CHAPTER 57
It is evening and the iron bars closed with a loud sound that reverberated in the corridor of the pack’s prison. Ema was standing behind them with messy hair, a tainted face, and a red glow of fury and shame in her eyes. Alpha Bruce and Beta Elijah stood on the other side equally as serious.
“You will remain here until it is determined what is to be done with you,” Bruce said this cruelly and without any inflection in his voice. The curse might have been broken, but old habits die hard and in the week that followed it seemed that the crowd’s worst fears were to be realized when Rangnick’s exit would lead to.
Ema went forward abruptly with her hands on the bars. ‘’How dare you do this to me? I am supposed to be your Luna ’’
‘’S**t,’’ Elijah corrected, his voice carrying a disappointed undertone. “And that does not justify your behavior, Ema, you have betrayed the pack, risked lives, and worst of all, you have hurt Amelia. And as we speak, she is nowhere to be found ”
This just angered Bruce even more and when he heard Amelia’s name being called out, his jaw tightened up. His mate was gone, and each day, and night, all moments that she was not with him, felt like an actual pain deep inside of him. But he had not the time inside him to remain sentimental and now he switched on his working mode. He had a pack to look after together with a traitor to eliminate.
‘’There will be more protection around the detention facility,’ Bruce told her. ‘For instance, never attempt to run away. ’
With that, the Alpha and his Beta proceeded to turn around leaving Ema all by herself in the cell. The moment their footfalls receded, she smiled in a way DI Daniel would describe as lecherous. She went to the diminutive window of the cell and said some words in the darkness.
‘It is now time’ ‘You know the drill. ’
* * *
Far away, Amelia felt the straps of her small bag tightly around her neck as she was sitting at the back of a battered bus. The vehicle moved on the black tarmac as the landscape blurred farther and farther away from the only home she had known. Which is far from her father, the pack, and Bruce.
She often worried about him and her heart panged when she thought of him. She was able to feel the tingle of his touch, to feel his words echo in her head and say her name. But she shook her head, and, clearly wanting to rid her mind of every image of him that she could see, she moved impatiently.
. But she shook her head conscious of the necessity to forget it all. She must not cry, she must be strong now.
Amelia also understood that they would look for her. Bruce with sheer willpower and her father who influences most of the people in the city. However, she had taken caution and did not give them that opportunity. There was no phone, she had paid for the ticket in cash and picked a station in the middle of a long list.
Being on the bus that night, all the fatigue that Amelia had to endure was finally getting to her, and she gave herself a chance to cry. She fixes herself into her seat properly, hugs her body tightly to the chair, and allows a single tear to roll down. She was home now, all by herself, for the first time in her life. But most probably it was better this way; thus, she consoled herself with this thought. It is also good that she is all alone rather than risk those she loves because of that errand.
That is why Amelia had a secret, something that she couldn’t tell to anybody, not to Bruce at least. One that could make her a threat to all those who crossed her path. So she realized she must learn how to temper it while she could not afford to remain with the pack.
Thus, she ran with the dream that maybe, someday she could return to her world.
* * *
Back in the pack territory, Bruce was found pacing in his office and anxious. The young man was seated in a chair as he looked at the Alpha, concern painted on his face.
“This is very bothering,” Bruce said, raking his hand through his hair, “We should have found her by now. “How could she have just disappeared?”
Elijah sighed. Amelia’s smart, Bruce. And she has been perfecting how not to be seen for years, so,’ She looked at him meaningfully, ‘if she doesn’t want to be found…’.
“She’s my mate!” Bruce shouted rising from the chair and punching the table. The handle recoiled backwards and the resulting sound echoed in the stillness of the room; as the wood splintered in protest of the impact. I should be able to feel her, to find her no matter where she goes!
‘The bond is still new,’ Elijah had to reason with him softly. ‘And you know Amelia, she’s different; they don’t know how that might change things’
Bruce slumped down in his chair and suddenly seemed rather tired. “I can’t let her go; Elijah,” A tragedy of life I can’t afford for her; not when I am getting my emotions back on track.
Elijah got up from the chair and put his hand on Bruce’s shoulder to reassure him. ”We will get her back, I will see to it myself,” Bruce replied but his fierce expression immediately softened as he looked at the members of the pack. “But now our priority is the pack Ema is now a known traitor, we must search for any others before Amelia can be returned to the pack. ”
Understanding Bruce’s concern, it is only fitting to note that he had to shake his head instinctively to dismiss his personal feelings and then use the Alpha brain by nodding. ‘ well you are right, let us have a full pack meeting tomorrow that is going to be mandatory and nobody can be excused.
The arrival of the man of God and the brief discussion they had as they planned where to hold the meeting came as a shock to both of them and as Elijah left to organize for the meeting nobody noticed the figure that detached from the wall just outside Bruce’s office.
* * *
Ema was in her cell now, caught up on the uncomfortable bed, gazing at the ceiling above her. To anyone observing her, it was assumed that she had lost and had no say in what was happening to her. However, she was full of ideas inside, thinking about something and considering everything that was possible.
A soft tapping on her window was heard that made her sit up. Across from him, there was a small wolf as if from the depths of some disordered wilderness and it was sitting on a ledge outside. Ema easily went to the window pulled it slightly and the wolf dropped a small piece of paper inside.
She opened the paper and just briefly, her eyes ran over the message. She memorized the contents and then ate the note with joy on her face having the look of a triumphant lady. It was a perfect life; work, home, friends and above all, love.
Ema lay down on the cot, crossed her arms on her chest and covered her eyes with her hands pretending to be asleep. It was not long before she started feeling the prickings of her apprehensions. Her friends were many and infested the pack more than Bruce or Elijah would have possibly thought. Very soon she would be let free, she would be out of those stone-walled prisons or factories or whatever they were. And then she would have them right back again. ”
