Chapter 34 Becoming One Among the Others
Dareth’s POV
“Althea?” the other man repeated, his brows furrowed as if making sure he hadn’t misheard.
“Yeah.” The first man lowered his voice slightly, even though the area around them was already noisy. “The girl who went missing.”
I kept my head lowered, staring at the surface of the coffee in my hand. The steam still rose slowly. Calm. Steady. The complete opposite of my focus, which was now entirely on them.
“It’s been almost a month since she was reported missing, right?” he continued.
“More,” the other replied quickly. “And there’s still no trace of her at all.”
They both fell silent for a moment.
“That’s strange,” said the first man, the one who had started the conversation.
I lifted my cup and took a slow sip. It tasted the same—bitter, heavy, with that distinct aroma—but now it was just background.
“From what I’ve heard, the people closest to her said Althea isn’t the type of woman who just leaves without a word,” the second man added. “Especially not alone.”
“I heard…” the first man paused, glancing around briefly before continuing, “…she was seen near the Silverfang border.”
I slowly lowered my cup.
There it was. Their conversation was finally moving toward the information I was looking for.
I shifted slightly in my seat, just enough to slip into their space without standing out.
“The border?” I said casually, as if I were just joining in, even though I was only working off the information I had gotten from Evra. “I heard that rumor too.”
Both of them turned immediately. Their gazes were sharp, studying me as if weighing something.
I shrugged lightly. “Just a rumor. They said she went out at night, alone. That’s what made people start getting suspicious.”
The first man let out a short breath. “That’s not all.”
I waited for him to continue.
He leaned forward slightly.
“They said… her face was wet, like she’d been crying,” he said quietly.
Silence settled between us.
I didn’t react too much. Drawing attention would only make them suspicious.
I just gave a small nod, like it was nothing unusual.
“Why? Was she being chased by something… or afraid of something?” I asked.
“No one knows,” the second man replied.
I glanced at him briefly. “Who saw her?”
“Rynel.”
The name landed heavily.
“A hunter from the eastern side,” he added.
“Can his information be trusted?” the second man asked.
“He’s not the type to talk carelessly. If he says he saw something… then he really saw it,” the first man said firmly.
“Then… what else did that hunter say?” I asked.
The first man swallowed before speaking again. “Rynel said… he also saw Althea heading to the Black Hollow border.”
I took another sip of my coffee, giving myself a pause like I was just mildly curious.
“Did she go there alone?”
The two men exchanged a look.
And from that… I knew the answer wasn’t simple.
“No.”
The word came out quietly. Heavier than before.
I didn’t speak right away, giving them a few seconds of silence, letting them continue on their own.
My heartbeat stayed steady. But my mind moved instantly. Another point connected.
“No? Then who was she with?” I asked softly.
The second man lowered his voice even more. “She was with someone.”
I looked at them one by one. “Someone? Who?”
They both fell silent for a moment.
Then finally. “The Alpha of Black Hollow.”
The words fell without dramatics. But the impact was clear.
“Kael Thornridge himself picked her up and brought her into their territory. Alpha Thornridge even looked like he’d been waiting for her to arrive,” the man continued.
A quiet silence settled over our table. But this time… it wasn’t empty. Something lingered in it.
I didn’t move. I didn’t end the conversation. My instincts told me there was still something they hadn’t said.
And I was right.
The second man rubbed the back of his neck slowly, clearly hesitant.
“I also heard something else about Althea,” he muttered. “But… I’m not sure if it’s true.”
The first man turned to him immediately. “What is it?”
He glanced right, then left, making sure no one was too close.
I stayed quiet. As if I wasn’t that interested.
Even though all my focus was locked onto him.
“They said…” he paused, “…before Althea disappeared, she went to the old healer’s house on the northern side. She even went alone, without her mother or any of her family.”
My brow lifted slightly—but I quickly hid it.
That wasn’t a small piece of information.
“What for?” the first man asked.
“Not sure,” he answered. “But her condition was already a mess when she got there.”
“What do you mean, a mess?”
“She was panicking,” he said quietly. “Like someone who… had run out of options.”
I lowered my gaze to my coffee.
Another piece. And this one was worse.
The first man frowned. “You think she ran away to Black Hollow?”
“If she was just running away, she wouldn’t go to the border,” the other replied. “And she wouldn’t meet the Alpha of another pack.”
The words hung in the air.
Simple logic. But enough to form something far more unsettling.
I finally spoke again, quietly.
“Then it’s obvious… she didn’t run.”
They both looked at me.
I shrugged lightly. “Maybe she was looking for something. Or… someone. Or maybe… she was trying to protect something that shouldn’t exist.”
The first man swallowed.
“And it ended up…” he didn’t finish his sentence.
He didn’t need to.
We all already knew where it led.
I lifted my cup one last time. Only a little liquid was left, and it had already gone cold.
No longer relevant.
“Thanks,” I said casually to the vendor, like this had been nothing more than small talk in the middle of a market. “The coffee’s great. I might come back later.”
I stood up without rushing. Without drawing attention. Without leaving an impression.
But as I walked away…
my thoughts were already moving far faster than my steps.
Althea didn’t disappear.
She was taken.
And if what Evra saw was true…
then what happened after that wasn’t just a murder.
It was a trigger.
A single spark… that would set two packs on fire at the same time.
And once that fire started… nothing would be able to stop it.