40. Change of Plans

I'm still sitting next to the two pack members who analyzed the videos for me, going through every detail. I've been doing it for hours. In the meantime, Liam and his father have returned too. They found traces of a car, probably a jeep, but lost them once the vehicle moved to the main road.

The videos show three men sneaking onto our pack grounds. Further away, it seems like something alerted Charlie, and she ran. There are no cameras further into the pack, but we see her and the twins running out of the pack grounds. Felix tosses glances behind them; it seems like they were followed.

"How did they know…" I mutter.

"What?" a female voice asks.

"How did they know when and how to come onto our pack grounds? They knew the routes of our guards exactly." I frown. "We change them weekly, exactly to avoid such a situation, and they clearly knew this week's schedule. We have top-notch security."

"That's truly unsettling," the voice says and sits down next to me.

I turn to face her, a bit annoyed that someone sits so close, when my eyes widen. "Ella!" I blurt out, pulling her into a hug.

She wraps her arms around me tightly. "D," she mutters. "Fuck."

"I know," I say.

"Liam told me that she was abducted, and what you found out so far," Ella says. I can feel her emotions through our bond; they are all over the place although she tries to stay composed. "I can't lose her, Dante."

"We won't," I say firmly.

She moves back a bit from me, and to my horror there's a hint of tears in her eyes. I can't remember ever seeing her cry. "Listen to me," I say, taking her face between my hands. "I will do everything to find her. We won't lose her. Ella, you said it yourself; we need to remain calm… or we won't be of any use to Charlie."

She nods, swallowing thickly. "What's the plan?"

"We do have a few options. Richie will play our bait and pretend to work for Imogen."

"He is a human. Will they buy it?" she asks.

"I'm not sure," I say honestly. "I—"

"Wait a moment," she exclaims. "Julianus!"

"Hm?"

"The vampire who accompanied Ari and me! Oh, you don't know that yet. Short story: he is Silas's ex-lover, but fucked up. Lived in misery with Aloysius but helped us to convince him that Charlie isn't his daughter. He left the coven. Aloysius beat him up badly… but… Dante, he is a vampire! I know the man who made the deal with Imogen's group—it's Atticus. They all know each other—Julianus probably could pretend to be sent by the coven again!"

I try to make sense of her words and the flood of information she just tossed at me. "Is he of high rank?"

"Julianus?" she asks before nodding. "Yes, he is… was one of Aloysius's most trusted."

"But is he trustworthy?"

"I have no idea, Dante," she says. "My gut feeling says it's worth a shot, but he is a risk. The thing is, he might be our best option. Together with him, Richie might have an actual chance to convince Imogen's secret customer."

I nod, sighing when I turn to the videos. "If only I knew how they found out about the guards' schedule."

"Did someone hack into our system?"

"No, Dave made sure that we have top-notch security. We checked for any traces of data leaks, but nothing."

Ella swallows. "An insider who blabbed?"

"It looks like it," I say, feeling uncomfortable. I hate to have a traitor here, but this is the only answer that makes sense at this point.

"Maybe I can help," a voice reaches out.

Ella and I turn around, our agaze falling onto Levi, who is peeking into the room. "You know the answer?" I ask. "Please, Levi, don't tell me that you—"

"No!" he blurts out. "No, Beta, it's not me, I swear."

"I didn't mean to suspect you," I say. "But, you said you found something?"

"I analyzed the traces," he says. "It's like Alpha Liam, Alpha Elden, and you suspected. Charlie ran and bumped into the twins. However, something struck me as weird. There were small footsteps close to the border. Too small to be from the men who abducted Charlie, Felix, and Dario. We checked the whole area, and depending on our schedule for the guards, the footsteps changed places too."

"Wait a moment," Ella steps closer. "You are saying someone is sneaking off the pack grounds!"

"Who?" I ask, completely shocked.

"The teens, of course!" Ella says. "Good job, Levi!" She grabs my hand. "Come. You too, Levi. We are going to Alpha Liam."

She doesn't need to say it twice. Both Levi and I hurry after her and follow her to Liam's office. We barge right into a discussion between him, Alpha Elden, Luna Annalise, and… the other vampire. I assume the drained-looking man has to be Julianus. Silas is in the room too, but leans further away, against a window. His face is void of any emotions.

"We apologize for interrupting," Ella says. "But we have news. Actually, Levi has news."

"Finally," Liam says, turning towards us. "You have results."

I can sense Levi's nervousness at being in a room with so many high-ranking pack members, but he swallows his anxiety down and starts explaining his findings to them, as well as what conclusion Ella reached.

Liam stares at us. "I can't believe it," he groans. "Absolutely. The kids somehow found out the schedule and used it to sneak off."

