CHAPTER 60
Meanwhile, Elijah was holding the phone tightly. “Ema’s making her move,” he said simply. This shows she is leading the pack to look for Amelia.
Bruce looked up, frowning and growling deep in his throat. ”But to dare and mention Amelia’s name after what she has done?”
Elijah let out a heavy breath and slumped into a chair. ‘I bet she will rally up rogues, Some of them still listen to her, Bruce They do not know the depth of her treachery The speech about the latest development gives her quite a convincing air of someone who cares and is doing something.
‘While we look incompetent for not having found Amelia yet,’ Bruce continued the latter part of the e-mail with venom. He struck the table, top with his fist, where the wood splintered. “Just my damn luck, how can I end up not being able to locate my mate?”
Elijah tilted forward his chair gently as if what he was about to tell her was confidential and dangerous. ‘Bruce, you have to remember, Amelia might not wish to be found, and as you well know, she has tried to keep who she is a secret her whole life if she does not want us to find her, then we must let it go, at least for now’.
“I don’t agree with that,” Bruce interrupted him his expression dark and menacing. ‘She is my mate, Elijah, She wouldn’t just leave us without cause. ’
‘’Well, I’m not saying she would,” replied Elijah quickly trying to reassure her for some reason. ‘But as for the reasons for her to run away, what could have threatened her that could make her run’
Bruce felt a moment of contemplation in reply to Elijah’s proposal. The Beta was right, of course Like many other people, he has engaged in the act of judgmental thinking at one point or another. Of course, Amelia was not the type to run without any reason. But what could that reason be?
“We are failing to capture something,” Bruce said to himself almost inaudibly. There is something important and as long as we do not determine what that is, we continue only with mirages.
* * *
It was already evening when Amelia felt herself in a small park on the outskirts of the city. She stayed on a bench watching as people left the park taking down their equipment and children left the playground. The abruptness of the scene made her feel a neglected pining within the girl’s eyes that needed something she could never have now.
Every day had been a theater for her in which she felt most frustrated. Nothing from the employment listings front, no information on her budding might, just more questions and loneliness. As the park got deserted and as the sun started to set Amelia let herself get emotional. She held herself tightly and small tears were obvious on her face as she cried silently.
”I don’t think I can manage it,” she said softly to the slowly leaving park. ‘I don’t know if I can go through this’
It seemed as though she blurted out the words and almost immediately, the fateful sensation in her belly repeated itself. But this time Amelia did not fight it but took a deep breath and attempted a different course of action. She closed her eyes hard and the power supercharged in her, visualizing it as a river, yes a river that was not IconData but, wild but not out of control.
The power, to her surprise, responded. It was not wiped out but submerged so that further incidence was at a more tolerable strength. When Amelia finally opened her eyes, she took a sharp breath. She and light; she was surrounded by them, specks of these mysteries of the night that looked like fireflies made of stardust. She was amazed when, in her mind, the lights started to twinkle and turn, like a mirror specular to her thoughts.
For the first time since she had eloped, Amelia could see the possibility of a happier life. Interestingly, this power, whatever it was, was not evil in its core and so was not necessarily purely malevolent. He remembered how she could learn to control it, to understand it. This overweight girl just required more time and a secure environment in which to rehearse.
Determined more than ever before, Amelia got up from the bench. she would re-establish herself, she would somehow learn how to survive let alone live. And someday when she has perfected this gift, she will come back home to take on whatever comes her way.
* * *
Ema was now in a gloomy and obscure area of the forest where no light from the outside could ever penetrate; she then bent down before the figure that was shrouded in a hood.
: “The plan is going according to our discussions, Master,” she said. There’s no time to address what’s happening at the pack because they are all busy searching for the girl, and resources are sparse.
The figure in the hood looked at the speaker and inclined its head in agreement. ’And what is this Alpha and his Beta up to?’
