117- The Name of Elowen
POV Lunara Grimwald:
I bit my cheeks, thoughtful.
“I think I want to go back home,” I admitted, missing the mess in Edric’s room.
“All right then. Let’s go back home. I do love Edric’s television, though,” they admitted.
We walked in silence, following the path that would take us to the house where I wanted to stay. I already felt much better after taking a walk, but the need to return was screaming inside me.
I smelled the damned bitch before I saw her approach. I let out a low growl that made Anton look at me, confused. Thalira came in our direction, bumped into me on purpose, running me over as if I meant nothing to her, before stopping in front of Anton.
I retracted the claws that had lengthened involuntarily when she touched me. My heart raced and fury pumped through my blood hard.
“I need to talk to you,” she said, looking directly at Anton, still ignoring me.
The male seemed puzzled; he rubbed a hand through his hair, a little awkward.
“What is it?”
“I went after Edric, but I found out he isn’t in the village.” I tensed my body. I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through my mouth, trying to calm down. I clenched my fists at my sides, cutting the skin with my sharp nails.
“And?” Anton asked, bored.
“And it’s urgent. You’re second-in-command, so I need to address you.”
“Get on with it, Thalira,” he grunted, trying to keep his patience with the omega and failing miserably.
“I discovered something about that Elowen.”
It felt as if the world spun around me when I heard my sister’s name leave her lips. My brain flashed. I took an involuntary step, moving closer to them.
“How do you know about Elowen?” I asked.
She shot me a look, again ignoring me and addressing only Anton.
“Answer Lunara’s question,” he ordered. Thalira snorted.
“Edric told me, isn’t it obvious? He said I should report any news concerning the girl, so I’m following orders.”
“What do you know?” I insisted, holding myself back from strangling her with my own hands and tearing the information out of her by force.
Anton curled his lips into a sneer and crossed his arms in front of his body, nodding his head toward me, urging her to answer my question.
“I found an informant in the town who told me about the female,” she replied, irritated. “He refused, in no uncertain terms, to enter the village—he’s terrified of us—but he’s waiting for me at the border.”
“You brought him here?” Anton asked, astonished.
“Would you believe me if I came to you and gave the information without proof?” No one said anything. “I had to drag him to us. He will say what he knows about the girl and then he’ll leave.”
“Is he human?” I asked.
“Any problem?” she hissed, finally looking at me with disgust written across her face. “Everyone who lives in the town is human; your sister was living among them, wasn’t she?”
“Yes,” I agreed. She turned back to the male.
“So, Anton, could you accompany me, before the male has a heart attack or flees? I managed to drag him here, but that doesn’t mean I can keep him, especially leaving him alone.”
Anton rubbed his face and nodded.
“I’m going too,” I stated. Thalira growled at me.
“I’m talking to him, not to you. I never said you could come with us.”
I bared my teeth at her.
“And we’re talking about my sister. I don’t care what you think—I’m going with you, period.”
She tossed her brown hair over her shoulder, the strands slapping against my face.
“I forgot it’s in your nature to meddle where you’re not wanted. If you want to come, that’s your problem. Just don’t interfere and don’t scare my informant,” she muttered before striding toward the forest.
I waited for her to get far enough away before speaking to Anton.
“Do you think she’s telling the truth? That Edric would have told her about Elowen?”
My heart was racing. The anxiety of hearing news about my sister—after months in complete darkness—pushed me to the edge.
Anton ran a hand over the back of his neck and began walking slowly.
“I don’t know,” he admitted with a sigh. “Maybe. Edric trusts her, and Thalira is always in town; she’s in contact with a lot of people there.”
“Do you think she might be lying?” I whispered. Anton wet his lips.
“To be honest? I have no idea. I don’t know who to trust in this pack anymore. I just know Edric and Thalira have a long history, and she knows many people in town. So yes, the possibility that he told her about Elowen is high.”
I swallowed, nodding, understanding what that meant. Edric and the she-wolf had been lovers for half a century. No matter how distant they were now, they had once been very close—he trusted her.
I ignored the sting in my chest, the sharp ache in my heart. It was ridiculous—she had news about my sister, and I was jealous of the wolf? Thalira was nothing but a bitch, a whore, and a provocateur. She might as well be useful for once in her life.
“And she didn’t even want me to come along,” I growled, intertwining my fingers in front of my body.
“Typical Thalira.”
“Typical disgusting bitch,” I shot back, pulling a genuine laugh from him.
We walked side by side toward the forest, following Thalira but keeping a certain distance between us. The place was the same where Ruda had been killed. It didn’t bring back good memories, but I needed to be there and hear everything the male had to say about my sister.
“I hope he has good news,” I murmured.
“Elowen worked in a bar; the male could be a former coworker of hers. Maybe she’s not even in the city anymore.”
“Your sister is hard to track, Lunara. Maybe she is still in the city, but since she’s not a transformed wolf, it makes things difficult for us—and it also means she’s been staying off Alessio’s radar.”
I nodded.
“Alessio knows where I am. He wouldn’t go after Elowen unless he knew her location too—or knew that she was unprotected, making her an easier target than me. He wants her to get to me, to put his hands on me—not because he’s interested in her.”
“I thought he wanted revenge on both of you, since you both ran away.”