Axel saw that his father's expression stiffened at the mention of Talia cooperating. Considering what happened, chances of that were close to nil, but he didn't want to sound like Talia was a danger to their pack.
"I know Talia. She is a kind person, and I'm sure we can come to an agreement. But before that, we need to find them. Do we know if they are still here? Assuming that they managed to sneak out, they will be heading for the portal."
"Unless someone told them about the portal, they wouldn't know where to go. They were both unconscious when we brought them here." Alpha Isaac reminded them.
Axel cringed at his father's words. They said to Talia that she will be only blindfolded, but then they injected her with drugs. It was to conceal the location of the portal, but also to conceal his father's ability because Alpha Isaac can teleport not only himself but anyone else he touches. That's how they found themselves close to the portal within minutes, and then Alpha Isaac and Axel carried Talia and Alpha Damon through it before teleporting to the healing center where Cassandra joined them.
However, Axel truly believed that Talia could find her way if she wanted to.
"Talia is the child from the prophecy. She is under the protection of the Moon Goddess, and the Moon Goddess showed them the way."
"Do you really think that's possible?", Alpha Isaac asked skeptically.
Axel shrugged. "I'm sure that you saw many things you can't explain. Alpha Damon and Talia disappeared. I wouldn't reject the possibility of Talia having a way to conceal their presence and find a way out of here. If you want to find them, you will need as many people as possible without alerting the whole pack that we lost Alpha Damon and his mate. If our people knew this, they will start asking questions."
"There is no need for you to act, Axel. Our best trackers are out there."
Axel didn't like this. "You told our trackers? The news will spread."
"They don't know who they are looking for. I only gave them scents and that they are looking for a male and a female who got lost. Their instructions are to not engage and to notify me immediately when they find them."
Axel nodded in understanding. He really wanted to join the search party. That would give him the opportunity to move with an excuse that he is looking for Talia and Damon, and maybe check on them. But he didn't want to insist because he would normally stay out of such things.
"Alright. I guess we all had a long night. I will grab breakfast and catch up on my sleep. Let me know if I can help."
"Axel", Alpha Isaac called. "Don't talk about this with anyone."
"Of course.", Axel responded, and with that, he left the study.
Alpha Isaac looked at the door and his frown was deepening by the second.
His instincts told him that Axel had something to do with this, but he couldn't do anything without evidence.
Alpha Isaac checked on Tyler and Kai. Based on security feeds, Tyler and Kai stayed in their rooms the whole night.
Was it really the Moon Goddess? He was not sure, but he knew that they let down Talia as a child, and now they did it again. Axel was optimistic in thinking that they can mend their relationship with Talia. Even if she was not aware of what happened two decades ago, she definitely knew that something was off this time. Why else would she go missing?
Axel went to the cafeteria to find Tyler, Kai, and Meg at the table. It was time for breakfast.
Tyler was mostly pushing food on his plate, and Kai was feeding Meg and himself.
They all ate in silence while thinking about how to convey the messages without anyone figuring out what they were up to. They were surrounded by people who had excellent hearing. Also, with Alpha Sophia's ability to see things, and Alphas being able to eavesdrop on mind-links, it was difficult to keep anything a secret. Someone was always watching.
"Are you alright?", Tyler asked Axel. "You look like you didn't sleep much."
"Alpha problems.", Axel responded. "There was a commotion last night. My parents are monitoring the situation, but so far there is nothing."
Tyler, Kai, and Meg collectively exhaled in relief at this news.
"If Alpha Isaac and Alpha Sophia say that there is nothing, then there is definitely nothing.", Kai said. "We are in capable hands."
The four people at the table exchanged meaningful glances and they all relaxed as they shared an understanding that things went fine. They accomplished their tasks without getting caught. For now.
Meg looked around. "I overslept this morning and I thought that Talia will come for breakfast. Should I go and check on her?"
Axel stiffened at the mentioning of Talia, but then he understood that it would be unusual if they just ignored her absence. "Talia also had a long night. I'm sure she is resting. I will send food to her room later."
"Poor girl.", Meg said. "I will ask her if she wants to join me for a stroll later. Some change of scenery will do her good."
"We are prohibited from going out for runs until further notice.", Tyler said, getting everyone's attention. "The word is that someone disturbed bears who were getting ready to hibernate, so we need to give them a few days of peace to settle down and nature returns to normal. You didn't know this?"
"Well, we know now.", Kai said. He and Meg closed off their mind-links in order to avoid detection until they returned home, so they missed the announcement.
Axel also missed it because he was being interrogated by his father.
They all knew this was just a coverup for people to stay inside so that scents don't mix, as selected soldiers are outside searching.
Axel rubbed his forehead while thinking that this is not good. The order that restricts movements will last until they find their target or give up, and that can take a while. He felt the urgency to become part of the search teams, but how can he do that without arousing suspicion? He decided to think about it later. A full stomach and rest will allow him to think better. After all, Talia and Damon have provisions for at least a week, so he shouldn't act rashly.
Axel wondered, how many of the previous restricted movement orders were just a coverup for silent emergencies like this one?
This was the first time for them to have visitors like Talia and Damon, but every once in a while, an unmated member would lose patience and make a run for the portal in the hope to find his other half in the outside world. Alphas were very strict on who can go out.
This whole realm was beautiful, and they had everything they would need, but in the end, it was just a jail that kept them from finding their mates.
Axel and Tyler were also getting twitchy. They were both in their twenties, able to identify their mates, as long as they get close to them.
Now that Kai found Meg, they could see what they were missing, and Kai teasing them about how he is the only man among them because he did the deed with Meg (many times), was not helping.
