate

Chapter 11: The Unveiling Truth

The Unveiling Truth

“She's here, in Chicago. I am not leaving here until I find her.” Matt spoke with a renewed determination. His decades-long search had led him here, and this was the closest he had ever come. He wasn't going to leave this city without checking every possible spot.

“But how? This is a large city. There are probably a million places where she could be.” Emily stated, concern flecked through her voice, wanting to help her best friend. “Is there anything else that you can think of, anything that may not even be related? We have to narrow down the possibilities, Matt, before we go on a wild goose chase.”

Matt thought it over, his mind and wolf still reeling over the closeness that Grace was here. “Of course! I never put two and two together until this very moment.” Matt grinned wildly, confusing Emily further. Her scent, lily and spice. When he caught it just a moment ago, it sent him into a frenzy. Only now did he realize that he'd been catching faint notes of it the last few years. The connection had always been there, a quiet hum beneath his awareness, but never strong enough to fully register. It was like hearing a distant melody – familiar, but too faint to identify until the full orchestra played.

Matt slowly turned to face Emily, his face having the biggest smile Emily has seen on her friend's face. “Hey Em, Aunt Lena lives a few blocks away right?”

Emily blinked, her brow furrowing in confusion. "Yes, she does," Emily replied, her voice puzzled. "But... why do you ask? What does Aunt Lena's apartment have to do with Grace?" She looked at him expectantly, trying to understand the sudden, intense shift in his focus.

Matt’s grin widened, ignoring her baffled tone. "Her scent, Em! Lily and spice! Aunt Lena's always carried that faint note of it. I remember it from when we were kids, and even sometimes when she visits the pack. It's subtle on her, but it's undeniable that it's Grace's scent, too! It's why I always felt a connection, even if I couldn't place it!" He explained, the pieces finally clicking into place with a satisfying, almost painful clarity. "The sheer volume of her scent just now, here in Chicago, that's what made the difference. It overpowered everything else, forcing my wolf to recognize it fully, where before it was just a whisper hidden amongst other familiar smells. Now I know that faint scent on Aunt Lena wasn't just her —it was Grace, or at least a trace of Grace, that she carried." He leaned forward, excitement making him practically vibrate. "Aunt Lena knows something. She has to. She’s the only one who might know where Grace is, or why she’s here, or even why she left." He started to stand, already reaching for his phone. "I need to call her. Right now."

Before Matt could finish, a memory, sharp and vivid, punched Emily in the gut. Aunt Lena. Frank. Their daughter. Emily had only known her as Joslyn, or "Josie." A quiet girl, a few years younger, always smelling faintly of something sweet and earthy. Emily hadn't spent much time with her, not after Aunt Lena started courting Frank, and certainly not once Emily and her mother had to flee Crown Point. Contact between her mother and Aunt Lena had become sporadic for years, broken by the chaos of fleeing to Iowa and staying hidden until her own father's arrest. But the dates... the timing of Matt's search... it all clicked into place with horrifying precision. Could Josie possibly be... Grace? The thought was dizzying, unbelievable, yet undeniably the closest lead Matt had ever had. It was worth following.

“Alright Matt,” Emily said, her voice tight with a sudden mix of disbelief and a surging, cautious hope. “Let's go visit Aunt Lena.”