Page 223 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
“Here without your mate?” Dana asked with a slight smirk. “That’s unusual.”
Tavi crossed her arms. “Youralphais busy,” she replied, rising to Dana’s taunt. “She sent us in her stead, but you can be sure that if we need a follow-up, we’ll have her with us.”
“A follow-up?” Grant asked. He pushed aside some of the paperwork piled in front of him. “For what?”
“We’ve found some reports of pups who went missing ten years ago,” I said. “Do any of you remember what was happening back then? Why were so many kids going missing during that four-year period?”
There was a brief pause. Tavi and I waited as the council members exchanged looks. I was even happier that Bryn had caught me before I left. They’d have no reason to answer my questions if Bryn or Tavi weren’t with me.
Eventually, Grant nodded. “We remember. It’s devastating to lose a pup, and it was even more so back then. Our trackers never found their bodies.”
“I can imagine. Why did things slow down after four years?”
“Our only explanation is that there was a killer within our territory and possibly within the pack. When things stopped, we believed the killer had died or been killed, but we never found out who it was.”
“If Troy hadn’t been so young, I would have assumed it was him,” Colby admitted.
Tavi frowned. “Yeah, I don’t blame you.”
Troy would have been thirteen or fourteen back then—old enough to be coming into his strength but not capable of kidnapping on such a large scale.
“You mentioned your trackers couldn’t find the children’s remains.”
Grant sighed. “Yes. To this day, we still don’t know what happened to them. Back then, we were all so paranoid that some families even left the pack with their young pups to protect them.”
“Were there any witnesses?”
“Well, there was one…” He hesitated, and his fellow council members exchanged uncomfortable looks. Even Edward and Dana, the two least friendly council members, looked uneasy. I guessed even they had to show reverence when it came to the missing children.
“What’s wrong?” Tavi asked.
“It’s just that he’s not a very reliable witness,” Grant replied.
“Tell us about him,” I said.
“His name is Samuel Granby,” Ross said. “He was with one of the children who went missing. When we started searching for them, we found Samuel wandering the woods. When we found him, he couldn’t answer any of our questions. Whatever he saw affected him so deeply that he hasn’t been the same.”
“Where is he?” Tavi asked.
“At home with his parents. They live on the southern end of the compound. The cabin’s door is painted sky-blue with whiteclouds.” Ross hesitated for a few moments, looking pained. “If you’re planning to talk to him, I assure you that you won’t get anything useful. It will likely be a waste of your time.”
Tavi shook her head. “We’ll decide whether or not it’s a waste of our time, Ross, but thanks for your concern.”
“This information is appreciated,” I echoed. “Thank you all. We’ll let you continue your work.”
Tavi and I left them to their business, releasing deep breaths as soon as we stepped outside. Overhead, the sun had slipped lower in the sky. It would be evening soon.
“The atmosphere really shifted when you brought up those kids,” she said. “God, those poor things. My heart aches for them and their families.”
I suppressed a shiver. “Same here. I can’t even imagine the pain that they’ve dealt with.”
She ran her hand through her hair before pulling her hood over her head. “I’m going to head back to the alpha cabin. Are you coming?”
“No, I think I’ll train for a bit before heading back. And go visit Mom.” Hearing about the pups made me want to spend some time with her.
“Sure. I’ll keep an eye on Bryn and catch her up on the meeting.”
I grinned. “I knew I could rely on you, Tav.”
