Page 31 of The Soulless Witch

“Just so you know,” Julia said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “There will be rules.”

Her children groaned, but I found myself smiling. When she pulled back, she gave me one of her motherly smiles, which I’d noticed she usually reserved for her children alone.

“Welcome to the family, dear,” she whispered so quietly that I wasn’t sure I heard her since both Lily and Jake started tugging on my arms while talking over each other.

Chapter 17

Isaac

Crouchingdownintheshady alley between two buildings, I sniffed the air, trying to sort through the smells before the stench of trash, piss, and mold overwhelmed me. The boy’s scent disappeared right where I stood, in the middle of the dead-end street. There wasn’t anywhere to hide or escape; the only way out of this dump was back where I came from.

So how did a kid vanish without a trace?

Pushing myself up, I tasted the air again while my eyes searched the ground. There were scents of other people, mostly human, but they were at least a day or two old. Useless junk, rotting cardboard, and cigarette buts littered the ground, but those were not from today either. There was no blood or nail marks, no signs of struggle anywhere near where the boy had stopped. Like the others, he just vanished into thin air.

The sun was up, so it couldn’t have been a vampire. Another adult werewolf could make the climb to the rooftop, or at least the windows on the lower floors, but apart from me and the missing boy, I could detect no one of our kind in the alley. Some Fae could snatch him and fly away, but they would have left traces of glamor behind. This left the witches—they could hide their scents with their charms and potions, but a normal witch couldn’t jump that high. And if they used a spell to disappear, their magic would have left a trace. Magic always did.

So what in the Goddess’ name was going on here?

“Alpha,” Allison called, and I gave the alley one last look before striding back to the light. I had left my Beta with the boy’s mother, while the other two of our team were looking for traces of the child nearby.

I had barely reached the two women when the mother rushed to me, catching my hand. Her makeup was smeared across her cheeks and her hair was halfway out of her messy bun, but she didn’t seem to care. Her eyes were full of guilt I knew all too well.

“Please, please tell me you found something, Alpha!” She hiccuped, squeezing my hand with enough strength to break a normal person’s bones. “He is only ten! I lost sight of him for one second! He dropped his ball, and it rolled to this alley and he just went to get it while I waited at the door of the store! He didn’t come back! I watched him the whole time! He never left that alley! Please! I know it’s my fault, but I can’t…” she trailed off, covering her face with her hands.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I caught her shoulders.

“I need you to calm down so you can help me find him,” I said quietly, and she sucked in a deep breath, nodding. “I found some clues and I will continue the search immediately, but I need to ask you some questions first. The more you tell me, the faster we’ll find your son.” She nodded again, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. I felt terrible for lying to her, but I knew the truth would only shatter her beyond repair. She needed that tiny sliver of hope to keep going, just as I once did.

“Anything! Anything you need!” she said, her voice gradually steadying. “I-I-I already gave your Beta his p-p-personal information and his picture.” She sniffed a few more times, but after another deep breath, she seemed to pull herself together. “What else can I do?”

“What was he wearing today, and where does he usually go to play in this area?”

She licked her lips, her eyebrows scrunching.

“Dark tracksuit, we were going to his soccer practice,” she replied, the words now slipping effortlessly from her mouth. “Green shoes, and there is the team’s emblem on his back—a wolf howling at the moon. He picked that team because of the logo and…” I cleared my throat, looking down at her trembling hands. “There is a playground a couple of streets down. He goes there to play with his friends, and there is a basketball court by the school that he sometimes goes to. But why would he go there without telling me? He never misses practice!”

I looked at Allison and she mouthed‘On it!’,already raising her phone to her ear. Turning my attention back to the woman, I squeezed her shoulders a little harder.

“Have you noticed anyone following you or watching you in the past few weeks?” She hesitated, but then shook her head. “Does your son have any new friends, or has he talked about a new person he met when you weren’t around?”

“No!” she said quickly, her voice cracking. “He’s a good boy, and since his father is not around, he is always careful and tries to be there for me. He would have told me! No, it has to be something else, something in this street!”

She broke my hold and strode past me, stopping at the edge of the alley as if she couldn’t go any further. Sniffing the air, she let out a little sob before turning to face me again.

“How could this happen? Who could do this?Whatcould do this?” she asked, tears spilling from her eyes again. “He is just a boy! Who is taking our children, Alpha? What are you going to do to get them back? When is this nightmare going to end?”

I opened my mouth to apologize, but then I stopped. She didn’t need an apology; she needed her child back. And showing her I had no idea what was going on was only going to make her worry more. For better or for worse, I was her Alpha, and the fact that someone had disappeared on my watch was my responsibility.

“Grace,” I said, straightening my up. She stopped crying, fear flashing in her eyes as her shoulders caved in. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this. I’m going to find your son and all the other missing persons, no matter what. I’ll find out who did this and I’ll make them pay. You have my word. But I need you to stay calm and cooperate with us because your boy will need you to be strong for him when he gets back. We can’t be weak when our loved ones need us. Understand?”

“Yes,” she whispered, balling her hands into fists. “Thank you, Alpha.”

The sound of approaching steps made me look over my shoulder as Connor, one of the men I sent to look around, returned. He shook his head, so I gave him a sign not to say anything.

“Grace, this is Connor. He will take you home and watch the house in case your son comes back. The rest of us will be searching the city and we’ll call you when we find him.” She gave me another nod, following Connor with heavy steps. I watched them walk away before returning my gaze to the dark alley.

This was a nightmare—a nightmare where I had no idea what was going on, or what I was supposed to do. All I could feel was utter helplessness…just like that night.

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