Chapter 71 – Fly To You

Axel was buried deep in his laptop’s screen, his eyes glued to the map shown. It was the map of Europe, with ‘x’ marks on countries they’ve searched for. He was listing down possible locations he feels Leal would be in, and guessing her personality, she would settle for a rural place and avoid densely populated or popular places.

His head shot up when a knock interrupted his peace. Frowning, he looked to the wall clock in his office. It was near midnight already. Who would still be awake in the packhouse at this hour? Ty and Ry would be, but they surely wouldn’t bother knocking and just intrude without notice. He muttered a nonchalant, “Get in.“, as he leaned back on his swivel chair.

The door slowly creaked open and it revealed a teen wolf, one that almost reminded him of Liam, the uncontrolled wolf that one full moon, because of the young boy’s skinny frame. He was pale and had on a pair of thick glasses. His gaze dropped to the thick book the young boy was holding. He looked like a book worm.

“Uhm,” stuttered the young wolf, “Good evening, Alpha.”

His head was poking on the door, hesitating to enter. Axel signaled him to come nearer and sit in front of him.

“What’s your name and rank?”

“I-I’m Sky... and I’m a Psi,” he meekly muttered, pushing his glasses up. Axel understandingly nodded. A Psi, just like Liam.

“Good evening to you too, Sky. What do you need?”

“W-Well, uh, I just finished reading a book and I-I thought I’d share it with you... Alpha.” Sky gave him the book with shaking hands. He looked down on the cover and read the title: The Anthem of Lycanthropy.

A werewolf fiction novel?

Although confused, Axel still accepted the book from the boy. This was wasting a few minutes of his time that he could’ve used to figure out which European country to go to first but for sure, he’ll entertain Sky for a while only because it looked like he had a hard time gathering the confidence to knock his door and give him a book probably ridiculing their race.

Axel sighed and was about to voice out his confusion when Sky spoke up.

“I-I thought the storyline was somewhat familiar to someone you value, Alpha. I... just wanted you to read it and uhm, see for yourself,” he said, his voice shaking under Axel’s intense gaze. “I-I think it has something to do with the Luna...”

His brows twitched, as he looked down at the book again. The mere mention of the Luna already piqued his interest in his book. He flipped it to the back cover and quietly read the description. True to Sky’s words, the blurb is actually awfully familiar — as well as the female protagonist’s name; Divina Anastasia.

Where did he hear that name?

“When we have a daughter, I wanna name her Divina Anastasia,” muttered Leal while drawing circles on his bare chest, his chest hair getting tangled on her delicate fingers.

“Hmm? Why Divina Anastasia?”

A small, sweet smile curled up on her lips. “Because Divina means divine or heavenly, and Anastasia means resurrection. They’re both carry regal auras, you know? And I just know our daughter will be exactly that.”

Suddenly, redness crept to her cheeks. “W-Well, that is, if you want to have a daughter with me...”

A low chuckle rose to his throat, smiling down at her. “Of course I do, schatzi. Divina Anastasia it is.”

Oh, it was from her. Hope filled his system as proceeded to flip the book’s pages, ignoring Sky’s presence.

Axel quietly read the content, failing to notice the days that pass by, with his eyes just glued on the novel. It wasn’t only the storyline that hooked him — the words were also polished, on another level, and the way the author uncovers conflicts was just so smooth. He feels as if he’s always a step ahead though — because he knew the story so well. He knew what will happen next, and he knew how it will go down. What he’s curious about, is how the author will end the book. How she will end an unfinished story.

Almost three days later, Axel closed the book and leaned back on his chair. He was completely immersed in it. He couldn’t believe how she did that. It was like she possessed Denitslava’s magic and completely entranced him in reading this. She was this good. His eyes drifted to the author’s pseudonym on the bottom of the cover as a small smile made its way to his lips.

L.M.H., which are the initials of her full name. He knew that. Would’ve been better if it was L.M.H.-E. though.

Axel picked up his phone and rang a close friend familiar with computers. He needs the location of the author.

[Allo?]

