8. Bad news

Victoria's POV

I shoot up from the bed as the smile on my face turns sour.

"Mom!? What happened!? Why are you crying!?" I ask, dreading her reply deep down within me.

My mother is a warrior. Our pack's Zeta. A rank equivalent to a General in the human military. This is the second time I'm hearing her cry in all my nineteen years on earth. The first time was done in the privacy of her room when she lost three of her warriors in a rogue attack.

"It's your father!–" she cries and my stomach sinks in horror.

"Daddy!? Wh-hat happened to him?" I hear myself screech

"He-he is missing! It's been two days!" She replies, sniffling.

"Missing!? Missing how!? For the past two days!?..."

"He-he told me they were just..."

"This is not the time for questions and answers." A harsh voice suddenly interrupts her. "Come home! Your mother needs you!" She says and then silence.

"Hello! Hello!..." I call, but still silence. The call has been disconnected.

I slowly lower the phone and look at it in confusion.

The Luna!?...

'Come home. Your mother needs you'!?

Her words surprise me. The Luna and my mother hate each other. Everyone that matters in the pack knows she doesn't care about my family one bit. Why would my mother, who hardly shows weakness in the presence of her family, cry in the presence of our arch enemy, and why would the selfish Luna, who is incapable of caring for anyone but herself and her son, be with her!?

Could it be my dad is...

I suddenly feel drained of strength and plop weakly on the bed.

"Moon goddess, no! Please no! Please no, don't let it be that..."

My inside churns with dread when it suddenly occurs to me that it's indeed been two days since I last spoke to him. He had called me every evening since the day I resumed college until yesterday, when he didn't. I didn't think much of it when I called him and got his voicemail, and this evening, I was so distracted by my revenge for Mia that I didn't notice he didn't call again.

I feel my eyes turning misty. My hands shake as I open my phone to call my mom back. It's obvious from the situation of things that she didn't tell me the whole truth. For her not to be able to stop herself from crying in the presence of the Luna, then I suspect something bad has happened to my dad.

"Dammit!" I swear when the call goes straight to her voicemail.

I'm a warrior like my mom. Not under her command though. She's not in support of me following in her footsteps, and will never be, according to her. I'm a Gamma. We're the the supreme protectors of a pack. If something bad has happened to my dad, I wonder why none of my fifteen colleagues hasn't called to inform me, especially when I grew up with some of them.

Unless they've been instructed not to by the Gamma chief who is one of the Luna's minions.

That old bastard!

I've always suspected that he never liked me because of what happened between him and my daddy.

After the Alpha, Luna, and Beta, the Gamma chief is next in a pack's chain of command. When the former Beta died, he thought he would be appointed the new Beta. After all, he was more experienced, stronger, and a better fighter than my daddy, who the former Beta had trained to take over his position if anything bad should happen to him in the future.

He was disappointed and strongly showed his disagreement when the Alpha chose to honor his dead Beta's wish and appoint my daddy, who was still in training, over him. It's been years, and although he pretended like he didn't care anymore, now I'm convinced he still bears a grudge against my daddy for taking the Beta position that he thought rightfully belonged to him.

For a moment, I wonder if I should start calling them one after the other until someone tells me what is really happening, but immediately decide against it. That would be wasting precious time. It's better to book the earliest flight back to Los Angeles instead, so I can be home with my mom as soon as possible.

My eyes refocus on my phone, but my vision has become blurry with tears, and I can't clearly see the screen. I blink and two fat teardrops splash on the screen. I hastily clean it on my dress and look again, only to find out more tears are blocking my vision. Even my hands wouldn't stop shaking.

"Damn it!" I swear and grab the box of tissues on the bedside table, hastily pulling some out to clean my eyes.

'Stop crying! Calm down! You have to pull yourself together. You have to be strong for your mother...' I continue to console myself but the thought of my daddy kidnapped or lying injured and helpless in some ditch makes my tears continue to flow non-stop.

I'm glad the qualities of a good leader are not just measured by their physical strength and how well they can fight. Although my daddy does not have the strength and fighting skills befitting a Beta of the biggest pack in North America, he is one of the most intelligent men I know.

He is a brilliant accountant, an experienced plantsman, a philosopher and an excellent businessman. His shrewd business acumen contributes a great deal to maintaining Silver Moon Pack's position as the leading pack in North America.

Everyone loves him. Even the Luna didn't start hating on him and my mom, until the Alpha fell sick and she proposed that her useless son take over the running of the pack instead of the Beta, as stated by the law.

