Chapter 83 To Find Her
Calhoun's POV
"Let me come with you, Kristen is my daughter," It's no other person than Natalie who is scurrying to catch up with me.
I stop and quietly turn to face her, wondering what exactly has gotten into her mind for her to act this way.
"No, just stay back. You don't look too well." I say.
"You don't expect me to just sit here and do nothing when my only child is out there suffering." There's so much honesty in Natalie's eyes that I can tell she's not faking things. It's really confusing to see her this way. Because she heard the news about Kristen's kidnap yesterday and didn't utter a word, and now she's here like this?
"I told you I'll handle things, Natalie. You don't look good enough to go anywhere."
"Please, let me come with you." She's holding my hand right from, refraining me from going further.
Is this really Natalie or someone impersonating her? She just volunteered to help find Kristen.
"Please, Calhoun," Natalie implores and from the look of things, she's not willing to back out of this. She looks way too determined to do so.
"It's not good for you to come," I try to pull her hand away from mine but she tightens her grip on it.
"Kristen and I's relationship was strained from the very beginning, and then this whole thing with you started before we separated from each other, but it doesn't make her any less of my daughter."
I never thought I would hear such words from Natalie, and with the way she's calling Kristen her daughter as if she never had any trace of hate in her heart towards Kristen.
To say I am stunned is an understatement.
I am so touched by this right now, with the way Natalie has tears brimming in her eyes and how honest she sounded.
It's true she's frightened for Kristen's sake, and my heart immediately softens as I search through her eyes for the second time.
"Go, everyone. I'll come out in a few minutes." I give this order to my men because I want to speak with Natalie alone.
As a husband or as her daughter's lover? My subconscious hits me with this question, and I take an unsteady gulp.
My men obey my command and Bruce is the last to leave. There's this small smirk on his face and I am left wondering how he can still do that when we're in a tight position.
I pause and let some seconds run by before I return my gaze to Natalie, who is currently sniffing as if she's about to burst into tears.
"You need to stay and continue with your medications, I promise I'll do everything within my power to save Kristen," I assure her in the calmest manner possible because I cannot have a female tagging along to find my mate, even though that female might be her mother. It can be dangerous out there and no one knows what might attack us.
"What if something bad happens to her, what if she's hurt? We never had the chance to reconcile and I am afraid of losing my daughter," Natalie is being all panicky as she rubs her hand to the side of her arm. Her brows are etched in worry and her bottom lip trembles as she bites her upper lip.
This is the typical way a mother reacts when her daughter is in danger. Natalie is genuinely worried for Kristen.
"Nothing will happen to her, Natalie," I reassure her, wanting her to believe me.
"I hope so, or I won't be able to live with myself," Natalie adds as she looks away from me with a dull expression on her face.
"We've searched through these places before," Bruce says when he catches up with me. We're all in Jack's abandoned home.
"Alpha Calhoun?"
"Then do it again." I grit out.
"I think it's rather a waste of time," Bruce frowns a little, showing me he's against this.
"Command them to do it again, there must be something you're missing." My voice is louder and more commanding this time because I don't want to think there's no evidence on how to track
Jack.
It's true we came here yesterday and found nothing, but I conducted a second search again because there's no way of getting to Jack unless we find something that connects with him, that's why I ordered my men to return here.
"There are rumors that Jack owns an underground basement where
he keeps his females, this is just an abandoned house he lived in
before he started with his kidnapping spree." Says my beta.
"How long has he been at this?" I turn to face him.
"Five solid years, Alpha Calhoun." Bruce makes this known to me
before putting his hands on his waist and sighing.
"Five years?" My eyes are widened in shock.
And Bruce nods.
"Yes, no one he's kidnapped has been rescued," he concludes with
his hands still akimbo.
"Are you trying to scare me?" It's my turn to frown at him.
"No," he seems a bit clueless as to why I am suddenly upset with him.
"He fucking kidnapped my girl and here you are, making it known to me that no one has ever escaped him," I growl, and it's quite surprising that my voice isn't as high as I had intended.
"I apologize, Alpha Calhoun," Bruce casts his head down in respect, We'll find Kristen." He adds, still avoiding my eyes.
"No more talking," I instruct.
"Yes, sir," he agrees to this.
My men search through Jack's abandoned home, looking for
evidence that might lead to where he's hiding Kristen and several
other women he's kidnapped.
We came here last night before returning this morning. And I haven't even slept a wink, upon fearing for Kristen and my unborn child which is yet to develop in her womb.
I wonder how it is for Kristen if she's cold, hungry, or crying and thinking if I'll come to her rescue.
