Eli.
It's been two months. I've been sneaking around with Samantha. My mother has her suspicions since I've been in a much better mood lately and questions me often about what I'm up to. Almost every day, I drive out to see her. If she isn't available or if I am held up with pack matters, we video call as often as we can and every night before bed.
We've been getting caught up a lot lately, me more than her. Neighboring packs have been reporting their packmates missing. It wasn't just omegas, either. Some were top warriors, and even a Beta went missing a week ago. No one in my pack has disappeared yet, thank the Goddess. I doubled the warriors on border patrol, no one to ever patrol alone. I've also mandated all able bodies to attend at least two trainings a week no matter their status.
Originally, self-defense training and Warrior trainings were only mandated to our warriors and open to omegas. Classes were held every morning from six to ten, and again in the afternoon from three to seven, Monday through Friday. Warriors were mandated to take at least five classes a week in between patrols or lose their warrior status. Two of those classes were self-defense. Now, classes are every day, and my warriors need to attend seven. After explaining to them there is an unknown threat to our species, no one complained. Omegas are mandated one self-defense and one warriors training. Today, I am holding a meeting on our lands with all neighboring pack leaders. Alphas and their Lunas, as well as some Betas, are in attendance. They are here to discuss the unknown threat.
On my way to the conference hall, I decided to pick up Tristian. He is leading this afternoon's self-defense course. Our self-defense course is held in one of our four indoor gyms as is much of our trainings. Though both our self-defense and warrior trainings focus on physical fitness, and battle strategies against other werewolves, self-defense focuses on interracial battles as well; Defending yourself against other shifters, witches, vamps, and even human hunters.
I walked into the gym just as the class was coming to an end.
"So remember, if you ever get struck with a silver bullet, it is in your best interest to remove the bullet as soon as possible." Tristian reminds today's group of at least 300 students whom all nod. "And if you don't?"
The room is quiet. Everyone seems too shy to answer. I fix my mouth to answer the question when I am beaten to the punch by a voice, I never thought I'd hear again.
"Your wolf won't heal!" She shouts.
My neck snaps to her direction so fast I get whiplash. Off on the right, sitting on the bleachers is Madeline.
Her shiny blonde locks are pulled back into a high ponytail. Freckles sprinkle along her nose and cheeks. She is tanner and slimmer than she used to be. She is wearing a sky-blue track suit sweater, with denim shorts and white canvas shoes. Her long slender legs are on display.
"Alpha!" Tristian bows his head to me, causing her to meet my gaze. Her blue eyes light up with excitement, and her bright smile stretches across her face. Funny thing, she is definitely more stunning than she used to be, but I am not attracted to her one lick anymore.
"Eli!" She squeals as she lunges for me. She jumps on me, her face in my neck, and her legs wrap around my waist. The beta and I exchange awkward glances before he raises his hand in the air.
"Dismissed." He shouts to the class, and they quickly exit the gym.
"Madeline, I'm surprised to see you here." I detached her from my body and place her on her feet.
"Well, after getting my second Masters, I decided I wanted to come home and utilize my education to help the pack." She smiles.
"She wants to help out with the security company." Tristian adds as he slicks his hair back. He is nervous.
"How so?"
"Well, I have my MBA and MS in human resource management. That'll be useful somewhere." She shrugs.
"We will look into it." I turned towards Tristian. "Ready?" He nods.
Madeline looks a little taken back by my lack of interest in her.
She cocks her head to the side. "Can we have a moment?" She asks.
Tristian and I b-line for the exit and she scurries behind us.
"E?!" She pouts.
"I have very important matters to attend to Madeline."
"Can we talk after?" She continues walking beside us as we hurry to the conference hall. "And I'm still just Maddy."
"I don't know how long I'll be. I have dozens of Alphas and their Lunas here. Have you spoken to the Luna? My mother would know if there were any positions available in the company that best suit you."
