ALPHA(42)

“I promise you, that I will get our daughter back. She’s going to need her Mum when we bring her home so I need you to stay strong for me, okay?”

Jasmine stiffened, and I saw her gathering every ounce of strength she had to be strong for her family. I’d always admired her, but my respect had just grown tenfold.

“I know you’ll get her back. Just promise me one more thing?”

“Anything.”

“Make them suffer.”



****

It had been four hours. Four hours of no news. Jasmine and I were currently sitting at the dining table, trying to eat the take-away that the boys had brought home. Jackson and Noah had left a while ago, running out with a few of their men to hunt for clues and figure out where the pack had taken Annabelle. My chest hurt when I thought about what they could be doing to her, so I tried to push it out of my mind. I needed to stay positive for Jasmine, who looked about five minutes away from having a mental breakdown. We both agreed that we needed to eat to keep our strength up, and were now sitting quietly reflecting on the nights events. Jasmine’s face was still red from crying, but she was resolute in that she must stay strong, and was holding herself together admirably. I didn’t think I would be as strong in the same situation. None of us knew why the Grove Pack would be so cruel as to snatch a child away from her mother, but I was praying that the boys would find out, and bring her home back to her family. I was already planning on the huge ice cream I was going to buy her for when she returns. If she returns. Don’t think like that! She has to return. After spending only five minutes with Annabelle on that first day, she’d wormed her way in to my heart and we needed her back with us. I trusted Jackson with my life, and I knew that he would not sleep until he found her. The house was full of Jackson’s men, but everyone was silent; lost in their own thoughts and fears for Annabelle.



****

Twelve hours. Twelve hours and still no word. Our optimism was waning, and dread was settling in my chest as we all feared the worst. Jackson and Noah had returned, and now the house was full of men trying to figure out their next move. Jasmine had been beside herself, but with the injuries and the stress of the evening had managed to eventually fall asleep. I tried to sleep, but images kept bombarding me of what could be happening to Annabelle, to the point where I was scared to close my eyes. I was currently curled up on the sofa, trying to focus on reading my book while waiting for the guys to come back with any useful information. Jackson and Noah were in the kitchen, alongside Isaac, Ethan and Blake, plus about six more enforcers, coming up with a plan to figure out where the Grove Pack would take her. There were more enforcers guarding the house, and some of them were outside searching for any scent of a trail that would lead us to Annabelle. Shifters carried no scent to other shifters, but shifter children had a distinctive smell to wolves who concentrated hard enough. The pack wouldn’t be able to scent the Grove Pack, but our fingers were crossed that they could catch a hint of Annabelle.

I finally managed to finish reading a page, when Tyler walked in, a solemn look on his face. I threw the book on the coffee table next to me, and sat up properly.

“Is there any news?” I quickly asked.

“None. The whole town is out searching though; I know we will find her.”

“God, I hope so.”

“We have the best men working on this, and none of us will sleep until we find her. This pack messed with the wrong wolves.”

“I know, but a lot can happen in twelve hours.” I cursed myself for my negativity.

“They have forgotten to take one thing in to consideration, though.”

“What’s that?”

“How intelligent she is. That girl has managed to evade me even when I’ve been looking right at her. She’s super smart and she will know that we will be coming for her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d left us clues somewhere, or manages to escape from them herself.”

I smiled in gratitude at his attempt to cheer me up. His words resonated within me though, and I felt slightly more positive as memories of a clever Annabelle having us all fooled for hours during a game of hide-and-seek flood my brain.

Just then, my phone chimed with a text, and I pulled it out slowly, not really caring who was texting me right now. My heart started to pound when I saw the unknown number, and a picture of Annabelle filled my screen. She had a cut on her head, and a bruise on her face but she looked to be sitting and talking with someone. The room around her is dark, so all I can see on the screen is her but I let out a sob to see that she is alive. My tears of joy soon turned to cries of fear when I read the message that has been sent underneath the picture. Tyler lunged forward to take the phone from my hand, reading the message as his eyes filled with rage. I couldn’t seem to focus as all I could see in front of me were the cold words sent to my mobile phone.