When I Find You (Completed) (Not Edited)

Chapter 7

The morning and afternoon of the next day passed at a grueling pace. Adriane had packed her bag when she had gotten back from the mall yesterday. Then she had packed it again to try to waste some time. She was going to take off to find Amber with the leads she had been told about the attack. But she needed to know why her uncle had hidden the information first. He was due to come back within the next couple of hours. She paced her room as she counted the money she had collected over the past couple years. Her budget was $1,000 and creating a budget in her head quickly, she realized how much spending she'd cut if she just traveled by wolf form. She unzipped her gym bag, which was packed to full capacity, and slipped the wad of dollar bills into a zipper pocket that lined the inside.

Zipping the pocket back up, and then the bag itself, Adriane decided to take a run. Making her way down the stairs, she turned right into the living. From there, she headed straight to the back to the sliding doors that lead to the back patio. She stripped naked in the patio and then opened the screen door. She leaped from the top stair, shifted in mid air, and landed on all fours before taking off. The feeling of being in wolf form was welcoming for Adriane as she darted into the woods. After gaining a bit of distance from the pack house, Adriane slowed to a stop next to a stream. Here, the sun was partly obstructed by the canopy of leaves above. They swayed this way and that as the light breeze made them dance. There were a couple large boulders covered in lichen and Adriane jumped onto one and laid down. Her ears flicked to a fro as they listened to the crickets sing. The creek she laid next to bubbled and every once and a while, flickered with silver as a fish passed along. Adriane stared as the aqua colored water, her thoughts drifting off to space.

[Alpha reported to border control. He should be reaching the territory soon.] Adriane snapped back to reality as she listened in.

[It's about time he finally came back. The pack was starting to get suspicious. He really needs to tell them about what happened. You can't exactly hide a two day absence to go search for your daughter easily.] Adriane was up, sprinting back to the house. She had to question him, demand her answers up front and right away.

Breaking the tree line, she phased back into her human form, her stride not faltering through the change. Throwing open the back patio door, she slipped on her undergarments before shimming into  her dress. She hardly wore shoes, and didn't have to worry about them. 

Trekking through the house, she waited impatiently by the front door. She paced back and forth, her arms glued to her side as her fists clenched and unclenched. She stopped when she heard a car pull up. Narrowing her eyes, Adriane focused solely on the door in front of her. She could here two footsteps and a conversation going back and forth. The door opened. Alpha John dropped what he was about to say to Jensen, who he was walking with. He dismissed Jensen without breaking eye contact with Adriane.

"You know," was all he said when Jensen had cleared the house. Adriane met her uncle's tone with a sneer.

"Yeah. I know. Care to explain to me why you hid the information from me?" She asked, her tone dropping pitch as her anger grew. Seeing the man who hid knowledge of Amber and acted so calm angered Adriane to no end.

"In my office," Alpha John said, beckoning her down a hallway as he walked around her. She didn't move, her eyes widening. Adriane looked at the space where her uncle once was. He gave in that easily? She shook her head and whirled around to follow him.

When she got to the office, she already found him behind his desk, staring out the window that covered the wall, floor to ceiling. She closed the door behind her, then crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well?" She asked him. He didn't respond. Continuing to stare out the window, Adriane considered whether or not to ask again.

"I didn't tell you, because I knew you would act irrationally.You would rush off to Chicago without a second thought. Where would you have started? Not to mention the pack would know something happened, with you rushing off to another state." He spoke calmly, not bothering to look away from the window. Adriane huffed as she jerked her head to look away from her uncle's back.

"And why hasn't the pack been told?" She gritted out. Adriane felt it was the wrong move to not tell the pack about the ambush that killed an entire search party. Alpha John sighed, running his hand through his graying brown hair.

"I didn't intend to keep it from them this long. I just wanted it to be withheld from them for a couple days. Some are still worked up about the attack 3 weeks ago. You can't blame me for wanting to withhold the information from them just a bit longer."

"Is it just the families that suffered that know? How could you let part of your pack suffer alone with no one outside their family to help them grieve? They need friends to also help! No wonder Martha is acting out! She has no one outside her family to help her release the grief!" Alpha John whipped around, his eyes narrowed as he took in his niece.

"You have no room to tell me how to run my pack. I have decided this is what is best for the pack. This is my pack, Adriane. Not your's. You would do best to remember who is in charge here." Adriane scoffed, still looking off to the side. She turned back to her uncle, suddenly she found him in front of her. His eyes glowed an icy blue. Adriane stared, knowing she should be afraid now that her Alpha's wolf was showing. Yet, she wasn't. She knew that nothing bad was going to happen.

"Watch your tone with me, girl. I just had an unsuccessful search for my stolen daughter. Now I have you trying to tell me how to run my own pack. Now get out." His voice boomed. Adriane turned on her heels, opened the door, and left without a sound. She ascended the stairs and went straight to her room. She grabbed her bag, double checking that she had everything. Money. Underwear and bra. Shorts/pants. Shirts. Dress. Heels/shoes. Everything was there. She sighed before zipping the bag back up and enclosing the two straps with a velcro covering. 

Grabbing her bag roughly, she once again made her way through the house to the back patio. She was leaving, and there was no way she would return until she found Amber. This time she didn't bother to remove her clothing before she shifted outside, bag in mouth. She took off for the border, surprised no one had met her along the way to question where she was going, nor insisting she had to stay within pack territory. As she passed the border, she couldn't help the chill that rose goosebumps on her skin. She got the feeling as if she had just gone rogue. Yet, she shook her mind clear of the thought. The only thing she could bother to think about on her way from good old Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Chicago, was the promises she silently made to Amber along the way.

I promise there will be hell to pay.

I promise I won't let you get hurt again.

I promise I will take you away.

If I find you.

No, when I find you.

~~~~~~~

And things take a circle back to the title! Finally! She leaves pack grounds in search of Amber!

School's going to be starting up soon again (oh my god summer flew by!) and I don't know how that will change my uploads.

So... Question of the Chapter: What do we think will go down in Chicago?

Image of  Point Beach State Park in Manitowoc :) A.k.a. the beach they played volleyball at in the first chapter. I've never personally been to Manitowoc, but I thought it would be a good place to start up the story at! Of course they don't live in Manitowoc, but they live close by. Manitowoc just serves as a visual marker as to where things are taking place.