Filed To Story: Falling for the Alpha As a Student Novel
“I think her name is Rachel…”
“Rachel is supposed to be in the hospital,”
I barked.
“I think her father released her for the banquet,”
Ethan explained. “She wasn’t feeling well, so she excused herself and went upstairs to one of the guest rooms to lie down. Lila went upstairs after dinner to check on her.”
“And then she went missing?”
“Well, we heard screams from downstairs…”
“Screams? Lila’s?”
“No…”
Ethan said, shaking his head. I glanced at his face and saw that it had gone pale.
“Then who’s?”
I asked through my teeth, feeling impatient.
“Raymonds… Rachel’s father,”
he answered grimly.
What? None of it made any sense. What the hell was my Beta talking about? Before I could open my mouth to ask, he continued.
“Raymond was screaming in agony, so we went upstairs to see what was going on and we saw Rachel kneeling over him and covered in his blood,”
Ethan said, shuddering.
I froze as we reached the front room of the packhouse. As soon as I was inside the house, I smelled the metallic scent of blood. It made the packhouse reek. I turned to Ethan, trying to keep control of my wolf. But it was growing more difficult with each passing moment.
“And then what?”
I asked with a clenched jaw.
“She said she didn’t mean to do it…”
Ethan said, his face falling. “But she was covered in his blood. We think Rachel was the one who killed all those people at the school….”
My stomach tightened; the murderer has been under our nose this entire time? That close to my mate? Living in the same dorm room?
How did I not see it sooner? Fury was rising through me and from the worry on Ethan’s face, I knew my wolf was making himself known through my eyes. He was on the edge, holding not every single one of Ethan’s words as if his life depended on it.
Lila’s life depended on it; which meant ours did too.
“And Lila?”
“She wasn’t there,”
Ethan answered, shaking his head. “She was completely gone.”
I wanted to ask more questions, but the door to the living room opened and Bastien walked out. I could see blood on his suit, and he looked distraught. I couldn’t blame him; his daughter was missing. Telling from the blood on his clothing, it must have been a blood bath in there.
“Did Ethan catch you up?”
Alpha Bastien asked, stopping in front of me.
“Mostly,”
I answered. “There’s seriously no sign of her?”
Bastien shook his head.
“None,”
he answered.
“Where is Rachel?”
“Being detained upstairs,”
Bastien said, motioning with his head to the stairway.
I went to head up the stairs, but Bastien grabbed my shoulder, holding me in place.
“It’s a bad scene; you should prepare yourself. We didn’t have time to move anything or clean,”
he warned.
I glared at him.
“I don’t give a shit,”
I seethed.
He didn’t take offense to my unpleasant tone. He just nodded and took a step back. I turned back around and ran up the stairs. I could hear Bastien and Ethan on my tail. I followed the scent of the blood until I reached the door that it was most strong.
I barged in without knocking and froze at the doorway.
It seriously was a blood bath. The blood smelled disgusting and rotten; everything about it was wrong and the scent alone made me want to puke. Raymond was lying on his back, his eyes opened slightly but it was obvious he was dead. He had a gaping hole in his chest where his heart should be, but it wasn’t there. Bits of it were lying beside him on the ground, but it was evident that most of it had been consumed.
Raymond was an asshole, so it wasn’t much of a loss. But still, nobody deserved to die like that.
What kind of monster would do that?
Then, my eyes shifted upward, and I saw her.
Rachel sat in the corner of the room, on the floor, with her knees pressed to her chest and head buried in her lap. She had cuffs around her arms and legs, preventing her from going anywhere or using any kind of abilities. Gammas were surrounding her as well, including Jake who was watching me somberly.
His job was to get Lila there and back safely. But Ethan’s job was to make sure Lila remained safe the entire time.
Anger coursed through me as I breathed out my nose like an angry bull and turned to face my Beta.
“And where the hell were you during all of this?”
I seethed. “You were supposed to keep her safe.”
Ethan’s head lowered, shamefully.
“I… I was distracted,”
he murmured, staring at the ground.
“Distracted?”
I asked, feeling nothing but pissed. How could my Beta be distracted enough to not do his job?! “Distracted by what?”
“I… uh… I found my mate.”
The news of this surprised me; it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting. He found his mate in Alpha Jonathan’s pack?
It’s not even important right now; I shook my head and tried to ease my anger. It would distract me too; I couldn’t be too mad at him.
Besides, it’s not like he was alone here.
I put my hand on his shoulder and gave him a nod.
“Congratulations, man,”
I said to him.
He nodded in return, but he still looked remorseful.
I turned to Rachel who was still sobbing in her lap.
I walked up to her; the warriors allowed me to pass so I could speak with her.
“Where is she?”
I asked through my teeth.
Rachel looked and I saw the torment in her red and swollen eyes.
“I…I don’t know…”