Chapter 34

Third-person narrative “I don’t know why it took you four so long to inform us about something so serious,” Gina scolded her kids from where she sat on the couch in one corner of her husband’s study.

She had a very disappointed look on her face as she stared at them. It has been over twenty-four hours since her children came with the news of Jasmine’s disappearance, and they were to find her.

Mia and her brothers had their heads down, regretting why they hadn’t said anything since. They had all gathered in Denver’s study to see if they could gather information and ideas that could help them find Jasmine.

“Can anybody think of where she might be?” Derrick said, directing his question to his children.

“I am not sure, but I think she might have run away with that Noah boy,” said Ethan.

I don’t think Jasmine would run to him, not after she caught him cheating on her. I would think that because of what happened, it’s possible that she just went away to somewhere because she wanted to be alone, but we can’t be too sure,” Calix contributed.

“But she has never done that before. No matter where she goes, she always lets me know. She would just tell me not to tell them, but this time, nothing,” Mia said, clearly distressed.

Calix placed his hand under his chin, deep in thought.

“That’s what makes this situation a whole lot more strange,” Zane said.

“Let’s just hope she is not in any form of danger,” Devon said.

Silence fell over them, each one of them in deep thought, wondering what they could do to help the situation.

Suddenly, a loud notification sound interrupted the peace, and it seemed to be coming from Mia’s phone. Sighing, she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

As she stared into her phone, checking the message that was from an unknown number, her eyes widened, and she gasped, the phone almost leaving her hands. This caught the attention of everyone in the room.

“What is it?” Calix asked from beside her, and since no words would leave her mouth, she turned the phone to show her brothers, and just like her, their eyes widened in surprise.

Ethan snatched the phone from Mia to take a good look at it. It was a picture of Jasmine, tied to a chair, in what seemed to be a warehouse. In the picture, she seemed to be unconscious; her mouth was taped, and her legs were tied too.

“What is that?” Gina asked, and Ethan passed the phone to her to take a look.

“This just confirms it. She was taken,” she said, passing the phone to her husband to take a look.

By then, the brothers were already boiling with fury.

“Who would dare take our mate?” Zane growled.

“There’s a message under it. It says that they, whoever they are, would hurt her if we weren’t there in an hour with Gina. There’s an address under it,” Derrick said, looking at his wife.

“Then we have to leave now!” Calix said impatiently, already making for the door.

“Stop!” Denver spoke for the first time. “You’re one of the next alphas of this pack; is that how you would handle situations like this? You don’t just go headfirst into things like this without a proper plan. So I would appreciate it if you three calmed down instead of acting irrationally.”

Calix stopped and sighed, thinking about what his father had said, before going back to where he was seated.

“I think it would be possible for us to get there within an hour if we drove fast. I know where this is, but we would have to leave soon,” Derrick started.

It seemed Mia was still a little bit shaken up from seeing Jasmine all tied up and unconscious because her hands were shaking, and Zane noticed.

He placed her hand in his, squeezing a little, reassuring her. “Jasmine’s going to be fine; don’t worry.”

Then they started to discuss, quickly coming up with a plan that would help them rescue Jasmine and let them all return safely.

They were all on their way to the car when Derrick stopped Mia.

“I don’t want you to come with us,” he said to her, and Mia’s eyes widened.

“What do you mean? I can’t just sit here and do nothing,” she said, her expression showing that she was not about to take no for an answer.

“I know, but I’m saying it for your safety.” He placed his hands on her arms, rubbing them up and down.

“Dad, I can’t do that. Jasmine’s my best friend. I can’t just sit back and watch while you all do that work, and I sit here like nothing’s going on. Please, let me come with you,” her eyes begged.

Derrick sighed, nodding his head. “Okay, but stay close to me when we get there.”

He held onto her hand and pulled her beside him, making her sit next to him at the back of the car. They had shared themselves in two cars: Denver, Gina, Zane, and Calix in one car, and Devon, Ethan, Derrick, and Mia in the second.

They were all nervous and quiet, not knowing what the outcome of their journey would be.

They had planned to go first to know what the whole situation was about, then they would call for the warriors of the pack, who would be standing by somewhere far off if need be.

They drove as fast as they could, and before the hour they were given was over, they had reached the warehouse. It was outside of their pack, in the forest, that acted as a border between their pack and the next. It was hidden deep inside the forest, away from plain sight.

They all stood, staring at the building. From outside, it looked peaceful and quiet. There was nothing out of place, but that made them even more cautious.

“Be careful, everyone. They could be anywhere,” Denver said, holding Gina behind him.

Derrick pulled Mia close to him, and the rest stayed alert. They made their way to the door at the front of the building. Denver, who was at the front, pulled the huge door open.

They all went in, one after the other, into the open space of the warehouse, and they did not expect what they saw.

It was empty.

“Don’t let your guard down; they could be anywhere,” Denver said, and they proceeded to check every corner and hidden spot in the warehouse, but there was no one.

“What is this? We’ve been played,” Devon sighed, frustrated.

“What the hell is even going on? This is all very unnerving,” Gina added.

Just then, they heard a beeping noise coming from somewhere in the building. They all turned to it.

Just then, they heard a beeping noise coming from somewhere in the building. They all turned to it.

“Wait here, Devon, Derrick, let’s check it out,” Denver said, walking in front of his brothers as they approached the source of the sound.

Denver was a few meters ahead of his brothers, so he went ahead to check what it was and saw that it was coming from a wooden box that he had passed by before, not caring to look into it.

Frowning, he raised the lid and saw what could only be a bomb, and its beating got faster as he opened it. His eyes widened in horror as he turned back to face his brothers.

“Run!”

He said, running as fast as he could away from the box, but it was too late. Since he was the closest to it, he was within the range of the explosion.

Gina, Derrick, Devon, Mia, and her brothers, who had taken cover, looked up to check where Denver was, only to find his body on the ground, unmoving.

Mia screamed as his brothers and wife rushed over to him to check on him. Ethan held onto his sister as Zane and Calix rushed to their father.

“Denver!” Gina cried as she saw the extent of the damage to his body.

The explosion had gotten to his legs. They were burnt, and it seemed some of his ribs had broken and were sticking out of his flesh and bleeding badly. They probably broke when he fell from the impact of the explosion.

“Hey, Gina. Don’t cry; he’ll be okay,” Derrick assured her, cupping her face.

Derrick and Devon didn’t waste any time. They carefully lifted their brother, who was groaning in pain and carried him out of the warehouse.

Zane and Calix supported their mother as she cried. They didn’t even have time to check the warehouse for any other bombs; all they wanted to do was get their father to the hospital.

They were all back in the car, and they went back to the pack, rushing him to the hospital before it was too late. By the time they got there, he was already unconscious.

The pack doctor came in immediately to examine him. He looked over him for a while, checking his vitals, while the rest watched anxiously, Gina and Mia crying.

“He seems to have lost a lot of b***d; that’s why he’s unconscious. We need b***d in his body as soon as possible, or he could fall into a coma,” the doctor said, and they gasped.

“I’ll do it,” Gina said immediately, wasting no time.

Since she was a universal donor and her b***d was a healing potion, she was more than willing to donate some b***d to save her mate.

“Okay, right this way. We need to get this done quickly, man. Can you all wait outside?” he told them, after which he led Gina to a different room to bring out some b***d.

An uneasy silence fell over them, as everybody was deep in thought. It seemed the situation was more serious than they thought.

“This just became more dangerous than I ever thought it would,” Ethan said, and the brothers looked between themselves.

They became even more desperate to find their mate than ever.