44. Progress

Chapter forty-four

Progress

*AURELIA*

T ori and Lion are in Vander's room with him when we join them. The brothers don't exchange a word, but Arden squeezes Vander's shoulder.

"We are having a late-night snack," Tori says.

"Are there leftovers for us?" I ask while sitting down next to her.

"Of course, Lion organized the food. We have food for a legion." Her voice is lighthearted, and she smiles, but I can see that she's putting up a fa?ade to distract Vander.

It doesn't work because Vander just looks crestfallen. "I can't lose her," he mutters.

"We won't," Arden says with emphasis. "I won't rest until we have found Léna. Alive!"

We really need to. It will break Arden if he can't keep this promise and loses another victim, but also Léna and Coralie don't deserve this happening to them, and Meg doesn't either.

"Does Dad know?" Vander asks.

I can almost see Arden's breath getting stuck in his lungs. "What do you mean?" he asks, appalled.

Vander looks confused at his reaction. "Well, I mean, Léna and Coralie are pack members. He needs to know they are missing."

Arden still needs some time to recover, so I jump in. "Eric is dealing with that," I reassure Vander. It was one of the first things Eric did when he heard what happened. Despite his aloof attitude, he is very diligent.

Vander gazes at Arden, still looking confused, but fortunately my answer seems to be sufficient for now. What a mess.

Do you think it's truly been his father? I ask Maxima. Do you think he would do that to his sons?

We saw what he was about to do to him when we met his father for the first time, Maxima mutters. I didn't think he would go that far, but I believe in our mate and his gut feeling.

That's what's worrying me. Arden for sure has played through all the other scenarios, and with all he knows, this is not only the most likely one, it's also the one his feeling tells him is true. This is going to hurt both of them, so much.

Why would he do all that? she growls. Pathetic alpha.

Maybe the loss of his mate broke him?

Didn't break him enough to bed half of the she-wolves in his pack, she says.

She has a point. I can only imagine that there might have already been something off about him before his mate died, but she kept it in check, I say. Once she died, he just lost that restraint too.

He could have had it all: two great sons, a pack, a loving family, maybe even a second chance mate or a chosen one, Maxima says. He ruined it for himself, and it's all his fault.

Let's make sure he won't hurt our mate more than he already has, I point out.

"Have you heard from your friends?" Arden asks us all of a sudden, probably to diffuse the tension.

"Yes, they arrived safely," I say.

"I talked to Marilou earlier today," Tori explains. "She was crying so much; happy tears. My mom was so happy for Terry and welcomed her into the family."

"She didn't expect it," I say quietly. "To finally have a family and to be accepted the way she is."

"I'm so happy for Terry," Tori says. "He loved Marilou even before they were mates. He always said she was his soulmate, and I'm glad the Goddess didn't take that from him."

"Yes," Lion says. "She sometimes knows what she is doing," he adds, casting a longing gaze towards Tori.

Tori pretends she doesn't notice, but I can see her getting flustered.

"Val and I talked to Jazz," I told her. "She is already preparing for her next visit."

"Talking about our friends, where is Nox?" Lion asks.

"He is getting some training in to stay in shape. He is right to do that. He might need it in case we have to fight Night and his minions," I say. "And then, he wanted to help Emilien."

I don't want him to overwork himself, but I understand that for Nox being here is a huge opportunity. He is going to be beta of Silverlake in a couple of years, and learning under Emilien gives him new perspectives.

"When did we all become so serious?" Lion muses.

"I'm not sure who you are talking about," Tori says. "But I'm still the same, I think. Pretty lame, huh?"

"Not at all," Lion says promptly.

I'm not sure if he is aware of it, but it seems like he is pretty whipped. Lion and Tori's little exchange helped to distract us, but now silence falls upon us again, and none of us sure how to break it. Fortunately, we don't need to because footsteps are coming closer—quickly.

The door flies open, and Gustave rushes into the room without knocking, almost tripping over his feet. "Here you are. Here you are!"

We are all up on our feet immediately. "What happened?" Arden stresses.

"Guys, guys, guys," Gustave blurts out. "Zoé and I found it, we found it!" He shows us the print of a man with a young boy next to him. "I present you Guillaume LaRue, and next to him, his son André LaRue, also called Night."

Arden gapes before rushing towards Gustave. The latter looks terrified for a second, but then Arden pulls him into a hug. "Amazing, Gustave! Amazing! This is it, the breakthrough we needed."

Gustave looks flustered by the praise. "Zoé and I just used a software to make Night look younger and then searched through all the databases. We were just lucky because one pack in the province of Auvergne recently digitized all their old pictures and—"

"Don't diminish your success," Arden interrupts him. "You and Zoé did amazingly, and this will finally give us the knowledge we need. I'm coming with you to Zoé."

"Me too," I say.

"Can I come too?" Vander asks.