There was nothing that Ema despised more than weakness and she began to smile cruelly. ‘They become even more impatient as the days go by. The Alpha is nearly unable to complete his tasks due to his preoccupation with locating his dear mate. The Beta can hardly contain himself… He abides by the pack’s rules and yet he wants nothing more than to see Amelia, I wonder why he is so attached
“Excellent,” the figure said, and the word hung in the stillness of the night like a viper's hiss. ‘Next time, it will be far easier,’ there was cunning in his voice ‘But do not forget Ema, we still require the girl, her power is vital to our objectives. ’
Ema's smile faltered slightly. ‘I… I am searching for her tirelessly Master, however, she is not easy to find. ’
The hooded man approached further and Ema moved back instinctively. And no matter how good she is, it wouldn’t be enough: “Ema's best won’t do. Get her; Ema, you find her, use any means, any information you can get, but get her. Time is running out, and I will not accept defeat. ”
As the figure retreated behind the smoke, Ema stayed in a kneeling position her body trembling on the inside as much because of the adrenaline as from the fear. Amelia would not escape her no matter the cost that she would have to pay for everything. And when she did, then she would rule and exercise the authority which was rightfully hers for so many years.
* * *
Thus another week went by, and Bruce got the feeling that he was gradually turning into a lunatic. All leads that may point to Amelia were false leads. The pack was becoming impatient and Bruce could see that the discontent was rising precipitously each day.
He was standing at the window of his office looking at the pack lands outside but in fact; his mind was somewhere else. He gripped in his hand a picture of Amelia taken at the time of the contract marriage the two had forced into. Still, even before he had his sensitivity back he had been touched by the passion in her eyes.
‘’Hey, are you there’’ he said softly sliding the photo in front of him.
He was immersed in his thoughts when there was a gentle knock at the door. Elijah came in looking rather serious.
“Anything new?” Bruce inquired and by the look on his Beta’s face, he knew the answer.
Elijah shook his head. No, But Bruce, we have something to discuss with the pack. Ema and the other wolves start to follow her and no one for guidance in this situation.
Bruce again gave an evil look and spoke in a menacing tone, the low growling sound came out of his throat. ‘She’s deceiving them, using the incident of Amelia going missing to her benefit. ’
"I know," Elijah agreed. But we can’t prove it And as long as she continues to do all she can in searching for Amelia, the rogues will go on supporting her.
So, Bruce returned to the view out the window his shoulders slightly drooping. "What do you suggest?"
Elijah hesitated before speaking. “Well… I think… I think we are to realize that maybe, you know, Amelia does not want to be found, Bruce,” “It's been a while now, Bruce, if Amelia was in danger we would surely hear something by now”.
He grinned brightly and looked at Bruce, ¨No. ¨ Bruce shook his head denying her statement and stood facing his Beta. ‘It pains me to hear you utter such things, Elijah, and I cannot bring myself to believe that she will just leave us, that she will leave me, without an explanation, there is more to this than meets the eye. ”
Elijah sighed, generally looking a bit worn out, and raked fingers through thinning, greying hair. “Then what do we do? We’ve looked for her in every territory you could get to within several hundreds of miles,” ‘We’ve consulted with all the allied packs we could call in a favor from, where else could we look?’
For a while, Bruce did not speak as he tried to think of a suitable answer to the woman’s question. Then gradually, a framework for this strategy started to emerge. ‘We’ve been thinking like wolves,’ he said, rallying himself ‘We must certainly develop a human strategy. ’ ‘But Amelia… Amelia, at least, considers herself a human and was brought up and raised in this society so she can comprehend it better than us. ’
Elijah looked utterly surprised at first but quickly realized what Bruce was implying. “Such a place as a human city?”
Bruce looked at her and nodded, the petite flame of hope was burning in his heart. ‘It is the ideal environment for our kind to blend in. ’ Millions of people, prefer wandering around, without conventional packs to master. Elijah, we have to change our strategy. Concentrate on areas that have lots of people, especially those that have transient populations. ”
Instead of his usual anxious state, Elijah was full of hope for the first time in weeks. ‘I will begin calling, get in touch with any contacts that relate to Human law enforcement. ’
Bruce looked out the window as Elijah left to start with the new search strategy adjustment. He put his hand on the glass; it was cold to the touch and looking out towards the land in front of him.
‘Wait, Amelia’ he breathed out. “No matter what it is, which you are escaping from or what it is that you are scared of, we will fight it together I promise to find you. ”
At the same time, many miles away, Amelia went on with her normal workday, getting a sudden chill down her spine. For a moment there she expected to hear Bruce’s voice and felt the His living steam envelop her. She declared it for what it was: wishful thinking the minute he ceased to communicate with her. But in her core, there was a glimmer of light and it suddenly came back to her, the warmth of accepting someone’s hand.
