50

“Yeah, I know. It’s been hard finding any leads on the random instances going on around the town these past few weeks. Are you sure that we’re not grasping at straws concerning this sighting? Thinking that we saw a Lycan cross the border earlier. I just…I don’t want to think about what that could mean for us.”

Maven had just come from a patrol around the city borders. He along with the pack had been guarding the city line for the last few days. Something was going on in Mystic Cove and it wasn’t good.

There had been random spottings of an unknown beast prowling the city at night. Quite a few of the town’s citizens swore that it was a lycan, but Maven refused to believe this. Then the most shocking thing happened hardly half an hour ago; he spotted one. Or at least, he thought he had. In truth, the beast was there one moment and then gone the next. At one point, he thought that it was the trick of the eye.

When he finally pulled himself out of the shocked state that had completely enveloped him, Maven called for Lina and his Delta to follow the path that he’d seen the beast go in. It was a fruitless effort, however, as a steady downpour of rain began to come down and the scent of the animal began to fade away. A coincidence that the alpha just couldn’t shake.

There was only one Lycan who lived in Mystic Cove and Maven knew that she would never be so foolish as to run around town in her true form.

Regardless of who it was, Maven still had to do his job nevertheless, and if his son’s mate was the one that he had to catch and potentially put down then…

Maven couldn’t even think about what he might have to do concerning the innocent young woman who was now mated to her son. The same young woman who was the daughter of his mate.

He closed his room door and began to strip down as he continued his conversation with his Beta.

“I agree. It’s about time to send in for the next shift. Give the others a break. If there are any changes-even the smallest oddity, I want to know about it, Lina.”

He ended the link shortly after and just stood there in a near daze as he thought about all of the worst-case scenarios involving this situation as well as the worst possible outcomes.

“Do you really think that it could be her?” asked Maven’s wolf. The alpha could tell that his beast was just as concerned as he was.

Maven sighed, shaking his head. “The truth of the matter is…I don’t know,” he confessed. “Ever since she and Colsin found one another, the girl has become erratic…very unpredictable.” The more he thought about it, the more concerned he became. He grimaced. “And it is in no small part due to my son and his antics, I am sure.”

“What will we do if it is found that the girl has been prowling Mystic Cove?” asked Amaruq.

“I don’t know.” Maven answered honestly. He didn’t know what he would do if the girl was caught. “In a perfect world, her being caught will never happen.” He exhaled and tossed his shirt toward the floor. “But if it does happen, I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

Maven made his way toward the bathroom when a frantic knocking sounded at his door.

The alpha paused and looked at the door and then suddenly a tingle raced down his spine. He knew who it was before he opened the door. He quickly rushed to the door of his room and opened it.

“Lea?” he glanced outside of his door and then pulled her into his room. It was only after he closed his door and placed all of his attention on her that he realized the wide-eyed concern and fear on her face. “Lea, what’s the matter?” Maven asked with renewed interest and worry.

“i-w-we can’t find her, Maven! I…she’s gone, Maven! Nel! She’s gone!”

**********

Nel’s heart beat out of her chest as she raced through the forest and away from those that were chasing her.

When she summoned a wind and rain to give her headway, she finally lost them. Immediately after, she wasted no time in going back to the large boulder by the lake where she had left her clothes, returned to human form, dressed, and darted out of the woods.

Neliyah surfaced from the forest, quickly looked around to make sure that no one witnessed her suspicious arrival, and then quickly headed down the street. Where she was going, even she didn’t know at the time. The only thing that she wanted to do was get as far away from the forest as possible and get the heck out of dodge.

“That was far too close!” exclaimed Onyx as they turned the corner of what was one the busier streets of Mystic Cove.

“It was,” agreed Nel. The rain gradually began to let up, declining into a chilly wind. “How will Liam ever get back through the border with patrols out?”

“The better question is…why are the patrols out in the first place?” said Onyx.

And Nel had to agree. What happened in the time frame of her disappearance that caused the Mystic Cove pack to start patrolling the city line?

Then something occurred to her. When she was chased through the forest. Surely, they knew that she was not a wolf. They more than likely knew that they were chasing a Lycan. Was it because of some sighting that they were suddenly on their guard? Was it because of Liam?

“You think that the Lycan boy is the cause of all of this security,” Onyx voiced Nel’s concerns.

“Maybe,” she replied. “Next time we see him, we’re making it a priority to get more answers from him.”

They kept going down the street as Nel’s mind shuffled over to her mother and Manari. “They must be worried.”

Without another word, Nel rushed home to her mother’s. She sensed that no one was there but checked anyway. Next, she tried the diner, and then the bed and breakfast. Neither her mother nor Manari was anywhere in sight.

“Where could she be?” Nel quickly took out her phone and called Manari.

“Nel?”

The echo from her phone forced Nel to quickly retract from resonating sound. She dropped her phone and turned around.

“Nel!” Manari rushed toward her. “Where the heck have you been?! We’ve been worried sick!”

“I’m fine, Nel, I’m fine,” She met Manari halfway and immediately Manari wrapped her arms around her best friend. “Don’t do that to us again, Nel.”

“I swear, I won’t.” When they finally pulled away from each other, Nel said, “There is something that I have to tell you. Something…something huge.”

Manari nodded. “Okay, but first let’s find your mother. I’m sure that she’s worried sick.”

***********

Maven calmed Leana down and sat her down on the bed and then settled next to her. Neliyah was missing and was nowhere to be found. It was concerning to say the least and forced Maven to wonder even more if she was the Lycan that he spotted in the forest.

“Maven?”

It wasn’t until Leana said his name that the great alpha pulled himself out of his thoughts and returned his attention to Leana.

“Why do you look like that? What? What is it? Have you seen her? Did…did you spot her anywhere?”

She was frantic-so frantic that Maven almost thought about not telling her what happened that night. If she was any other woman, he’d have kept the information to himself, but he knew that Leana and he saw eye-to-eye where Neliyah was concerned.

“You know the pack has been on patrol over the last forty-eight hours.”

“Yes?” Leana stared at him curiously, wondering where he was going with this.

“I never told you why,” he countered. “There have been lycan sightings going around the city.”

“What?!” Leana incredulously countered. “What do you-are you sure?”

“As sure as I can be. There was one dashing through the city line and back into the forest.”

Leana shot up. “You’re not serious! Do you think that it was her?”

“I don’t know, Leana. I do know that when we chased after the beast, a strong storm headed through.”

“Oh god!” She whispered under her breath.

“When’s the last time you saw her, Lea?” he asked her.

“Today, we were in the garden and…” she sighed as she thought about the stress that her daughter was under. “She was upset and went for a walk and never came back.”

“Do you think she went for a run?” asked Maven.

“I don’t know, Mave. She doesn’t usually do things like that. I think the last time she did was…well, it was the night that she found herself mated to your son.”

Maven didn’t even dare delve into that subject of conversation. “When’s the last time you tried contacting her, Leana?” he asked.

“I’ve been trying to reach her all day, Maven. She just hasn’t been answering-”

“Mom!”

When Nel heard her daughter’s voice resonating through her mind, her heart nearly fluttered out of her chest.

“Nel? Neliyah?”

“She’s contacted you?” he asked.

Lea nodded. “Yes! Yes, sweetheart. I’m here!”