POV: SAINT
"What? When did this happen?" I asked, quickening my pace down the stairs. How could she be missing?
"Last night," he replied, his voice tense. "I only noticed it this morning when I saw that some of her things were gone. I never thought she would run away like this."
"Run away? Why would she want to do that?" Jackson asked, frowning deeply.
"She mentioned wanting to visit a friend in another pack, and I initially agreed. But when I saw the plane tickets, I started to doubt it was just a casual visit. So I confronted her, and she claimed her friend had moved to another country. I didn't believe her, so I guess that's why she felt the need to run away."
That explanation didn't sit right with me. "Why would she lie to you in the first place?"
"It's—" he hesitated, then continued, "she's been acting strangely lately. She keeps Blake hidden from me and won't let him leave his room. It's like she's isolating him from the rest of the world."
Was she treating Sam the same way she treated me? Why? I thought they were on the same team.
"Do you know where she was headed? Do you have the plane tickets?" I asked. Truthfully, I didn't care about her destination, but if what Sam said was true, then there had to be plane tickets involved.
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the tickets. Evelyn and Blake's names were printed on them, indicating they weren't just traveling to another town; they were heading to an entirely different country.
"I can't understand why she would go to such lengths, but I need to find her and my son. They can't have gone far with the plane tickets still here," he said, his voice filled with determination.
Jackson watched him for a moment before asking, "So, what's your plan?"
"I've already informed Eli, and he's setting up a search party. I was about to join them, but I thought I should let you know first," he replied.
"Alright. Chris and I will contact other packs to see if she went there," Jackson said.
"Okay, I'll head out then," Sam said before walking away.
"He's lying," Chris remarked as soon as Sam had left.
"Definitely," Jackson agreed.
"What could they be planning? It doesn't make sense," Chris pondered.
"We'll figure that out later. This gives us a better chance to search his house. If we find anything incriminating, we can arrest him during the search," Jackson replied.
"But where could Evelyn be? Where would they hide?"
"That's something Sam will have to tell us later, once we have him detained," Jackson said, turning to me. "Don't go to his house just yet. I'll ask Mateo and Marcus to meet you here so you can share the plan with them, and then you can all go together."
"Okay," I responded.
"Let's reach out to the other packs to verify if Evelyn went there," he said to Chris as they stepped outside.
He then csne back and approached me. His hand gently rested on my cheek, a concerned frown creasing his forehead as he spoke. "Please be careful and don't go anywhere alone. We have no idea what Sam's actual plan is, so stick with Mateo and Marcus, okay?"
"Okay, I will," I replied with a smile. "And you take care too." He nodded before leaving.
I sat down for a few minutes, my mind swirling with various thoughts and questions about the situation, before heading upstairs to change into appropriate clothes since we would be heading to Sam's house. As I changed, I felt an unsettling sensation, as if someone were watching me. I dismissed it, reminding myself that I had cleared things up with that alpha wolf; it was probably just my imagination.
A knock on the door startled me, and I rushed to open it. Mateo and Marcus stepped inside. "We heard what happened. How did Evelyn and Blake get kidnapped?" Mateo asked.
"What are you talking about?" I replied, confused.
"Didn't you hear? It's spreading that they were kidnapped last night," Marcus explained.
"How did the pack find out about this? Wait, did you say kidnapped?"
"Yeah. I'm not sure how everyone knows, but it started this morning."
"They weren't kidnapped. According to Sam, they ran away."
"Ran away? Then why is everyone saying they were kidnapped?" Mateo pressed.
Did Sam tell everyone they were kidnapped? Why would he say that to them while telling us they had run away?
"I'm not sure, but the plan is still on. Sam has left with a search party to look for Evelyn and Blake, which gives us a chance to search his house."
"If Ava is truly working with Sam, she'll need to perform spells, and I suspect his house will be the site for that," Marcus remarked.
