Chapter 139

Aria

We didn’t waste any time rushing back to the pack house with the camera in tow. If the SD card held any clues as to where Alfira had gone or what had happened to her, no matter how small those clues might be, we needed to find them.

Darren and I immediately hurried into the study, calling Liam and Wendy after us. Wendy locked the door, her face pale.

“What happened?”

Darren held up the camera. “This is Alfira’s camera. We found it in the woods.”

Liam’s mouth dropped open. Darren quickly removed the SD card from the camera and inserted it into the slot in his computer. It felt like an eternity of waiting as he booted up the computer and loaded the footage.

The first few hours of footage were exactly what we expected: clips of the documentary. Alfira had been thorough, capturing everything from the pack’s daily life to the breathtaking landscapes of the forest. There were interviews with the elders, shots of the children playing, and even a few candid moments of Darren and me laughing together.

But then, near the end of the footage, we found it.

The clip was only a few minutes long, and it was strangely shaky and chaotic, not at all like her usual work. The screen was dark, and all we could hear was the sound of what seemed like footsteps pounding.

Finally, Alfira lifted the camera and turned on the night vision mode, illuminating her face in shades of green. She looked haggard and terrified, and there were mascara-dyed tears streaming down her face.

“If anyone finds this,” she gasped, still running, “my name is Luna Alfira. I—”

Suddenly, there was a sound like a man’s voice. Alfira gasped and quickly moved, seemingly diving behind a tree or a boulder. For a few moments, we heard nothing; we just saw the underside of Alfira’s panicked face, holding her breath.

Then, there was a scuffle, the camera shaking. I couldn’t tell what had happened exactly, but Alfira was screaming. The camera then seemed to tumble to the ground, the lens pointing upward at the dark canopy of trees. We heard more footsteps, then Alfira’s screams echoed in the distance, growing fainter and fainter until they disappeared altogether.

The footage cut out not long after that, leaving us staring at a blank screen.

For a moment, no one spoke. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to throw up or pass out after witnessing that footage, so just to be safe, I sank down into a nearby chair and hung my spinning head between my legs. I drew in a few deep breaths, trying to push past the sound of Alfira’s screams echoing in my head.

“What the hell happened to her?” I finally whispered, lifting my head to look at the others. Liam looked like he was about to retch. Wendy just looked angry and horrified.

Darren’s jaw was clenched, his eyes fixed on the screen. “I don’t know,” he ground out. “But I think we can all make a pretty good guess.”

My stomach twisted painfully. I glanced at Wendy again, who gripped the edge of Darren’s desk and said, “You know the humans can’t find out about this, Darren.”

Darren blinked, looking up at his grandmother. Her face was stony, stonier than I’d ever seen it, and we all knew what she was implying.

The dead hiker…

Perhaps it was an act of self defense. And perhaps it wasn’t random.

“I had my suspicions the moment I saw how close that human hiker had gotten to our borders, but I wanted to give the authorities a chance to figure it out,” Darren said quietly, scrubbing his hands over his face. “He shouldn’t have been able to get so close.”

“Not unless he knew precisely where he was going,” Wendy hissed.

“Do you think someone sent him here?” I asked.

Wendy glanced at me. “I don’t know. Either way, I don’t trust those human authorities not to spin the narrative to make werewolves look even worse. And I especially don’t trust them taking Alfira into custody. For all we know, they’re in on this, and she could be in danger.”

Darren’s jaw tensed even more, but he nodded.

“We’ll start a search party,” Darren said suddenly, rising from his chair. “If Alfira is still nearby, we need to find her before the human authorities do. I don’t want to risk her falling into the wrong hands before she can tell her side of the story.”

I agreed, although the thought of going back into the forest right now filled me with dread. But we didn’t have a choice.

We spent the next few hours preparing, gathering the pack’s strongest warriors and dividing the forest into sections to cover as much ground as possible. Darren briefed everyone on the situation, and as the sun dipped below the horizon, we set out into the forest.

I walked with Wendy, our eyes scanning the section of forest we were assigned to. She was quiet at first, focused on finding any clues that could lead us to Alfira. But after a while, she glanced at me, her expression softening.

“How are you holding up?” she asked gently.

I sighed, my shoulders sagging under the weight of everything. “I’m angry,” I admitted with a humorless laugh. “Furious, actually. We’ve done nothing to hurt anyone, and yet we’re the ones being cast out and our people keep getting attacked. It’s not fair.”

“Now you know why we remained hidden for so long.”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

Wendy was quiet for a moment. When I glanced at her, her face looked thoughtful. “I believe you and Darren are the ones who can lead us out of this mess, for what it’s worth,” she said, looking at me. “But the werewolves will need to unite if things go even further south. If Darren becomes Alpha King, that will be a much easier task.”

Her words struck a chord, and I frowned. “Do you even think there’s still going to be an Alpha King election?” I asked.

Wendy hesitated, her brow furrowing. “I’m not sure,” she finally admitted. “With everything that’s happened recently, the election has been put on hold. But if the humans are going to label us as sovereign, then we need a leader. Darren would be the best choice.”

She looked at me once more and added, “And you would make an excellent Luna Queen by his side.”

The thought made my stomach twist. I couldn’t imagine myself in that role, standing by Darren’s side as a leader of all the packs. I was still finding my footing as Luna of Moonglow. The idea of taking on something so much bigger felt overwhelming.

“I don’t know if I’m ready for that,” I said quietly.

Wendy smiled, her hand coming up to rest on my shoulder. “You’ll never be ‘ready’. No one ever is.”

I swallowed hard, wondering if she was right.

The night dragged on after that, the forest growing darker and darker as the moon slipped behind the clouds. We combed through every inch of the designated area, but a recent rainfall had washed away any traces of footprints or scent. By the time we regrouped with the others, I could barely lift my legs enough to walk.

Darren looked as drained as I felt. He turned as Wendy and I approached, and it suddenly hit me that we were both going on two entire nights without sleep.

“Nothing,” he said, sounding at a loss. “We’ll have to send out a fresh party tomorrow.”

When we finally returned to the pack house, the first rays of dawn were beginning to peek over the horizon. Lucas was already asleep, curled up on the couch with a blanket draped over him. I brushed a strand of hair from his forehead and leaned down, kissing his little head gently before I left him to rest.

Darren and I trudged upstairs, barely even able to keep our eyes open. We didn’t speak as we changed into our pajamas and climbed into bed, although he pulled me close right away. His warmth soothed my aching muscles.

And the moment my head hit the pillow, the weight of the day crashed over me, pulling me into a deep, dreamless sleep.