Chapter 205 Between Doubt and Truth

Chapter 205 Between Doubt and Truth
Piper barely slept. Every time she closed her eyes, she found herself standing outside Cecil’s apartment again. 
She could still see the closed door, the empty hallway, and the strange sound that had stopped both her and Ember in their tracks. Then there had been nothingno second sound, no footsteps, no explanation. 
She replayed the moment over and over, wondering if they should have opened the door again instead of walking away. Maybe they had imagined the noise. Maybe they hadn’t. Either possibility left her uneasy.
By the time she arrived on campus the next morning, exhaustion sat heavily on her shoulders. 
Piper sat alone at one of the benches outside the humanities building, her phone resting loosely in her hands. 
Cecil’s name remained at the top of the screen, and her thumb hovered over it for a moment before she let it fall away again.
Then something changed.
Her wolf stirred beneath her skin before she consciously noticed anything else, lifting its head as though it had sensed a familiar presence long before she had. Piper slowly straightened.
The bond brushed quietly against her awareness.
Someone was close.
“Stop,” Piper muttered, pressing a hand against her forehead. “Not now.”
Instead of fading, the feeling only intensified.
A familiar voice pulled Piper from her thoughts.
“Mind if I sit Babe?”
She looked up to find Archie standing a few feet away.
Piper nodded, feeling relieved to see him. “Sure.”
He lowered himself onto the bench beside her, leaving enough space between them that it didn’t feel forced. For a few moments, neither of them spoke. 
The chatter around campus filled the silence instead, broken only by the occasional laughter drifting across the courtyard.
Archie’s attention never wandered to the phone resting in her hand. Instead, his eyes settled on the dark circles beneath hers before meeting her gaze.
“You didn’t sleep.”
Piper managed a faint smile that disappeared almost as quickly as it came.
“Is it really that obvious?”
“To me, it is.”
The simple answer tightened something deep inside her.
She looked away.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re lying,” Archie said quietly.
Piper slipped her phone into her pocket. “I’m not lying. I’m just busy.”
His eyes briefly followed the movement before returning to her face.
“Busy doesn’t look like this.”
She folded her arms. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
Something softened in his expression.“I don’t get to choose that.”
Piper's eyebrows shot up.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’re not okay, and I can feel it. Whether you tell me or not, it’s already my concern.”
She let out a quiet, disbelieving laugh. “That’s not how this works.”
“For you, maybe.”
“And for you?”
“For me, you’re my mate.”
The words lingered between them making Piper's cheeks ache from how wide she was smiling from ear to ear.
She stared at her hands, still tense from yesterday. The memory of standing outside Cecil’s apartment returned with uncomfortable clarity.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Archie waited.
The silence wasn’t awkward.
It was patient.
“You don’t have to do everything, Piper,” he said eventually. “I just don’t want you shutting me out.”
“I’m not shutting you out.”
“No?”
She hesitated before answering.
“I just… I don’t even know what’s happening yet.”
“Then tell me what you do know.”
Piper leaned back and caught a falling leaf.
“We went to Cecil’s apartment yesterday. Ember and I thought she was avoiding us because she hadn’t answered any of my messages.”
Archie remained silent.
“She wasn’t there. The neighbours said she left for class yesterday morning, and nobody has seen her since.”
His expression became noticeably more serious.
“Her apartment looked normal,” Piper continued. “Nothing was broken. Nothing had been taken. It looked like she walked out expecting to come back a few hours later.”
“And she never did?”
Piper slowly shook her head.
“She never came home.”
Archie remained silent for several moments, carefully absorbing everything she had told him. He didn’t interrupt or rush to reassure her that everything would be fine. Somehow, his quiet attention unsettled Piper more than panic would have.
She finally met his eyes.
“Archie… I think something’s wrong.”
This time, she didn’t pretend she was fine, and Archie noticed the difference immediately.
He held her eyes before asking, “When was the last time anyone actually saw her?”
Piper thought back to the conversation with Cecil’s neighbour.
“She left for class yesterday morning. That’s the last confirmed sighting anyone has.”
“And after that?”
“Nothing.”
“She hasn’t answered a single call?”
Piper shook her head.
“No calls. No texts. Nothing.”
Archie nodded slowly, his expression thoughtful rather than surprised.
“Tell me everything. Don’t leave anything out.”
Piper drew in a slow breath.
“When Ember and I got there, the apartment door wasn’t locked. We went inside because we thought maybe she’d fallen asleep or forgotten her phone. Everything looked… normal. Her books were still on the desk, there was coffee in a mug, and her clothes were still in the wardrobe. It didn’t look like someone had packed or left in a hurry.” She said in one swoop.
“She expected to come back,” Archie said.
“That’s exactly how it felt.”
“And then?”
Piper hesitated.
“As we were leaving… we heard something.”
His eyes narrowed.
“What kind of something?”
“I don’t know. It wasn’t a voice, and it wasn’t loud. It sounded like something shifted inside the apartment.”
“You’re sure?”
“I didn’t imagine it.”
“Did Ember hear it too?”
Piper nodded.
“She was the first one to say someone was still inside.”
Archie fell quiet again, piecing together every detail before speaking.
“I don’t think this is a coincidence.”
Her stomach tightened. “What do you mean?”
“I mean Cecil disappears, her apartment is left exactly as she expected to find it, and someone is still inside after she’s gone.” He held her gaze. “Those aren’t random events.”
Piper felt her wolf shift uneasily beneath her skin.
“So… you think someone took her?”
Archie didn’t answer immediately.
When he finally spoke, his voice was calm and unwavering.
“I think someone made sure she never came home.”
The words settled heavily between them.
Piper wanted to argue. She wanted to believe there had to be another explanation, but every memory from the previous day pushed back against that hope. The untouched apartment. The strange noise. The silence that had followed.
None of it felt accidental.
Archie stepped toward the door, his expression set with quiet resolve.
“I’m staying on this.”
Piper frowned.
“Archie…”
“No,” he interrupted gently. “Whether you like it or not, you’re already involved.”
She opened her mouth to object, but the words never came.
Deep down, she knew he was right.
Whatever had happened to Cecil had already pulled her into something far bigger than a missing student.
And there was no walking away now.