And Then There Were Four

Chapter 37

Chapter 37: She’s Missing Hale POV “Damn it!” I cursed under my breath as I slammed the door of my car. “She isn’t on campus.” My eyes scanned the empty campus courtyard, looking for where she could have gone. Rain began to fall from the sky and worry filled me. If Ivy was out here, it wasn’t good. The weather in this part of the country was unpredictable, and with the coming rain, the cold would follow. I couldn’t allow her to get sick or worse… hurt. “Ivy!” I yelled again. “She isn’t here Hale!” James called over a clap of thunder. “Maybe she headed home.” “Without her car?!” I retorted. The moment Damian had gotten home, and told me what happened at the school between Caleb and Ivy, I went in search of her. The only problem was that Ivy having the damn necklace I gave her made her untraceable. Regret filled me realizing what I had done. Something that was intended to give her privacy now became a hindrance to her safety “Where could she be?” James asked as if I would be able to answer that question. There was no telling where she could be. “I don’t know. Our relationship with her hasn’t exactly been great, as you may know.” I snapped at him with irritation. All of our wolves could feel the connection with Ivy growing fainter every day. The circle hadn’t been fully completed, and now with her missing, it was a bigger issue. Moving back towards the car, I slammed the door, my hands hitting the steering wheel over and over again. I had to get her back… even if the bond broke with the harvest moon… Thad to get her back more than anything, but sometimes I worried if she was better of without us. Ivy deserved better than what she was getting. “What happens if we can’t find her before the harvest moon?” James’ question hit me hard, the thought that the bond would sever was unnerving.

Would it mean that we would lose Ivy forever, or was it the possibility she would no longer be able to mate with four but instead just one? “I don’t know, James. Let’s just find her.” Silence filled the car as we pulled out from the university and drove around town looking for her figure with every turn we made. No matter how hard we searched, every angle came up empty-handed. “What about that guy’s house… Caleb. Do you think she went there?” James, for once, had made a good point. Breaking into a U-turn, I pushed my foot down on the gas and sped towards Caleb’s house. I had made a point when Damian had mentioned her hanging out with the guy to discover where he lived, and now it would come in handy. Pulling onto the concrete drive, James and I were out of the car in a flash. My fist beating upon the door with a sense of urgency. Praying to the goddess I hoped that Ivy was here because if she wasn’t, I didn’t know what I was going to do. “Ivy!” I called out into the air, “Caleb… open up it’s important!” “Hale… I don’t think they are here.” James’ replied standing back and looking up at the dark windows of the house. “She has to be. We have to find her, James.” “I know, but I’m telling you she isn’t here.” His reply was former this time, and as my eyes met his, I felt it too. She isn’ there, and if she had been, she was long gone now. “Excuse me?” A voice called from behind us, causing us both to turn around. The gray hair of an older man stood on the other side of a hedge in the neighbor’s yard with concern etched on his face. “Yes?” James replied as we walked closer. “Are you looking for the young man who lives here?” “Yes, we are. Do you know if he has been home?” The words left my mouth quickly, hoping for anything that would clue me into whether or not Ivy had been here.

“Oh, I would say about an hour ago. He and a pretty young girl came home, and then thirty minutes later, they both left.” “Ivy was here…” I mumbled, looking back at the house and wondering where they could have gone. “Yes, the poor thing looked like she was sick.” Spinning back around, I stared at him with confusion. “Sick?” Why would she be sick? That made no sense. “Yes, she could barely walk and the young man said she fainted and he was taking her to the hospital.” Tension and suspense filled me as my anxiety skyrocketed. There was no way that she had fainted. None of it made sense and Caleb knew we werewolves. He wouldn’t have just taken her to a normal hospital. “Hale…” James’ whispered, “we have to tell Damian.” “I know.. let’s go. I have a feeling lvy is in trouble.” Ivy POV The dull sounds of a motor filled my ears as the fog lifted from my mind. Slowly opening my eyes, the bright light of my surroundings began to fill my vision. I’m moving. The realization was obvious, but for some reason, my mind couldn’t wrap around what was happening. It was as if every fiber of my body protested against what was happening. “Fuck…” I muttered, sitting up straight and trying to grasp my bearings. A man’s mumbled voice drew my attention, and I could have sworn it was Caleb talking into a phone. His eyes glanced back at me from a mirror over and over again. “What- I groaned, my hand trying to move unable to, “what’s going on?” Focusing my gaze, I took in the brown rope wrapped repeatedly around my wrists. Realization and horror set into my bones as I looked up to see Caleb in the front seat driving, “Good morning, Ivy.” He replied staring at me from the rearview mirror, “I was wondering when you would wake up.” “Where am I? What is going on!” Pulling against the restraints, my eyes widened. He kidnapped me.

A man I trusted had taken me against my will and far away from my home. “Calm down, Ivy. Enjoy the ride, resisting will only cause you to hurt yourself.” “Your crazy!” I yelled in anger, “let me go right now!” A growl reverberated from the front seat, causing me to slink back where I was sitting, “you will watch how you speak to me, Ivy.” This man in front of me was no longer the man I had once known. Instead, he had become something else, and I felt foolish not to have listened to Damian’s warning. Caleb wasn’t a good man. He was dangerous, and I walked into his trap. Tears threatened to spill down my cheeks, and blinking quickly, I tried to push them back. “Why are you doing this to me? I thought we were friends.” Caleb’s deep chuckle made my stomach tighten in fear, “enjoy the ride. I will explain everything when we arrive.” It was pointless to keep up the emotions I was going through. If I was going to find a way to break free, I was going to have to save my energy. God knows what this man had planned. The fluttering of wind from Caleb’s open window brushed against the side of my face. The smell of the lake within my nostrils caused me to take in the details outside. Thick forests in the distance surrounded the water from the lake below. Concrete pillars with spiral tops crested the edges of the bridge against the sky. I wasn’t sure where Caleb was taking me, but from the looks of it, it was far from the town I was in. Perhaps, if I paid attention to my surroundings, I could find a way back. There was always a chance I could escape. Hope was the only thing I had to hold on to because without it there was no telling where my mind would go. My mother, the guys… they all needed me, and instead of doing what I should have, I decided to ignore them. I should have stayed home in Georgia and never come to this place. All had become was a damsel in my own story, with the big bad wolf ready to devour me.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.