Chapter Forty Seven

When I arrived at the Inn, I decided it would be best to go inside and ask for her since she was not replying to my message or calls. She could be running around the Inn working and not have her phone with her.

I parked in the lot and made my way inside to the front desk. That flirty girl with the fruit name was at the desk. I groaned inwardly not wanting to deal with shenanigans today.

“Hello! Welcome to the Blue Moon Inn. Are you here for dinner today or checking in?” she chirped.

“Actually, I am looking for someone. Is Azalea around?” I asked as patiently as I could.

She rolled her eyes. “She went home. I can call her if you like,” she said, obviously annoyed. Did Azalea have that many people asking for her? Jealousy flamed in my gut.

“That would be great. I would be happy to wait.” I smiled at her.

She gave me a fake smile back and grabbed the phone. She held the receiver to her face for a minute before looking up at me. “Um, well, she isn’t answering. Honestly, that isn’t like her. She will wake up from a dead sleep to answer the phone if we call…”

“What does that mean?” I asked worried.

“Well, she could have gone out but she usually lets Amy or me know…”

“Let us know what, Lemon?” Amy said and she walked out of the kitchen. “Oh, it's you.” she said catching sight of me.

“Azalea isn’t answering the phone. I thought she went back to her apartment after that weird little spat with the cute customer and John…” Lemon told her.

“I told her to go get some sleep. She looked like a zombie this morning and we had everything covered around here. But that was a couple hours ago now. I was going to send her some food back here soon,” Amy said with concern. She looked at the other girl with worry. “Try her again.”

The other girl dialed Azalea’s number again and still no answer. “I am sorry. She must not be here right now. It isn’t normal but she probably went out for something,” she said with worry in her voice.

Amy looked at me with some weird emotion that I could not pinpoint. What the hell was her problem now? “You should just go anyway. I don’t think she wants you around,” she said with malice.

“Well, that is for Azalea to decide. Not you.” I said dangerously quiet. She was a human and didn’t know our ways, but she was p***ing me off now.

“This time, I think I know what’s best for her. You should go. She doesn’t need all this,” she said crossing her arms.

“You shouldn’t meddle in matters you can’t even begin to understand,” I told her darkly and turned to leave. I threw the front door open only to come face to face with John. If things could not get any better! I stormed past him, knocking into him slightly.

“Lose something, wolf boy?” he said almost too quietly. I stopped dead in my tracks. Turning around I glared at him.

“What did you say?” I growled.

“Nothing,” he said with a smirk.

I lunged at him, grabbing him by the throat and holding him up against the house. He struggled against my grip. “If you know where she is, you better spill now,” I threatened. He strained against my grip so I loosened it just enough so he could speak.

“You should take better care of your things,” he gasped. I balled my fist and threw it into his stomach before dropping him to the ground. He let out a moan as crumpled on the ground. I ran around the Inn and headed to her front door.

When I got there, I pounded on the door only for it to swing open on its own. I was blasted with warm air and the smell of Azalea mixed with blood. Looking down, there was a broken mug in a puddle of tea. Not far from it was a small pool of blood. My entire body went numb. I stepped inside her house looking around.

“Azalea!” I called. “Azalea!”

Bending over, I touched the blood, trying to feel how warm it was, how fresh it was. It was cool and thick meaning that it was hours old. Someone had hurt her hours ago. And my guess was they had taken her. Pain shot through my chest. Someone had my mate, and I had no idea who or where. I stood up looking around the apartment for any clues. I saw a space heater near the bed that she must have just set up. I walked over to it to turn it off. Looking around I saw a note with a flower on the bed. I grabbed it, ripping the envelope open.

You almost wilted this pretty little flower. But now she is all mine. I warned you Alpha. 

What will the big bad wolf do now?

Rage washed over me. He took her and he was going to pay.

