Trapped by fate

Chapter 7

I started to come to my senses. All I could see was darkness and it took me a few minutes to realize what was happening, where I was and what had happened. I felt the side of my head with a heavy hand. I felt a small hole where scabs of dried blood were already slowly forming. I thought about yesterday and after a few strange thoughts, I started laughing hysterically. It didn't sound like me. The strange sound was saturated with despair and death. When I had, at least partially, calmed down I thought back to the last incident. So... I know very well that there are NO mythical creatures. I just went crazy, which, given the circumstances, is probably not a big deal. I breathed shallowly and sank back into the darkness.

Dylan! Dylan!!!! I've heard it from afar. It was my Beta Luke. He came running up to me as I was relaxing on a deck chair, and in mid-jump he changed from wolf to human. He was scared like I'd never seen him before. I sat up abruptly, "What's wrong?" my voice went up an octave. I was confused as to what was going on. "I was in the woods." He described to me in detail what had happened. That he smelled the scent of the girl that was left in my office that day from Derek. I jumped to my feet. "So what are we waiting for, we need to go back and find her fast!" I ordered in a stern voice with a hint of concern. I had no idea what made the smell so fascinating, but I had to find out. Unfortunately, Luke also told me that he had lost her scent through the flood of Derek and Denro's blood. Dener was Derek's Beta. He was the same bastard as his Alpha. I began to shift back and forth thoughtfully. Then it hit me. "We need to get to town. It's a blind shot, but she might have some relatives there who might have a similar scent." I blurted out my idea without thinking and looked at Luke. He thought for a moment, then nodded vigorously. In a few moments we were in the car and heading to a town several dozen kilometers away. I tapped my foot impatiently, alternately looking out the window and at the road. The drive was long, quiet and full of suspense. When we arrived in town, we parked in the town square. Another car pulled up beside us and my hitchhikers got out. We said everything with a single glance and split up in different directions to cover as much ground as possible. We searched all afternoon. The city was large with a large population, which certainly didn't make our task any easier. When night fell, I called everyone back to the cars and decided we would continue tomorrow. I would prefer to spend the whole night there and keep looking. If I wanted to, they would all obey me of course, but I also wanted them to rest so that they could give their best performance tomorrow. The journey home was endless. I don't know how much time I spent leaning on my hands under the hot shower. I was completely lost in thought. Why are we so drawn to this girl? What's with the smell of her, and what on earth did they do to her? Khole was as confused as I was. I wasn't sure if Derek did this to her. Or if it was one of his toys. I always knew he was a bastard, but I never dreamed he would do something like this. I thought the girls were there by choice, and he was being inhumane to them, but this... I spit out the water and went to bed. I couldn't find a suitable position for a long time, and finally fell into a dreamless sleep at dawn. Early the next morning, I was awakened by a knock at the door. I sucked in air and determined that it was Esther. I quickly jumped up and ran to answer it. "Here's your breakfast, the rest is waiting for you downstairs." She held a plate of homemade strudel in her hand and smiled at me with caring eyes. I scooped up the strudel on the run, dressed in a flash, and ran down the stairs to the hall. I greeted everyone with a nod of my head and quickly got into my car. This time the trip was much shorter. We parked at the water park to avoid the same trails we hadn't found anything on the previous day. Accompanied by my Beta, we turned into a picturesque alley. The houses here were smaller but looked cozy. The lawns were perfectly manicured and the mailboxes played with all the colors. We both suddenly stopped in front of a house. There was a faintly familiar smell. We glanced at each other briefly and headed for the front door. I took a deep breath and rang the bell. For a long time the house was silent, until at last we heard footsteps approaching the door. A woman of shorter stature answered the door. She was a blonde with azure eyes. She looked haggard and confused. "Yes?" She said in a weak voice, "What do you want?" Luke and I exchanged important glances. Neither of us knew how to start a conversation. "Does anyone else live here besides you?" I asked in a kind voice. I didn't want to pressure her or seem strange in case we were mistaken. "Just me and my husband, who are you?" her face looked confused and uncertain. I looked behind her and saw, presumably, her husband approaching. He was a man with long, unkempt hair, who was lightly built and also looked haggard. But I saw something else. There were various photographs of the two of them and a little girl hanging on the wall. "What is it?" the husband asked in an uncertain but gruff and dismissive voice. "Who is the girl in the photos?" I asked gruffly. It was clear to me that she was hiding something. The couple exchanged frightened glances. "No one." The woman snapped, and started to close the door. Luke put his foot between the door and the door frame so she wouldn't have time to close the door and pushed his way in. