NovelOnline143 Chapter 143
Damien’s POV 1
Three weeks.
Three fucking weeks since Sera walked out of our lives, and | was no closer to finding her than the day she left.
| sat behind my desk, staring at Marcus's latest report without really seeing the words. Another dead end.
Another day of hope crushed
into dust.
*“No trace of her at any of the bus terminals in a 200-mile radius. Checked every hotel, motel, and boarding
house we could find. It’s like
she just vanished into thin air.”*
| crumpled the paper and threw it across the room, where it joined a growing pile of similar reports. Useless. All
of it.
“Alpha?” Marcus stood in my doorway, his expression carefully neutral. Behind him, Tyler and Jake waited with
that slook of
professional sympathy that madewant to put my fist through something.
“Tellyou have good news,” | said, though my voice sounded dead even to my own ears.
“We expanded the search to include smaller towns, off-the-grid places where someone might go to disappear,”
Marcus said. “Found a
few possibilities, but...”
“But?”
“Without more specific information about where she might go, we're basically searching blind. She could be
anywhere by now.”
*Anywhere.* The word echoed in my empty chest like a death knell.
“Keep looking,” | ordered.
“Alpha-"
“I said keep looking” My voice dropped to that deadly whisper that made grown wolves back down. “Did |
stutter?”
“No, Alpha. We'll keep looking.”
They filed out, leavingalone with my rage and desperation. | picked up Sera’s letter from my desk, the paper
soft from handling, the
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtink smudged from my tears.
“I'll find you if | have to tear apart every town between here and the Pacific Ocean.”
A knock on the door interrupted my spiral. “Cin.”
Lucas entered with his usual casy smile, carrying two cups of coffee. “Thought you might need this. You look like
hell.”
“Thanks for the pep talk.” | accepted the coffee gratefully. At least Lucas still treatedlike a normal person
instead of a grief-stricken
madman.
“So,” he said, settling into the chair across from my desk. “How are Sera and the kids? Feels like | haven't seen
her in forever. So has Riley.”
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The question hitlike a physical blow. | managed to keep my expression neutral, but barely.
“She's been busy with Lily,” I lied smoothly. “You know how it is with a newborn. She’s exhausted most of the
time.”
“Right, of course.” Lucas’s face lit up with understanding. “New mom life is rough. Riley keeps talking about
babies, and honestly, the idea
of no sleep for months terrifies me.”
“She’ll adjust,” | said carefully. “Sera’s stronger than she looks.”
“She’s amazing,” Lucas agreed. “The way she handles everything-work, Adrian, now Lily. I don’t know how she
does it.”
“Yeah,” | managed. “Amazing”
Lucas studied my face with those perceptive eyes. “You okay, man? You seem... | don’t know. Off.”
“Just tired. Long hours at the office.”
“Maybe you should take stoff. Spend it at hwith your family. I'm sure Sera would appreciate the
help.”
“Maybe,” | lied.
Lucas grinned and leaned back in his chair. “God, listen togiving relationship advice. Six months ago, |
couldn't even tell Riley how |
felt about her, and now I'm acting like skind of expert.”
“How are the wedding plans coming along?” | asked, desperate to change the subject.
“Slow. Riley wants something simple, but her mom has... opinions.” He laughed. “I just show up where they tell
anything up.”
“Smart strategy.”
“All the good things do.” Lucas stood up, checking his watch. “I should get going. Riley's meetingfor lunch,
and you know how she
gets when I'm late.”
“Give her my best.”
“Will do. And tell Sera | said hi. Maybe you guys can cto dinner soon? It's been too long since we all hung
out together.”
“I'll ask her,” | lied again.
After Lucas left, | slumped forward in my chair, my head in my hands. The weight of the lies was crushing. Every
casual question about
Sera, every assumption that we were still a happy family, felt like someone driving a stake through my heart.
My phone buzzed. Text from Ophelia.
*“Any news?“*
*“Nothing. Dead end after dead end.“*
Her response cimmediately. *“We need to talk, Can you meetafter work?“*
| stared at the message. Ophelia had been helping with the search from the beginning, using her own contacts
and connections to try to
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find any trace of Sera. She was as desperate as | was, maybe more so. She'd lost her best friend.
*“Where?*
*“The park by Adrian's school. 6 PM.“*
*I'll be there."*
The afternoon crawled by at a snail's pace. Every minute felt like an hour, every hour like a lifetime. | tried to
focus on work, but the
quarterly reports and contract negotiations felt meaningless.
By six o'clock, | was pacing like a caged animal in the parking lot of Riverside Park. Ophelia’s car pulled up five
minutes later, and she got
out looking as tired and frustrated as | felt.
“Any word from Marcus today?” she asked without preamble.
“Nothing. Sas yesterday and the day before.” | kicked a stone viciously across the asphalt. “It’s like she just
evaporated.”
“She didn’t evaporate, Damien. She's somewhere. We just need to think differently about where she might go.”
| looked at her sharply. “What do you mean?”
Ophelia said, her voice gaining strength. “Think about it, Damien. If you were going to disappear, where would
you go? You'd go
somewhere safe. Somewhere with people you trust.”
“But Sera doesn’t have-" | stopped mid-sentence as her meaning hit me.
“She doesn’t have a lot of close friends,” Ophelia continued. “Most of her relationships were here, with the pack.
But there is someone...”
“Who?” | breathed.
“Caleb Morrison!” Ophelia’s eyes were bright with possibility. “That’s the only person | can remember.”
My mind raced. Caleb. | can still remember him, too.
“Do you think she would go to him?”
“If she was desperate? If she felt like she had nowhere else to turn?” Ophelia’s voice was gentle but certain.
“Yeah. | think she might.” 1
For the first tin three weeks, something that felt like hope flickered in my chest. It was small, fragile, but it
was there.
“Then we need to find him,” I said.
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