Azalea

There was an awful ache resonating from the back of my head. Waking up slightly, I tried to remember falling asleep. I reached to feel the back of my head where the pounding was coming from. Touching the back of my head gingerly, I felt something dry and crusty matted in my hair. Opening my eyes, I realized I was not in my apartment and I definitely wasn’t at the Inn.

I was laying on a large soft bed in a cream-colored room. Looking around I saw 2 doors, a table and chair, and a night stand next to the bed. Everything was light colored but cohesive. There were no windows in the room, just a single light hanging from the ceiling.

Panic washed over me. Where was I? How did I get here? What is going on? I sat up slowly, my head still hurting. Someone must have hit me from behind. I tried to think back to the last thing I could remember. I was at home and had put the space heater on when there was a knock at the door. But there had been no one there when I answered. After that, I could not remember anything. Whoever is responsible for this must have been hiding when I opened the door.

I stood up from the bed and cautiously went to the two doors. Twisting the handle on the first door, surprisingly it turned, and the door opened. Inside was a bathroom with a shower, toilet, and sink. There were a couple towels folded neatly on the counter by the sink.

I moved to the other door hoping this could be the exit. I tried turning the handle only to find it was locked. This had to be the way out with no other doors or windows in here. I should have known it would be locked. You would never kidnap someone and forget to lock them in.

I sat down on the bed, wrapping my arms around myself. I could not help but miss Liam at this moment. Some part of me knew that I was in this position because I ran away from him and refused to let Damien, or anyone else, stay to protect me. Realization hit me then: I have not been speaking to Liam and he will have no clue that I am gone. Everyone at the Inn thinks that I went to bed for the night and won’t expect me until the morning. Who knows exactly how long it’ll be until someone comes looking for me? Then how long until Liam or Damien find out and come to look for me? How long have I even been gone? Would they know where to even begin searching? My whole body began to shake in absolute fear. A tear slipped down my cheek.

Liam

“Get every tracker we have here now. I also want additional support for every search party. Call Langston and ask him for additional help.” I barked orders into the phone to Damien.

“Right away. Anything else?” he responded. I knew he was not taking my tone to heart right now.

“Tell your dad we need to speak with him soon about Azalea. Whatever he has to say about her may help us find her.”

“Sure. And Liam?”

“Yea?”

“We will find her.” He hung up the phone. I felt my heart constricting in my chest. Where was she? Who had her? She had to be terrified right now. We had no leads or clues as to the identity of this hunter.

“But we do,” Gavin said in my head.

“Who?”

“John! He knew mate was gone!”

I growled loudly and took off from Azalea’s place. I ran to the front of the Inn, determined to find that low life. I left him in a crumpled heap of the front porch, so I started there. As I thought, he was no longer sitting where I left him a few minutes ago.

I entered the Inn again, hoping he had come inside. Lemon and Amy stood at the front desk, talking in hushed tones.

Clearing my throat, I got their attention. “Ladies,” I began. They looked at me. “Have you seen that John guy?”

“What in the hell is going on, Liam?” Amy almost shouted. “Where is Azalea?”

“That is what I am trying to figure out. Where did John go?” I shot back angrily.

“We don’t know! We heard the commotion outside and when we went outside, he was laughing like a crazy person and you were nowhere to be found! He walked out to the parking lot saying something about getting the Alpha’s head!”

This was not good. John had to be the one who took her, and he came back here hoping I would show up so he could taunt me. “Where did he go? Amy, I need to know.”

“He got in his car and left. Where is Azalea?”

“I think he took her. And I need to find her. Amy, you need to close the Inn down for the rest of the day. No more lunch and dinner. Push guests to check out if you can.”

The old man walked out of what I assume to be his office right then. “I will handle things here. Go find that girl, boy. And don’t you let no hunters hurt her.” I nodded my head at him and exited the Inn.

I should have known from day one he was the hunter. I never liked the guy and I let myself think he was just a simple human trying to take my girl. Until Damien and everyone else got here, I could not do much. They would need Azalea’s scent, so I went back to her apartment to get some things.