Next morning, I wake up as I hear my phone ringing. After rubbing my eyes, I try to look at the caller ID but the light emitting from the screen is too bright for my eyes. It takes a few seconds for my eyes to finally see the name of the person who’s calling me. And I’m left surprised to find that it’s Roslyn. It’s the first time that she’s calling me.
I press the answer option. Even before I can speak, she says, “Elizabeth, I need your help.”
The tension and seriousness in her voice makes me fully awake and I give all my attention to her. She tells me about her worries for her friend, Katherine.7
“So…will you help me?” She asks hesitantly.
“Of course I will!” I say without even a second thought. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”19
“Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me. A woman should be there for another woman, right?”14
“Yeah.” The tone of her voice tells me that she’s really grateful to have my support.13
After ending the call, I quickly get out of the bed and shower. I dress up and get my laptop to book the earliest flight to reach the Dungeon Devourer Pack. After the ticket is confirmed, I head to Lance’s office with my laptop to print the ticket. Sensing the commotion in the office, my three friends appear at the doorway.
“What are you doing?” Lance questions.
“I’m getting my ticket printed,” I reply as my printed ticket gets out of the printer. I grab the ticket.
“Where are you going?” He asks next.
“I’m going to meet a friend.” I pass by him and head to the stairs. I need to start packing too.6
“And who is this friend?” He looks at me suspiciously.
“Someone you don’t want me to meet.” I quickly ascend the stairs and enter my room. I open my closet and throw some clothes and necessities in a backpack.
As soon as I close my backpack, my bedroom door is slammed open by a very angry Lance. “Why are you going to meet Roslyn?”1
“Because she needs me.”
“Why would she need you?”1
I sigh and decide to tell him. Jolene and Steve who are standing behind Lance also listen intently.
“You are not going anywhere,” Lance says firmly when I finish.
“But she needs my help!”
“She’s lying. She clearly made up a story to lure you into her trap. And you foolishly decided to go to her.”
“She’s not lying!” I protest.
“Why do you trust her so much?!” He exclaims in frustration as he grabs my shoulders and shake me as if trying to shake some sense into me.1
“Because I’m the only one who doesn’t look at her with suspicion!” Silence soon follows after my loud proclamation. Lance releases my shoulders and steps back. There’s so much tension in the room.3
Once we all calm down, I start softly. “I gave Albert a second chance despite of how he treated me in the beginning. So, why can’t you guys give Roslyn a second chance? She hasn’t even done anything. You are judging her for the crimes committed by her father and brother. When are we going to move past this?” I question with a hint of tiredness in my voice. How many times are we going to move back and forth regarding this matter?
There is a moment of silence as I’ve rendered my friends speechless. I can see the wheels churning in Lance’s head. After a long pause, he turns to Steve and orders, “Book me a flight as well.”
Before I can question his motives, he says, “I’m coming with you.”
“I don’t need you to babysit me,” I say as I cross my arms and frown.
“Who says I’m going to babysit you? You told me to give Roslyn a second chance, right? Well, that’s what I’m doing. I’m giving her a second chance by coming with you.”
After Lance is done with packing, we both head downstairs. Lance gives instructions to Steve on how to manage the pack during our absence.
“When will you guys return?” Steve asks.
Lance looks at me.
“We don’t know how serious the situation is. Once we get there, we’ll assess the situation and let you know,” I say.1
Steve hugs us goodbye before Jolene, Lance and I leave the pack house and get inside Jolene’s car. She’s going to drop us off at the airport. I sit beside Jolene while Lance sits in the backseat.
“Did you tell Albert where we are going?” He asks as he looks at me from the rear view mirror.
“No.”
“Don’t you think that he should know?”
“I don’t have the energy to have the same conversation with him that I had with you earlier,” I conclude.10
Jolene starts the car and we head to the airport.
After the landing, when Lance and I exit the airport, we find Roslyn and Beta Boris waiting for us.
When Roslyn sees me, she runs towards me and hugs me. “Thank God you’re here,” she says with relief. She pulls away and then looks at Lance. “Alpha Lancelot, thank you so much for coming.”
Lance tries to mask his surprise but nods in acknowledgement.
“First, we’ll head to the pack house to fill you guys in on the current situation and then we’ll decide what to do,” Roslyn informs us. Lance and I nod in agreement. We all get inside the car and head to the Dungeon Devourer Pack.
Once we get ourselves settled in the sitting room of the pack house, Roslyn starts explaining. “Katherine is my childhood friend. Recently, she moved to the River Stone Pack after finding her mate. A week ago, I dialed her number to check up on her but she didn’t answer my call. I thought she must be busy and would call me when she would see the missed call. I waited the entire day for her call but it never came. The day after, I tried again to contact her but her phone was switched off. I had a feeling that something was wrong. So, I decided to go visit her.
“Upon reaching the River Stone Pack, I found out that she and her mate had moved into the pack house, which I found odd since Katherine’s mate wasn’t a rank-holding werewolf. When I got to the pack house, I was refused to meet my own childhood friend! I was even denied entry into the pack house! My feeling about something being wrong was turning out to be true.
“When I heard the rumors that something bad had happened to Katherine, I desperately tried to meet her but all my attempts were met with failure. I realized that if I wanted to meet my friend then I would need help and I thought of you,” Roslyn finishes as she looks at me.5
“So the Alpha of the River Stone Pack is not letting you meet your friend?” Lance drawls.
“Yes,” Roslyn answers.
“But why?”
“That’s what we have to find out.”
We all decided to meet Alpha Eric of the River Stone Pack. The River Stone Pack was just one hour drive away from the Dungeon Devourer Pack. As soon as we set foot on the land of River Stone, we straightaway head to the pack house. The two guards who are standing on each side of the door move to block our path as we approach.
“I want to see Katherine,” Roslyn tells the guards.
“We can’t let you meet her. It’s Alpha Eric’s orders,” one of them says.
Roslyn, Boris, Lance and I exchange knowing looks. It’s time to execute our plan.2
Lance and Boris step forward, grab the guards and throw them away from the pack house. Since the pack house is now unguarded, all four of us rush inside and start calling Katherine’s name as we check each and every room. Almost all the rooms are empty, which we were expecting since we knew that the Alpha, Beta and Gamma would be in the training ground with the pack members at this time.5
We hear heavy steps entering the pack house which is a clear indication that the guards are back on their feet. Lance and Boris head towards the guards to stop them from being a hindrance in our mission while Roslyn and I resume our research.
Only one room is left to check. We rush towards it as we hear fighting sounds echoing in the pack house. By now, the guards must have notified their Alpha about our presence. Roslyn reaches for the knob but the door is locked from inside. She kicks at the door with all her strength and the door swings open.1
When we step inside the room, the first thing that I notice is handful of women huddled in the corner of the room. They look frightened upon our arrival. Roslyn who is standing beside me gasps. I look at her and then follow her line of vision as I bring my hands to cover the scream escaping from my mouth.1
There on the bed, I find Katherine lying unconscious with several blue, purple and black bruises and deep wounds and cuts covering every inch of her body.