The Alpha's Survivor

Chapter 21: Turning Point

His scent was everywhere, most likely from our hide and seek game, but I didn't detect any blood so that was good. I had to try and remain positive.

He's not hurt. For now, at least.

I could hear my wolf growling lowly in the back of my mind, his spirit very present unlike usual. He usually slept while out of control, but sometimes he remained alert in the corner of my mind, watching through my eyes and throwing snide comments at me.

Our wolves are a big part of us, though they almost always stay in wolf form and don't shift like humans. It's somewhat complicated at times, but my wolf is as entitled as I am to be with our mate. It's not fair for me to always be in control.

Maybe he went back to the house.

"No," I said out loud, not caring that I sounded crazy talking to myself. "I can't leave. Not without Adrian." my fists clenched as I finally caught on to an unfamiliar scent.

There was a scrap of cloth laying on the dirty ground, a pungent smell coming off of it and making me scrunch my nose up. It was covered in different scents, one of which was obviously my mate's, the other was nearly unrecognizable.

Sniffing harshly, I detected the smell of something acidic and deadly.

Chloroform,

The scent was all too familiar to me. It was something the hunters had used previously to try and knock out their victims, though it only worked on weaker werewolves or kids.

They had to have known that Adrian was human. Unless it isn't the hunters.

I delicately picked up the fabric, sniffing out the area for any trace of hunters, or even rogues. Right away I could tell that it wasn't either of them. Hunters had a very distinct smell. They were always covered in metal, mostly from their bullets, and more importantly, wolves bane.

It was a human.Maybe someone else who remembered him from the news.

After our encounter with a suspicious human at the mall, I made sure to send some of Clauses men to pay off the local news channel. Adrian had been deemed found and returned back home. The case was closed and the police were quickly called off of the scene, though it took a lot of reasoning and bribery to do. For some reason his father didn't notice and never called the search for his son back on. Though from the way Adrian described his father, it didn't seem like he would even care too much about the absence of his son.

Keeping my mate protected from his past was my main focus. I thought that he would always be safe with me, but somewhere inside of me I knew that it would eventually catch up to him.

I tried to calm my fast paced breathing, though I knew it was useless to even try as I pressed my sweating hands to my face.

It felt like I was backed into a corner as I looked all around me, trying to increase my senses in a blind attempt to scent my mate. Something great about being the Alpha was having control, but in that moment I knew that I had none. The situation was completely out of my hands.

"He's gone." I said, panic audible in my wavering voice. "Oh god, he's gone. I couldn't protect him." my hands shook as I clenched them into a tight fist, pushing away my fear.

Having a melt down in the middle of the woods won't help either of us.

My mind was racing, but I was determined as the rag in my hand reminded me of my missing mate.