CHAPTER 4

KEITH’S POV

“Will this charm really work?” Kain asked, twisting the band of small, black crystals around his wrist. “I have heard that the bond between mates is very strong. She might recognise us despite wearing this stupid string.”

“It should work; It has to.” Kramen shrugged, patting Kain’s back. “That is the only way we can ensure that she doesn’t run away…”  His gaze drifted towards me. “Especially if Keith is the one to find her.”

My jaws clenched as the irritation bubbling within me intensified. It had been over ten days since we met our mate. Handing the boarding pass to Kain, I instructed, “Once you land in Canada, get in touch with Alpha Asher. He will help you with the search. Don’t try to do anything on your own.”

“Got it, brother.” Kain’s lips curved in a goofy grin.

“I won’t go wandering about the streets.”

“Kain… I am serious. If you get into trouble….” He threw his arms around me, muffling the rest of my words. “I will take care of myself, Keith. I promise.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose as I watched Kain depart. This was the first time he was going out of our pack’s territory alone.

Kramen drew closer to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. “He will be fine, Keith.”

I nodded and took out his boarding pass from my coat’s pocket. “Alpha Dante will help you scour through every inch of England in the shortest time possible. Keep a sharp watch for any indication of danger. If you sense anything, contact father immediately.”

He nodded before lowering his gaze, his eyes boring holes into the boarding pass, “Keith…”

“Hmm…”

“Why don’t you let me go to L. A. instead of you?”

 “The chance of finding Melinda is the highest in LA.” I snorted. “Being the eldest brother, I should get the chance to meet her first.”

“You are older than us by only two hours. I don’t think that counts.”

“It does, Kramen. Why else do you think I am the strongest?” Raising my eyebrows, I added, “If you don’t believe me, we can have a duel before leaving.”

“Fine, you win….” Kramen said with a disgruntled expression. “I will go to Canada…” He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t think I am afraid of you. I just don’t want to waste my precious time fighting you.”

“Whatever reason suits you, brother.” I chuckled as I waved him a goodbye.

‘Why didn’t you tell him the truth?’ Jake’s words popped into my head. ‘If you really find Melinda first, he is going to be very upset.’

‘That is better than making him worry about me.’ I replied, grabbing my bag and walking towards the jetway.

L.A was a tricky place to go wandering, especially for the werewolves. Since it wasn’t under the control of any Alpha, the rogues there did whatever they liked. They weren’t bound by rules and conventions like other packs. How could I let Kramen go to LA knowing the dangers that awaited us?

Three days later…

I had scoured through all the regions in L.A but couldn’t find even a trace. Stretching my back against the seat of the taxi, I called up Kramen. “Find anything?”

“I don’t think Melinda came to England. I visited her distant relatives and acquaintances, but to no avail. What about you? Did you catch her scent?”

A defeated sigh left my lips. “I can’t find her either.”

“Are you looking for someone?” the driver asked, looking at me in the rear-view mirror. He was an old man, probably in his sixties. “You seem very troubled.”

“Yeah… I have been looking for her for the past three days.”

“What did the cops say?”

“Cops?”

“Hmm… You must have filed a missing complaint, right? Ask them to check the CCTV footages and look for a match, if they haven’t. That is what they do in movies….”

Werewolves were bound by different laws. So, we avoided getting humans involved as far as possible.

‘Just do whatever it takes, Keith.’ Jake said in encouragement, as a plan formed in my mind. ‘We can deal with the consequences later.’

“Take a U turn from the next signal.” I said as I searched for the airport’s layout. “I want to go to the airport.”

The images I found were basic and didn’t give any hints to the location of the CCTV room. With a frustrated sigh, I pinched the bridge of my nose. There is only one way now.

Opening the SNS, I sent a message to Kramen asking him for the blueprint of the airport albeit a bit begrudgingly. My phone buzzed with his call in a record of five seconds.

“Why are you asking me for the blueprints? Isn’t the Alpha in control of LA helping you?”

Clenching my jaws together, I chewed out, “LA has no Alpha, Kramen.”

There was a long spell of silence as the realisation dawned on him. “Is that why you insisted on going to LA yourself?”

Time ticked by slowly. When I didn’t say anything for a while, Kramen growled in annoyance. “Damn! Keith. I should have thought of this before.” His anxious voice rang in my ears. “Stay where you are and don’t do anything rash. I am taking the next fight to LA.”

“You will do no such thing,” I snapped before he could disconnect the call.

“But, Keith….”

“Just send me what I asked for. Don’t make things even more difficult for me.” I said in a clipped tone and disconnected the phone. By the time I reached my destination, I had studied and analysed every section of the airport.

