I wait a few seconds before Scarlett arrives at the border. Her eyes widen once they set on me, but her surprise quickly fades away, and a smile takes up her face.
"It seems you wandered into the wrong path, my Queen," Scarlett says with a smirk on her face. She knows very well that I didn't make a mistake coming here, but she wants to insult me.
"I'm in the right place, Scarlett. Are you going to make your Queen stand here all day?" I taunt back at her.
"It's Alpha Scarlett, not just Scarlett."
"No, it's not. Because, as you said, I'm your Queen," I say with a smirk, knowing I've won.
"Right this way, my Queen," Scarlett says, scrunching up her nose. This makes me smile more. She leads the way to the pack house, and I follow.
"I hope I can trust you won't tell Nate I'm here," I say.
"Of course, the King won't hear a word of your presence here."
"Good"
It's been a few days since Scarlett let me stay. She didn't inform the King I was here as she said. She hates me and wants to get rid of me. What better way than to help me? She also made sure the warrior I spoke to never reveals I'm the King's mate. We don't want word to spread that I'm here, so he won't come dragging me back to his territory.
I made sure to call Chloe to let her know I'm safe, but I didn't tell her where I am. I've been keeping in touch with her and Ana. I know it's risky, but I didn't want her and Ana to worry too much about me. While scrolling through social media on my phone, I hear a knock at my door. It's Scarlett.
"Hello."
"How are you doing today? I hope you're enjoying your stay here?" she asks, her voice clearly in genuine. I know very well she doesn't care.
"I'm fine, thank you for asking. I am actually enjoying my stay here," I say, which is the truth. Scarlett might hate me, but she knows how to host a guest.
"Don't get too comfortable."
"No worries there. Is there something you need from me?" I ask, wondering why she's here.
"I'm here to give you some good news."
"Good news?" I ask, shocked to hear her say that.
"Yes, good news, the Alpha King has asked every pack to look for your mother around their lands, and we have—"
"What did you say?" I cut her off, not believing Nate would ask everyone to search for my mother.
"I said the Alpha King asked every pack to look for your mother around their land and—"
"Are you sure?" I cut her off again.
"Am I sure about what?" she asks, irritated.
"I'm asking you if you're sure the Alpha King asked you to look for my mother?"
"Yes, I'm sure. May I continue?"
"I'm surprised is all. Yes, you can continue." I can't believe Nate did that for me. All this while, I've been angry he didn't allow me to look for her when he'd already ordered every pack to search for her. Why didn't he tell me? Maybe I won't have run away twice.
"I don't know what he sees in you to have every pack looking for your mother, but that's that. As I was saying, a few of my trackers say a human saw her in a city not too far away from here."
"Really, did they find her?" I ask, hopeful.
"They didn't see her personally, but the human claims to have seen her around the town."
"That's still good news. I would like to go there as soon as possible."
"I'll have a car and money ready for you in an hour."
"I can see you can't wait for me to leave, but anyway, thank you." I know she didn't like me staying here.
"I like how we have a good understanding. One hour," she says with a fake smile and leaves.
I don't have a lot of stuff. The clothes I have were given to me by Scarlett, and they're not much. Once I'm done packing my bags I walk outside the packhouse.
"This is the name of the city, and once you get there, go to this address. The trackers are staying there, and they will help you settle in," Scarlett says while sending all the information to my phone. She also wires enough money to last me until I get there. Finally, she hands me the car keys.
"Thank you," I say, walking to the car trunk to put away my bag.
"You're welcome. I hope I never see you again."
"Same here," I say, closing the trunk.
***
I drive for an hour before reaching the cabin. It's a good distance from the city. It took me forty minutes from Scarlett's land to get to the town. I'm guessing it's because the cabin is close to the woods. With the help of Google Maps, I found the city with ease and where the trackers are staying. I walk out of the car after parking it properly.
"Good day, Luna," a voice says behind me, causing me to bump my head on the trunk. "Sorry, Luna, I didn't mean to scare you," he says, rushing to my aid.
"It's fine, hi," I say, rubbing my head and giving him a friendly smile. If he's calling me Luna, he must know I'm the King's mate. I'm guessing when he asked every pack to look for my Mom they must've figured out it's his mate's mother they were looking for.
"I'm Lucas; I'm one of the trackers," he says and offers to carry my bag.
"Thank you," I say, giving him my bag. "My name is Elizabeth, but you can call me Liz."
"Luna Elizabeth," he says and starts walking toward the house.
"Just Elizabeth, no Luna," I tell him, walking into the house.
The place is beautiful with a modern cabin interior.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that," he says, walking up the stairs.
"Why?"
"You're the Alpha King's mate?"
"Yes, I am."
"Then you must understand why I can't call you by your first name," he says, stopping at the last door by the right.
"Yes, of course, I do." I don't know why I bother and try to make people call me by my first name anymore. I'm no longer the same Liz as before my eighteenth birthday.
From now on in my life, I'll always be known as the King's mate and Luna of the werewolf kingdom. That's a big responsibility. I don't know if I want it or not. My mate certainly doesn't want me to have it. To top it off, that same mate doesn't like me, but he also won't reject me. I'm starting to wonder if turning eighteen was the milestone to horrible life.
***
It's been a week since I arrived at the city. This is where a human is rumored to have seen my Mom but so far nothing. I've asked every living soul in the city and searched the whole woods—and nothing. With each passing day I pray for her safety, and that by the time I find her, it won't be too late.
We're having dinner after a long day of searching. Lucas isn't the only tracker helping. I'm staying in the cabin with two others. Their names are Noah and Oliver. They're both older than Lucas and me and also mated. Lucas is two years older than me, but he's yet to find his mate.
"Why have we never searched here before?" I ask, pointing to an area of the city on the map. There's a part of the city completely unsearched and I wonder why.
"It's not safe," Noah says.
"What makes it unsafe?"
"Vampires are known to live there," Oliver says.
"Oh," I say, understanding why we've avoided there.
"That was actually where the human said he saw your Mom," Lucas says, and I feel the blood leave my body.
"What?" I can't believe they saw Mom walking into vampire territory. And why are they just telling me this now? My experience with a vampire is enough to tell me that walking into their territory is walking to your death.
"We think he saw wrong because there's no way your Mom or any other wolf would willingly walk into vampire land."
"You're right. She'd never walk into vampire territory," I say, and I hope I'm right
***
After dinner, I can't stop thinking about what Lucas said. Was the human right? Did Mom go into vampire territory? It's possible her kidnappers forced her to walk in on her own without them holding her.
I wish there was a way I could go in and look. Maybe I could mask my scent, and that way, the vampires won't smell my werewolf and think I'm human. I know they have humans in there because I see them walking in every day. I can put on makeup to look pale and almost dead, like a vampire. I'll go into the city tomorrow and buy supplies. I hope I won't regret this and get myself killed.