Chapter 82: Rush To The Woods
Adrian paces the room like a caged animal. The moment they narrated the entire story to him, Adrian had stormed here before any of the others could meet up, hoping to catch a glimpse of where Nyra could’ve gone.
His breathing is uneven, his fists opening and closing at his sides. "Mia," he repeats. "The same girl Nyra defended yesterday?"
Julian is panting hard as he finally manages to catch up to the Alpha. "Yeah, that same one."
Leah curses under her breath, also panting hard. Following an angry Adrian is not for the weak. "We all thought she’d changed."
"So did Nyra," Lena mutters. "But it seems it was all just an act."
"Have you questioned the other girls then?" Adrian asks, jaw clenched so hard it must hurt. "Where’s Claire? The one that put her in the infirmary--have you questioned her yet?"
The girls exchange nervous glances.
"Last I saw..." Leah begins carefully, "...she was headed toward the junior academy building after combat training."
Adrian doesn’t wait to hear another word. He turns and storms toward the academy building.
---
Claire is sitting outside their classroom with an ice pack pressed against her swollen cheek.
The moment she sees Adrian coming, every ounce of color drains from her face.
She instinctively stands, already prepared to flee from the furious Alpha. But she doesn’t even get the chance to move.
Adrian slams one hand against the wall beside her head so hard the bricks crack.
"Where is she?"
Claire jumps violently. "W-What? Who are you talking about?"
"My mate." His voice sends shivers down the spine of everyone watching. "Where is Nyra?"
"I don’t know!"
"Liar." His pheromones explode through the hallway. The other students standing there quickly flee.
Claire struggles to breathe beneath the crushing Alpha pressure. "I swear, I don’t know anything. I’ve been with the other students ever since."
"You kicked her in the stomach, sent her to the infirmary. Then somehow she disappears with your old friend, and you’re expecting me to believe you don’t know?!"
His fingers fist around the collar of Claire’s training jersey, lifting her completely off the ground.
"I-I swear I don’t know. Please, you have to believe me!!"
"If I find out you had anything to do with this..." His eyes burn with murderous intent, fingers tightening around her neck. "...God help you. We’ll finally settle all our lingering scores."
Claire bursts into tears. "I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, I only wanted to beat her during training! I swear I didn’t know she’d disappear!"
Still hanging in the air, the other group of girls who had attacked Mia comes running in. They look scared as they watch Claire’s face slowly drain of color.
"Alpha Adrian, we’ve been with Claire all evening. I swear we don’t know anything," one of them pleads.
"She doesn’t know anything. We all thought she betrayed us and went with Nyra," the other one explains.
"Please!" the third one begs, but still none of them dare try to touch him.
Adrian stares at each of them. His wolf is agitated, clawing at his skin, eager to tear every single one apart.
But now’s not the time.
Instead, he throws Claire aside. Hard. She lands hard on the floor, crying crocodile tears and clutching her bruised neck.
"If I discover any of you lied to me today, then you’ll know exactly what I’m capable of."
He doesn’t bother to look at them anymore as his phone suddenly starts to vibrate.
Julian is calling.
He answers immediately. "What? Any leads?"
Julian doesn’t waste time. "Yes. The guards let us go through the security footage. The camera near the east gate."
"And?" The agitation in his voice is palpable even over the phone.
"It shows two Alphas wearing Moon-Crest uniforms carrying Nyra outside. Mia was their lookout."
They both fall silent, their minds conjuring the same name.
Anna.
"You think Anna is behind this, right?" Julian sighs. "The girls and I think so too."
Adrian ends the call before another word can be spoken. Then, right there in the junior hallway, he shifts. His bones crack painfully, black fur bursting across his arms and shoulders.
Within seconds, an enormous wolf stands where Adrian had been.
Without hesitation, he speeds to the infirmary again, taking in her faint scent mixed with distress and pain.
Then he starts to trail the scent, rushing through the eastern gates.
---
Julian, who has sighted Adrian’s wolf speeding past, quickly leads everyone toward the parking lot.
"Everyone, in the truck!"
