The Phantom Wolf

Chapter 34 (When Pearl Ran Away)

*When Leah stormed out of the house after her argument with Pearl*

"That's right! You not being here would be a blessing! You're always in the way, interrupting us and asking stupid questions about our new job! Which is stressful enough as it is! You make this whole thing ten times worse! If you disappeared we'd be a hell of a lot happier!" Leah screamed at the closed door, then took off down the stairs and stormed out of the house, with Seth on her heels.

Once in the tree line, Leah stopped holding back and allowed herself to shift into her wolf. Seth quickly stripped and shifted as well, in order to calm Leah down.

'Leah, you need to calm down. You shouldn't have said that to her.' Seth whined.

'Shut up Seth! The world doesn't revolve around Pearl! The sooner she figures that out, the better! She needs to understand that there are bigger things we need to worry about! Her and her feelings don't even come close to the top of our priority list!' Leah growled.

'But she doesn't know about the bigger things! So how could we expect her to understand? Maybe if we told her what was going on, then she'd-' Seth tried to argue.

'No Seth! She can't know! She needs to be as far away from this as possible! It would be better if she did leave. At least then, we wouldn't need to worry about protecting her from all of the leeches around here!' Leah shouted.

'You don't mean that. She's our sister. And even if she can't be involved in all this, then she should still have our protection no matter what the rules say.' Said Seth, referring to the councils rules about only interfering for humans when the supernatural is involved.

Leah went quiet at Seth's words. Too angry to really think it over, but too hurt by the truth to just dismiss it.

The two siblings ran side by side as they joined a patrol route. Needing to burn off steam and get time to think, the two wolves ran an extra patrol that night. In the early hours of the morning, they returned home, much too tired to do anything else other than sleep.

Sue Clearwater was working a night shift that day. When she returned to the house in the morning, she was greeted by Leah and Seth, sleeping on the couch. The family of three slept that day, totally unaware of their missing member, who had vacated the house, the night before.

The next morning (24 hours later), the three of them leave the house early. Leah and Seth, heading to the pack house. Sue heading to a meeting, with the rest of the council members. When Seth gets home, later that night, he knocks on Pearl's door, intending to speak with her.

"Pearl? I get it if your still mad but, could I come in? I wanna speak to you." Seth called out in front of Pearl's closed bedroom door after knocking.

Getting no response or acknowledgment, Seth decided to leave her be. Hoping that she would talk to him when she was ready.

"Okay. I guess, I'll come back later..." Seth quietly spoke to Pearl's door, which unknowingly to him was empty.

The next night (48 hours later), Sue cooks dinner for her wolf children and the three of them sit down to eat. Sue and Leah were making small talk, neither mentioned Pearl at all. Seth eventually interrupts the two.

"I'm worried about Pearl." Seth says, voice filled with concern.

Leah is quick to dismiss her little brother, "She will get over it. And let's be honest, if she's still sulking about what I said then, she is really acting like a baby."

"What's happened with Pearl?" Sue asks, with slight concern for her youngest daughter.

"Nothing mum. She was asking questions again, so I had to tell her to back off." Leah responded instantly.

"... Yeah. And then you told her to get lost." Seth mumbled, unhappily.

"She asked for it Seth. She has no place in the world of the supernatural." Leah argued.

"Yeah. But-" Seth was cut off.

"End of discussion" Leah stated.

"Actually, speaking of Pearl and the supernatural. I've been looking into sending Pearl to a boarding school in a neighbouring state. This area, just isn't safe for someone like her. And I know the two of you have been under a lot of stress, trying to hide all of this from her." Sue finishes.

"Sending her away sounds like a good idea. It would be the best way to protect her." Leah said.

Seth has a downcast expression but doesn't comment, and stays silent. The three of them continue eating their dinner.

Two days later (96 hours after the argument), Billy Black knocks on the door of the Clearwater household. When Sue answers the door Billy asks her.

"Hey Sue. Is something wrong with Pearl? Jacob mentioned that he hasn't seen her at school for a while."

"She's not at school?" Sue questions, surprised.

Billy shakes his head.

"Wait here. Let me go check her room." Walking up the stairs, Sue enters Pearl's room. Not seeing her daughter, she returns downstairs to Billy and says, "She must be skipping school and staying at a friends house." (Because Pearl took very few of her belongings, it would be hard to notice that anything is missing, especially if the person searching doesn't know about the more important and preferred items that Pearl owns.)

Billy leaves the Clearwater residence and heads to the Swan residence, instead of heading home. Billy has known Pearl her whole life. And he knows just as well as Harry did, that Pearl rarely socialises with the kids that attend her school. Any people she talks to in that establishment, are people she already knows. Mostly kids that she has met through Harry, such as Jacob.

When Billy arrives at the Swan residence, he voices his concern to Charlie, who agrees with his speculation.

"I'll put the word out, that I need to talk to her. She'll be here in the next 24 hours." Charlie tells his friend.

"That should work. We both know that if she thinks she's in trouble with you, she'll come right over, to find out why." Says Billy.

Charlie nods and invites his friend in to watch TV and get their minds off of the girl.

The next day (120 hours since the argument), there is still no sign of Pearl. No one has heard from her. No one has seen her. Billy Black and Charlie Swan declare Pearl Clearwater as a missing person after everyone from the reservation claim that they haven't seen her for days.

Once the Clearwater family finds out about the posters, they all start to worry. Seth spent the next few weeks on constant patrols, looking for his sister. Often being joined by Jacob, who was also worried for the girl. Leah kept her feelings to herself, she was concerned, but deep down, she was a little relieved. Thinking that Pearl had left to find a better life, a life that is out of reach for her. The one that she wishes that she could have. Sue was worried about her youngest daughter, and made up her mind about sending her away in order to protect her.

When Pearl is found, she will be sent to a boarding school designed for troubled kids. That school, is located in Oregon.