Chapter 5

Unknown POV

I stood across the entrance of the old warehouse with my arms crossed as I watched the three pathetic fools, out of the six I hired, slump against the wall.  They looked like they’d been through hell, looking terribly bruised, bleeding, with claw marks down his face. Pathetic indeed. But oh, they did owe me a really good explanation for such failure.

“Explain,” I said, sounding extremely calm. But they knew better.

They looked at each other with fear in their eyes before one of them decided to speak. “We had him, Mother. The kid was cornered. Our nets were ready and our darts were loaded. It should’ve been an easy grab.”

“Should – have – been,” I repeated slowly. “But it obviously wasn’t.” I said with a sly smile on my lips.

He swallowed. “Something happened. Someone showed up.”

I straightened. “Someone?”

“A wolf,” said the one beside him. “ A very big wolf came out of nowhere and took us out like we were nothing.”

My jaw tightened. “And you’re saying one wolf took down all seven of you?”

“He wasn’t just any wolf,” the third man muttered. “He fought like he’d done it a thousand times. He knew exactly where to hit. He must be an Alpha.”

On hearing that, I stepped into the building properly, my heels clicking on the concrete with heightened curiosity.

“Did he see the boy?”

“Yes,” the first guy who spoke, admitted.“He saw him.”

“Did he speak to him?”

They exchanged nervous glances.

“Mother, we don’t know. We were the only survivors of the seven of us who went on this hunt. We managed to run off to save our lives.”

My jaw tightened in anger as I clenched my fists. What the fuck was I hearing? Did I pay these fools for their lives to be spared or for a job to be completed?

“You…you’re joking right?” I had to ask because what exactly did they mean by “they managed to escape to save their lives”?

But on seeing them exchange nervous glances again, unable to look at me, I just knew I was a fool in the first place to trust these pathetic lots with such an assignment.

For a moment, I didn’t move. Then I crossed the distance between us in three strides, grabbed him by the collar, and slammed the head of the leading speaker, the one who had the audacity to utter such rubbish, against the wall. The others shivered in reaction while he groaned in pains.

“You lost them?” My voice was soft, but very threatening.

“We didn’t have a choice—” His voice was breaking now

“You had one job.” I leaned in closer, eyes locked on each of theirs. “One simple job! Find the boy, contain him, and bring him to me. And you couldn’t even do that.”

“He was too strong—” It was another who dared speak this time

“I don’t care!” I snapped, shoving him harder against the wall. “You should’ve been ready. You should’ve tracked them. You should’ve found them.”

“We’re sorry—”

“Sorry doesn’t help me,” I cut him off and then stepped back. I smoothed my dress like nothing happened. “Sorry doesn’t fix failure.”

They stayed quiet, too afraid to breathe.

I exhaled, forcing the anger down. Losing control wouldn’t help. I needed to think.

“What else did you notice about the wolf that saved the child asides that he’s an alpha?” I asked calmly, looking at them. They looked at each other again, wondering who would respond this time.

“I know I was a fool for hiring such incompetence. But please don’t worsen it by telling me you’re deaf too.” I growled, my eyes literally turning red from anger.

“He is quite big. He has huge claws and nice black fur. And very very skilled.” It was the other guy who had been silent all along that spoke this time.

I knew who he was. But I was shocked he got involved. Now he had made himself my problem. And I was very good at getting rid of problems.

“The woman,” I said after a pause. “Tell me about her.”

“We found her earlier in the city,” the boldest among them said. . “She fought back. Took two of us down before we stabbed her with silver. We left her bleeding out in the woods.”

“She’s still alive?”

“We’re not sure.”

I stopped pacing. “ What do you mean you’re not….arrgh!” I literally had to scream. These fools were driving me nuts.

They didn’t say a word after. They just remained fixed in their position, looking down.

“Get out,” I said quietly after a while. They hesitated initially as they probably looked at each other to confirm if they were the ones I was referring to. And I wondered how dumb they were as we were the only ones here.

I looked up. “Did you not hear me?”

That was all it took. They scrambled for the door, limping and stumbling over each other.

“Wait.” I suddenly called and they froze again.

I turned slowly. “Find them. I don’t care how long it takes or how far they’ve gone. Check every hospital, every backstreet clinic, every healer who’s taken in an injured woman in the last twenty-four hours. And this time—” I let the silence drag, “—don’t fail me.”

“Yes, Mother” they said in unison.

“And if you see that wolf again,” I added, my tone lower now, “don’t fight him. Don’t even talk to him. Just watch. Follow. And report straight to me.”

“Yes, Mother,” they said almost in unison again.

I sighed as I looked at them. “Now, get out!” and immediately, they walked away, probably grateful to be out of my terrifying presence.

The door slammed shut, and silence filled the warehouse again. I stood there for a moment, then rubbed my temples. This was spiraling faster than I expected. I had been so close. So close to finally getting what I’d spent years planning for. I just couldn’t lose that boy. I had sacrificed too much for that to happen. So I pulled out my phone and typed a message to my most trusted contact.

“Hey, there’s a bit of a complication. The boy has a protector. I need eyes on every possible location. Be it the hospitals, clinics, or anywhere someone might take an injured wolf. Find them!”