I have not been myself since I received the news of her kidnap, and
upon knowing it's the same Jack who tried to kidnap her before, just leaves me completely unsettled.
It's hard to even think straight at this point when Kristen is out there
suffering.
"It was said that Jack was having mental issues during the time he
was his Alphas beta."
"Mental issues like what?" I ask Bruce, with my nose wrinkled in
irritation.
"Obsessive compulsive disorder." Bruce provides flippantly.
||
"I see."
"Over twenty women have gone missing since last month. He keeps kidnapping more and more and it looks like he's not close to
stopping."
"Kristen will be that last woman he'll kidnap 'cause once I find him,
I'll tear his limbs off his body."
We keep searching through the house, it's obvious it has been abandoned for a few years now because of the dirt and cobwebs. "I don't think we can find anything here, Alpha Calhoun." Grinding my teeth, I go through the books on the table, trying to find something, anything I can use to track down Jack to rescue Kristen and all of the women Jack has kidnapped over the years.
When I don't find anything in his books, I search through his sketchbooks where he sketched several women. The bastard eve has one of Kristen and I am sickened to my guts.
I keep going until I come across a sketch of a prison with several
cages joined together.
Wait a minute.
Can this be the prison where Jack has been confining the young
women he has been kidnapping?
"Bruce!" I yell the name of my beta and he abandons what he's doing before hurrying to my side, with a confused expression on his face. "Here, take a look at this," I jerk my finger at the prison sketching.
"Oh my god," Bruce has his eyes raised in their sockets as he goes through the sketching.
"I think this is where he keeps the women he kidnaps," Bruce says with his eyes welled up in their sockets as if he just saw a ghost. "Obviously." I agree, because I thought about it first.
We go through the rest of the sketching until we sew a forest with
trees.
"I think I know this place!" Bruce yells, slamming his fist to his palm as if we're playing football and he just hit a good shot.
"Are you sure you know here?" I examine his face. "We've driven past this place countless of times, Alpha Calhoun,
Take a closer look." Bruce points at the sketchbook once.
And when I do, the realization hits me hard that I actually know the
place.
To think I've been driving past here countless of times.
"I think he has an underground prison around here. There's a
flattened grass area after the trees." Bruce is talking really fast and it's a miracle I can grab and process all of his words at the same time.
"How sure are you?" I ask quietly.
"Because I've been there a couple of times." Bruce raises his head to look at me.
"Doing what?" I inquire.
"Copulation, Alpha Calhoun. As werewolves, the wild part of us never leaves. Most of us like having sex in a forest."
If the situation wasn't right, I would have found this amusing,
because my Beta has always had his way with his doings and he doesn't even hide a thing.
"How sure are you that he has the underground prison around this area?" I inquire, wanting a quick response from Bruce because I am already too impatient at this point.
"Because the forest comes right after the prison that he sketched.
Jack is a very skilled sketcher, so he captured the place well with his sketching tools."
Bruce says and then puts his hand on his chin and lowers his eyes in their sockets as if he's deep in thought.
While I let my brain properly align with what he just said to me.
"Seems like sketching is a way to convey his plot," I say, when it hits
me hard of what Jack does.
And Bruce nods, agreeing with me.
"You're right, Alpha Calhoun."
"Let's get going," I order, because I cannot waste any more time in
here when Kristen needs me.
When we get to the forest, seven out of the thirteen men with us, shift into their wolves and start sniffing through the ground.
It's the quickest way to fish out something no matter how deep it's
hidden.
I stay at my standing spot and watch as they're at this.
The sketch led us to this place but we have no idea of where the exact
spot is, so the wolves are doing the job of sniffing.
I pant and puff out quick breaths. It's chilling out here and the sky is
dark and gloomy, indicating that there will be a downpour. I am impatient, the need to rescue Kristen and take her to a safe
space is overwhelming. And I know I'll not be at ease until I finally find her.
It doesn't take up to ten minutes when one wolf howls and then
jumps on a particular spot. Before he shifts and looks at me.
"Did you find anything?" I ask with complete keen interest.
"There's a door here," he point at an exact spot.
"A door?" I narrow my eyes in their sockets. "Yes," he nods and stomps his foot on it. Surprisingly there's a
cracking noise.
"I think it leads to the prison." He adds.
Upon putting my hand on the flattened grass, I realized there's truly
a door. Jack had the grasses glued to the door so people would think truly grass.
it's What a smart psycho he is. He designed things in a way no one will suspect anything. He already has a criminal mindset from the very beginning, and it's sickening that a rogue can skillfully craft out evil.