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CHAPTER 33

Ten minutes later, a splash of water awoke Alfred. His eyes sprang open when he noticed he was lying on the floor. Gently, he sat up to meet his mother, who kept staring at him. She was stunned to see him lying on the floor after waiting for him to show up in the kitchen.

Alfred wiped his face. "Mum!!" he swallowed softly, winking. "Where is Elena?"

The elderly woman glanced around. "Shouldn't I be asking you?"

He gazed at his mother's face. Something was odd about him. There's a feeling that had never ignited in him since he knew himself as a living being.

"Are you okay? There are lots of customers to serve. How did you end up here?" she stood up, grasping her apron. "I was waiting for you but didn't see you, so I decided to serve them all before searching for you…."

He made a long face. "Really? Are they more important to you than my whereabouts?" he forced himself to stand, dusting his clothes. "You didn't see me and wanted to serve your customers first. What if I was at the point of death?"

"Why will you be at the point of death? I called out Lena and then you, but got no response, so I believed you two left or whatever……"

Alfred hissed, rubbing his palms on his hair. "She was here with me, and then suddenly, I passed out….. and she disappeared. Didn't you find a trace of her when you came here? She was supposed to serve the huge man sitting at the fourth table…." he elaborated, sure of what he was saying.

"She kept saying that we looked like siblings, and now she disappeared." he scowled at his mum. "Stop staring at me that way. Don't you find it odd that we looked alike?"

She scoffed. "So what did you expect me to do? Throw her out or…"

"It's okay! I'll go search for her since she isn't around. She must have gone home." he walked past his mother back to the front of the tavern to get things done before leaving. There, he picked up the ribbon he had given Lena in the morning to pack her hair with. "She threw it away. Did she escape or what?"

He rolled his eyes, trying to recall how she behaved before he passed out. "She was breathing endlessly. Even when she stumbled on me, she looked shocked…." he put the ribbon in his pocket. "She must have been tired and decided to go home and get some rest. I wonder where she came from that she needed some rest after doing some petty work."

He hurried and cleared up the empty tables. In the kitchen, he washed up the dirty clothes and then exited the tavern back home.

Along the way, his heart raced, but he didn't know why. It was his first time feeling that way ever. He felt goosebumps on his skin, making him gasp for breath multiple times.

When he reached their abode… to his greatest shock, it was empty. Lena was nowhere around, although her properties were still in the house.

"Where did she go? She can't just leave that way after promising to stay with us from yesterday onwards." his palms glued to his waist as he glanced around the room. "Is she alright? Did someone come after her?" he went straight to the little bag Lena had put her belongings in and loosened it.

Searching it thoroughly, he found some unusual things in it…. things he didn't expect to see.

"Is he married? She must be a mother. Then how did she end up in that river?" he dropped the bag on the floor. "Someone must be after her life. What about her husband and child? Are they even safe?" All those questions he couldn't answer.

He pulled out the shirt he was wearing and hung it, then had another on. He stood before the mirror, dressed in a black outfit right from his cap to his footwear.

"I must find you and bring you back here. You will tell me more about yourself and I will know how to help you. Even if we aren't siblings, I'll sacrifice this for the sake of our resemblance……" he buttoned the wrist of his shirt and then twitched out of the room.

He will be back soon, so his mother will have nothing to worry about.

He entered the woods, piercing through the leaves and trees screaming Lena's name. For two hours, he was still walking. He didn't expect to take much time to find her.

"Which road will I follow now?" he pouted his lips, darting his eyes around.

'Take your right-'

He lost his balance, eyes widened. "My wolf?" he shook his head. "It can't be! Mother said my wolf has to be asleep for my safety. She said I'd be killed if my wolf is awakened…." he was panting, almost on the floor.

'She woke me when she tapped your cheek.'

His lips dropped open. "That tap! I passed out!! That was why!!!" he gripped his hair, wanting to pull it out. A part of him was glad that his wolf was awakened, but he was scared it would lead to his death and would endanger his mother as well. "Mother can't be hurt because of us. She's a human and….."

'And what? You can't find her if I don't assist you…'

"What do you mean?" he moistened his lips. "How will you find her?"

A growl. His feet slipped. The first and last day he heard of this sound was when he turned eighteen. That day, his mother took him to a witch that suppressed his wolf power, and it couldn't function any longer.

'I will connect with her wolf.'

He breathed out. "You will connect with her wolf? Does it mean we have anything in common?"

'We will find out soon. Now, we have to find her first, or she might fall into danger.'

He nodded, his lips parted into a slight smile. "Let's do it! We will find her and bring her back here…" he grinned and took his right like his wolf had suggested.

It was a long walk through that part, but just when he thought he had reached the route that would lead him to the major road that he believed Lena must have followed….. he got stuck by a grass rope and landed with his chest on the floor.

The pain was excruciating, but he managed to stand on his feet again…. only to face a stoutly built man whose hair dropped on his shoulders. His chiseled face and eye color made Alfred shudder-it was his first time meeting such a creature.

He stepped back a bit but was held by a palm-and then, he was surrounded by more than two men, all with guns in their palms.

On that spot, he froze, gulping down his saliva until his mouth became dried up.