As we headed to Sam's house, the pack was buzzing with talk about Evelyn and Blake being kidnapped. I couldn't help but wonder what Sam stood to gain from spreading misinformation among the pack. Part of me was tempted to reveal that Evelyn had run away, but I knew that wasn't necessary at this point. Our priority was to get to Sam's house and find something that could be used against him.
As we walked, my eyes caught sight of a man standing a short distance away. He faced us, but his face was obscured, leaving only his eyes visible. Could it be the Alpha? I thought he was taller than that, though. He scrutinized us for a moment before turning and walking away. I decided to brush it off; the Alpha wasn't my concern right now.
Before long, we arrived at Sam's house, and to our surprise, the door was unlocked. "Who the hell leaves their house open when they go out?" Marcus exclaimed as he pushed the door open, causing it to bang loudly against the wall.
"This feels too easy. Do you think it's a trap?" Mateo asked.
"If it were, how would he know we were coming? I doubt it's a trap. Maybe he just forgot to lock it," I replied. Mateo and Marcus exchanged glances before looking back at me. "That's just my opinion," I added quietly.
"Let's see what we can find. Even if he knew we were coming, there's no way he could have removed all the evidence, right? He must've left something behind." Marcus said as he stepped inside.
The living room was unremarkable, with everything perfectly in order. The sofas, table, TV, and chairs were all neatly arranged. As we passed through the kitchen and headed toward the bedrooms, we noticed it was a two-bedroom flat, but one of the doors was locked. The room that was open appeared to belong to Blake.
"So, the door to that room is open, but this one is locked?" Marcus muttered, walking away as he searched for clues. He returned with a hammer. "I happened to find this lying on the kitchen table."
"This is definitely a trap," Mateo said, his brow furrowing deeply.
"Should we break it down or just walk away?" I asked. I was genuinely curious about what was behind that locked door, but if it truly was a trap, it would be foolish to force our way in, wouldn't it?
"What kind of trap could he possibly have set behind a closed door? What's inside? A beast? Or perhaps some sort of wolf hunter?" Marcus questioned, pressing his ear against the wall as if trying to listen for something beyond the door.
"I think we're all curious by what's behind this door, even though it seems almost certain it's a trap. So, what do we do? Break in or leave?" Mateo asked, looking back and forth between Marcus and me.
I suppose Marcus interpreted our silence as agreement because the next thing I heard was the sound of the hammer striking the lock. He hit it a few times before it finally broke open.
Suddenly, there was a noise from the living room, as if something had fallen. We all turned to look in that direction. "I'll go check it out," I said.
"We'll go inside and see what's there," Marcus replied as he opened the door. I made my way to the living room just in time to catch a glimpse of a figure leaving. "Hey, who's there?" I called out, but the figure glanced back at me before quickly walking away. It was the same person I had seen on our way here.
"Marcus! Mateo! I saw someone!" I shouted, but there was no response. I rushed back to the room, only to find it filled with steam, making it nearly impossible to see anything. Covering my nose with my arm, I stepped inside and discovered Marcus and Mateo lying unconscious on the floor.
I quickly dropped my arms and shook them aggressively. "Marcus! Mateo! Are you okay?" I asked, my voice trembling with fear. As I inhaled the smoke, the entire room began to spin. I stood up and rushed toward the exit, only making things worse. Dizziness overwhelmed me, and I fell to my knees, crawling through the hallway. I only stopped when I noticed a pair of feet approaching me. When the figure halted in front of me, I looked up. It was the same man I had seen earlier. What was the alpha doing here?
I coughed, struggling to speak as my eyes burned. He yanked my hair, pulling me to my feet. Uncovering his face, he wore a sinister expression as he said, "When she said this plan would work, I didn't think it would go this smoothly. Seems like she knows you too well, saint."
My eyelids grew heavy, and my breathing became shallow as I fought to comprehend Sam's words.
"Too bad Jackson ended up with a dumb mate," was the last thing I heard before silence and darkness enveloped me.