TristanWork had been hectic and by the time my classes were over, I didn’t have the energy for anything else. After Astrid's attack on campus, security was increased exponentially. The students were freaked out, the staff was on edge, and it was almost impossible to get any work done in class. Honestly, I was more distracted than the students were, so I didn't mind letting them have the class to process what had happened. I wasn’t sure how much good it would do for them to discuss their concerns and ask questions about what had happened, but that’s what they seemed to want to do. Trying to talk over them wasn’t something I had the energy for. Instead, I moderated a class discussion about what happened and what it meant for us as a university moving forward. Thankfully, everyone was more concerned that it was so easy for a human to sneak onto campus, rather than my reaction to Astrid being cornered. As a group, we discussed the possibility of having ID checks at the gates and
Astrid Tristan was still missing. Eddie returned later that night and told me he wasn’t able to find Tristan at his apartment, and no one had seen him since classes ended. I cried myself to sleep that night, praying to the Moon Goddess that he’d turn up with some stupid excuse. Only, it never happened.It had now been days without a sign of him and the official search had expanded to include him. It was believed that he was very likely in danger. I was barely functioning. I couldn't sleep and I was breaking down at the drop of a hat. Wherever he was, I knew that he was hurt and it was my fault. I put him in danger and now, I couldn't even help him because I had no idea where he was. Eddie and I had spent hours walking through every street in town trying to catch a whiff of his scent or a sign of anything strange. There was nothing. Bridgewater seemed just as quiet and unimpressive as it always did. We'd been out since before the sun came up. I was a complete mess. The br
AstridVictoria could be abrasive at times. She was harsh and didn't always understand the way that other people felt. I knew that about her and usually, it didn't bother me. But now, in light of the way my wolf was responding to her, I had to re-evaluate things. I had to think more carefully about those odd interactions. I knew that nothing in the packhouse was as it seemed. Someone high-ranking killed my mother. Someone kidnapped Tristan and they were after me.Never in a million years, would I have thought that it could be Victoria but… Could Victoria's habit of dismissing my feelings be vindictive? I thought back on every time since I'd returned to Bridgewater that Victoria had been mean to me. She called me dramatic on the drive here when I talked about what I was risking by coming back. Should that have been a warning? Should I have read more into that? It seemed so minor… Then there was the formal dinner where she made that comment about mom's human blood being the r
Astrid I was even more tired than I realized, and I slept until the next morning. When I did get up, I quickly dressed, and then I groggily made my way down to the kitchen. My stomach was growling. I hadn't eaten anything in over a day. I wasn't sure what I was going to find, considering Solomon's promise yesterday about having everything replaced. What I hadn't expected was to see that he had taken my comments about pre-packaged food very seriously. Everything in the freezer, the refrigerator, and the pantry was in an individually sealed packet. But that didn't guarantee that Victoria couldn't tamper with anything. It sure made it a lot more difficult for her, though. I gratefully took a freezer pack of smoothie mix and made myself breakfast.Once I ate, I found it a lot easier to think clearly. I should have waited for Solomon, but I couldn't. That didn't mean I had to be careless about how I went about this. I knew that there was something about Victoria that I didn't know.
AstridTristan was in this house. His scent was strong, and I knew deep down, that he was still here somewhere. I should have gone for help, I should have waited for dad or Solomon, but I just couldn't. I'd been looking for him for days. There was no telling what state he was in. Bethany would be suspicious about my coming here. They would move him as soon as I left, I was sure of it. I couldn't take the risk. ‘Take me to him,’ I told my wolf. ‘Quickly.’ My body moved at her discretion. We went down a side hallway to a locked door. I twisted the knob as hard as I could, but the lock wouldn't give way. I growled in frustration, but this wasn’t going to stop me.I slammed my shoulder into the door, not caring if Bethany heard. The sound was dull and muffled. I did it again and again. I put my full body weight and strength into the wood of the door. It cracked and then flew off of the hinges. A dank, damp smell met me as I looked down a set of wooden stairs into a dark basemen
AstridDad brought down the full force of the pack on Bethany's house. Within 10 minutes of our phone call, the guard had filled the house. Dad was personally interrogating Bethany in a side room. I couldn't hear anything but the occasional sob from her. I'd seen him angry before. I knew how he could be and even I had never faced him in the state he was in now. I wasn't entirely certain that Bethany was going to walk out of that room. The healer arrived shortly after dad. She came directly to Tristan and knelt in front of him. I moved aside to allow her to work. Her long, thin fingers moved deftly as she checked his eyes, looked into his mouth, and checked his vitals. The look of concentration on her face was as emotionless as a statue. About 20 minutes after the guard arrived, there was a commotion from upstairs. I heard a woman shrieking and men shouting. The side room opened and dad stepped out. “What the hell is going on?” he demanded. Just at that moment, a guard came
AstridAfter Tristan's rescue, it became clear that he was not going to be able to finish the semester. Dean Parker agreed to approve medical leave for him and Dr. Sanchez agreed that he would take over his classes for the remainder of the school year. The Dean was disturbed to learn that Tristan had been kidnapped from campus, and as a result of that and the incident in the bathroom with Lilian, the school was investing in a series of new security cameras. They were also considering updates to campus security and increasing the number of emergency call boxes on campus.Dean Parker was a lot more willing to implement changes than dad was. Unfortunately, the only change he’d agreed to make was to allow Tristan to temporarily stay in the packhouse.Solomon was taking things a lot more seriously. I was grateful that he was willing to take matters into his own hands when necessary. I couldn’t believe how incredibly stubborn dad was about this. Lilian had confessed that Victoria was
Tristan The amount of time that had passed without answers about Victoria's whereabouts was concerning at this point. The Alpha was operating under the assumption that she had fled into another territory. This put him in a difficult position because as much as we needed to find her, he had no desire to alert the other packs of what was happening. Reporting her as missing would look almost as bad as reporting her as being on the run—there was no way to address the problem without causing a scandal. So, with the Lunar Festival fast approaching, the packhouse was focused on preparations rather than the missing fugitive that had killed the Luna and kidnapped me. It was maddening to everyone in the packhouse except for Alpha Anthony. He was the only one who seemed confident that Victoria wouldn’t show her face. I was grateful for the Alpha's decision to allow me to stay in the packhouse because I didn't think that I could handle being away from Astrid right now. I was having a h