Axton

Derrick is deliberately getting on my nerves, refusing to hand the information over. I am starting to believe it is all bullshit to make me hand that seat to him. It isn’t happening. So, after the few attempts I make at trying to get information from him and any of his pack members, I give up. None of them knows about a boyfriend, and Alisha’s parents even said the same when I asked.

Derrick is up to something. No one knows of any so-called boyfriend. What everyone does know is that Derrick treated Elena like a servant, making her run his meetings for him. That just proves he was never fit to be on the council, much less the Alpha of his own pack. I think he just said that to piss me off. He’s more of a dick than I thought.

I have just pulled up at one of the banks the pack owned; I am meeting with some investors today, and I have been preparing for this meeting all week. As I am getting out of my car, though, I see Louise, Derrick’s wife, pull up beside me. Ignoring the woman, I walk toward the doors, hearing her door open and close behind me.

“Axton!”

I roll my eyes.

“Alpha! Please,” she says.

I shake my head, continuing to walk toward the doors. I am nearly up the steps, and I can hear her footsteps racing to catch up with me.

“Please, it is about Elena. I think she is in trouble,” she calls out, and I growl, turning on my heel to face her.

Louise stares at me, and I wait for her to speak. She looks like Elena, though much older. She is wearing jeans and a blouse and is not put together the way she usually is. It is the first time I have seen her dressed so casually. Her eyes look tired, and her face withdrawn, sad.

“Does your husband know you are here?” I ask her when she says nothing.

She shakes her head. “Please, I think Elena needs help. Derrick refuses to go, and he has forbidden me from leaving the city.”

“Well, what do you expect me to do about it? Your daughter rejected me.”

“You played a part in that, and so did her father. She is still pregnant, the woman that called said Elena needed help and was in the town of Ryde. She sounded very desperate on the phone, pleading with him to help Elena,” Louise tells me.

“You know where she is?” I ask as she nods her head in response, and she starts rummaging through her bag. She produces a piece of torn paper and holds it out to me. Her hands tremble as she glances around nervously. I know Derrick would not take kindly to her seeking me out. After what he did to Elena, I could guess what he would do to Louise. I glance down at the address scribbled on the piece of paper.

“His name is Jake. He is a nice guy. He is her friend.”

“Not her boyfriend?” I ask, and her brows scrunch together.

“What? No. Jake is gay,” she tells me.

I growl, wondering who her mystery boyfriend is. Derrick clearly wants me to go in there and get myself caught up by killing a human, believing he is something more to Elena than he truly is.

“And you think she is at this cafe?”

“Jake owns it, but the woman… She said Elena was in trouble. I heard that part before Derrick hung up on her.”

“How long ago was this call? Who is this boyfriend she has?”

Louise shakes her head. “That call came in days ago, almost a week since I overheard Derrick on the phone. Elena has never had a boyfriend. Derrick never allowed it. I’m pretty sure Jake is gay, though I never met him; Derrick has. I know he said Jake is human.” She sighs, glancing back at her car.

“I have to go, but please, see if you can find her.”

“If you’re so worried about her, why don’t you go?”

“Derrick would kill me. He wants nothing to do with her, but she is still my daughter,” she tells me before quickly rushing back to her car.

I watch as she climbs in and shuts the door before speeding off. I glance down at the paper and look at the bank where I am supposed to be having my meeting in twenty minutes. Heading toward the doors, I stop and growl, feeling Khan’s nervous energy. Opening the mind link, I contacted Eli.

Khan is very anxious. “If what her mother says is true, that means that this Jake isn’t the nice guy Louise thinks he is. This explains why Elena’s wolf is all over the place with her emotions. It’s like she feels trapped and without hope. And who is the woman who called Derrick? Something doesn’t feel right. It never did since Elena ran off. You better go see. Our pups are at risk.”

“Cancel my meeting and meet me at the city limits,” I tell Eli.

“Why? What’s going on?”

“I think I know where she is,” I tell him, and Eli sighs.

“See you soon,” he tells me, and I run back to my car.

I unlock it, tossing my paperwork on the backseat before reversing out. That was a fucking important meeting. She better be there because if her mother’s just sent me on a wild goose chase, I will kill the bitch. Either Derrick is setting me up, or Louise is. Hell, both of them could be setting me up to fall.

“Khan, I need you on your game when we go to this cafe. Don’t do anything stupid to get us kicked off the council. Killing humans is forbidden.”

Khan growls back at me. ”You already did something stupid the day you posted our mate for the world to see.”