Chapter 11
*Adam's POV*
We went ahead and called the local cops. They pretty much let us keep to ourselves on issues involving our own, but this wasn't a simple case of two people fussing over a property line. Lily was gone, and I wanted every single person who could help there. They would at least have more forensic and possibly man power to find her than I would. We all knew whoever it was though would never make it to a trial.
The first on scene was Zack. He had moved to the area with our pack and found a nice job as a beat cop. He looked confused when our eyes met, but began taking Josh's statement. Before he had finished talking to Josh the parking lot was filled with police cars and flashing lights. A few guests were peaking their head out behind curtains to see what was going on.
As soon as the next wave of cops arrived Noah, Josh, and myself were all split up to different sides of the parking lot while another cop knocked on doors to see if any of the guests had seen anything. They had paired me with a non wolf shifter. Her name badge said Connie on it and I could smell what I thought could be fox on her. If that was her shift then the goddess chose well. Her skin was pale even in the dark. All of her features were angular and sharp, but her voice was soft and welcoming. She was very respectful asking me questions and seemed to generally look at me as the grieving mate, but there was something behind her eyes that told me she thought I had done it.
"How do you know that the victim is missing?"
"I can just feel it. She might already be dead. Or better yet I can't feel her is the problem." I wasn't sure how their mating process worked. If it was the same or maybe they didn't feel an energy pull and to her I just sounded like a lunatic.
"How long have you known her?" Her pen scribbled as she talked in the small notebook. I always wondered why they never just had a hand recorder. Would make these interviews a lot more reliable.
"Four days."
"Have you had any arguments or disagreements?"
I shook my head and dug my fingertips into the back of my neck. We were wasting time. "No. She texted me that there was drama with her family then she turned her phone off. She just wanted to be alone so I told her if she needed me to call. Now her phone goes straight to voicemail."
She nodded and closed her little notepad. She tucked it into a pocket on her belt and then stuffed the pen into her shift pocket just below her badge. She reached up to scratch her head but then thought better of it. I was assuming in order to prevent disturbing the slicked back bun on top of her head.
"Stay here. When all interviews are complete you'll be allowed to go. Don't leave town in case we need to talk about the case." With that she just walked away. I stayed leaning against the cop car. I pulled out my phone hoping for a missed call or text that I knew wouldn't be there.
9:39
I glanced over at Josh who had also finished his interviews. He stared hard up at the empty room. Nothing had looked out of place. It looked like an average hotel room that someone had taken a nap in and then left. Her clothes were gone if she had brought any to begin with and the only sign of distress had been the two puddles of water that soaked the entrance way carpet. They wouldn't know she was an element friend though so they didn't know that had been her protecting herself. A last stich effort. I tried my best not to blame Josh. He had been the one to drop her off. He left her here unprotected and vulnerable.
"She wanted to come here you know. I asked her if she wanted to go to you, but she didn't want to impose. You had just met." It was like Josh had read my thoughts and he was standing within a couple of feet of me. His hands stuffed into his pockets. His shoulders slouched and head dropped. The lights painted his face red and blue.
"What is happening at your pack? Why aren't her father and brother here? We should all be looking for her."
"She didn't tell you?" I shook my head and fought the urge to punch the hood of my truck. Why does this guy know absolutely everything going on here all the time and I am stuck knowing nothing about my own mate. "Her dad informed her of the transfer treaty this morning. In our pack when a high ranking member mates to a high ranking member of another pack we have to transfer. If she chose to live with her family for the next year she could, but would essentially be isolated from the rest of the pack. They can't risk her having access to sensitive information and sharing that with a pack with less than honorable intentions. It also talks about who has claim over what pack and other smaller details. The treaty was supposed to be proposed to you and your father on Sunday then you two would have signed on Monday."
"I still don't understand why she wouldn't have just told me all this." He shrugged his shoulders.
"You would have had no choice but to open your home to your mate. Duty wouldn't have let you do anything other than that. She wasn't sure she was ready for that."
"Josh you know I can't feel her energy at all? It was so strong before. Like someone was dragging me towards her at all times, but now...nothing." He shrugged again.
"I don't know what that feels like, but I imagine it's very hard. It's possible your bond is just weakened by distance. You've only been mated a few days so the bond would normally strengthen the more time you interact and share with each other. You haven't had that so when you are close and thinking of each other the bond would be stronger. If she is far away and isn't able to intentionally reach out her energy she may not be detectable."
I pushed myself off the car as Noah began to walk over to us. "Hey man. How you doin'?"
"I just want to get out of here and start looking on foot. It'll be faster if we can pick up a scent." Noah walked to his side of the car and began to climb in. Josh looked like he had no idea what to do. He wanted to come with us, but if there was going to be a transfer treaty then she was no longer a member of their pack.
"You can come with us you know? As much as it pains me to say this, you know her better than anyone. If we work together we have to be able to find her right?" I couldn't give up that hope that we would indeed find her.
"I'll follow you to your home to leave me car on your land and then we'll begin the search. Don't bring any other men. I don't think we will have power in numbers right now. We will have more power in stealth."
We both got in our cars and started the engines. A portion of the cops had already started rolling out with only a few investigators and forensics guys staying behind.
"You know they think it was you." I nodded and tightened my hands on the wheel. "They see a lot of domestic violence. Especially in wolf packs. They assume that you just got angry and she either ran away or you killed her. Or at least that's what I gathered from my questions."
"I did as well. I don't care if they think I did it if that's what brings her home. I just worry they will only focus their efforts on me instead of finding her out there. When she comes home she can tell them herself." Noah nodded and pulled his phone out. I was assuming he was sending a message to Zoey. Until their house was finished they lived in a finished basement apartment in his family's home. Noah was, like me, about to turn eighteen and Zoey had just turned seventeen so it made sense that in the new move they would just move into their own residence. I noticed their bond had grown significantly stronger as well over the last year. Something had changed. Instead of a big group of friends Noah and Jameson were both developing real relationships separate from our inner circle. I longed for that closeness.
By time we slid into the driveway a variety of cars and trucks were parked along the yard. Word had spread fast and the top ranking members and all converged into our tiny living room. Some brought their children that were old enough to start learning the inner workings, but most came alone. Josh stayed outside while we made our way in to give an update. Zoey greeted Noah with a weary smile and a kiss on the cheek. My father shoved sandwiches into both of our hands and insisted we eat while updating. Noah immediately started scarfing down the food in his hand while I left mine untouched. He whispered something to Zoey and with a quick nod she slipped out the door with another sandwich in hand.
"The police suspect me. We have no idea where she is or why she is there. Us coming here has brought danger to her and we could have drawn attention that made her a target."
"What did we do?" The question came from the back of the room where an older man stood with his fifteen year old son. The father grabbed the boys arm and muttered something sternly in his ear. The boy who spoke was Clark. His father, Billy, was the secretary of the pack. Whenever meetings happened he was required to be there in order to keep notes on the event that would be stored and kept for records. It was like our history books that we could look back on and see how our ancestors handled any issues. Most issues reoccurred and we could learn from our past. Clark stood two heads shorter than his father with shaggy brown hair almost reaching his shoulders. He was still in his pajamas. He wouldn't speak out again.
"They don't tell anyone that she is a friend to the elements. As you all know it's a very rare trait. A trait that must be hidden even from their inner circle. A friend to the elements can pass the gene on once. To their first born daughter. When we first came we talked loosely of her abilities and could have brought attention to the area. Word travels fast in a building of teenagers."
Worried looks exchanged between the men and my dad stepped up this time. "There's no reason to jump to conclusions. We don't know what has happened yet. The boys will conduct a quiet search of the area and then we will proceed further if needed in the morning."
Some of the members accepted this and began filtering to their cars. Noah's dad, Keith, walked to Dad and began talking in more quieted tones. We created a circle between the four of us.
"We went to the boy's lodgings and there was nobody there. It looked like he hasn't actually lived there in a while. Everything had a thin layer of dust and there were no personal belongings."
"How is that possible? We watch him walk in there after school on most days."
"There's a back door that pushes up against the surrounding woods. All he would have to do is walk straight through the house and he's gone into the forest. It would be easy and almost undetectable."
I nodded and began to switch my tennis shoes out with the boots I wanted to wear earlier. Noah and I each grabbed a jacket off the hook and then an extra for Josh. "That's where we will start then. If he is going to the same residence every day we should be able to track him there."
Noah and his father both walked out the door, but Dad grabbed my wrist before I could follow. "If you feel the pull again it might be unbearable to resist. Your body will disconnect from your mind and your only thoughts will be on getting closer to her. This could be a trap. A way to lure you alone to an area. You will be sitting ducks out there and not on our pack's property. If you find her make sure you don't go in alone. Leave Noah to keep an eye out and come back here for reinforcements."
His hand relaxed on my arm and I walked out the door. I wish I could have said that I would be capable of leaving her wherever she was if I found her, but I knew it would have been a lie.
We walked to the cabin style home on the outskirts of the new community. The house was small compared to the majority of the homes. We bought a whole stretch of road. Normally packs bought a large acreage of land and then built the area to their needs. We decided a subdivision style road that was backed by acers of forest would be a more practical for our smaller pack. As of now we only had about twenty families. Most had pre-teen or late teen children that had mated to each other or remained mateless. In larger packs wolf shifters find their mates as young children so their bond can grow, but our pack is too small and staying isolated from other shifters meant we would die out within two or three generations. If we didn't start finding mates then we would eventually be split up among larger packs. No pack would accept all of us. It would be too big of a risk.
Josh slipped the jacket over his shoulders. It was a little tight but would keep the wind off while we were on foot. Once we shift we wouldn't have to worry about the cold. We walked through the front door. Noah flipped the light switch to the living room and a pale yellow light pushed out the darkness. An old television sat on a wooden stand. The shelves in the stand were empty. The remote sat in front of the television with a layer of dust in between the buttons.
Josh made his way through the house flipping on each light. The home was a one floor open concept. Beige walls and a grey carpet covered the entire place. A small kitchen and breakfast area were set up in front of a large glass sliding door. A hallway to the left lead us to a bathroom and guest bedroom. The guest bathroom had a few feminine products.
"Hey Noah. Henry didn't have a mate right?"
His head popped around the door frame after checking the guest room. "I don't think so, but there's a bra underneath the guest bed in here. I haven't seen anyone new around."
Josh appeared again in the hallway after checking the main bed and bath. "Nothing in the main room. But if they went in and out the back door nobody would know. How old did you say he was when his mom brought him here?"
"I don't know for sure. He couldn't have been any more than two or three. They stayed in a house similar to this one, but when he was about thirteen she just disappeared. Even when she was around he wasn't really involved with anyone. They both just stuck to themselves for as long as I can remember."
Noah chimed in. "Yeah the dude was a loner, but he seemed pretty nice. Never made a power play. Just existed as part of the pack." Josh nodded and we all made our way out the back door. Henry's home was closer to the forest than anyone else's. The backyard was pretty much non-existent. About three feet from the back door the wood line started.
We each sat on the ground preparing to shift into our wolf forms. I was first. My fur was a dark black that made me almost invisible in the night. The only thing that gave me away was my bright silver eyes and a white patch of fur on my back left paw.
Noah followed quickly behind me. His fur was a light brown with a mix of black that you could only see if you were looking close. He was on the slightly smaller side for a beta, but he made up for it in speed and technical training. Josh seemed weary to shift at first glancing between the two of us. He wasn't sure if he was more vulnerable as a wolf or as a man, but right now he wasn't comfortable with either. I needed him to hurry up though. Lily's life could be depending on these minutes we were wasting.
I gave a quiet bark urging him to shift and he took a deep breath and transformed. He was huge and there was no doubting his lineage. He was for sure a beta at the very least, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was alpha somewhere in his lineage. His fur was a light blonde except for his snout that was speckled with black and the tip of his tail that had a small black spot. Josh knew her scent better than anyone, but we knew Henry's. Noah lead us into the woods and I tailed behind Josh. I wanted to make sure nobody could sneak up behind us, and if they did Josh would remain unharmed.
Noah gave a slightly too loud huff then turned to the left. We went a few feet then he turned back and started to go right. I stood back as Josh and Noah went in circles following the scent.
This wasn't going to lead us anywhere.