"Don't be afraid of your fears. They're not there to scare you. They're there to let you know that something is worth it." - C. JoyBell C.

“What do you mean, Beta Jonathan? I just met him half an hour ago.”

“He is nowhere to be found.” Was his response.

“That’s not possible… It doesn’t make any sense. How can it happen when I was…”

My mind had travelled somewhere far, finding it difficult to process the information. An unsettling feeling settled deep in my stomach.

“This cannot be happening. We need to call him,” Leia interrupted diverting our attention to her.

“Call who?” I questioned, confused. “What are you saying, Leia?”

She ignored my question and faced Jonathan, “Beta Jonathan, can you bring me a phone?”

Jonathan looked at me for approval but I raised my hand to stop him, “You’re not getting it. Not before you tell me who you are talking about.”

“You need to trust me, Alpha.”

There was something different about the way she looked right now. Whenever I met her, her icy, blue eyes would be dull, lifeless and sunken. As if she was a moving corpse, trapped. However, at this moment there no sign of that Leia.

She seemed more alive, and less… submissive. Her fingers lightly touched the opal necklace resting on her neck.

“You haven’t given me any reasons to trust you, Princess.”

She sighed, “Frankly, you don’t have many choices at the moment.”

Jonathan interrupted me before I could answer, “Alpha, I came here because Alpha Carlos requested permission to enter. I think he is still waiting on the border. He wants to meet you.”

“Let him in,” I responded and then saw his eyes haze which meant he was mind-linking Andrew.

I walked towards Leia, stopping only when I was a few feet away from her. She was shorter than me so she had to tilt her face up to meet my eyes.

“I like you, Leia but it’d be best if you don’t take advantage of that. You might be a Lycan Princess but don’t even for a second doubt the fact that this is my territory and over here, I make the rules,” Energy and heat was pulsating from my body. I felt my wolf surfacing, which meant she was finally back. “My pack and its safety will always come first which is why you’re not getting a phone. At least, not until you tell me who you want to call.”

I faced Jonathan again to give him strict orders. “Beta, make sure she doesn’t get a phone and that she stays in her room.”

The remaining order was mind-linked to him since I didn’t want her to hear.

“Place a guard outside her room, and make sure her guards don’t notice anything different. Also, put someone trustworthy in the room to keep watch.”

After this, I headed out to meet Alpha Carlos who stood outside the pack-house with my father.

“You were the last to see him,” Alpha Carlos ran towards me, his strong hands holding my shoulders firmly. “Where is my son?” he pleaded, on the verge of tears. “Where is he, Vivian?”

“Alpha Carlos, calm down.” I held his arms, “He was inside his house when I left him. It has almost been an hour since I left,” I answered, “Did you check everywhere?”

“He trains the pups every morning. He never misses… never. And he is always on time. But he didn’t show up today. I can’t mind link him either.” His hands dropped, feeling defeated. Judging from his expressions and demeanor, it was evident that he was worried. It was easy to understand that his thoughts had drifted to the day Zack was murdered.

My wolf felt uneasy. She wasn’t talking but there was something different about her.

“Don’t worry, Alpha. It’s Josh we’re talking about. He must’ve gone somewhere without informing and will return soon I’m sure.”

And then he said the words which I never wanted to hear in my life again.

Ever.

“Then why can’t I feel his connection?”

My heart raced as my chest tightened. Then with one step backwards, I crumpled like a puppet suddenly released of their strings. A sound roared through me as my knees buckled, and black spots pressed their way into my vision. I fell back on someone.

“Alpha?”

“Vivian? Are you okay?”

It only happened when Zack... no- no that cannot be true.

Josh cannot die.

“Fine. Thank you, my savior Josh. What would the world be without you in it?”

“Fortunate for you, you’ll never have to find out.”

My eyes met my Dad’s, who didn’t need to know what was wrong with me.

He knew what I was thinking.

My mind had travelled back to when it all happened. The blood pounded in my ears. My heart thudded in my chest.

Seeing that I was not in the state to speak, Dad took over.

“Carlos, we’ll call an emergency meeting at your pack so we can get to searching.”

Alpha Carlos eyes flittered from me to my Dad, unsure of what to do. Even though he was an Alpha, at the moment he was a father who was helpless. And no one knew that position better than my Dad himself.

“We will find him, Carlos. I promise you.” Dad hugged him and whispered something to him before he was back on his way.

Turning around towards me, he knelt down to my level, “Deep breaths, Vivian… Inhale… Exhale,” His arms wrapped around me and brought me in for a comforting hug.

“Dad, Josh…. he isn’t dead, is he?” My hazel eyes met their reflection in his. “I didn’t feel Zack when he... w-when-.”

“He is not dead, Vivian.”

“How do you know?” I choked on a sob, tears rushing down my cheeks.

He brushed them away with his thumb and then cupped my face, “Because lack of connection also means he is either too far away or his wolf isn’t responding.”

None of the options gave me the comfort I needed but at the moment, anything was better than death.

“I’ll take Alpha to the pack doctor.”

Coming back to my senses, I finally turned around to see who was holding me. It was Ron.

Getting back on my feet, I smiled in gratitude. “I’m fine. Thanks, Ron.”

Pull yourself together, Vivian.

We need to find Josh.

Walking back into the pack-house, I headed straight towards my office and called for Beta Jonathan.

“I need all my best trackers on his trail. I want results within an hour. Find Josh. Help the East pack with whatever they want.”

He nodded, “Already on it, Alpha.”

“Update me on Princess Leia.”

“She still keeps mentioning the phone call to someone. She’s becoming more and more persistent. I don’t think we can hold her any longer.”

