Chapter 46
CARSON After explaining everything to Jenny, I gave her a few moments to let everything I had told her sink in. Her face hardened but blank. While she was quiet, my anger was tipping over. Lynx wanted to find them and kill everyone who was out to get our mate. All we want is for Leah to return and be safe, even if it means being outside the door if she never speaks to me again. At least then, she would still be in the pack with us. A mind link came through from Zain. “Where is—” I asked. “I can’t seem to locate her,” he said. “I have been running around checking places she could be, as she is known to look after the wounded, but no one has seen her.” My mind raced. There was only one place she could have gone. “Check the cells,” I said. “If she were in on it, she would have gone to Paul.” Zain growled. “Would she be so stupid to—” he said. “I would if my mate was there,” I muttered, cutting him off. “I’ll check,” he said. “But what do you want me to do when I find her with him?” “Place her in a cell next to him,” I said, feeling angry. “We can integrate them once we have dealt with everything.” 1 “Okay,” he said and closed the mind link. I looked over at Jenny, who was staring at me. “Zain can’t find your mother,” I blurt out before she could ask me what was happening. “She may be helping pack members,” she said. “That’s what she always does when there has always been an attack. She used to be a nurse.” I stared at her. Lynx came closer but said nothing. “Zain couldn’t find her where she usually went,” I murmured, making her look at me as her eyebrows scrunch together. “There has to be a logical explanation for this,” she said. “She wouldn’t harm a child, let alone her granddaughter.” I didn’t believe her. After everything that has been going on, everyone has their own beliefs, and the older generations have theirs. If her father didn’t persuade her mother to do anything, she may have the same sordid beliefs as him. The room was quiet. An image of Leah flooded my mind. I needed to know if Josh was closer to finding where she went. I opened a mind link to him. “Josh, have you found her yet?” I asked desperately. Josh was quiet for a moment before he spoke. “I followed her scent, and it led me to the nearby human town,” he said. “I just arrived and going to look around to see if anyone has spotted her.” I let out a sigh. “Let me know what you find,” I said. “Jenny and the boys are here with me in the office. We uncovered that the rogue attack was a premeditated attack.” “What do you mean, premeditated?” he asked. “What has been going on?” My eyes move to Jenny, who seems to be deep in thought. “It seems that the rogues had a target,” I said with a low growl. “Leah.” “What?” he growled. “Leah? Are you sure?” “Yeah, Zain found a photo of her and some clothing of hers on some rogues he found,” I muttered. “Who would—” he said but stopped abruptly. “Josh,” I call out. “You there?” Silence met my head, which made Lynx come forward to listen. “Josh,” I called out. “Sorry,” he mumbles. “I found someone who spotted her. She boarded a bus to somewhere.” My heart sank. Leah left. Where the hell would she have gone? “Where—” I asked. “Her old home,” he muttered before I could finish my question. “Don’t tell Jenny. I will follow her and get her back.” I felt slightly better. But something hits me like a freight train. The rogues were after Leah. What if they were still following her, or even worse, caught her? “Are you being followed?” I blurt out as I look toward Jenny. “The rogues left, but that was a short time after Leah had run off. They may have followed her or even worse—” “No,” Josh said. “I’m not being followed, and the woman at the bus station is a wolf. She said she boarded the bus alone, and no one followed her. No wolf, at least.” I felt slightly better. Maybe, if we kept everyone thinking that she was here, they would be focused on us more than looking elsewhere. A plan formed in my head, making Lynx nod in agreement. “Josh, get to her old place,” I said. “Keep a low profile, and let me know when you get there.” “Okay,” he said. “Can I ask what you are planning?” “I will tell you once you get there, as I need to figure out who is behind it all,” I said, knowing I needed to tell him about Jenny’s parents, but I have to tell him when we know more. He needed to find Leah and protect her. “I will let Jenny know what’s going on,” I said. I felt worry slip through the link, but I ignored it. “Josh, she needs to know that you are out looking for Leah, and you will bring her back to her.” Josh sighed. “Thank you,” he said. “I just got a car from the rental place, and I’m now heading onto the road. I will mind link when I get there.” “Okay,” I said, closing the mind link and looking toward Jenny. “Josh is following a lead on Leah,” I blurt out, making her look at me. Her eyes were saddened. “Where is she?” she asked. “It seems she ran all the way to the human town and hopped on a bus back home,” I said. “Josh is leaving to get to her.” “I should be—” she said, but I shook my head, which cut her off. “No,” I said. “I told Josh I will keep you and the boys safe with me, and that’s what I will do.” I move and walk over to her but