CHAPTER 3
1259 Words
SARA
By the time I finally made it back to our suite, my entire body ached.
I’d spent the morning doing laundry and working in the packhouse kitchen, just as I had been ordered to do.
It was a far cry from the life I’d had in our old pack.
There, I had been more than an Omega.
I had been the Luna’s confidante.
Her friend.
Someone she trusted.
Here, I was nothing more than another Omega.
A worker.
Someone expected to keep her head down, do as she was told and never forget her place.
I had just closed the front door behind me when I heard a knock.
I sighed.
So much for getting a few minutes to myself.
I turned around and walked back to the door.
When I opened it, I froze.
The Alpha was standing on the other side.
My stomach immediately tightened.
“Alpha?”
He didn’t answer my greeting.
Instead, his eyes moved past me, scanning the suite.
“Is Sienna here?”
My heart skipped.
“Sienna?”
“No.”
I stepped aside slightly.
“She’s at school.”
His jaw tightened.
“No, she isn’t.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“I was just at the school.”
A cold feeling settled in my stomach.
“I went there looking for her.”
“Why?”
He didn’t answer.
“Alpha, what’s happened?”
“Where is she, Sara?”
“I told you. She’s at school.”
“She was at school.”
His tone made the distinction unmistakable.
“She isn’t there now.”
My pulse began to race.
“What do you mean she isn’t there?”
“I mean exactly what I said.”
My mind immediately went to the worst possible places.
An attack.
A rogue.
An accident.
Kidnapping.
Anything could have happened.
Sienna had only been living here for three weeks.
She barely knew the territory.
She didn’t have many friends.
She certainly wouldn’t simply disappear from school.
Not voluntarily.
“She left for school this morning,” I said, more to myself than to him. “At the usual time.”
“And yet she isn’t there.”
I stared at him.
“I don’t understand.”
Neither did I.
Sienna had always been responsible.
Education had always been important to her.
She had never skipped school.
Not once.
“Alpha, maybe you should come inside.”
He stepped past me without another word.
I closed the door behind him and followed him into the living room.
He sat on the sofa.
I remained standing for a moment before gesturing towards the kitchen.
“Can I get you something to drink?”
“No.”
I sat opposite him.
My hands were clasped tightly in my lap.
“Please,” I said quietly. “Tell me what is going on.”
“I need to speak with Sienna.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“I’ll discuss that with her.”
Something about his answer made my unease deepen.
“She’s twelve.”
“I know how old she is.”
“Then you understand why I’m asking.”
His eyes hardened.
“I said I need to speak with her.”
“And, as I said, she’s at school.”
“She isn’t.”
His voice was becoming increasingly impatient.
“I’ve already been there.”
I swallowed.
“I don’t understand. She left here this morning. She was wearing her school uniform. She had her books. She was going to school.”
“Then where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
He leaned forward.
“Think.”
I bristled at the command.
“I’m trying.”
“Where would she go?”
I shook my head.
“She doesn’t know this area well enough to go very far.”
“Does she have friends?”
I hesitated.
“There is one girl.”
“Who?”
“Carla.”
His expression changed.
“Carla?”
“Yes.”
“Carla as in my daughter, Carla?”
I blinked.
“Your daughter?”
He gave me a look that suggested I’d asked an absurd question.
“Yes.”
I suddenly understood.
Of course.
Carla.
The girl who had been spending time with Sienna.
The girl Sienna had mentioned several times since we’d arrived.
“Was Carla at school today?” I asked.
“I wasn’t told otherwise.”
I frowned.
That answer wasn’t reassuring.
“Then perhaps we should find her.”
“We?”
I looked directly at him.
“Yes.”
“If you want to speak to Sienna, you’re going to have to speak to me too.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I don’t know what this is about, and I don’t like the fact that you are refusing to tell me.”
“You’re an Omega.”
The words were delivered with such casual contempt that my stomach turned.
“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
His voice dropped into a low growl.
“I’m the Alpha.”
I held his gaze despite every instinct telling me to look away.
“And I’m the person responsible for Sienna.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
The tension between us thickened.
Then he leaned back.
“I don’t care what your responsibilities were in your old pack.”
His eyes were cold.
“I care about what happens in mine.”
I swallowed my anger.
“Fine.”
I forced myself to remain calm.
“But I know Sienna. She’s a good girl. She’s responsible. She wouldn’t simply disappear from school without a reason.”
“Apparently she has.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I don’t need it to make sense.”
His patience was clearly running out.
“I need you to find her.”
I stared at him.
“Where?”
“Anywhere.”
His voice sharpened.
“Call her friends. Search the pack. Ask questions. Do whatever you have to do.”
“But—”
“Find her.”
The command came with enough Alpha authority behind it to make my wolf instinctively lower her head.
I hated it.
I hated being reminded that in this pack, my rank meant nothing.
I opened my mouth to respond.
Then a familiar voice came from the living room doorway.
“Mom?”
I froze.
My heart stopped.
I turned.
And there she was.
Sienna.
Standing in the doorway.
Alive.
My knees nearly buckled with relief.
“Sienna.”
I shot to my feet.
“Thank the Goddess!”
I crossed the room in seconds and pulled her into my arms.
She stiffened against me.
I immediately felt it.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
I pulled back and looked at her.
Her face was pale.
Her eyes were dull.
There was a red mark spreading across her cheek.
And she was holding one arm awkwardly against her body.
My breath caught.
“What happened to you?”
Sienna didn’t answer.
Her eyes moved past me.
Straight to the Alpha.
And whatever she saw in his expression made the little colour remaining in her face disappear.
My protective instincts exploded.
I stepped between them.
“Alpha…”
He stood slowly.
His eyes remained fixed on Sienna.
“Where have you been?”
Sienna looked at me.
Then at him.
Her lips parted.
But no words came out.
And suddenly, I knew.
Whatever had happened at that school…
was far worse than simply skipping class.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD