CHAPTER 22

~~~ AIDEN ~~~

"You just met him last night. What made you hate him? I'm sure it just wasn't a ruined date," I stated, unable to find a reason strong enough to justify her leaving my brother last night. There must have been more to it than she was letting me know.

"You're right. It's just more than a ruined date,” she muttered.

Her voice was low and whispery. I didn't know why, but a part of me liked it; I even found it strangely fascinating. I wanted to hear her talk more. I wanted to know more. It was a miracle that she had picked up my call and was talking to me in the first place.

I was hoping I could talk her into coming back and meeting my brother again. Damian would appreciate that, and beyond that, I was strangely curious while talking to her. I wanted to meet her, too.

"Then what is it about?" I asked, hoping there could be some way I could convince her to come back.

"Oh, it's more than that," she muttered, her voice taking a darker inflection, "It's old and personal," she added. I didn't miss the hint of vengeance in her voice; oddly, it made my wolf stir. It bewildered me, but I had a feeling that she was up to no good.

This wasn't solid evidence yet, but it pointed more to my theory that she had something to do with Alex. I had to figure that out. I was about to ask her more, but the call disconnected.

I tried calling her back, but the call wouldn't go through. The more I looked into this case, the more suspicious things seemed. I was starting to have some hope that maybe we'd figure something out.

Just in time, I noticed another email from the cyber team. They seemed to have done some digging on the phone number. The first thing I noticed when I opened the email was the location.

I was surprised to find that because I hadn't been expecting that. I was sure she was using some blocker that didn't let my call go through the second time, but somehow, the cyber team had managed to get the location of the call.

I acted immediately, getting up and going straight to Damian. He was busy talking to one of our solicitors about the frozen offshore bank account, but he was ready to go with me as soon as I told him about the location.

I didn't waste any time. I called Rory and informed Jules before setting out to the location. It happened to be somewhere near the port—a private property in the woods. I drove nonetheless, not caring about the speed limit.

We needed to get there as soon as possible, and until we reached our destination, I counted down the seconds.

The restlessness was back while I was driving, and it was worse than ever. It made me wonder if this meant I would also meet my mate. I'd be over the moon, but for the time being, I focused on getting to the location as soon as possible.

We reached the port within twenty minutes. The sea was a dark blue here, and the city was quiet.

It was mostly a peaceful residential area, away from the packs and among the humans.

The woods were sparse here but still good enough to hide if needed.

I kept driving, the houses on our left and the sea on our right. The woods got thicker as we headed further north, but the road continued.

Finally, we reached a place close enough to the location.

"What's the plan?" I asked, staring at the woods.

I could see a house in there. It looked slightly abandoned, but we would check it out nonetheless.

I didn't want to leave any stone unturned. Damian was tense beside me while Rory was arming up in the back seat.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm down my wolf, but he was more active than he had ever been in my entire life. This made me hopeful. Maybe I, too, was going to meet my mate soon. The thought excited me further, making my wolf more energetic.

He wanted to take over me and go out in the woods with his nose to the ground, searching for our mate.

I tried to focus on the present.

"Rory, check the parameters. Aiden, take cover, and I'll walk in through the front door," Damian ordered.

I chuckled, feeling like I could take over the world. Seeing my brother back made me feel more positive about this. We were going to find Isabelle soon... and maybe my mate too.

"Like old times," I grinned and exited the car before taking a pistol. I didn't think it'd be needed, but still.

Better safe than sorry.

With that, I slipped into the woods. I found a tree that was tall enough to climb and search the area, and also provided me with a good view of the house.

It was old but big nonetheless. From outside, I didn't see any signs of a resident, but the absence of the overgrowth in the driveway told me that it was a regularly maintained place.

I was on alert as I watched Damian walk down the house and knock on it. He waited, but there was no response. He knocked again. No response. He looked around, but there was nothing.

He knocked the third time. This time, the response came but in the form of an explosion.

AUTHOR’S REVIEW: Wait, what? Did Isabelle just blow up everything?