~~
Reece
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It was after eight that night that I noticed that I had a message from Clovio. I hadn't saved his number in my phone so it went unnoticed for a little while. I feel bad about that, since the kid wasn't that bad. He was a little shit, don't get me wrong, but that was only because he tried to date my daughter. Other than that, he seemed to be a pretty stand up guy. There was reason to trust him at least. And we were going to be working with him and his friend for the time being.
“Shit.” I said when I noticed the message was from him. All of the kids were off doing things on their own. They weren't going to be going to school for the time being, so they didn't need to do their homework or get to bed early. They would still be studying though. At least the younger ones. I was going to call in a tutor to help them while they were out of school. I didn't want them to fall behind. Zachary, Zander, Zayden and Zaley were only in the fifth grade; they couldn't afford to miss these important foundational steps in learning. Or at least, that was what I had been told.
“What's the matter Reece?” My Little Bunny called out to me from across the room. “Did something happen?”
“I got a message from Clovio earlier. I hadn't noticed it until just now.
.....
“What does it say?”
[Clovio]
I am meeting my friends tonight just after dark in the same park that you and I were in earlier. Would love for you to come with me.
I read the message for her and tried to think about it for a moment.
“He's writing it like it's for Rika, but it's for me. I think he's scared.” I looked at the window. “If only I could have seen it sooner, I could have hidden in the park and caught the others. I think that was what he wanted me to do.”
“Probably.” She came over to sit on the couch with me. We were in our room, the first alone time that we had gotten today. “Should you still go?”
“Let me text him back.” I started to message him but was stopped almost immediately.
“Wait. You're not a girl, you don't know how to text him properly.” She took the phone out of my hand and started to type a response.
“Like you can do better than me.” I glared at her playfully.
“Well, Reece, unlike you, I am a woman. And I used to be a girl that was Rika's age once. A long time ago, but that isn't the point. You need to make this sound like it's coming from his girlfriend. Not the angry father of that girlfriend.” She was still typing the entire time that she spoke to me, never once taking her eyes off of the screen.
“I am the angry father of that former girlfriend of his.” I growled at her. “So, I wouldn't be acting.”
“And that, my dear sweet Reece, is the problem. You wouldn't type this right.” She sent the message and looked up at me. “Done. This should suffice. It's conveying that she is still upset about her dad telling her she can't see him, but that she misses him. I told her that you were caught up with other work and just said the message, but you will head over now if he still wants to see you.”
“Blech.” I pretended to gag. “You're making it sound like I am the one in the relationship with that boy.” I felt my skin crawl and wanted to vomit all at the same time. “That is so creepy.”
“I know. You're cheating on me, Reece. How dare you? And with that pathetic teenage boy at that.” She laughed at me then, causing me to just shudder again.
“Eww.”
“Ha ha ha. Stop being so overly dramatic.” She laughed at me. “Look, he's texted back.” We both looked at the screen.
[Clovio}
I am happy that you are still willing to come, but the meeting is almost over. I will talk to you later. Sorry to bother you when you were busy.
At that, my Little Bunny started to text him back again. I was reading the text over her shoulder. She told him to call me later if he needed to. Not that I wanted to have a secret late night conversation with that boy, but we needed to know everything that we could. He was spying for us now, instead of his family. And anything that he was able to tell us would help.
“I think that I am going to go to the park anyway. I will take Noah and some of the others with me. We can search the park for clues and possibly follow their scents back to where they are staying. It's a step in the right directions at the very least.”
“If you think that would be best, then go ahead. I won't stop you.” She leaned in and kissed my cheek. “I have a feeling that this is all going to happen really fast really soon. I don't want to rush it, but I think that is going to happen no matter what we do. It's inevitable.”
“I agree. This is all going to start getting really busy and exciting for all of us. We're going to need to stay on top of our game. I don't want to miss a thing with the rest of this investigation. And I will not accept failure in this mission. We need to save those girls, and all the others in our kingdom.” I felt the conviction coursing through me. I wasn't going to let anyone else die. Not when I knew where the murders were at the current moment. OK, I didn't know their exact location, but I knew that they were in the city right now. I would track them down no matter what it took.
As I left my room, I sent a mental message to Noah, Carter, Trevor, Landon, Riley and Valerian. I told them that we were going to be heading to the park to search for the scent and to see if those men were still there. If we could capture one of them tonight, then maybe we could hunt them down before those girls were lured into the trap in two nights. If not, we would wait until they were taken there and save them the moment that they were at the park. That would likely be the best option. We would at least catch five of them at once that way. And with the others helping us, we would be able to hide ourselves. They wouldn't see us coming when the time came.
I got messages back from the others almost immediately. They all agreed to meet me in the garage so that we could leave right away. And it was on the way down there that I saw Westin. He came running up to me and I noticed that he was not in the best of moods.
“Reece, I know that you are busy, but I need to talk to you.”
“What is it, Westin?” I gave him the go ahead to talk. There was still time before I had to meet the others.
“I..I want to leave the castle. I know that I have duties here and all that, but I need to get away for a little while.” He looked like something had truly hurt him.
“What happened?” I knew that it had to be big for him to do this. He was a loyal guard that never once wanted to leave his post. Now he was wanting to go away like he was running away from something. “Talk to me Westin, what happened?”
“I..I met my mate, b..but it didn't go well.”
“What do you mean that it didn't go well?” He was not making sense to me. What could have happened.
“She doesn't feel the bond. It's like I am the only one that is mated. Sh..she doesn't want me at all. She wants to be with someone else. I don't think that I can stand to be around that for right now. I..I want to leave for now. I want to see if some time away from me will help her. If not, then I will leave again. I can't stand the way that it feels, seeing her with someone else.”
“Yeah, I get it man. I am sorry that happened to you. If you think getting away for a little while will help, I can send you to another region for the time being. You can help with the Alphas in Europe or something. I know that the ones in Wales will be happy to have you. They need some help getting some organization between them as well.”
“Yeah, that sounds good. I will leave right away.”
“I don't want to send you right away. I want to have you here for the time being, to help with the case. I think that this might come down to a battle. Until then though, you can change up your schedule so that you don't have to see the woman in question. I won't ask who it is right now. I don't want to interfere with your relationship if I come across her. Just know that I support you, OK.” I wasn't going to force him to be around a woman that didn't want him. That would be truly painful for him. I remember when I thought I would never get my Little Bunny to love me. That was the worst feeling in the world.
“Thank you, Reece. I appreciate that more than you will ever know.” He looked relieved but also even more downtrodden when he said that. I could tell that he was feeling both sides of the situation right now. It couldn't be easy dealing with something like this. I didn't blame him one bit for running away right now.
I watched him leaving the hall for a moment. It brought back way too many memories for me. I was remembering the time that I stupidly told my mate that I hated her and saw the heartbreak in her eyes. That led me to thinking that she would never accept me again. That I would never, no matter what I did, have a chance to win her heart. It was hard for me, but that had been my own fault. This wasn't Westin's fault though. So, it had to be even harder on him. Knowing who your mate is and having her reject you for no reason. I knew that he was a good guy and hadn't told her that he hated her. This was not his fault at all. Poor Westin.
