Page 36 of The Alpha's Grave Secrets

My heart lurches in my chest. She should be in the car, damn it.

“Stop!” one of the agents’ barks, moving to block her path.

“Let me through! Kato!” Elara shouts, pushing against him, and the barricades set up to keep the accumulating crowd of nosy neighbors at bay, but they don’t budge.

“Elara!” I bark, my voice cutting through the chaos. “Let her through,” I snap at the agents. They hesitate, but I don’t have time for hesitation. “Now.”

“What the hell are you doing? I told you to stay in the car.”

“I wouldn’t need to come here if you haven’t shut me out again.” Guilt twists like a knife in my stomach. “I can’t just sit there and do nothing.”

I should be furious. I should drag her back to the barricade and lock her down, but all I can do is stare in awe. She’s shaken, but she’s not backing down. She’s truly a force to be reckoned with.

She stops in front of me, breathless. “What did you find?”

My jaw tightens, its weight sitting heavy in my chest. “He’s gone. But there’s fresh blood. He’s got another victim.”

Her eyes widen, horror washing over her. “Where?”

“We don’t know,” I say, the frustration cutting through me. “Her scent went cold. We’re trying to find anything to tell us where Richard took her.”

Elara’s gaze shifts past me to the house, “We’ll find her,” she says quietly, but there’s no doubt in her voice. It’s not a question. It’s a promise. And for the first time tonight, I believe her.

After a moment, she lifts her chin, takes a deep breath, and says, “Take me to where he held me.”

Chapter 19

Kato

When I see Elara’s face as she steps through the doorway of Richard’s house, I want to pull her into my arms and out of the attached garage I move us to.

The color drains from her skin, and her eyes widen as the thick stench hits her. My stomach twists, knowing that those horrible memories are clawing their way back to the surface. She stumbles forward, pressing a hand to her mouth, her entire body tensing.

“Elara, you don’t have to do this.” I call softly moving to her side before she collapses, but she shakes her head, fighting to stand tall.

The team exchanges nervous glances. Callie looks like she’s preparing to shove me out of the way and bring Elara back to safety.

“I’m okay,” she whispers, though her hands tremble as she forces herself to keep walking. Her eyes sweep the room. Her dread creeps up along the bond, I drop my shields and let her all the way in.

Sending her a sensation of calm, love, an internal hug of sorts, to let her know I am right there with her.

She closes her eyes, and I can feel her reliving her time in this room. She takes deep breaths one after another while the rest of us scarcely dare to breathe. Finally, she opens her eyes, saying, “I think I know where he is.”

All eyes turn to Elara.

“You what?” Callie asks, stepping closer, but Elara doesn’t look at her. Her eyes are locked on mine.

“When I was with him… when he…” she pauses, taking a deep breath to steady herself. I can see her mind fighting to stay in the present. “He told me about a shack in the woods. Somewhere, he used to hide when his mom went on these benders. I didn’t think much of it then, but it was small. Isolated. He built it himself.”

“What else do you remember?” I ask, my voice low. The tension in the room shifts. Every second feels like a lifetime.

Elara closes her eyes, digging through her memories. “He said it was near a stream. Not far from a hill with an old, rusted car buried in the brush. That’s all I know. He didn’t say exactly where, but I could see him there.”

I glance over at Gun, who’s already pulling out his phone. “Minna,” I say, and he nods, already on it.

As Gun relays the information to Minna, our tech expert, we gather around. The rest of the team hovers, listening intently as Elara feeds every detail she can remember into the call. Minna is already working on triangulating satellite images and pulling up maps.

“I’ve got it,” Minna’s voice crackles over the speaker after a tense silence. “Sending you the location now.” The map pings on the screen of my phone, and a red marker pinpoints the area in the woods. It’s remote. Isolated. And it fits the description perfectly.

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