"Would they really do that?" Silas asks. Julianus turns to look at him, but Silas looks straight at Liam, avoiding any contact with the other man.

"Absolutely," Elden groans. "Just a year ago, one of my youngest boys, Felix, did it too with some of the other kids in the pack. I was furious when I found out. So reckless, but typical teenage wolf behavior."

"It's exactly the stuff teens would do," Liam agrees.

"So, some of the more rebellious children?" I ask.

"Not necessarily," Annie intervenes. "There are many reasons. Sure, testing boundaries is one reason, but also peer pressure. Some might think it's light-hearted fun. Some like the challenge. Kids do stuff like that all the time."

Ella furrows her brows, thinking about something. "I bet Charlie snuck around too," she says all of a sudden.

"Highly likely," Annie agrees quietly, much to my surprise.

Liam looks surprised too, but keeps his composure. "Even if that's true. How did she know how to do it?"

"Liam's right," Elden says. "She must know the pack to understand how to sneak around."

I contemplate their words, trying to remember the kids Charlie hangs out with regularly. "Oh fuck," I groan. "She is friends with Ty, too, and he is certainly one of the more troublemaking kids."

"Austen is friends with him too," Levi says quietly. "He is a good kid, but I think he would tug along to avoid being picked on."

"Gisela is also in their group," Ella says.

Liam turns towards Levi. "Get the kids. I know it's late, but we don't have much time. I will send Aryanna with you. Tell them it's Alpha's orders." He pauses. "Ty's father should come too."

"Isn't that a bit much?" Elden asks. "Won't this scare the kid off more?"

Liam sighs. "Ty's father is one of our head guards. He knows the schedule by heart, and he has a copy of it on his own PC. I bet that's where Ty got the schedule from."

Elden raises his brows. "Fantastic. The kids are getting creative."

We watch Levi shuffle away with his new task before we turn our attention back to Julianus. It seems like Liam filled him in on the basics. I don't think he truly trusts him, but just like Ella said, he is our best shot at the moment. It seems like Liam had a similar idea to hers and wants to involve him in our plan to find Charlie.

"I want to take your offer, Alpha Liam," Julianus says. "You mentioned a human here who worked for the mercenary group. Richard, right? I remember Atticus mentioning him. I believe I could help Richard reach out to their customers." He pauses. "I could tell him we have a change of plan."

Liam looks at him in interest. "A change of plan?"

"Yes, make it look like Richard is working for the vampires now. He is human; I can make it sound like I'm feeding off him."

"That's not a bad idea," Liam muses. "Tell him you know they have the children and that you want a share of the money."

"What money?" Ella asks. "Did they ask for some?"

"No, but they want something," Liam says. "Clearly. And whatever they want might be worth a lot. Richard and Julianus can make it sound like they want a share for playing along."

"I think I can make that work," Julianus says.

I frown while looking at him. He is pale, white as the wall. Sweat is forming on his forehead, and he looks completely drained. In his state I would rather Richie do the job alone; at least he looks healthy. Livia has been visiting him regularly, and it seems this has raised his spirits. He is motivated to help.

Silas seems to think the same because he clears his throat. "How about you try to get treated for your injuries first," he says shortly before anyone else can say anything.

Julianus winces at his words. "It's nothing major, it's—"

"Yes, it is. It was Aloysius. You are no use if you are like this. Go to the infirmary. Then you can work with the human kid to reach out to said customer."

"He is right," Liam says, his eyes glossing over. A few minutes later, two of our warriors appear to guide Julianus to the infirmary. It's a safety measure for us, and Julianus probably knows we don't trust him yet, but he doesn't complain and instead follows them out of the office.

Silence engulfs us once he is gone.

"Lord Silas," Ella starts.

"Please, Ella," Silas says, smiling at her. "I know what you did and why you did it, and I approve of it. I just don't know how to handle him."

"Well, I can sympathize," Ella mutters. "This sucks."

"Indeed," he says.

"You need to make a clear cut," she says. "Because I think he is well…"

"Oh no," Silas groans. "What's he thinking!? Did he think I wouldn't move on? It's been years. Not to talk about how it ended. There was never any coming back from it. However…" He sighs. "He finally woke up and found a bit of courage. At least that's something."

"Say," Annie says into the silence that engulfs us once more. "Ella, do you have the necklace?"

The necklace? I blink at her words. The neck… The necklace!

Goddess, it seems losing Charlie has messed with my mind. I can't believe I didn't think of that major piece of information.

"The necklace from your parents," I say. "In the music box where we found Candy's letter, there was a necklace too. The same one you have, just open. It can be opened!"

"And they were looking for it," Ella mutters. She jumps up. "Wait here! I should have it stored safely in our bedroom."