To reach the surveillance room, I had to take the staircase reserved for the staff. Massaging the back of my neck, I looked around. The id card around the cleaner’s neck caught my attention.

Drawing in a deep breath, I rushed towards him and bumped into him headlong. Pressing my body against his, I unhooked the Id discreetly before getting up.

“Bastard!” He cursed as he grappled in the dirty water. “Don’t you think you should at least help me get up?” He called after me in an infuriated voice, but I ignored him and made my way to the washrooms reserved for the staff.

The door to the staircase opened with a click as I pressed the id card against the scanner. Taking two steps at a time, I hurried to the second floor. The trick was to reach my destination before they realised that something was amiss.

Running along the corridor, I reached the glass door and pushed it open. Ten pairs of eyes turned my way, surprised by my sudden appearance.

My steps faltered, and my restless gaze swept over the room. I hadn’t expected there to be so many of them.

If there were only three or four of them, I could have just attacked, but with so many people, the risk of them sounding the alarm button was high.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” The tallest one among them questioned, his hand reaching over to the red button.

My gaze drifted around and in a moment of panic, I shifted partially. Screams and shrieks echoed in the room as they scrambled towards the corner. Using this confusion to my advantage, I moved around quickly, rendering them unconscious with my swift moves.

‘Beep! Beep! The shrill sound was followed by a high-pitched ring, and the glass doors slid shut. F***! How did the alarms get activated? I had made sure that none of them could press any button.

The beeping red light caught my attention. The voice sensors must have gotten activated when they shouted in fear.

My gaze drifted from the locked door to the screens. It would probably take the guards a couple of minutes to reach here. I had to look through as much footage as possible before they arrived.

There was no time. So, I focused on the footage from the cameras located at the exit. Tapping my foot impatiently, I scrolled through the videos as quickly as possible.

The sound of approaching footsteps sounded at a distance. I was about to shift to my wolf’s form, but changed my mind at the last moment and browsed through the video from four days ago.

The footsteps had grown very close now. They were going to barge inside at any moment. A deep, primal growl escaped my lips in annoyance. This made the footsteps come to an absolute standstill; probably startled to hearing an animal’s voice.

That single moment proved to be a blessing in disguise. I spotted Melinda getting into a cab. Keeping my gaze fixed on the door, I clicked pictures frantically.

A movement outside caught my attention, and I started shifting; dropping the phone in the process. I had barely finished shifting when two guards came into view.

They were going to unlock the door, but they froze, their eyes widening in shock. One of them pointed in my direction and gasped, “Wolf…. Th… there is a large wolf inside.”

This caused a huge commotion, and more guards came into view. Once the effect of initial shock faded, they pointed their guns at me.

Slow witted imbeciles! My temper flared and a deep, viscious growl rumbled from my chest, the strong vibrations making everything around tremble.

The color drained from the faces of the guards, and they scurried backward like frightened mice. Drawing in a deep breath, I picked up my phone and leapt at the door.

The splintering sound of the glass echoed behind me followed by shrieks, shouts and agonised cries. Shaking off the shards of glass, I bounded forward.

The sudden appearance of a wolf stunned the guards motionless. I managed to put enough distance between us before they gathered their bearings.

“A wolf is running down the stairs. I repeat, a large wolf is making its way to the reception area.” The guard’s voice rang in my ears as I ran along the corridor.  

‘Dad is going to kill us when he finds about this.’ Jake’s anxious voice popped in my head. ‘You have broken the most sacred convention of keeping our identities secret from humans.’

‘We will deal with it after we return. For now, let us just focus on finding Melinda.’ I replied as I rushed towards the large crowd in the reception area.

They scrambled backward making a way for me; terrified screams and shrieks reverberating in all direction. I let out a disgruntled snort as I jumped out of the entrance door. 

Stupid humans; did they have to be so terrified of a wolf? The shrill sound of blaring sirens pierced through the mayhem. The cops seemed to have acted pretty quickly.

‘Keith…. We need to get to the countryside as soon as possible. If those cops catch up with us, we will be in huge trouble.’ My wolf’s panicked voice sounded, making my heart beat a little faster.

With a curt nod, I let Jake take control completely. With the help of his keen senses, we managed to drift away from the main city.

‘Let us find an ideal location and shift back.’

‘But this trail looks really good and the air is so fresh. How about we explore it a bit?’

‘We don’t have time for that, Jake. We need to shift and return to the city so that we can track her down.

 ‘What if Melinda came this way?’

“I don’t think she would do that. She wants to hide, so__’ My mind went blank as a faint scent of blooming freesias hit me.

‘Melinda was here. My mate had moved along this trail.’