Chapter 8

DAMIEN.

This is useless.

I drip the last file on the desk and recline back on the chair.

Nothing.

No new avenue.

Nothing that we haven't searched over and over again. Hopefully, with some luck, Lucas and Maya would have found something.

A knock on the door interrupts my train of thought.

"Enter," I order.

Maya walks in with her battle face on.

Oh, great. What now?

"Maya," I start. "Any luck on your side?"

"If you are talking about those files then no. But I talked to Natalie-"

"Natalie? Who is that?"

She looks at me in confusion before answering.

"Your… the woman who claims to be your mate."

Ah.

Natalie.

Nice name.

"Wait! What?! You talked to Natalie?!" I demand, finally understanding her words.

"Yes, I did. She is our only viable source of information on finding the witch. For the life of me, I can't understand why you and Lycas are so averse to the idea."

"Because…"

"Because… what? See, even you don't know why you are behaving like this."

"Fine. What did she say? Can we find her? The witch?"

"Uh, yes and no."

"What does that even mean?" I ask, already exasperated with the conversation already.

"She doesn't know the exact place the witch is. Apparently, she has been kept, Rapunzel style all her life. She won't be able to direct us to where she escaped from."

"So, how does that help us?" I snap.

"She revealed some details. One worth mentioning is the fact that the witch has help from our world," she answers.

"Our world? You mean, werewolves?" I ask.

"An Alpha, to be exact," she confirms.

"An Alpha?" I ask deadpan.

"Yeah."

"It can't be Tobias, we killed him already."

Tobias was the one who had brought the witch into our lives. My father's enemy.

"Maybe he had allies. People who hated your father too."

"All of their allies were killed years ago. We made sure of it."

"Maybe we missed one. Whoever it is must have hidden his affiliations with Tobias. It is going to take a while to track him or the witch down," she says.

"How does she know it was an Alpha?"

"She heard the witch call him that over a phone call."

"She didn't get his name?"

"I didn't ask. I should have, I am sorry."

"It is fine. I can ask her that. Now we just have to fight out who it is. Dammit, this is going to be hell," I remark.

"I volunteer to find them," she announces.

I look up at the statement to see her standing at attention.

"Volunteer? Fin- how are you even going to find them?" I snap, hands raised in exasperation. "We don't know who or what they look like. What are you volunteering for?"

"I have contacts," she says.

"Contact? What kind of contacts?"

"The kind of contacts that could help me find a witch, willing to talk to you." She leans forward on the desk to look me straight in the eye. "This is serious Damien. This is your life. If we don't find the witch before those petals fade, you die. You and your mate," she says as she leans back to the standing position.

I stare at her for a few seconds before dropping my gaze to my wrist.

The petal is still there, the one that had started to fade. But the difference is clear, it is fading, slowly but definitely. I don't know how long it would take.

I can't take the risk.

"What would you need?" I ask.

Her eyes flutter shut for a second as she heaves out a breath.

"I will need to start packing before I can say, I will let you know by the end of the day," she answers.

I nod my head in response and she turns to leave.

"Maya," I call out, stopping her at the entrance.

She turns and gives me an inquisitive look.

"Thank you," I tell her. "For everything."

Her face breaks into a small smile before she responds.

"Any time, Alpha."

And without a second thought, she turns around and walks out, leaving me to my screaming thoughts.

"What a noble woman," my wolf remarks. "A true shame about her losing her mate."

"Can you say that with a little empathy," I snap.

"Humans," he mutters. "Can never be satisfied."

I shake my head at him before turning back to my desk and the files on it.

One glance at them has me standing up and heading out of the mansion.

I really should have them burnt.

"Alpha," I hear as I am walking out.

Turning, I see Lucas hurrying up to me.

"Lucas," I say.

"Alpha. I just finished with the files, no dice."

"Hmm, I thought as much "

"You are going to see Natalie?" he asks.

How is it that everyone knows her name except for me?

"Yeah. I have things to confirm from her. Things she told Maya."

"Maya went to see her? Yikes!" he exclaims. "How did that go?"

"Do you think Maya would tell me?" I retort.

"Yeah, You are right. She wouldn't. Wait, why did she go see her?"

"She wanted to find out the witch's whereabouts," I answer as I resume walking.

"And did she?"

"No. Instead, we found out that we have a hidden enemy amongst us. An Alpha."

"An Alpha? How does she figure."

I tell him everything Maya relayed to me. His reaction is similar to mine.

"Damn!" he exclaims. "I thought we were done with all that."

"Yeah. So did I."

"Well, I am leaving you now. Have fun with your mate," he says with a wink as he rushes off.

"Very funny," I call out to his receding back.

Soon enough, I arrive at the pack clinic and head up to her room.

I knock on the door and without waiting for a response, I walk in.

She is standing by the window, the one overlooking the pack grounds and giving a clear view of the mansion.

She is also staring at me with a dark scowl.

"Well, you took your bloody time, didn't you?"

What the hell?