Chapter 90 Blood Tracking
Elara's POV
"Since you're already here, why don't we have lunch together?" Dad suggested, gesturing toward the hotel restaurant with an easy grace.
I agreed readily enough, curiosity gnawing at me about what kind of romantic trouble could possibly penetrate an Alpha's natural defenses and aura of authority. Throughout the meal, I studied Dad's face for any hint of what had really happened, but he deflected my subtle inquiries with practiced ease, clearly unwilling to share the details of his "peach blossom disaster" as he had termed it on the phone earlier.
After lunch, we returned to the hotel lobby together and walked toward the elevators. I was about to press the call button when I heard hurried footsteps behind us and turned to see Edwin and Moira rushing through the entrance, both of them looking distinctly disheveled and agitated.
Father's entire demeanor shifted in an instant, his relaxed posture going rigid as his expression darkened with barely suppressed fury that rolled off him in waves.
"Brother," Edwin said quickly, his voice strained as he approached us with Moira trailing slightly behind him. "We were just leaving. Moira got injured during a reality show recording, and I came to pick her up."
I offered a polite smile and greeted them both, though I could not help but notice the way Moira flinched slightly when my gaze landed on her. As I extended my senses cautiously, I detected something deeply troubling in the mate bond that connected Edwin and Moira—the usually steady golden thread that linked bonded pairs was fraying at the edges, dark cracks spreading through it.
They were going to divorce soon, if the deterioration of their bond was any indication.
But what made my blood run cold was the energy signature clinging to Moira's aura—gray threads shot through with dark pink undertones, exactly matching the residual energy I had sensed on Dad earlier when I had first arrived at the hotel.
So it was Moira. I swallowed hard against the surge of anger and disgust that threatened to show on my face, forcing myself to maintain the polite smile I had offered moments before. I would pretend I knew nothing, would give no indication that I had pieced together what must have happened between them.
The elevator arrived with a soft chime, and the four of us stepped inside together, the confined space immediately filling with tension so thick it felt difficult to breathe.
I said, my voice low but carrying clearly in the oppressive silence. "Aunt Moira, your fortune is extremely poor right now. When a person carries such heavy misfortune, it affects those connected to them by blood. Especially... their children."
The moment the words left my mouth, both Edwin's and Moira's phones began ringing simultaneously with shrill urgency that shattered the tense quiet. They both scrambled to answer, their faces draining of color as they listened to whoever was speaking on the other end of their respective calls.
Moira's hand flew to her mouth as she let out a strangled scream that echoed in the confined space, "What?! Sophie's been kidnapped?!"
I saw Father immediately pull out his phone and begin typing rapidly, his fingers moving across the screen with practiced efficiency.
Without warning, Moira lunged at me with a wild shriek of rage and terror, her perfectly manicured nails reaching for my face with clear intent to scratch and claw. "It's you! You cursed my daughter! You did this!"
I sidestepped smoothly, years of combat training making the evasive movement almost instinctive as I caught her wrist mid-swing and used her own momentum against her, redirecting her stumbling form directly into Edwin. He crashed backward into the elevator wall with a grunt of pain and surprise.
My voice came out cold and flat, stripped of any pretense of familial warmth. "Uncle Edwin, if you want to save Sophie, then control your wife. Now."
Moira's face contorted with rage as she pointed a trembling finger at me, her voice rising to a shrill pitch that echoed off the elevator walls. "You vicious little snake! You cursed my daughter, didn't you?"
She lunged forward again, her hands reaching for my hair this time. "I'll kill you! You cruel, heartless witch! Sophie never did anything to you!"
I stepped back calmly, keeping just out of her reach as Edwin struggled to hold her back by the shoulders. She fought against his grip like a wild animal, her perfectly styled hair now disheveled and her eyes blazing with hysteria. "Let me go, Edwin! She needs to pay for what she's done! That venomous brat—"
The sharp crack of Dad's palm connecting with Moira's cheek echoed through the elevator like a gunshot, silencing her mid-scream. He calmly withdrew a white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his hand with deliberate slowness, his voice dropping into the icy register that carried his full Alpha authority. "Make her be quiet. If you cannot manage that simple task, then I will handle it myself."
Moira collapsed into herself under the weight of his dominance, her entire body shaking with terror as she finally fell silent, tears streaming down her face.
The elevator doors opened with a cheerful ding. Beta Albert stood waiting in the hallway outside with a tablet in his hands, his expression professionally neutral as he began reporting on the situation developing in Silverstone Pack territory.
Father's voice cut through Albert's report with absolute finality. "I have Wolf Council commitments that cannot be postponed. Edwin, take your people and go back immediately."
Edwin turned to me with desperation written clearly across his features, his voice breaking as he grabbed my arm. "Elara, please, I'm begging you to come with us. You're the only one who can find Sophie!"
I looked directly at Moira, my voice carrying no warmth whatsoever. "Do you want to save your daughter?"
She nodded frantically, her hands clutching at Edwin's shirt as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. "Yes! Yes, I'll do anything! Please help her!"
I pulled out the red silk cord talisman and wrapped it around Moira's right index finger with practiced efficiency, then reached up and yanked a strand of her hair free from her head, ignoring her small cry of pain as I bound the hair together with the cord. "Open the electronic map of Silverstone Pack territory."
Albert immediately began working on his tablet, and within seconds a holographic projection of the pack's territorial boundaries appeared hovering in the air before us.
I grasped Moira's hand firmly and positioned it so that her palm hovered directly above the center of the projected map. Using my thumbnail, I made a small precise cut across the pad of her finger where the cord was wrapped, deep enough that blood immediately welled up and began running down the silk thread in dark crimson rivulets.
My hands moved through the complex gestures of the tracking spell as I chanted in a low voice, "With blood as guide, with hair as medium, bone and flesh connected, breath intertwined—reveal!"
The red cord came alive like a living thing, writhing and twisting in the air above the map as it followed invisible currents of magical energy that connected mother to daughter across the miles. The cord's movement finally slowed and then stopped completely, pointing toward a section of the map labeled "Lichgate District" before going still.
Edwin leaned forward anxiously, his voice tight with barely controlled panic. "Why did it stop? Can you narrow it down further?"
I shook my head as I felt sweat begin to bead on my forehead from the magical exertion. "The distance is too great for precise location tracking even with the mother's blood as an anchor point. I can only identify the general area. Lichgate District is a border region with access to multiple pack territories."
I suddenly pulled out my phone and dialed Rowan's number, listening to it ring ten times before her irritated voice came through the speaker. "Elara, I was sleeping quite peacefully. This had better be important."
"Rowan, I need you to go to Lichgate District immediately. There's a kidnapped child who needs to be found."
There was a brief pause, and then Rowan's voice came back sounding fully alert. "Understood. Send me the coordinates."
I turned to Edwin and Moira to explain as I forwarded the location data. "I've called in external assistance. My roommate Rowan Ashford has tracking abilities that rank in the top three at the academy."
I explained as I forwarded the location data. "I've called in external assistance. My roommate Rowan Ashford has tracking abilities that rank in the top three at the academy."
I raised my hand and traced a complex double-circle formation in the air with golden light flowing from my fingertips. This was a remote synchronization array linking my perception with Rowan's location.
Three minutes later, my phone buzzed with a message from Rowan confirming she had arrived and set up her end of the array.
I placed both palms against the glowing formation's focal points. The center shimmered and solidified into a floating sphere, its surface rippling before revealing a bird's eye view of Lichgate District's streets with a pulsing red dot indicating Sophie's location.