Chapter 26

Twenty-Six

RYDER

" I really think we should check on Lacy," said Adrian as he paced around the field. My pack had become despondent, and I started feeling gloomy since we left Lacy. We'd get over her after a few days, but that wasn't the case. I wiped the sweat from my forehead with a handkerchief.

Every day, I felt the emptiness of her presence. At night, when I imagined another male approaching her- I'd feel sick to my stomach. But she didn't want me, not after my punishment of her.

"Your stubbornness and her anger issues clash. Like two magnets repelling each other," said Cooper as he put on his earmuffs before shooting the target at the end of the field.

"But he can simply apologize," said Ethan gruffly. "Now we're waiting around for another guard duty job, wasting our time when we could be hunting the stalker."

"She's not our problem anymore," I said, trying to end this unending conversation we always seem to fall into during training. The day we left Lacy's house, my boss scolded me for my stubbornness and the harsh discipline of a fun-loving omega.

Yes, maybe I shouldn't have put my hands on her.

"Does it hurt to check on her, though?" said Adrian, not letting this go, and I sighed. Some part of my soul wanted to get a glimpse of her again, even though she screamed at me furiously.

"It doesn't hurt," I said, rubbing my hand over my head.

"Fuck yes," said Lucas, smiling. To get a reaction out of Lucas was a big thing, and we all smiled as we looked over at him lifting weights on a bench.

"I'm guessing we're all in agreement then?"

"Let's fucking go already," said Ethan, and every man dropped what they were holding.

I shook my head as we headed to our armored truck. I grinned as I followed behind them. I wanted to apologize and do everything else necessary to see her beautiful face again. Or at least end as friends. This non-communication was hurting me and my pack. But was I ready for her ultimate rejection of me? I knew I didn't look like the typical alpha she'd date, but I had to try at least.

When we pulled up to Lacy's house- confusion set in when we saw the open gate.

"She wouldn't leave the gate open just like that," said Lucas. We all sat up in alarm, and I immediately dialed her number on my phone. I tried calling her once on our way to her house, but she didn't answer. I assumed she was still angry at me.

I hopped out when Adrian parked the truck, as adrenaline flowed through my body. I jogged to her front door and knocked.

No answer.

I rang the doorbell, standing there for a few seconds. Nothing.

"Call her band or something if anyone has the number," I told my pack. If she had simply forgotten to close the gate, it wouldn't be a problem. But in my gut, I knew something was off. I looked around the door for anything that could be off, but as I twisted the doorknob, I realized it was open.

Shit .

She would never leave the door unlocked. Guns out, we carefully walked inside.

"We need to split up and see if she's anywhere. Try not to be loud in case he's here holding her in one of the rooms," I said. We all split in different directions, and I immediately bounded up the stairs to her room. The door was wide open, and my heart sank when I saw her messy bed and broken lamp. She would never leave her things in disarray like this.

Something terrible happened when I left her. Every second I spent here meant she was suffering somewhere else. I saw her phone on the bed and carefully walked inside, not wanting to destroy any evidence. Picking up the phone, I saw a bunch of missed calls over the last several days.

After watching her put in the password several times, I logged into it and quickly went through her call log. Her mother, who looked exactly like her, had called the most, and someone named Aunt Jade had called her also.

I called her cousin Olivia first since she knew about us working for Lacy. No answer. Now I was really getting worried about this omega. Next, I called Jade before calling Lacy's mother. I had to gather as much information as possible before reaching out to her.

"Hello," said Jade. Her voice was frantic and sounded like she'd been crying.

"Hello, Jade?" I said.

"Who's this?" she asked, sounding panicked. "Are you the kidnapper? I can't reach my daughter Olivia or Lacy. What did you do to our girls?!"

"I'm not the kidnapper," I said amidst her yelling. It took her a minute before she decided to start listening. "I'm Lacy's bodyguard, and I can't find her anywhere. Do you have a clue of where she might be?"

"Well, you did a poor fucking job guarding her," said Jade and I sighed. "Her mother is worried sick as well and at my house. She said she'd been at Lacy's house and…"

"Let me talk to him," said another female voice. Good, this was probably Lacy's mother. She did not sound happy. "Hello, guard, I'm Vanessa. Lacy's mother."

