Running from Fate

Chapter 26 - Finally Something

Matias POV

Pacing the length of my office, I waited for my parents and sister. After almost a month of dead ends, we finally had something. Something that could either be another dead end, or something that could lead me to my mate.

There was an attack about two days ago on a private research facility. So private that the public didn't even know it existed. It was apparently a small facility located in the middle of a very large forest, with no roads or anything leading to it. Only a small path that a car could maybe get through. It had only been found when some workers had gone back after their vacation, only to find everyone slaughtered, and blood coating the walls. It was an animal attack, and the workers had reported it, along with everything that had gone down in that facility. They were apparently so mortified and scared, they'd confessed to the crimes that had been committed, and they were arrested on the spot. The facility had been operating for only a few years, and in those short years, they'd conducted research on a little under 200 wolves. Mostly rogues, but just recently they'd started targeting certain people. They were messing with the wolf counterpart of a shifter, changing the wolf into something else, trying to breed a creature that could do their dirty work, could wipe out packs, and be rented out like a slave. It would have brought in lots of money for them, except it hadn't worked yet. All the test subjects had apparently died before the process could be complete, but that still wasn't a good enough reason for these people to stop.

I prayed that Daemon wasn't there. I prayed and begged to anything, anyone out there that that wasn't where my mate had been taken. That he wasn't dead in a test lab right now, wondering why I hadn't saved him.

I stopped pacing as the door opened, and my family walked in. Father held the rear, closing the door behind him, before turning and meeting my gaze. We exchanged a nod before I turned on my heel and went back to stand behind my desk. I stared at the open computer as my sister and mom sat in the two chairs across from me, my dad placing a hand on the back of each chair and leaning forward. I sighed, bracing my arms on the desk before looking up again. Sam was glaring at my desk, hands folded in front of her mouth. My mom was fidgeting her thumbs together in her lap, glancing up at my father.

"We've all heard the news about that facility," I started, watching as the expressions on my family's faces changed. Anger, disappointment, pity.

"I want to go out and examine it, along with a few other Alpha's who had pack members go missing. We have reason to believe that...that our missing members could have ended up there." My voice was thick by the end of the sentence, upset at even the thought of my mate being in their hands.

"The other Alpha's will be here in a day, some even arriving tonight. We're leaving as soon as possible to go investigate," I started, looking back down at my computer.

"Patrols will be upped, anyone who can help out will be helping out while I'm gone. We'll try and keep it short and get back to our packs as soon as possible." And hopefully, with my mate, I didn't need to add. I looked back up, meeting the gaze of my father once again, he nodded, and I looked to my mother, who gave me a sympathetic smile and a nod. I turned my attention to my little sister, who was glaring at her hands, folded together on top of her knee. She finally looked up, nodding firmly. I let loose a sigh, my shoulders slumping slightly as I glanced back down at my computer, an email open and ready to be sent to the other Alphas that would be joining me. I moved my hand, sending the email, before closing my computer.

"Everything will be alright, he'll come back." My mother whispered, her hand slowly covering mine. I nodded, fighting back the tears that built behind my eyes at her words. I knew he would come back, I knew he was still out there somewhere, but I couldn't help it.

I'd lost him once, and now I had lost him again. I couldn't lose him for good, it would kill me. It would kill Jamie too, who had finally made a friend with someone, even if it wasn't a kid his age.

Jamie had been devasted, rightly so, when he'd been ripped from Daemon's arms. He'd cried the entire day, before passing out from exhaustion. And when Daemon wasn't there the next morning? He cried again. I didn't blame him. I'd consoled him as much as I could, carrying him around, laying down with him, whispering soothing words into his ears as his whimpers got louder. Seeing him cry only broke my heart more because in the short time I had known the little boy he'd wrapped himself around my finger.

Looking back up to my mom, I nodded, and she gave me another small smile. Mom and Sam finally stood, and Sam gave me another determined nod before my family left my office. As the door closed behind my father, I finally slumped back into my chair. My head rolled back and I closed my eyes, loudly sighing. I sat like that for a few minutes, just trying to relax even the tiniest bit, before my computer dinged.

I sat back up, leaning forward to check it. An email had come through from one of the Alpha's that would be arriving this evening. His first statement was that he was on his way. His second one though was news about this facility. He claimed to have sent a few of his warriors ahead to scout the area, to check for dangers and possibly whatever animal had mauled the entire research facility's inhabitants.

His warriors had found something. They had come across a rather large, black wolf who was just wandering the forest. They had reported back to their Alpha that the creature looked confused, almost scared even. The only thing they knew was that it was a werewolf. The Alpha had told them to not interact, but to keep an eye on the creature. The strangest thing they had reported though, was that the wolf didn't have normal colored eyes; one was a scarily icy blue, while the other was a vibrant purple.

I replied to the email, confirming that he was arriving and saying that we would talk about this new wolf when he arrived. I sent the email, then closed my computer. I leaned forward on my elbows, which rested on the desk, and folded my hands together in front of my face. I tried not to think about the wolf, but I couldn't help it. Mis-matched eyes? Not only that, but one of them was an unnatural color, which made it even stranger. The only reasonable explanation for this was that this wolf was one of the facility's test subjects.

And I could only rest my head in my hands, praying that my mate wasn't that wolf. Yet at the same time, if it was him, I would at least know he is alive.

Hey guys! I've been meaning to talk about this for a while but didn't because I'm lazy sooooo... (Nothing bad, promise)

I kind of want to change the cover for this story, but Don't really know what to do. I might draw it myself at some point, but like previously stated, I'm lazy.

So just putting it out there, if you even want to make a cover, or even fanart if you have that much time on your hands, feel free to message it to me through here, or on my timeline thingy. :)

Thank you so much, love you all, and thanks a billion times over for supporting my story so far! Y'all's comments always make me smile, even when I can't tell if you're yelling at me or the characters. XD

Last time, Thank you so much!