03. Lost & Found

 Clare POV

 "Claire, can you help me clean up the prayer altar after this?" Sister Alberta said, asking for something that has become my daily routine.

 Nodding, I replied, "Of course, Sister, I'll do it after the cooking is finished." 

 "You can ask Andy and Vicky to accompany you."

 "They must be tired. I must not interrupt their rest time after school. I'll do it myself, so just let them rest," 

 "What a good girl, thank you, and don't forget to change the plaster on your forehead, it will heal in two days."

 I nodded. I was very happy when Nurse Alberta worried about me. It felt like I had a mother, although I never knew who my real mother was.

 After finishing lunch, I helped Sister Alberta prepare dinner. Then, I immediately did my daily duty: I cleaned the prayer altar for use the next morning. 

 No one was in the church that afternoon, not even Hendrik, who was usually there to finish his work. I went to the priest's house, a little distance away, because Hendrik and the priest looked very close. 

 The sky is now changing Twilight slowly, but it is very beautiful. Reddish orange is almost part of the city sky. The cold air is increasingly felt, piercing the skin.

 After clearing the prayer altar, I intended to return to the dormitory. Still, suddenly, Andy, one of the foster children cared for by sister Alberta, ran up to me. It was Andy, the eleven-year-old boy who often ran around calling my name, like now.

 "Clare! Clare! You're still here?" he loudly called me.

 "Andy, what is going on? Did something happen?"

 "No. But Sister Maria asks you to go to the new convenience store over there to buy a sliver of eggs for breakfast tomorrow," he said while giving me the money.

 Andy pointed to the right. I don't know where exactly, but he said that a convenience store had just been inaugurated.

 Sister Maria was one of four sisters who lived in the dormitory with sisters Alberta, me, Andy, and Vicky. Like my adoptive mother—sister Alberta, sister Mary, and others, they loved us so much in our limitations as God's servants for that little church.

 "Isn't there still some eggs in the fridge?" I asked, remembering that this afternoon, I counted our food supplies until there were more deliveries from donors next week.

 "We fry it again for our dinner. Hurry up, or we'll be late, Clare." Andy pulled me up and asked me to hurry up, and, of course, I couldn't refuse the eleven-year-old boy's request.

 "You're not coming with me, it's too cold outside, just go home," I ordered. I refused if Andy came with me.

 At first, Andy refused and wanted to accompany me. However, after I persuaded him, the boy wanted to go back.

 "Alright then. I'll be home soon. Bye, Clare. See you at home." Andy waved and then ran home to the dormitory.

 Not wanting to wait for anything, I immediately walked to find the convenience store in the middle of the cold afternoon air. 

 I walked for thirty minutes but did not find the nearest convenience store referred to by Sister Maria. The sky turned dark, and the reddish light I had seen was replaced by streetlights that flickered a little because of the short circuit.

 I looked at the surrounding road. I had also just passed this road. It felt strange and dark, and no one was along the way.

 "Where is this? Am I on the right path?" I asked myself.

 "This is too far. Should I just go back to church? After all, I seem to be lost," I muttered. And no one can sell eggs here.

 I looked around and saw nothing but rows of tall, probably abandoned buildings without lights and looking terrible. My hair felt like it was standing up. It was a very scary building; maybe no more humans were living there.

 It was almost dinner time, and I couldn't possibly keep looking for a convenience store that I didn't know where. During my stay in the dormitory, I had never gone anywhere other than the church and the neighborhood, never this far, unless invited by Hendrik to take the sisters to another church to worship together using a car.

 Not wanting to stray too far, I immediately turned around, intending to return to the church. However, some of the streetlights suddenly went out, making everything very dark and unfamiliar. I was frightened, and then, from a distance, I saw some of the car lights approaching me.

 At first, I thought that maybe it was just a car belonging to the person who had deliberately crossed the road. However, when we got close enough, the car stopped, and its headlights pointed at me, making me cover my face and eyes from the glare.

 Not getting there, several people got out of the car, pointing guns at me.

 "Alpha, there's an intruder!"

 "What—wait a minute, wait! I'm not an intruder. I'm just lost and—"

 Someone grabbed my wrists, pushed me to the ground, and then strangled me like I was a criminal to be executed. What the hell is this? Why are they doing this to me?

 Under such pressure, I saw another man coming out of the car, smoking a cigar in his hand, the man in a fur coat walking towards me. His shoes were beautiful, shimmering when he walked, and he was also a very tall man.

 My gaze didn't stop at him. There was a very strong pull within me. Suddenly, a voice buzzed from my head, saying it was him.

 I need clarification on what that means. But my wolf side struggled. I felt happy but also scared, an unusual feeling that I had never experienced before. However, the wolf in me believed that the man walking towards me was my mate.

 "Let her go." The man ruled.

 As if unable to resist, those who had been holding me like I was a thief now let me go, letting me stand even though it felt like my wrist was hurting because the man was holding it so strongly.

 "What's your name?" The man asked me.

 In the darkness, I could not clearly see the man's face. The smoke from the cigar tobacco he was smoking he pointed at my face, stinging my eyes to the point of coughing.

 "C—Clare Halle," I replied, holding back the stinging in my throat.

 "A very beautiful name for an amateur."

 "W—what? I'm not—"

 "Take her to the car."

 "No—I don't want to, I beg you, I'm not who you think I am! Hey!"

 I resisted, rebelled, and tried to fight back, but their strength was far greater than mine. Finally, I got into the car, sitting right next to the man still smoking his cigar with tightly closed glass, letting the smoke fill the entire vehicle.

 "What are you doing in this place?" the man asked, starting his interrogation alone.

 This felt very strange; for a moment, I felt very scared. But after we were in the car, just the two of us like this, my heart felt very calm; I don't know if this was reality or if it was just my mind that was affected by my wolf's side, but this man, could he really be my mate?

 "I—I was looking for a convenience store that it said had just been built around here, but I think I got lost." I said, nervous and a little hot.

 Hearing me speak, the man glanced at me with a piercing gaze while continuing to smoke his cigar, which had only half left. "Are you stupid? No one ever wants to build a convenience store in a quiet neighborhood like this."

 " I don't know. I was just lost when Sister Maria told me to buy eggs," I said again. This time, my voice trembled, and I endured the itching and discomfort of inhaling too much cigar smoke.

 "Sister? You live in a church?

 I nodded, and my body got hotter when our glances met. The man was very handsome. Although the tobacco smoke from the cigar continued to circulate in the air, I could still smell a different scent—a dense lavender scent. It smelled very good and made me almost crazy.

 Is what I feel true? Is he My Mate? The one they call this man an Alpha?

 "Are you—"

 Before I could finish, the man suddenly strangled me with his big hand. The hand was so big I could feel it was coiled, wrapped around my neck with my palm and long fingers. Suffocated and in great pain, I whimpered, banging the man's hand to let me go.

 "Stop releasing pheromones in front of me just because you're my Fated Mate." He said in a husky voice.