"I'm Ryder," I said. "I don't have much time. I need to find her."

"Please tell me what happened," said Vanessa, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. "I can't lose another baby of mine. I couldn't sleep for days. Why haven't you been able to guard her?"

"She fired us," I sighed. "Listen, we're doing everything we can."

"I always told her that her temper will be her downfall," said Vanessa, sighing. "Olivia is also missing. We tried calling both of them. Our husbands are out searching the entire island as well."

"I will do my best," I reassured both mothers before hanging up. I could feel the pain in their voices and the urgency.

We had to find Lacy first and foremost.

"Damn," said Cooper, who was listening to everything at the door.

I rubbed my face with frustration.

"Where the fuck did he take her?!" I shouted as I paced around the room. I was tempted to rush out and knock down every door on the island to find her. But if we ran around willy- nilly around the island, it would waste more time. She was probably scared to death. I remembered how she hugged me when we came to her rescue once. And the relief in her eyes upon seeing me.

Looking at her phone, I called Olivia's number again. It was useless trying that.

"If Lacy and Olivia were taken to the same location, that would be crazy," said Cooper.

"Wait…if they're in the same location," I said, my mind spinning. "Think you can trace Olivia's phone?"

I couldn't believe it when we found the location tracing the phone. The drive took two hours, leading us to a remote location.

The two glass buildings looked like it was in the middle of the fucking desert with no hint of civilization around. It was guarded by a formidable perimeter of coiled barbed wire and vigilant security detail in every corner. We stopped the truck on the side of the road.

"I'll take just Ethan with me," I told them.

"What the hell?" said Cooper.

I've heard of operations like this. These were different types of alphas. They were elitists who looked down on every other type of werewolf. I didn't want to take the risk, but I didn't want to tell him that either.

"It'll draw less attention, and I'd like the oldest to accompany me," I said, staring at the barrier and werewolves prowling. They hadn't seen us since we parked farther away, but they'd see us immediately once we started walking. "I'll give you a call once we get Lacy and Olivia out of there. We only came for Lacy, but I promised Olivia's mom."

"Don't do anything reckless," said Adrian. "I swear if you mess anything up…"

"I won't," I said. "Wait for my call or text."

"Do you even have a plan, or are you just going to barge in there?" asked Lucas.

No . I didn't have a plan, but my pack didn't need to know that.

"Just standby. If we get trapped for longer than three days, send in reinforcements. Tell our boss what happened."

"Three days?!" said Adrian. "We need to buy more snacks and food."

"Alright, see you, Ryder," said Lucas, clapping me on the back. "Be careful out there."

Ethan and I walked around the armored van and along the walkway to the camp. There was only one entrance between the barbed wire. A tall gate guarded by four werewolves fully shifted into werewolf forms, and two alpha guards had their guns out upon seeing us.

"What's your business here?" called one of them, aiming directly at me.

My pulse pounded as I raised my arms above my head. I had left all my weapons back in the van just in case. I didn't want to seem like a threat. I was here to pick up my Lacy and go home.

That was all there was to it.

I stopped walking, and so did Ethan, who also had his hands up.

"We're wondering if you had any room for us to join," I said. The two guards looked at each other, debating whether or not to let us in. I had no idea what this place was, only that it was surrounded by fucking alphas, and they had some evil purpose for taking omegas.

"Did Henry call for you?" asked one of the guards.

"He did," said Ethan in a loud voice, trying to sound as confident as possible.

"Oh, alright," said one of them, allowing us to walk through the compound.

Shit, I couldn't believe that fucking worked. But this operation was dangerous as fuck, and anything could go wrong at any time.

The sand flew in my face as we walked closer to the main building covered in glass. When we walked towards the building, we were stopped by another guard at the door.

"We're here to see Henry," I said immediately, and the guard spoke into a device he was holding.

A few minutes passed, and we were ushered inside to an office. The person sitting behind the desk was tall and with short black hair. I immediately sensed the evil emanating from this dude, who had a kind smile plastered on his face.

A smile of pure evil.

"I know I didn't invite you here," Henry said. "But please…sit."