Chapter 45 CHAPTER 45
The smell of burnt onions clung to the air like smoke.
“Anna!” Hilda’s voice cut through the small house, sharp as the crack of a whip. “Are you going to sit there all morning, or will you help me for once?”
From the couch, Anna barely looked up from her phone. “I’m busy.”
“Busy doing what?”
“Stuff,” she muttered.
Hilda slammed the wooden spoon against the counter, the clang echoing through the cramped kitchen. The stew on the stove was starting to stick, but she didn’t care. She wiped her hands on her apron and stormed into the living room.
The sight there made her blood pressure rise even higher. Clothes were draped over the arm of the couch, shoes scattered near the door, breakfast plates still cluttered the dining table - cold eggs, half a loaf of bread, and two cups left to gather flies. Dust streaked the windows, and someone’s jacket lay half on the floor.
“Look at this place,” Hilda said, voice trembling with frustration. “It’s a pigsty! If you won’t help me cook, at least tidy up!”
Anna glanced up briefly, her blue eyes flat with irritation. “I don’t know how.”
“Then you better learn,” Hilda snapped. “The girl who used to do all this is gone, and she’s not coming back.”
Anna’s lips twisted, and under her breath she muttered, “And whose fault is that?”
Hilda froze. “What did you just say?”
“Nothing,” Anna said quickly, her thumbs tapping the phone screen again.
Hilda’s hands curled into fists, but before she could respond, a knock sounded at the door, loud, deliberate. She exhaled through her nose, shooting Anna one last glare. “You’d better start picking up those clothes before I come back.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Muttering, Hilda wiped her hands again and went to open the door. When she pulled it open, her heart jumped a little.
Standing outside were Alpha Richard and a young warrior she recognized from the patrol ranks- Zach, tall and sharp-eyed, his dark hair pulled back.
“Alpha,” Hilda said quickly, bowing her head. “What an honor…. please, come in.”
Richard stepped inside without waiting for her invitation. His presence filled the small house, heavy and commanding. He took one slow look around, and his brows drew together.
“So it’s true,” he said under his breath.
“Sir?” Hilda asked, confused.
“I used to hear people say your house looked spotless when that Cindy girl was here, but ever since she left…” he said, scanning the mess. “I thought it was an exaggeration. Now I see it wasn’t.”
Hilda flushed. “We’ve just been… busy, Alpha. It’s been a hard few weeks.”
He gave a low hum, unimpressed. “Hard, yes. But I didn’t realize two grown women could be so helpless without one small girl.”
Anna shifted uncomfortably on the couch, pretending to scroll through her phone as if she didn’t hear.
Richard’s gaze flicked to her briefly, then back to Hilda. “Is Celdric home?”
“Yes, Alpha,” Hilda said. “He’s out back - chopping wood, I think.”
Richard nodded to Zach. “Come.”
As they moved toward the back door, Hilda followed them nervously to the threshold. Richard paused long enough to glance back at the living room again. “Clean this up,” he said simply, then stepped outside.
The backyard smelled of sap and smoke. Sunlight filtered through the thin trees, casting pale shadows across the grass.
Celdric was at the chopping block, his axe rising and falling in steady rhythm. The wood split cleanly beneath each blow. Sweat dampened his shirt and his hair clung to his forehead.
When he heard footsteps behind him, he stopped and turned, leaning on the axe handle. “Alpha Richard. Zach.”
“Celdric,” Richard said, his tone formal but not unkind.
Celdric straightened, wiping his forehead with his forearm. “To what do I owe the honor?”
“Zach just returned from his search,” Richard said. “He’s here to report. And I thought you should hear it as well.”
Celdric’s eyes flicked toward the younger warrior. “You found something?”
Zach nodded once. “Some things. I tracked her scent up to the cliff edge. Looked like she stopped there for a while. After that, I followed her trail toward the city.”
Celdric frowned. “She made it that far alone?”
“She did,” Zach said. “And fast. But once she reached the outskirts, the scent scattered. Too many people, too many roads. I tried every lead for two days, but nothing concrete. It’s like she vanished once she reached the city.”
Richard folded his arms, his gaze thoughtful. “The city’s vast. She could’ve gone anywhere, taken a bus, hitched a ride, gone underground. No one from here knows those streets.”
Celdric’s grip on the axe tightened. “She never even left Silverpine before that night. How could she survive out there on her own?”
Zach’s jaw flexed. “She’s smart, sir. Smarter than most give her credit for. She may not have planned to leave but she is well capable of taking care of herself. I also believe she wasn’t alone in her escape.”
Celdric swallowed, staring past them at the line of trees. “She wasn’t alone? What do you mean? She didn’t have any friends here, and no one is missing at Silverpine.”
Zach’s eyes hardened as he reached for something inside his bag. “No, not a friend. But I found this at the edge of the cliff. Either she shifted or….”
It was Cindy’s torn clothes from her first shift.
The silence that followed was tense. Only the wind moved, stirring the leaves.
After a moment, Celdric said quietly, “She was taken?”
Zach nodded. “I guess so.”
“Is that all you found?” Richard finally asked.
Zach exhaled “Yes, but I’ll keep searching.”
Richard exhaled. “Do that. But be careful. The city’s not like our territory. Too many eyes, too many ears. And if she’s hiding, she doesn’t want to be found.”
Celdric hesitated, then asked, “Alpha… what if we let Sebastian go with Zach? Maybe his bond could guide them. If he can feel her, even a little…”
“No.” Richard’s voice cut through the air like the axe blade itself.
Celdric looked up sharply. “But….”
“The bond’s already making him unstable,” Richard said, his tone low, warning. “He’s been restless. Distracted. The elders say his energy spikes every few nights, like he’s fighting something inside. If he gets closer to her without control…” He shook his head. “We could lose him.”
Zach’s eyes flicked toward the Alpha, uncertain. “He’s that bad?”
Richard’s gaze darkened. “Worse.”
Celdric lowered his eyes. “He was never good to her. Maybe that’s what’s tearing him apart. The fact that she turned up to be his….”
Richard’s jaw clenched. “Enough! You’re trending on slippery ground Celdric! This is my son we are talking about – your future alpha.”
Cedric recoiled, keeping the rest of what he was about to say to himself.
Richard turned to Zach, “Continue looking for her and keep me updated.”
Zach nodded. “Understood.”
The Alpha turned toward the woods again, scanning the distance as if expecting to see Cindy’s silhouette emerge from the trees. “Wherever she is, she’s not the same girl who left. If she wanted to come back, she would’ve done it by now.”
He started walking back toward the house. Zach followed silently.
Celdric watched them go, the axe still in his hand. The weight of it suddenly felt heavier than before.
When the door closed behind them, the only sound left was the whisper of wind and the dull thud of another log splitting in two.
He muttered to himself, voice rough with something that wasn’t just exhaustion. “Cindy, what have you gotten yourself into?”
The axe fell again, echoing through the quiet yard like a heartbeat.