“Ryker,” he greeted. “Look up the author of The Anthem of Lycanthropy. Follow up quickly.”

He didn’t need to say more. He could already hear his keyboards in the background. Ending the call, Axel stood up and left his office to the Psi’s chambers, holding the book. After asking an Omega where Sky’s room is, he stopped in front of his room and quietly knocked.

“Go away!” said the voice from inside. Axel chuckled and knocked again, this time, announcing himself.

“Sky, it’s me,” was all he needed to say for the door to open in the blink of an eye. He was greeted with a sweating Sky in a typical bookworm outfit.

“H-Hi, Alpha... I’m sorry for shooing you— I —”

“It’s alright, boy,” he cut Sky off, chuckling softly. “I’m not staying long.”

“W-Well...” The young Sky scratched the back of his head. “What do you need, Alpha?”

Axel exhaled and placed his arm on the skinny boy’s shoulder, making the latter slightly grunt because of heavy hand.

“Here.” He returned the book. “You’ve been of great help, boy. Thank you.”

Sky’s eyes twinkled. “R-Really?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “You might’ve just been the help I needed for two years.”

Suddenly, his phone rang and they both looked to his vibrating pocket. Axel immediately picked it up but remained looking down at Sky with a small smile.

“Hello?”

[We couldn’t find anything about the author himself but we did find his editor, Alpha.] Greeted Ryker on the phone. [She’s in Brooklyn, too. She works for a familiar publishing company.]

“Don’t call the author a ‘he’.” He sighed. “And get me that editor’s number.”

Ending the call, he gave Sky one last nod before strutting out the Psi’s chambers. Knowing that the team is in the company, he quickly drove there using one hand and the other, punching numbers on his phone. He was, once again, pulling strings and reaching out to his connections to make investigating quicker. That was his routine for 2 years. As if his past decade of making connections was to prepare him for this.

“Here’s her bio-data. Elvira Smith, head editor, mother of two.”

Ryker immediately tilted the screen for him as soon as he got to the company. He skimmed through the information, seeing a familiar publishing company. They’re right. That is familiar.

“That was Leal’s company before she was a waitress,” he blurted. He could still vividly remember every detail about her, even if she only mentioned them once. He paid attention to her that much, to the littlest detail.

“Oh, so they were colleagues?” wondered Ryker.

“They still are.”

“Wait—” Tyrone, who was busy typing on a faraway desk quickly twirled around and neared them. “So you’re telling me, Leal’s working somewhere in Brooklyn?! And we’re—”

“No.” Axel frowned and hit him in the head. “You f u cking airhead.”

“Well then what?!”

“What Axel meant was,” Ryker intervened, “Leal’s still actively communicating with her, most probably, because Ellie is her editor. You never wondered why Axel was suddenly so interested in a book? One about werewolves at that?”

Axel rolled his eyes. Finally.

“Oh!” Ty beamed, finally picking it up. “So Leal’s an author now? So where is she?”

“That...” Ryker trailed off, his eyes drifting back to the screen. “...Is a good question.”

After hours of typing relentlessly on the keyboard, the Upsilons managed to gather one significant information. Axel’s resting eye fluttered open when he heard someone call him. His crossed arms remained crossed and his calm figure stayed until the person mentioned the Luna.

“Alpha,” one called, “We found a probable location of the Luna.”

The other tech monsters scurried to his desk and take a peek at his screen. They started throwing theories over theories, while Axel stayed silent, his eyes glued on the screen.

“What if the signed books were just transferred there?”

“Well then, where else would it be signed if not there where the largest amount of signed books are?”

Axel sighed. “Someone give me context.”

“We found a warehouse in Switzerland, specifically Bern, that ships the most signed books all over the world, Alpha. We assume the author is signing from there.”

Ryker seconded, nodding, “That makes sense. If most, if not all, signed books come from there, that must mean she’s residing there? Right?”

They have a point. Well, it’s worth a shot.

He looked at them in the eye before heaving a deep sigh. “You’ve all worked hard, thank you. If that is the thing, then we’re flying off to Switzerland tomorrow.”