I got up, fed up with her childish behavior. I was ready to get some answers out of her. “We’ll need to utilize other methods to get the information out of her.”

“We can’t force it out of her. Neither can we torture her. She is a Lycan after all. And I’m sure her guards won’t take it pretty lightly either.”

A growl escaped me, “I don’t give a shit about who she is. This is Josh and I’ll fight the Moon Goddess herself to get him back.”

I’m not losing him too.

----

It had been fifteen minutes and Leia still refused to answer us. Jonathan held me off when I almost summoned our pack enforcer whose job was to torture enemies to get information out.

“I can’t help you. Only he can.” She sat on the bed, a picture of sophistication and grace.

Her ominous warnings in her cryptic language were pissing me off. She wasn’t budging and refused to tell us anything else.

“LEIA!” I yelled, my wolf clawing her way out. We both had had enough, “Who are you talking about? Because I swear if something happens to Josh because of you I will destroy you.”

Her icy, blue eyes went soft, “Then give me a phone. I promise I’m with you, Vivian.”

I still didn’t know if I could trust her. For all I know, she could be calling her uncle to inform him about Ethan and I.

But there were no more choices.

With every second that passed by, Josh was in danger.

And maybe she could help us bring him back.

“Take her to the pack phone,” I finally decided. It was a safe bet because that phone was being traced day and night, “Ashlee, keep your ears and eyes on her.”

They both left, leaving Jonathan and I alone in the room.

“I can’t sit here and do nothing. It is agonizing to wait. It is too much,” The fear of unknown was taking over me and it was getting worse and worse by every second, “I’ll help the trackers.”

Jonathan stopped me, “Alpha, it is not safe.”

“Josh went missing from his own pack which means it is not safe anywhere anymore.” I answered, “Please, Uncle Jonathan. This has gone too far. I can’t stand to watch another person who is close to me being taken away from me. I won’t survive this. Not this time.”

“Vivian, my darling… you have-.”

I knew he wouldn’t relent in fear of my safety but there was no way he could stop me from going. I had made up my mind.

So I did something I didn’t ever want to do, “Beta Jonathan, it’s my command.”

He could do nothing but bow in obedience to an Alpha command.

As I was about the leave the door, he called me. “Let me send some guards with you, at least.”

“Send them to East pack. I won’t go far, I promise.”

As I shifted and ran for the woods, I felt Beta Jonathan mind-link me.

“Stay safe, Alpha.”

For thirty minutes, I covered all the area in my pack and also met the trackers on my way. They updated me on their progress but there was nothing groundbreaking.

No clue, no sign.

Feeling frustrated, I kept running to keep my mind off of the current situation and let my wolf take control. She took me towards the Academy.

The place where I first met Josh.

A smile took over my face when I passed the area where I had once pinned Josh down when Zack found out I had two unmated Alpha roommates because of him.

“Oomph!”

“Take that, you jerk!”

“Okay stop! I am sorry. Who knew your big bro was such a softie when it came to his lil sis.”

The search for Josh took me over the entire grounds of the Academy but it did not bore fruit.

Maybe the caretaker of the Academy, Lee, knows something. I rushed towards his office and found that his door was already open.

“Lee, are you here?” I called out.

A putrid stench wafted in my nose and I quickly covered my nose. The incredibly strong smell smelt like rotting meat. As if someone had left their garbage out in high heat for an extended period of time.

“Be careful,” My wolf warned, finally speaking to me.

About time you talked, Your Highness.

Keeping her warning in my mind, I cautiously walked towards the source of the nasty smell.

“I was always here.”

Then why didn’t you talk to me?

“Something is wrong.”

She was right, because right in front of me was the body of Lee, swimming in his own blood.

Somebody had brutally murdered him.

Oh, my Goddess…

“Beta… Uncle Jonathan! I’m at the Academy. Someone has murdered Lee!”

“Alpha we are on our way! Please hide somewhere safe.”

At that very instant, I heard a faint noise of something falling. Even though it was a typical horror movie dumb move, I couldn’t help myself but walk towards the source of the noise.

If the murderer is still here, I can catch them and take them for interrogation. I couldn’t let him slip away when Josh’s life was on the line. This was the closest we’ve come towards a clue.

I am an Alpha. I can easily overpower them. Plus, the reinforcement was on their way so I have back-up as well.

I can’t let the person get away.

My search took me back inside the Academy, precisely towards room 5, the same room the three of us stayed in.

The brown, oak door was already open and someone was standing near the window, their hands in the pockets.

He knew I was there.

He was waiting for me.

There was no point in escaping.

“What do you want?” I quickly scouted my surroundings to make sure I wasn’t walking inside of a trap.

The person turned around, his entire body hidden in the shadows. It felt like the shadows were a part of him. As if he was carrying them along with him.

He took a step forward, his face finally coming in the light but before I could see it, I felt a shift in the air behind me.

Immediately, I ducked and grabbed the arm which held an injection towards where my neck was a second ago and threw the owner of the arm on the floor. Another pair of arms came around me from behind, hoisting me to my feet.

Smashing my head back, I connected with the guy’s chin, and then stomped on his foot and elbowed his groin to slip out of his hold while he fell on the floor, grunting painfully.

But then I was being grabbed by three more people who forced me down to the floor.

Damn it! Where did they come from?

I managed to escape their grip for a split second but then a fierce punch to the side of my head brought me down once again.

A second later, something pricked the side of my neck and I felt my whole body gave out.

I was completely paralyzed.

The last thing that I remember before I slipped into the realm of unconsciousness was the person hiding in the darkness stepping into the light and kneeling down to whisper two words in my ear:

“You, Vivian.”