4: LOOKING FOR CLUES.
1160 Words
LYCAN PRINCE LEO GOULD.
I took her bloody clothes to my father’s office, and he told me to wait while he cleared and covered his desk. Once he had used an opened out garbage bag to protect its surface, I emptied the contents of the bag onto the desk. The metallic scent of the blood hit me instantly. “Can you smell that, Dad? Somehow, she has a hint of werewolf to her blood, but she smells more human than wolf,” I asked. He picked up her cut t-shirt, so caked in her blood and dirt that you couldn’t even tell what colour it had been originally, and gave it a sniff. “I see what you mean, son. At first, she does smell human, but there is definitely something more to her. The werewolf scent is also clearly hers, not a transfer from someone else. Check the pockets of her jeans,” he replied.
I picked up the dark blue, mud-stained jeans and began rifling through the pockets. I found a mobile phone with a broken screen, a set of keys with a wolf keychain and a folded piece of paper. It was damp with her blood, but still legible. “Meet me in the forest tonight at midnight, where the river splits,” it read. I noticed that the note had simply been signed with a heart and a kiss. Clearly, she had been planning to meet up with someone that she trusted, but the spot that I had found her was nowhere near the split in the river. Also, given that I’d found her just after midnight, I thought it was also safe to assume that she had never made it to that meeting. I told my father all of this, and he agreed. “Well, given that she was likely attacked on route to the river, we can pretty much guess which direction she came from, and given the scent of werewolf in her blood, we can start by looking into the closest packs,” he suggested. “I will call them personally and see if anyone is missing,” he added. I shook my head, reaching out a hand to stop him. “For all we know, it was someone from one of those packs that hurt her. By calling, we might put her in more danger,” I said.
My father paused for a moment, considering my words. “Son, I understand your concerns, but do you really think that anyone is going to be stupid enough to try anything while she is here?” he asked. I shook my head again, “Not while she is here, no, but once she goes home, maybe. I just think that we should wait and see what answers she can give us first,” I explained. My father nodded, “Fair enough, then that’s what we will do,” he agreed to my relief. I packed her clothes back into the bag and suggested hooking the phone up to a computer to see if we could get anything from it that way. He agreed, so I went to find the lead that I would need; hopefully, her phone could give us some answers.
It didn’t take too long to locate a lead. I plugged the phone into my laptop and clicked on the icon. She had a photograph of her with a guy. He had his arm around her, smiling. They were clearly in a relationship. I felt an odd squeezing sensation in my stomach when I looked at their picture. What was that about? I moved on, scrolling through her photos. I felt a pang of guilt, like I was invading her privacy, but I told myself that I was trying to help her. There was a picture of her with an older couple. I figured that it was possibly her parents. That could be useful; someone in the village might recognise them if at least one of them is a werewolf. Which I figured could possibly explain the diluted scent in her blood, though the half-bloods that I’d met before still smelled stronger than her. So perhaps it was a grandparent that had been a werewolf.
I printed off both pictures and moved on to her contacts. She had all the numbers you would expect, but nothing that really stood out to me. Mum, Dad, Johnny with a heart emoji. I assumed that was the guy in the picture. I figured those were probably the most important numbers, so I wrote them down. I wasn’t really sure what else to look for, and my mind kept wandering back to her. I wanted to know how she was doing. I gave up for now and decided that I would go down to the hospital instead. Surely she was still our best shot at answers anyway.
I arrived at the hospital and was a little bit pleased to see that Sandra wasn’t at the desk. I knew the way to the private rooms, where I was sure she would be put after her surgery. I spotted Jack standing outside one of the rooms and headed over to greet him. Jack was an Alpha-blooded werewolf who was the third-born son of his father. He had come to train at the palace as a boy, with dreams of being a warrior in the royal guard. He and my father had become fast friends, and my father had always said that he felt a bond with Jack, much like werewolf mates do, but definitely unromantic. He said that he believed that Jack was destined to be at his side while he ruled. As such, Jack was to my father everything a beta is to a werewolf alpha, and he was also the commander of the royal guard. He was a formidable-looking man, but honestly, he was also one of the kindest and gentlest men that I knew.
“Uncle Jack, any news on our visitor?” I asked. “Hey, kid, she woke up, but it seems that she is suffering from amnesia. She couldn’t remember who she was or what had happened to her. The doc says it could be temporary, and we should let her rest for now. I’ve already told your Dad all of this,” he told me. I sighed in disappointment. I had really hoped that she would be able to tell us what we wanted to know. “Can I pop in and say hello?” I asked. Jack shook his head, “Not much point. The doc gave her something to help her sleep. I doubt that she’d even know you were there,” he replied. I nodded and said my goodbyes. It was frustrating being so close to her, yet not even being able to see her. I decided to go and finish the run that had been interrupted by finding her. I will come back in a few hours.
- Writer
