Chapter 24- The Path

Lexy
I woke up with the sun shining through the small window right into my eyes. I was feeling much better. My temperature is back to normal. ‘Check the place for things. You need to move soon’ Leila told me. I rummaged through the small cabin and found a bag to put things in. As I kept looking, I found a compass, a couple of water bottles, a pocketknife, and some snacks. I also found a shirt and cargo pants. A little big for me but I prefer to have them just in case. Once I felt I had everything I could need, I turned the phone on to check for a response from CJ. With no luck, he hadn’t responded yet. I decided to call but no response again. I was getting worried for him.
I left a voicemail again and then a text. Right before I sent it I noticed a box of chalk sticking out from under the little couch. I picked it up and got a brilliant idea. I finished the text by letting him know I’ll be marking my trail, and he would know is me. I had to make sure that guy wouldn’t pick up my mark for CJ. I just really hope CJ finds me before that horrible scary man finds me.
CJ
While sitting with my parents Alpha Trevor mind-linked us ‘Come to the office. We might have a lead’. He caught the mind-link and we all got up and went straight to the packhouse. We entered the office and before we could even say anything he told us to sit. “The investigators looked at the cameras in the school. She was taken around the time of the class before lunch. She put up a fight, but she was drugged and carried out” Alpha Trevor went straight to the point. “He drugged her!!” I growled out. My mom grabbed my hand and brought me back from the anger. “I understand your feelings, but we need to focus” Alpha Trevor said with a serious tone. I nodded with respect. He continued “Our warriors are working with the investigators to find in which direction she was taken”. “We need you to bring something of hers that she touched recently.
After the meeting I got the Alpha what he asked for and gave it to Alex. By the time we finished it was almost midnight. I didn’t want to go to sleep while she was somewhere out there, but the exhaustion took over while I was holding on to the pillow she’s been sleeping on. The next day I woke up as the sun was rising and realized all over again she wasn’t here. I stood up took a shower and got dressed. I went to grab my phone and noticed it wasn’t in the charging station. Kept trying to think where I left it at. I went down to the kitchen drank some orange juice and went to grab my keys but weren’t in the key bowl. I felt like I was losing my mind. I was going to step outside when I got a mind-link from AJ ‘Hey dude. I got your keys. We are on the way to get you’. ‘Cool. Thanks’. Is all I could respond. The guys picked me up and they were already caught up with everything that happened. They took me back to school where I left my truck parked after taking off in anger. When I got in the truck AJ jumped in with me while Jace and Mike waited for me to start the truck. We didn’t stay at school. We’re going to help find her. I had to be there. Once I started the truck I noticed that my phone was in there the whole time and it was dead. I let it charge while we drove to the packhouse to meet up with everyone else. When I parked before getting off, I decided to turn my phone on. Once the phone finished loading I saw I had 3 missed calls, 2 voicemails, and 2 text messages from a number I don’t know. I was going to ignore it but before I could Xazul growled at me ‘CHECK PHONE NOW’. It startled me but I listened to his words. When I looked at the text my heart dropped. ‘MATE’ Xazul growled again.
AJ could tell something was wrong with me. He tried to get me to talk but I couldn't take my eyes off the texts. I finally snapped out of it and said “Mate”. AJ didn’t need me to say more. “I’ll tell everyone inside. Let’s go” I chose to say to him. We ran inside into the meeting room and flung the doors open. Everyone gasped at my entrance, but I didn’t have time to waste. I gave Alpha Trevor my phone and he read the text messages aloud. Everyone understood what that meant and we began to prepare for a search and rescue. When I got my phone back I responded to her and let her know that we were coming and that I have my phone ready to receive word from her. After that I put the voicemail on speaker and heard her beautiful voice. The first message sounds like she’s in pain. Xazul didn’t like that. The second one she sounded rested and more like herself. We were happy that she was good for now but still might be in danger if the man finds her. I went and changed into my training uniform and met with everyone in front of the packhouse to head out. Alpha sent 3 vehicles with 4 of us inside each one.
I was ready for this and I’m not coming back until I find her. I made sure before leaving that my phone battery was full. I couldn’t stop looking at the phone, but I knew that wasn’t helping. Jace hopped in the same vehicle I did. We both sat in the back of the SUV. ‘Don’t worry bro. We are going to find her and bring her back’ AJ said to me. He took my phone, plugged in the charger, and gave it back. I nodded in gratitude.
Lexy
I began my walk with the compass in hand. I wasn’t sure where to head and then remembered in the direction the sun started this morning. I decided to head south with a bit of west to try and not get caught by that man. I had been walking when I noticed the sun was a bit more west, I knew it was around 1 or 2. I took a break to snack, drink water and turn the cell phone on. While walking I would find good size rocks and marked them with chalk. I put them close to the big trees that I would pass by. When I looked at the phone I saw that CJ responded. It made me so happy to see that. I read his text and immediately went into the call log. I called him again and he picked up the phone in the first ring. He was loud but I missed his voice. “Lexy are you okay? Do you know where you are?” he kept asking questions. I stopped him and told him “I can’t talk much. I don’t have a lot of battery. But I miss you and I’m good.
I told him about the gas station, how far from there they probably could find the truck but wasn’t sure where the cabin was. I told him I was heading south but made a bit of a curve west to stay away from the man. “When I find a better location that you guys can recognize, I’ll call you again” I told him. As I was going to hang up I heard him say or I think he said it. I didn’t know if I heard right and just turned the phone off and kept on with my trail.