Page 31 of Silent Noise

CHAPTER 21

ALPHA MATHEW

I sat in my office staring at the pack allocation file, my mind wandering back to the unbelievable story Lily had told me. I couldn’t decide what to make of it. My gut told me she wasn’t lying, but whether it actually happened or only happened in her mind was yet to be decided. It might have been a combination of both.

Sixteen, I scoffed. There was no way in hell that girl was sixteen, even if she believed she was. On the other hand, she also believed we were still in the year 1989. My eyes closed, my mind reeling. Wait, if she was sixteen in the year 1989, then she would now be… twenty-four? Yes, that made a lot more sense. But it would also mean that…shit, my eyes flicked open.

Eight years. She’d lost eight years of her life somewhere. Maybe she’d escaped from a mental institution, or she’d been in a terrible accident? I shook my head and closed my fingers around the leather-bound file, flicking it open. I needed more information. I needed to know it wasn’t the Shadow Folk who did this to her. It couldn’t have been.

Tracing a finger along the long list of names and contact numbers, I stopped at one, Alpha Cassius Scott, Hollow Stone. Alpha Cassius? She’d told me her father was Leonidas. Keeping my index finger pinned to the name and number beside it, I grabbed the phone off my desk and punched in the digits.

It only rang once, “Alpha Cassius Scott’s Office, this is Axel,” I heard a male voice answer.

“Good afternoon Axel, my name is Mathew, I’m the Alpha of Blade Rock.

AXEL

“Alpha Cassius Scott’s Office, this is Axel,” I said, putting it on speaker.

“Good afternoon, Axel, my name is Mathew. I’m the Alpha of Blade Rock.”

I moved down to the third drawer, pulling it open. “Yes, Alpha, how can we help you?”

“I would like to speak to Hollow Stones’Alpha concerning a private matter.”

I rolled my eyes, of course he would. “Sure. He’s not in at the moment though, can I ask him to phone you back?” What would Blade Rock’s Alpha have to say to Cas?

“That would be great, thank you,” he answered, about to hang up.

“Is there a message you would like me to give him with regards to your call?” I quickly asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

“Uh-yeah, it’s about Lily,” he said, “one of your pack members.” I pulled the entire bottom drawer out of its socket. The fuck did he just say? I jumped up so fast, I didn’t register pain as the drawer came crashing down on my foot, scattering papers and stationery everywhere.

“Hey, wait,” I yelled, gripping the earpiece and hovering my face mere inches from the speaker, “Alpha, wait, don’t hang up.” I stared at the phone with my heart racing a million miles per hour. A moment went by. “Hello? Alpha? Are you still there?”

“I’m here.”

Fuck, I almost kissed Cas’s desk, “Alpha, I’m Axel Scott, Lily’s twin brother. Did you say you have news on her?” Another agonising moment went by where I held my breath the entire time.

“Nice to meet you, Axel,” Alpha Mathew finally said. I could almost hear his smile through the phone.

I exhaled in relief, pulling my foot out from under the drawer and the mess around it. Moving closer, I leaned forward, steadying myself against the desk. "What news do you have for us concerning my sister? Did you?” I didn’t know what to ask, what to think.

“I found her. She’s here, in my infirmary,” he replied as if it was no big deal at all.

“In your infirmary?”

“Yes.”

“Like, physically there? In your infirmary? At this very moment?”

I could hear the Alpha chuckling on the other end of the line. “That’s what I said.”

“Permission to enter your pack grounds, Alpha,” I blurted my words coming out in rushed syllables. I had to restrain myself from yelling it.

He chuckled again. “Permission granted.”

I rested my forehead against the wooden surface of the desk. Lily. Alive. In Blade Rock. I had so many questions. “Thank you. Thank you, Alpha.”

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