My Second Chance

Chapter 26-Edited

Chapter 26

Elizabeth's POV

I rub my eyes gently and look back at the figure in front of me. There's no way this is possible. I must be dreaming or something.

In front of me is basically an older version of Ryder. There are some differences between the two of them, but not a lot. The similarities between the two of them are actually pretty scary.

Is it his dad? It can't be though since Ryder said his dad killed himself after his alpha challenge.

I look at Ryder, and he looks like he's seen a ghost. I have the feeling that he knows exactly who this guy is and I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing. This guy, Patrick, is the one that's trying to kill me. He's the one that's been sending the letters to me with threats in them, and he's the one that set off the bomb earlier this week.

"Ryder? Are you ok?" I ask through the mindlink. He seems stuck in a trance and it looks like he won't be getting out of it anytime soon.

I look back over at the mystery man and see that he's getting ready to leave. He keeps looking over his shoulders and around the area, probably trying to make sure that no one has caught him. I study him for a few moments wondering if I've seen him before at all in my life. I know that I've never seen him in the pack before, but I guess he's just stayed hidden this entire time.

I turn back to Emily and Brian and I see the shock on their faces too. I know they have the same thoughts as me and are just as confused as I am.

"We need to get out of here," I tell them. They both look over to me before nodding their head in agreement.

"How are we going to get Alpha out of here? He seems to have gone into a state of shock," Brian asks me. I purse my lips slightly and try to mindlink Ryder again.

"Ryder?" I nudge his shoulder and then I flick him. He still doesn't respond so I do the only thing I can think of.

I smack him across the face.

I didn't smack him too hard because that would alert the mystery man, or should I say Patrick, to our presence.

Thankfully, Ryder's eyes lose some of that hazy look that he had in them before.

"We need to go back." He nods his head before walking off. I look over to Brian and Emily but they just shrug before following him.

We pass all the houses and head into another part of the forest. Ryder keeps walking until he gets to one specific tree. He walks up to the tree and puts his hand on the side. I look at him weirdly wondering what he's doing. A few moments later, the trunk of the tree opens up and Brian and Emily step inside and walk down a flight of stairs. What the heck? Last time I checked, tree trunks didn't open up into doors, and they definitely have never had stairs in them before. I frown slightly before following them.

Once we get to the bottom, Emily flips a light switch so we can see properly. I look around and I take in everything around me. Inside, it basically looks like a normal living room. There's a couch, a TV, some pictures on the wall, etc.

"Where are we?" I asked after I examined the room for a few more minutes.

"This is the safe room. There are only 3 people who can open up the door to get here. Ryder, myself and Chris." Brian explains while pacing around the room. He looks really worried about something and I wonder if he knows who the mystery man is too. It would make sense if he did since he is Ryder's best friend. I look around the room and see that Ryder hasn't come down the stairs yet.

"Where's Ryder?"

"He's probably talking to Chris. We might be here for a while, and someone needs to watch the pack and do some investigation."