The girls scramble inside as the engine roars to life. Julian doesn’t hesitate to slam his foot onto the accelerator, following Adrian’s wolf that is already disappearing into the darkness.
"He’s too fast!" Lena comments, gripping the seat. "I can barely see him!"
"Are you sure Adrian is an ordinary Alpha?" Leah questions, shocked at the speed of Adrian’s wolf.
"I’ve been saying the same thing!" Lena chimes in, already rambling about other unusual things she’s noticed about Adrian’s abilities.
Julian pretends not to hear them, pressing harder on the accelerator.
But no matter how fast Julian’s truck tears through the trees, Adrian is still far ahead of them, weaving through the trees like he knows where every branch is without even looking.
Naya, who has been quiet until now, sighs nervously, turning to face Julian. "But are we seriously trusting Adrian to find her?"
Julian never takes his eyes off the black wolf far ahead of them. "We don’t have another choice." He meets her eyes for a brief second. "Besides, it’s not Adrian we’re trusting, it’s their mating bond."
His voice is firm, rid of every hint of doubt. "We’ve found Nyra once, we just have to believe that we’ll find her again."
---
After almost thirty minutes of driving through the heavy trees, the truck rounds another bend, brakes slamming as they notice Adrian standing motionless in front of a clearing.
They are currently in the outskirts of Moon-Crest, a place rumored to host dangerous rogues and hunters.
"Why did he stop?" Julian mutters as the truck slowly comes to a stop.
Naya jumps out first, rushing toward the wolf and backing him up. "Adrian, what happened?!"
Then she notices the bodies in front of him and stops dead. Two enormous wolves--one brown and grey, the other grey and black--lie scattered across the road.
Or rather, pieces of them, their blood staining the trees.
One of the wolves has been torn completely open, the other is missing an arm.
Leah immediately covers her mouth, feeling nauseous. "Oh my God..."
Lena turns away, unable to look.
"What happened here?" Julian slowly approaches Adrian. "Did they attack you?"
"They had her scent." Adrian’s voice no longer sounds completely human, his wolf having completely taken over. "I asked where she was, and they laughed."
"They refused to answer, so I lost control." His claws flex. "Don’t ask. I don’t regret killing them."
The other four exchange nervous looks.
Naya slowly circles around him. "Adrian... are you sure you’re okay?"
Adrian finally turns to face them, and every single one of them freezes, standing face to face with the black wolf.
Not because of the blood on his jaw and paws, but because of his eyes.
His left eye is silver, while his right eye is the red of an Alpha.
Naya’s mouth falls open. "Adrian... you’re an Enigma??"
Enigmas are known distinctly for their different-colored eyes, often maintaining their original eye color alongside the red of an Alpha.
But they are so rare, they sounded like a myth until now.
Adrian doesn’t answer her or respond to the shocked looks of the other girls. He just closes his eyes briefly, and by the time they open again, they are both Alpha red.
"Nyra was close around here." He changes the topic. "My senses are tingling. I can still smell her."
Then, before any of them can respond, the black wolf dashes forward again so fast the rest of the group have to run after him.
Finally, almost twenty minutes later, the scent trail ends outside an abandoned warehouse hidden deep inside the forest.
Adrian doesn’t hesitate to crash through the front doors. The others rush in behind him.
"Nyra!" he calls in his wolf voice, trying to reach her through the bond, but there’s no response.
The warehouse is completely empty.
Adrian walks slowly through the old building, looking around until they find a small room at the very end.
He stops by the door, sniffing aggressively. "She was here. I’m sure of it."
He walks in, sniffing the metal chair sitting in the middle of the room.
"She was tied here. I can smell how scared she was." The words sound pained.
They continue looking around the room. The frayed ropes on the floor. Adrian’s wolf scowls when he sees the pieces of her shirt lying near the chair.
Did they dare try to touch her!?
They continue to look around, but there’s no sign of anyone else. Clearly, they either moved her, or...
The other option Adrian doesn’t want to think about.
"Wait, isn’t that..." Leah’s voice cuts through their thoughts, pointing toward the floor near the metal chair.
All eyes drop to the ruffled spot on the ground, near the metal chair.