The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate (Jason and Laila) by Caroline Above Story novel Chapter 138

Jason’s POV

Marcus and I left the floor with my office in the Alpha headquarters building and went down to the security area instead. There, a small contingent of my pack members worked on online security defenses for our pack. It was this group that had helped set up the automated search for Laila and my daughter, and it was this group that had reported the hit now

Marcus and I gathered in the cubicle of one of the security team, Kyle, who talked quickly, clearly passionate about his work. Normally, I would be pleased to listen to him explain things even if I didn’t understand anything, proud of the team we had put together. Right now though, I was impatient for answers.

Marcus glanced at me, and then said to Kyle, “Perhaps just show the Alpha what you found, Kyle.”

“Oh. Right, yes, of course.” Kyle didn’t appear offended at the request. His excitement didn’t miss a beat as he jumped ahead from showing us how he had found it, to showing us what he had found.

The black market listing, of which I was still carrying the printout of, filled the screen. It looked even more dire on the original site, with its black background and bold text.

“This listing has to be in reference to your daughter, Alpha,” Kyle said. “The DNA sequence is a direct match. I cross–checked seven or eight times.”

“I appreciate that,” I said. “But now we need to know more. Can you tell where she is? What this is about?”

“I can’t get that kind of information if it isn’t in the listing,” Kyle said.

I frowned. “Can you tell who made this post then? Perhaps we could go straight to the source.”

Kyle typed quickly. Opening a few windows, he searched through lines and lines of code, I didn’t have hope of understanding.

Kyle whistled. “Whoever made this is a pro. They went through a lot to try to cover their tracks.”

I cursed lightly. “So that’s a dead end.”

“I didn’t say that,” Kyle said. “These hacker types are so overconfident. Likely this one has gotten away with it for a while. A lot of the time, they fly under the radar, trying to avoid any direct attention. Because once the spotlight is on them…”

Kyle typed quickly, injecting new code into other code. It was all terribly confusing. But he was a young man who was clearly dedicated and passionate, so I placed my faith in him. Not that I had much choice in the matter.

Unfortunately, before he could crack the code, the screen flashed red. Kyle cursed, stood, and pulled the plug on his own computer. The system went dark.

“What happened?” I asked.

Kyle seemed rattled. He shook his head. “The hacker was tougher than I thought. We had kind of a battle just now… I’m sorry to say I lost.”

I placed my hand on his shoulder in an attempt to rally him. “You did your best. What I was asking you for is outside the purview of your duties, and I thank you for trying. You have done well for your Alpha.”

“Thank you, Alpha,” Kyle said, his spirits raised slightly.

I looked at Marcus, and together, we left Kyle to restore his work station.

As we stepped into the elevator, with the doors blocking us from the security department, I sighed deeply. “That could have gone better.”

Marcus cleared his throat. “There are still options…”

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flooked at him. “There are?”

”

“Forgive me for suggesting this, Alpha. I don’t mean to wish to implicate you in anything unlawful

“Speak your mind, Marcus. You are my friend as well as my Beta. I would hear your thoughts.”

“Perhaps we could hire our own hacker,” Marcus said. “Our security team has many talents, but perhaps to do illegal things, wẽ need someone who is specifically practiced in that kind of thing…”

“Do you know someone?”

“There is a hacker that we have been keeping an eye on for a while,” Marcus said. “He’s by no means a moral man, but if we brought him in, perhaps we could convince him to help us.”

“Do it,” I said, without question.

“Yes, Alpha.”

I paused a moment. “What’s this hacker’s name?”

“He goes by Hank.”

Laila’s POV

I was shocked when I returned to the hospital to find a large crowd of people in the waiting room. For a moment, I worried some terribly tragedy must have happened that I hadn’t heard about, but after seeing that the crowd was in something of a line shape, with the people at the front occasionally being led back past the back doors where the healers were, I suspected something else was going on.

養樂

Riley was smiling as she rushed over to me. “Isn’t this amazing?” she asked, gesturing to the crowd.

“What is all this?” I asked her.

“I’ve been busy since you left,” she said. “I ordered fliers, had volunteers put them all over town. I went onto all the social media sites and made posts. One even went viral, thanks to some celebrity engagement! All of these people. They say the fliers and the posts and they wanted to help Ava. They are all here to be tested to see if they are donor matches.”

I looked around in something like disbelief. For Riley to have done all this… For so many people to have turned out, wanting to

help…

I had thought I was alone in the world, but there were still good people here, all around me. I didn’t even know them, they didn’t know Ava, but they still wanted to try to save her life.

୮

It was almost too much. I covered my face with my hands, feeling the threat of tears. I tried to blink them away, but a few still escaped. Especially after Riley stepped forward and hugged me. Hiding my face in her shoulder, I hugged her back.

“Thank you, Riley,” I said. “Thank you so much.”

Riley and I sat down and watched the crowd shuffle through. I made sure to thank each and every one of them for their time and efforts. When the line had finally dwindled down, the healer emerged. He gestured for me to follow him out of earshot of everyone else. I followed him to the side of the waiting room.

I held my breath, waiting for him to tell me if this had all been for nothing.

“A few of the donors today were partial matches,” he said.

“What does that mean?”

“Their donated essence can be used to help Ava, but it will not fully restore her. The benefits will be temporary only. But, that is enough to extend our timeline for a few more weeks. This will bring Ava out of immediate danger. For now.”

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Fexhaled hard. “Thank you, doctor.”

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“She will still need a full match for the essence to stay with her,” the healer said. “These partial donors are a temporary solution

only.”

“I understand,” I said.

The healer continued to stare at me. “I’m not sure you do, Ms. Harper. Please excuse me for being crass, but you deserve the full, harsh truth. Without a full match, Ava will never be cured. She will never be able to leave the hospital. And her young life… it will be cut tragically short.”

I closed my eyes, feeling the tears rise again. Despite all I was trying, I still felt so helpless.

The doctor stressed, “She needs that full match.”

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