Chapter 47 47.Missing
Evren’s POV
I return to the hotel late at night after two days of tracking rogues across the northern side of the island. The lobby is quieter than usual, but the first thing I see is Reed shouting at the front desk. His voice echoes against the marble walls. I frown at the sight. Jace stands nearby with a pale face and he has his hands shoved into his pockets.
Something is wrong.
Reed does not get this worked up without reason and Jace never looks shaken unless the matter is grave.
I walk up to them while I assess their expressions. “What is going on here?”
Reed does not answer right away. But there is that same tensed and almost terrified look on his face. This is really strange. Reed doesn’t get terrified over something, not even when you point a gun at his head.
Jace glances at me, and I see a flicker of hesitation before he finally speaks. “Tabitha is missing.”
“What?” I ask, my voice coming a bit sharper than I had intended. “How did that happen?”
“We do not know.” Jace shakes his head.
“Maybe she is in her room,” I suggest.
Reed turns to me, his expression grim. “She was not in her room. We already checked.”
I frown. “What about the garden?”
“We had the staff comb the entire place. She is not there either,” Jace answers quickly.
“The pool area then?” I offer again.
Reed curses. “Damn it, Evren. Do you think we would look like this if she was lounging by the pool? She is not anywhere in this hotel! And according to some of the staff I had asked earlier, they haven’t seen her around for two days! They thought she had checked out but there are no records of her ever checking out.”
She’s been missing for two days? This is worse than I thought.
“Maybe she went out to get some air. She could be with Beckett again,” I speak again after a moment of silence.
The thought leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. For the first time, I almost wish she was with Arthur. At least then we would know she was safe.
“Call him. Now,” Jace urges.
I take out my phone and scroll to Arthur’s number. After a few rings, he picks up. His voice is sharp when he answers the call. “What do you want, Evren?”
“Is Tabitha with you?” I ask immediately.
There is silence for a moment before he answers. “What? Why would she be with me? Is she not at the hotel with you?” he sounds confused.
Before I can reply, Reed snatches the phone from my hand.
“We do not have time for your games, Arthur. Tell us now if she is with you or not.” He yells into the receiver.
“She is not with me. What the hell is going on? Is she all right?” Arthur sounds genuinely concerned from the other line. Our sharp werewolf senses enable us to hear the phone call without the loud speaker.
Reed ignores the question. “If you ever find her, contact us immediately.” He ends the call without warning and throws the phone back to me.
I catch it before sliding it back in my pocket.
“Have you tried calling Tabitha’s number?” I offer.
“We did,” Jace replies. He lifts a white phone in his hand. “This is hers. We found it in her room.”
I sink into the lobby couch and rake my fingers through my hair. Tabitha is nowhere to be found, and her phone is left behind. That does not sound like someone who went out for air or a simple stroll around the island. Something is wrong.
I look around the hotel lobby to try and find any traces that Tabitha may have left behind. They say werewolves can feel if their mates are in danger. And right now, I can sense a bizarre feeling that rustles within my chest—like low buzzing sound or whispers of warning that I can barely comprehend. But it’s there.
I consider for a moment if it’s the very faint connection I have with Tabitha, and if my brothers can feel it too that’s why they look this agitated. Either way, the mate bond we have with her is still weak and yet to become useful at times like this.
If only we can establish the bond. If only Tabitha would accept as her mates, we would have a connection that is stronger than the flimsy buzzing that I feel right now. It would have allowed us to locate her right away.
But it’s useless to dwell on something that is still not here, so I force myself to remain steady.
I lift my head. “Where is Luca?”
Jace points toward the elevators. “There. He is speaking with one of the hotel staff.”
I watch Luca argue with a young woman in uniform. His posture is sharp, and his words come fast. I’ve never seen him like this. There’s no trace of the usual calmness in his demeanor. Right now, he is just a man who is looking for his mate.
“When did you two arrive back?” I ask Reed and Jace.
