"Eric!" I call to him as the two of us make our way onto the training grounds. Eric's eyes find mine then they move to Alpha Kenn, probably confusing him.
"Alpha Kenn," he greets. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"My Beta, Lucas, your sister's mate, I have come to collect him and move south, but I recently discovered he left last night. The issue is, no one knows where he has gone."
"What if he was attacked," I cut in.
Eric sighs, taking a moment to think. "I'll have search parties organized. You and your men are welcome to stay here as long as it takes. Caroline must be worried."
"That's an understatement," I tell him.
"I should join my men. Caroline is showing them where Lucas entered the unclaimed land. We'll be looking around there for now, and thank you for your hospitality."
Before anyone can mutter another word, Alpha Kenn hurried off in the direction we came. He must be worried too. I look back to Eric. "What if a rogue actually attacked him?"
"He's a Beta; he can put up a fight."
"What if it was a group? This cannot happen to Caroline. God forbid she loses her mate so quickly."
Eric places his hands on my shoulders, reeling me in. "Don't worry. I'll find him. I'll have search groups set up as soon as possible. The only problem is, if rogues did attack him he might have run off, which would be the right choice if it was a group."
"What will happen if he runs off?"
"He might get stranded, lose his way in the unclaimed land," Eric explains. "That land is littered with rogues, especially further west."
"I'll tell Caroline to stay with us until Lucas is found. The last thing she needs is to be all alone."
Eric glances down at me. "What about Olivia?"
"She's going through something; she wouldn't give much emotional support. Caroline needs me."
I walk with Eric around the training grounds as he observes. Alpha Kenn's words will not leave my mind. He said I was beautiful and that Eric should have announced my presence, and I know I should not be so hung up on such silly things. Why does everyone need to know that I am his mate anyways? Things have been good so far.
My eyes narrow in on a particular person as we weave through the people training. Landon. Promptly, I feel my cheeks heat with annoyance. The memories still manage to rile me up. "Let's walk the other way."
Eric looks ahead, seeing the problem that I am trying to dodge. "He won't cause any more problems, Isabella. I'm sure he has learned his lesson."
Landon notices me and his muscles tense.
"Every time I see him I can't help but imagine Kendra in danger."
We walk past with no issues.
"I wish he was Olivia's mate," I whisper to myself, making sure Eric cannot hear me. It may sound petty, but Landon almost killed my sister and Olivia almost killed me, they deserve each other. They can bond over their sinister acts. "Maybe I can help find Lucas?"
Eric shakes his head, not even giving me the pleasure of hearing him say 'no.'
"Well, Caroline and I can't just sit at home and wait for something to happen. I'm sure she wants to help too."
"Caroline is too emotionally attached to the situation if we find him and things did not go as planned, she'll be traumatically scarred—and you're going to stay with her. She needs you, right?"
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