Chapter 16

Dakota

“That’s really not fucking fair and you know it,” Storm argued and I knew right then and there that I have him where I want him. “No, it isn’t. But, you’d go wherever she goes even if it kills you, right?” It really wasn’t fair that I used Amara as my ticket to get him to help, but what was I supposed to do? Sit back and hope that someday Eric will turn up unscathed? I don’t think so. Besides, Amara was the one who said we needed to talk to him, so technically it wasn't my idea. Also, it's not like I'm going to throw them to the wolves or anything, excuse the bad pun. I just need help in finding Eric then I’ll be on my way. Storm raked his hands through his hair sighing heavily in frustration. “Where do we even start?” Amara squealed giving me a high five before throwing herself at my brother to give him a glorious kiss.

“I’m gonna hit you with an I don’t know,” I answered as I flopped down on one of the chairs and he gave me another murderous look. “I’m serious! I came here to ask if any of you guys heard anything or might know something,” I huffed. It’s not that I’m not a very good tracker or that I don’t have any connections outside of the Continental US, but mine probably won’t scratch the surface, unlike my brother’s connections. “Your guess is as good as ours,” Amara sighed flopping on the chair next to mine. All three of us grew quiet for a few minutes as we did a lot of thinking.

“What was that he said? British and Australian covens?” Storm asked and both I and Amara noded. “Okay, so he also said that things haven’t progressed to a declaration of war yet, but it could anytime soon, right?” Two heads bob again. “If my assumption about your brother is correct, he’s not going to be in any of those territories, but he’ll be somewhere close by or somewhere in the middle to keep an eye on things while remaining inconspicuous. Possibly somewhere he can gain powerful allies,” he continued rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Now we’re getting somewhere! My brother may be a goof at times, but he's super perceptive and intelligent.

Okay, I get what he means. That’s exactly what I think he’s going to do. Now, why didn’t I think of that? Geez! The only question is, which of these countries? “It has to be Italy,” Amara whispered. “Now, I’m not a hundred percent sure, but, I vaguely remember him telling me stories about the Italian coven, and how they’re the biggest in number and strength. He also may have mentioned that they have a sort of history with my brother’s coven. Whether it’s a positive one or not, I have no idea.” I looked between Amara and Storm as I think about the options we can go about this. “Okay... since we’re not a hundred percent sure... Storm, do you know any wolf pack there?” He tilted his head to the side and crossed his arms. “I do, but they’re not exactly... friendly.”

“Okay... So... Are we crossing them out from our contact list?” I asked and I just stared into his eyes that had the same light gray shade as mine. “I don’t know yet, but it’s too early to assume that he really is in Italy. I don’t think he’ll be roaming around freely at this point, so it would be difficult to find him soon. We’ll do some digging. In the meantime, I need to discuss this with Wyatt and Hunter,” he said and my eyes bulged. “Wha-Why do they have to know?” I asked in a panicky voice and he gave me a look that clearly states that my question was really stupid. “Why the hell not?”

Yeah, why the hell not? I must be wired all wrong today because my mind hasn’t been functioning since I found the letter. It should have been an automatic response to understand that alphas always tell their beta and gamma what’s what no matter how small something is especially if it involves communicating with other packs. “I won’t have answers for you anytime soon, Dakota. I’ll do what I can with the time I have left today, okay?” He informed me before patting my head like I was still five years old. I seriously wanted to push him to dig deeper now, but seeing how he has been reacting since I got here, pushing him will be the dumbest idea in the history of dumbest ideas.

“I’m gonna head up to my room for a while then. See you at dinner,” I stated with a sigh as I stood. “You should tell mom and dad the big news, D,” he said as his eyes scanned the scattered papers he has been dealing with for quite some time now. “What news?” He looked at me with a smirk on his face. “Oh, you know. The news that you’re officially mated now. I’m sure mom will be pleased that her baby girl is a woman now.” I didn't bother answering. Instead, I rolled my eyes at him and flipped a finger which he and Amara welcomed with a hearty laugh.

I must’ve called Eric a thousand times since I woke up even though I already know that he is unreachable. I guess I was hoping that at some point he was going to turn his phone on and see me calling. The thing is, I’m about to lose my mind because not only am I unaware of his whereabouts, but I also don’t know if he’s okay or not. He did say that he was going to find a way to let me know that he’s alright from time to time, but what if he never does? I think I’ll die if something truly bad happens to him. I’m just really praying and hoping that we’ll find someone who can track him down so that I can go to him.

I don’t care how dangerous it is or if I end up dying. What I care about is seeing Eric again and keeping him safe. I know he’ll hate me for it, but he and everyone else can suck it.