stop. Her eyes never leave mine as I take the chair opposite her. “Josh will find Leah for us,” I said with a small smile. “You and I need to figure out who is involved in this attack and why they are after Leah.” Jenny said nothing, but her eyes held more than words could express. I leaned forward and placed my hand in hers. “Josh will bring her back to us,” I said. “She has to come back. She’s my mate and our Luna.” The corners of her lips pull up slightly, but she still says nothing. “We need to get those involved,” I muttered, making Lynx come closer to the surface, but not enough for her to notice. “We need to get this pack safe and ready for whatever is next, but more importantly, it will be safer for Leah to return.” Jenny gave a slight nod and my hand a gentle squeeze. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Leah has a truly amazing mate.” I smiled and let go of her hand. Leaning back in my chair, I sighed. I looked at her. “You know she found out about us,” I said. “She will either be scared out of her mind or have many questions to ask.” Jenny leaned back in her seat and looked at me. “I know,” she said. “I should have explained more to her when she was a child, but it was never an issue when she was young. She never witnessed my shift when I let my wolf out for a run.” “Did her father know what you were?” I asked, curious about how this relationship worked. Jenny smiled and nodded. “I told him,” she said with a smile. “He thought I was joking, but my wolf liked him, so she shifted right before him without even considering how he would react. I never seen a man turn white and freak out so quickly.” Jenny laughed slightly as she looked ahead. “My wolf let me take over,” she said once she recovered. “He wanted to know everything about us, and I told him, even mentioned about mates further along the line. I told him I never thought I had one as I never met him, but I was so in love with Larry it was hard even to consider I had one.” “What about Leah?” I asked, trying to change the subject as I could tell she felt uncomfortable telling me all this. “When were you planning to tell her?” Jenny looked at me and shrugged. “Larry wanted to wait till she was old enough to understand, which I agreed with,” she said. “As time passed, I didn’t know how to approach it, but when I came here, everything changed, and it all slipped my mind until that phone call I received about Larry and Leah.” I stared at her for a moment but had to know something. “Did you ever try to contact Leah while you came back here?” I asked. Jenny’s eyes glistened, but somehow I think I knew her answer. She looked down at her hands in her lap and let out a breathy sigh. “As much as Leah was on my mind,” she whispered. “I couldn’t. I wanted to see her, but it was hard, especially when you have a mate and a child with another. You would never think it could happen to our kind as we were always told that we had that special someone who belonged to us, who would protect and love us. The one who will give you children.” Jenny stopped and looked up slightly as a lone tear escaped. I couldn’t ask her any more questions when it upset her. “I fell in love with Larry,” she blurted as her eyes met mine. “I fell in love with a human. He stole my heart with his stupid jokes and the way he would be there for me when I had my father telling me that being away was causing more issues, demanding that I find my mate.” Another lone tear escaped. “I was in love with a human,” she said, as her eyes stayed on mine. “Between you and me, if I didn’t come back here, I probably would still be with him and Leah. We had a good life. I made out to his family that I wasn’t talking to my family, which they never overstepped or demanded that I talk to them.” Jenny looks at me, but her tears flow more. “I—” she said, but a mind link came through from Zain. I open up, only to be greeted with worry and concern. “They are not in the cells,” he blurts out. “Neither of them. No parents.” I growl. “You what?” I shouted. “Paul is supposed to be in the cells. We wouldn’t release him for a while until we know more.” “I know,” he said. “I have guards searching around. “But no one in the pack has seen them, and there is something else.” “What?” I growled. There couldn’t be anything else to worry about. “There is no sign of the old gamma either,” he said. “A few pack members have been caring for the injured, and someone did a head count for me. When they came back, they told me only seven were missing, and all of them were followers of the old Gammas beliefs. No one has seen them.” Anger swirled around, and Lynx stood to attention, ready to kill. “Place the pack on lockdown,” I growled. “No one in or out.” “Okay,” Zain said, closing the mind link. Looking over at Jenny, who looked on in concern. “What’s going on?” she asked. I was about to open my mouth when another link came through—Lucian. “Alpha,” he said. “I have to—” “Lucian, I can’t talk now; we were attacked, and I—” I said, but he cut me off with the words I longed to hear. “I gathered you something was wrong,” he said. “But I am wondering why my niece is standing before me.” Leah made it there. She’s alive and arrived at the house.