Page 45 of My Possessive Alpha

“What the hell was she doing out here?” I heard Ezra mumble.

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter,” Zoe returned sharply, keeping everyone on task while I focused.

I tried to maintain my composure as best as I could, but on the inside, I was terrified of what it meant. More so, I was furious with myself for not noticing she was gone in the first place.

My mind was racing, and I felt like I was on the brink of going insane. But even so, I pushed on, thinking only about Lydia and finding her as soon as possible.

After traveling for some time, we reached a clearing, and at once, many scents hit me. The sound of muffled crying in the distance immediately piqued my attention, and I raced over to where fresh tire tracks were imprinted into the grass, and two figures were huddled close by.

Defensively, we all stopped, poised as he looked at them and as their gleaming eyes glanced back at us.

My brows came together as a wash of anger hit me at the sight of them. Scott and Iris Finch. Lydia’s parents.

Iris sniffled to herself as Scott held her close, consoling her. They looked more fearful and concerned than angry to see me, which I had expected instead.

My heart was in my throat as I approached them. “What the hell happened here?”

As the others surrounded me, there was no point in them taking a defensive stance. Instead, Scott helped Iris to her feet, who had a noticeable red mark across her cheek.

“We…we were wrong,” Scott admitted, voice forlorn as he could barely meet my gaze. “We sought Lydia out and convinced her to speak with us…”

My brows set angrily at them. “You’re the reason she came out here by herself?”

Iris nodded with another sniffle. “It was wrong of us to corner her like that, but we didn’t think Jack would take her by force like that. We hoped she would go willingly instead. We told him to be gentle—”

My heart dropped as a frigid chill moved through me. At once, everything around me seemed to stop, and even if, for a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

“What?”

The clearing was nearly silent then, save for Iris’ crying.

It took everything in my power not to lose my mind or my temper right then and there.

They lured Lydia out to convince her to go back with them and Jack…only for him to take her forcefully.

The very thing I was trying to prevent for weeks.

Despite my efforts, it still happened anyway.

Zeroing in on them, I grit my teeth as my entire body went rigid with anger. My voice was somewhat shaken, yet stern enough to let them know we didn’t have even a second to waste. “Where was Jack planning on taking her?”

Even if they had a hand in the reason why Lydia was gone, her parents were riddled with regret. At the very least, they didn’t resist.

“Jack intended to make Lydia his mate regardless of what Lydia wants, even if it takes time for the connection to form,” Scott began, tone heavy with remorse. “He’ll…he’ll likely be at the pack grounds. He wanted to get her back ever since she left.”

My skin and blood underneath felt like it was on fire as that white-hot fury coursed through my system, and with every fiber of restraint I had, I held it back in. Clenching my fists, I continued past them, feeling like I didn’t have anything left to say at that point.

They didn’t matter then. Not while I needed to get Lydia back before it was too late. If I hesitated or tracked back to try and come up with a plan first, I risked Jack harming our bond in some way by using torturous methods to break it with force. Before he could hurt her, I needed to get her home again.

“Wait!” Iris said, making me pause in my place as I glanced over my shoulder.

“What?”

She swallowed hard at the sight of my fury that couldn’t be fully tempered. “What can we do? We want to make sure she’s all right?”

I bristled at her words. While I could only imagine they did want her to be safe, given how the plan didn’t unfold as they anticipated, I didn’t have the patience left to space.

“You can leave. If you don’t want to get caught in the middle of this, then go,” I muttered, jaw clenched. “You’ve done enough.”

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