Arden and I exchange a look and nod. There is no way we have the heart to keep him away when his girlfriend is in Night's claws.

*LéNA*

"How much time do you think has passed?" Coralie mutters.

There is no natural light in the room, just the dim one from the lamp, and we both lost sense of time a while ago.

"I don't know," I say. "Do you think they are looking for us?"

"They are certainly looking for you," she says.

"Coralie—"

"We both know it's true," she says. "Neither Arden nor Princess Aurelia, not even Prince Eric have any reason to look for me. And why would they want to? They hate me."

"That's not true," I say. "Arden will look for you because that's the person he is."

"Yes," she says quietly. "Because he is kind and smart."

"Boys are dense sometimes," I whisper, not sure if I should really talk to her about it, but then we are already on the subject. "I… I know how you looked at Arden."

Coralie turns her head away, her cheeks flushing.

"You liked him, didn't you?"

"It started as a game," she mutters. "I wanted him to boost my social standing and thought he would be easy prey because he was bullied, and I know his father has shunned him. I thought with his disability, he would be happy to have a girl like me paying attention to him. Pretty fucked up, huh?"

"Certainly not nice," I say.

"That's putting it kindly," she admits.

"So, what happened?"

"He was nice and kind and so attentive," she says. "And he treated me with respect. I don't have much going for me, and maybe that's my own fault. I know for most guys I dated I was just a quick fuck, but not worth their time, but Arden actually paid attention to me. He liked talking to me even though we didn't share much. All of a sudden, I just found myself wishing he would be my mate. Pretty pathetic, isn't it?"

"No," I say. "You just fell for Arden. It makes sense."

"You know, he is the type of guy that really sweeps you off his feet once you know him better," she tells me, sounding pumped up all of a sudden. "He has a fine sense of humor, too, and he is so intelligent without ever showing off." She pauses. "Sorry."

"You should tell him," I say. "When we are out of here, promise me you will tell him."

"Why would I? It's over anyway, and he despises me."

"No, he doesn't," I say. "But you hurt him. And I think knowing that it wasn't just a game for you will give him the closure he deserves. You will both get it. I think you owe it to him and yourself to do it."

"What makes you think I would like to do that?" she asks, sounding annoyed.

"I don't think you are a terrible person," I say bluntly. "But there is room for improvement, and I think you know that. You prefer to stay the villain instead of coming clean to Arden, just because your pride doesn't allow you to admit your feelings?"

"That's not it," she says defensively.

"I thought by all your mistakes, you were actually pretty brave. Don't tell me you'd chicken out of such a simple task," I dare her.

"Fine!" she groans, much to my surprise. Who knew that calling out to her ego would help? "If we get out of here…" she agrees. "I will talk to him." She gazes at me. "Damn it, for a child you are pretty annoying."

"Who are you calling a child? You are just two years older than I am."

"Two years that mean a lot," she argues. "My brain is much more developed than yours."

"Says the girl who can't even apologize to the guy she tricked," I huff.

Before Coralie can retort , we can hear noises at the door. Coralie jumps up, making sure to stand in front of me. Both of us tense up when the door opens. In comes a skinny girl with brown hair. There is a hint of red to her hair when the light from the lamp falls on it. She has brown eyes that look at us dull and lifeless, as if all strength has left them.

Her wrists are so thin they might just break if someone grabs her.

"Hello," she says in a hoarse voice. "I'm Azurite."

Coralie and I exchange a gaze. "Hello," I say. "I'm Léna, and that's Coralie."

"You are not gems," she mutters more to herself than to us. "If you are not gems, why are you here?"

Again, Coralie and I look at each other.

"Have you heard from Opal?" Azurite asks.

"Who?" I ask, confused.

Azurite looks sad. "Oh," she mutters. "Well, it can't be helped. She was like you."

"Imprisoned here?" Coralie asks bluntly.

Azurite tilts her head to the side. "Potential gemstones," she says as if she isn't hearing us.

"Did they abduct you too?" I ask her.

"I—" she pauses, furrowing her brows. "I don't know."

"And Azurite is really your name?" Coralie asks. "Isn't that the name of a gemstone?"

"A gemstone," Azurite says, shaking her head and looking at us, fear suddenly filling her eyes. "Don't make them angry," she whispers. "Don't make Night angry. He is evil when he gets angry." She dashes forward to grab Coralie's hands. "Please don't make him angry."

Coralie is at a complete loss, so I decide to help her out. I don't know how to handle this situation either, but this girl looks like she is close to completely losing it. "We won't anger him," I promise her.

She looks at me relieved. "Thank you."

"I don't know who you are," I say. "But I promise our friends are trying to find us. And once they do, they will save us, you too."

"It has never happened before," she says absent-mindedly. "No one has come to save anyone." She shakes her head before opening the bag she is carrying. "Here," she says, her eyes dull again. "I brought you food."