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" The man snapped at us as the woman backed up behind him in fear. "Who is the young girl in the pictures!" I growled at them rudely and angrily. Even though it scared them, there was something in their eyes besides fear when they looked at each other that I interpreted as understanding. I raised one eyebrow and looked at them questioningly. "So?" I said impatiently and rather loudly. The man sighed and motioned us towards the living room with a worried expression. Sitting down on the sofa, I took in the smells. I smelled one more besides the sweet one that was faintly there. I turned to look at Luke, judging by his bared teeth I could smell the same odor. I growled menacingly as the couple pressed closer together. "How do you know him!" I snapped aggressively. "Who are you talking about?" Spat the frightened woman, her eyes rolled back in her head. "That's enough!" I stammered, and was on my feet in that instant. I could feel Khole wanting to get out, but I controlled myself. "Where is the girl, and why is that bastard Derek's stench in here!" The man gulped blankly, his eyes darting between me and my Beta. "How do you know about that?" He was obviously trying to speak calmly, but his voice was breaking like a scared wolf. There was a sepulchral silence in the house. I felt like tearing them apart on the spot. Luke sounded angry and looked like he was going to lash out at them at any moment. I held up my hand in a sign to restrain myself. I sat back down and motioned with my hand for them to start explaining. They exchanged glances and the man fidgeted nervously. It was a good thing I had wolf hearing, or I might not have heard his whisper. "Three years ago, I hit a woman on the road as I was driving home from work. She was dead at the scene. Her whole body was covered in blood. It was a young girl who looked emaciated and after a while the man appeared. He came out of the woods looking furious. He was talking about how we took his toy and now he wanted a life for a life. He was strange. He was talking nonsense. We didn't know how he found out, but he said he was going to marry our daughter. We started screaming at him that we didn't have one. But he insisted. We argued with him that she was our only child and that we would never give her to him..." He paused and I waited patiently. "He picked me up by the neck in the air." The woman broke the silence after a moment. "He was incredibly strong, and then a giant wolf appeared behind him and turned into a man. We thought we were crazy, but there was no denying that there were two werewolves standing in front of us." She looked at us obliquely and lowered her head back to the floor. "Just like the other two sitting in front of us right now. It was horrible. He started threatening to tear it apart in front of us if we didn't give it to him." the woman wept sedately and hid her face in her hands as the man patted her back and shed a few tears himself. I didn't know whether to feel pity or indescribable anger. "So you agreed, and gave her to someone who has been inhumanely torturing her for three years and letting her slowly die?" Khole was already talking out of me. It was more of a growl than words. "You are the most disgusting parents I have ever met in my life. It was a poor child!" I couldn't control Khol and he turned. I broke a coffee table and knocked over a chair in the process. Both parents ran violently to a corner where I could conveniently attack and kill them. I felt a hand on my back. Luke stood next to me, his face a look of sheer terror. He'd never seen me so furious, but he knew I wasn't. That I wasn't a cold-blooded killer. I took a deep breath and changed back. Both my parents were crying and begging me to let them live. They said they hoped to see their daughter again. "If she's not already tortured to death." I said dryly. "Where did he take her?" I stared authoritatively into their eyes, but I could see from their faces that they knew nothing at all. I growled one last time and headed out of the house with Luke, leaving them terrified and crying hysterically. All the way back to the car, while Luke was calling the hitchhikers, I spouted one insult after another in a fit of rage. When we met up at the cars, I ordered us to drive back to where Luke had encountered Derek. We pulled off the road in the middle of the woods and parked on the shoulder. We got out. I looked around and took a deep breath. I searched for her scent. I turned to face the men "Spread out in the woods and look. If you find her, let me and Luke know immediately." As soon as I finished saying that, I was looking into the eyes of the wolves that had begun to quietly enter the forest. The search didn't take long, but it was fundamentally hindered by the smell of Derek's and Dener's blood. Alpha, I think we found her. I heard the voice of one of the trackers in my head. I headed in his direction, which led me into the cave. Before I entered, I heard a woman scream and a faint thud. I rushed forward as fast as I could. I was definitely not prepared for what I saw before me. Across from my tracker, who, like the rest of us, was still in wolf form, stood a small, frightened, malnourished girl covered in blood. I couldn't move. I looked at her, not knowing how to act. I had never experienced such feelings before. I had a mixture of rage, fear and incredible lust. I knew she was scared to death. Give up now and change! I ordered everyone to use wolf communication. As we transformed back into human forms, the girl dropped the powerful stick she had used to hit my tracker in fright. As she looked at us, her knees suddenly buckled and she fell to the ground. I didn't have time to catch her, but luckily Luke was closer than I was. Even though he kept her from falling, I growled at him. I should have been grateful to him, but instead I resented his touching her. He set her down on the ground and we all watched for a moment. "She's human." Luke uttered softly as I bent down to pick her up and carry her to the car.