“Half an hour ago. Jace came just a few minutes before you did. Luca was the first to return, maybe an hour earlier,” Reed says while crossing his arms. Anger flares in his eyes while staring at Tabitha’s phone that Jace is holding.
Before I can speak again, Luca strides toward us, dragging the staff member with him. He stops in front of us and jerks his chin at her. “Tell them what you told me.”
The woman hesitates, glancing between us.
“Two days ago, I stepped out of a suite after cleaning when I saw a group of men dragging something down the hallway and into the elevator. It was covered with fabric. I could not tell what it was.”
“You saw something suspicious being hauled into an elevator, and you did not report it?” My jaw tighten. What kind of staff does Eliott Sharpe train in his fucking hotel?
Her face pales.
“I-I planned to! But one of the men warned me to stay out of Crystal Ridge pack business. He told me it was none of my concern,” she blurts out, nervous sweats breaking on her forehead.
A surge of anger rises within me. “Which men?”
“I-I do not know their n-names,” she stammers. “But I am certain they are from Crystal Ridge pack.”
“Can you describe them?” Luca narrows his eyes.
“Yes.” He quickly nods.
Luca sits with a pad and begins to sketch as she recalls their features. When he finally sets the pad down and turns the paper toward us, we all lean in to study it. Luca drew three sketches of three people. Two men and one female. The staff claim that they’re the only one she can vividly recall. Jace narrows his eyes first, his lips parting as if the realization dawns on him.
“Wait,” Jace mutters, pointing at the page. “Don’t those sketches look like—”
“Eli,” Reed finishes sharply. His jaw tightens. “And Ava. That one there is Alfred.”
“Bastards,” Jace growls.
I stare at the drawings. They are right. The sketch have the uncanny resemblance of the three pack elders. Three people that our father trust. I used to have much trust on these people too, but right now I’m not so sure.
I grit my teeth. “Summon them here. Now.”
Rye steps forward from the shadows of the lobby. He has been listening to the whole thing ever since I have arrived here.
“They cannot be summoned. I heard from Kent that they left the hotel two days ago.”
“That checks out. Tabitha was last seen two days ago and these fuckers have also left the hotel at the same time. They’re the one responsible for this,” Jace grits out.
“Do you think what the staff saw being carried was Tabitha?” Luca exhales through his nose.
Jace’s face darkens. “All evidence points to it. Maybe she was unconscious or…” His voice trails away.
“She better be just unconscious. She better be alive. If not, those bastards are dead.” I rise to my feet and glance at Rye. “Summon all the remaining Crystal Ridge pack members who are still staying in this hotel. Now.”
Rye bows his head and moves. After a while, around ten people join us in the hotel lobby. They look wary as they stand in our presence. I can’t blame them, the anger that I am feeling is surging freely into my veins and fanning its flames into the air around us, making it denser, suffocating. And it’s worse if you have three other Alphas doing the same. But I’m not in the mood to accommodate their fears.
“Can anyone here tell me why the hell do Eli and the others have our stepsister and no one dared to stop them?” I ask in a barely-contained anger.
Kent swallows hard before he answers. “Delta Eli said that she damaged the Diamond Mountain artifact. The elders ordered her seized right away. I heard she was taken to the naval station. She has been detained there for two days.”
Reed snaps. “Motherfucker—”
“And you all believed she would do that?” Jace takes a step forward, his eyes blazing.
Kent lowers his gaze. “The elders stated that they have evidences that prove their claim. Besides, we cannot exactly go against the elders’ orders.”
I do not wait to hear more. My body moves before my thoughts catch up. My feet march straight to the hotel doors.
“Evren, where are you going?” Reed calls out behind me.
“I am not wasting another second here,” I answer without turning my head. “I will get Tabitha.”
I glance at Luca. “Stay behind. Keep digging. Check the security footage from the last two days. If they truly have evidence against her, I want to see it with my own eyes.”
Reed falls into step beside me. “I am coming with you.”
Jace mutters a curse under his breath, but his stride quickens until he is at my back. The three of us push into the night, climb into the car, and drive straight toward the naval base.