"It's not about working at the company. I want to talk about..." she looks over at Tristian and takes a deep breath. "About us."
"About? You pursued your education and self-growth. If you're worried, I would never hold a grudge against you for that. Water under the bridge." I state honestly.
"And what about us, what we had?" She blushes. Tristian slicks his hair back again and begins tugging at his collar uncomfortably.
"Didn't I just say water under the bridge?"
She stops walking. Her face is a mixed concoction between hurt, shock, and anger.
"Eli!" She screeches, causing me to stop and turn to her. "What happened to you?"
Her pouty face and teary eyes bring me to the realization that I am being too hard on her and not honest enough. She is still a member of our pack and we in fact had history. Even if it doesn't matter to me anymore it matters to her. I am being an ass for rejecting her and not giving her a reason. She needs to know why I am no longer interested in her. Telling her the truth will save her the hurt and avoid all problems in the future.
"I found my fated." I say seriously. This time it is clear how shocked she is.
I don't wait for her to react. Me and Tristian make our way through the double doors that separate us from the conference room.
My mother was present and has done her role as Luna to have everyone seated and comfortable in the conference room. We have over 30 guests. A bigger turn out than I had assumed. I also see more betas which surprise me. We Alphas try to avoid leaving our packs unattended unless it is really important. I'm glad everyone here felt this matter must be addressed but I hope their Gammas are properly trained for emergencies in the event there is one while they are away.
"Thank you all for attending." I start. "With permission of The Council, I have called for this conference to discuss the disappearances of our people. I hope we can come together to share our opinions and develop a plan in which we can identify the threat and deliver justice to many directly and indirectly effected."
My guests nod their heads in agreement and I continue.
"I want to open the floor for discussion first. I know it is odd. Usually, we would start with a plan or a proposal. However, I will honestly say that since I do not know who is behind this and have not yet experienced any disappearances on my land, I do not know where to start our investigation. If those of you who have had victims can come forward and express any findings and observations, it'll help tremendously. With your information, we may be able to rule out some possibilities."
"My Beta is gone!" His fists slam on the table, and I turn to look at Alpha Wright. Anger is radiating off him, and he is in the right to be so angry. A beta is our right hand and most trusted aside from our Lunas. His pack must be suffering a lot without him. Personally, I do not like him and nor did I like his shady Beta, but he was one of us.
"Yes, Beta Argo. I would like to express my condolences. However, without a body or confirmation of his death, I feel that would be premature." I say, and the alpha clicks his tongue in annoyance. I can feel my words have not offered any comfort and possibly offended him instead.
"No one's found a body." Luna Maria states, and I turn my attention towards her. Her husband begins to sign in ASL aggressively, and I wait for his wife to interpret what Alpha Harpo was trying to say. "Darling, be calm." She signs to him and rests her forehead to his. "His late friend's daughter, Janice, has gone missing. She was one of our top warriors. We believe she must have been taken on her way to the university. We promised our dear friend to keep his daughter safe, and we failed him."
The stories continued, and I was relieved to see that all abductions occurred off the pack lands. Janice was off to school. Beta Argo was in town buying his mate a birthday gift. Unfortunately, there was no link to the destinations. The mall in which Argo was headed, and Janice school were nowhere near each other, as for their packs themselves are in different states.
"For the meantime, let's agree that no one is to venture off pack lands without authorization and definitely not alone." Everyone nods in agreement. "I also suggest that those who can double their defenses and host some self-defense classes for your packmates do so as soon as possible. I will be reaching out to arrange bi-weekly virtual meetings with you all until the issue is resolved. The council is requesting updates as well, in which you will be included in the emails."
I bow my head in thanks for their attendance, and my mother stands.
"Thank you all for attending. All meeting minutes will be emailed out for those who have not attended as well. Your packs are strong, but together, we are not to be messed with. We will solve this. Be safe." She says and closes out the meeting.
We need to get to the bottom of this and fast.