My daddy isn't only good at his job, he's also a good husband and father. The fact that he has never once told me that I cannot do something, however wacky it was, makes me a daddy's girl, and I love him to death.

As I wonder about what he might currently be going through, my mind begins to think up different bad scenarios,

Was he kidnapped by rival packs or his business rivals?

Considering how Silver Moon Pack is feared and revered by all and sundry, I don't think any pack or business organization in North America would dare resort to kidnapping the Beta of the biggest pack in North America to solve their dispute!?

Rogues!?

Fear grips my heart as that dreadful word suddenly echoes in my mind. Even though I hate to think it, the only reason that I know can make my mother cry if my dad is not dead is if he has been captured by rogues.

Rogues are criminals. Unscrupulous beings. Angry and vengeful werewolves that have declared themselves independent from all laws. They attack packs to plunder, leaving maimed and murdered victims in their wake. And when they kidnap, they torture before asking their victim's family for ransom.

I shudder with fear at the thought of my daddy in those animals' captivity. I doubt if he would survive two days.

"Oh no! No! No! No!..." I find myself muttering to myself as I cry. "That is not the situation. You have to stay positive..."

A knock sounds on my door, and it pushes in. Camila peeks inside.

"Victoria do you..." She stops talking when she sees me

"Hey! What's going on? Why are you crying? What happened to you? Are you okay?..." She asks as she walks into my room

I couldn't stop my eyes from filling up with tears again on seeing her worried expression

"Oh, Camila! I–I got a call from home– my dad– I think something bad has happened to my dad– I need to– I need to book a flight but I can't– I can't see through my..."

"What!? Oh my god!..." She exclaims, hurrying to sit beside me on the bed. "Calm down..."

"No, I can't! I can't! Help me!..." I interrupt, pushing my phone into her hand. "Help me book the earliest flight to Los Angeles. I– I can't do it. I..."

"Of course you can't do it! Look at you. You're panicking. You need to calm down. I've never seen you this way before..."

"Help me book a flight..."

"Alright. Just relax, okay..." She soothingly says and pulls me to herself for a hug.

"Everything will be fine so calm down..." She continues to say as she pats me on the back.

After a while she pulls away and removes some tissue from the box, cleaning my face with it while I just heave and stare numbly at nothing.

"Lie down..." I hear her say as she stands and gently pushes me back on the bed. "I'll go book you a flight back home, so don't bother about that, alright?" She says as she tucks loose strands of hair that had fallen all over my face behind my ear.

I nod, cleaning the fresh tears running down my face.

She has never seen me break down like this before because I always have a positive outlook on life. I believe there's no problem without a solution no matter how bad, but this?... The possibility of my dad being dead or captured by rogues?

There's no silver lining in this.

She leaves and soon returns with a small tray that has a glass of water and a pill bottle

"Sit up and take this." She says.

I sit and she hands me the water before opening the pill bottle

"What is it?" I ask, my voice sounding croaked.

I'm a werewolf. We don't usually need medicines, besides, what do I need medicine for?

"Doctor prescribed it for me when I had anxiety and difficulty sleeping. I took one every night. As a werewolf, you should take at least three. I hope it's enough to help you sleep..."

"My flight?..."

"I promise I'll take care of it don't worry. You're not going tonight anyway."

She's right. What will I be doing until daylight if I don't sleep?

I take the pills and she helps me lie down again.

"Now close your eyes. Let me go take care of your flight." She says with a smile.

I'm far from feeling sleepy but I did as she said anyway.

**

**

"Wake up!..." I hear Camila says. "Victoria!... It's time!" She calls

It's time!

My eyes fly open to see her face smiling gently at me.

"I fell asleep!" I say, surprised that the human drugs she gave worked on me.

"Yeah, you did. The drug worked."

"Hmm. Is it daylight already? Did you book my flight?" I ask as I sit up.

"No, it's not daylight. It's past two in the morning and I booked your flight but later cancelled..."

"You cancelled!? Why would..."

"Relax! I had to cancel since your man got you something better..."

"My man? Jamie?..."

"He arranged his family's private jet for you..."

My eyes widen with surprise

"He did!?"

She nods and smiles some more,

"He is intentional about you now, wouldn't you agree? After I booked you a flight, I called Colton and told him about your dad, and he, in turn, informed Jamie. They're both here to take you to the airport.

I know you wouldn't want to go home looking like you've been partying all night, so hurry and go shower."

I heave a sigh of relief as I nod thankfully. My daddy is only missing. Not dead yet. Thanks to her I'm much calmer and can think clearly. Now I'm ready to face whatever curveball life will throw my way.