Page 75 of Assisting the Alpha
“It’s Ethan Lupo. Ayo gave me your number a while back. Have you heard from him today?”
“No, why?”
“He’s missing.” My voice cracks a little on the last word.
“Oh, fuck. I’m on my way. I’ll bring backup. Where do you need us to search?”
I close my eyes, trying to think straight enough to make some sort of plan. Raj puts a firm hand on my shoulder, and it helps. “Get together as many people as you can. I’ll call you back as soon as we have a plan to divide up the search. Maybe half an hour.”
“We’ll start searching the neutral zone if we don’t hear from you.”Zaiden hangs up without a goodbye, which I appreciate. All of Ayo’s stories of the two of them paint a picture of mischief, so I really fucking respect that he’s no-nonsense when it counts.
Teo palms his phone. “I’ve told my enforcers to turn around and come back. They’re grabbing vehicles in case we need them.”
“Good. Thank you.” I’m really fucking glad Ayo has so many friends. Searching the city for him isn’t a small job.
Cal rushes in with Skye right behind him.
“Cal, you’re on translation duty.” I point at the screen.
“On it.” Cal accepts the laptop Kit relinquishes and splits the screen so he can type the translation on the right hand side.
“Boss, I overheard the humans downstairs talking about a fire drill for the building.” Skye runs his hand through his hair. “Apparently there was a notice sent out a few days ago.”
“What?” There was definitely not a notice to my flat, I know that much.
Kit shakes their head, arms folded. “No way. We didn’t get notified of that.”
If the humans in the building knew about a planned fire drill and we didn’t…
“They must have planned this.” Fuck. “Skye and Raj, head downstairs, talk to some people. See if anyone remembers Ayo. Show them his photo.”
Raj is finished with his phone call, so he and Skye nod and rush out. Jet’s name lights up my phone, and I swipe to answer it. “Talk to me.”
“I’m searching the area immediately around the building unless you want me doing something else?”
“No, that’s perfect. Keep in touch.” I hang up and turn to Teo. “Whose idea was the protest? Because the timing of this is starting to look deliberate.”
Teo’s expression is grim. “I really want to say none of my people had anything to do with this, but I’m beginning to wonder the same thing. A few of my people came to me with the idea. I’ll call them, see what I can find out.”
Teo steps out into the corridor. Ordinarily, I’d be concerned about him wandering into the office and seeing something confidential, but I couldn’t give a flying fuck about anything except Ayo right now.
My wolf is growing steadily more enraged that our mate is missing. My hands shake as I try to remain in control. Shifting right now won’t get Ayo back.
Kit dashes out and returns with another laptop. “I’ll create a search grid, boss.”
“Our best bet is going to be figuring out who is behind this, but that’s our backup option if we need it.” Even with numbers, searching the entire city could take days. Ayo likely doesn’t have that kind of time.
I just have to hang on to the hope that Ayo is powerful enough to protect himself and keep himself alive until we can find him. Even on partial power…
Cal’s translation is proving Ayo’s theory correct with every line he rapidly types. It’s a Nagual spell, something that turns a powerful magic-user into a being who can shift at will but still use magic.
Which means one of the coven has been murdering their own, but why? Who would possibly benefit from this?
Standing still is driving me insane. I need to move. “Kit, keep me updated.”
Teo falls into step with me as I head for the stairs, a hard look in his eyes. “None of the people who suggested the protest are answering their phones. No one’s seen them since the violence started.”
That doesn’t surprise me. “It gets worse. We think the murderer is one of the coven.”
