Two Pups (bxbxb)

A Day Later

Tate's POV

A day had passed.

A whole day without my children. By now, they'd be so hungry. They'd have diapers that needed to be changed. They'd be crying.

Yet again, my stomach twisted and I resisted the urge to puke. I'd failed my family. Elliott had protected them, Oliver had known that something was wrong, and I'd failed.

We sat in a room filled with people.

Police had been in and out, gathering information and doing all they could for us. I appreciated their persistence and dedication, but they didn't know the truth. Weres had taken my children, so weres would be the ones to find them.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," my mom said, pulling me into a hug. She'd said that so many times that she was in the double-digits by now.

"This is terrible," Elliott's father, Robert, said. "But you boys must know that it will be resolved. All of the nearby packs have been informed and are on the lookout. Tonight, Zander is hosting a pack meeting to try to determine who it might have been."

Mom rubbed Oliver's arm and gave him a look filled with sympathy. "Exactly. This is terrible, but it is temporary. These people -- whoever they may be -- will not get away with their crimes."

None of it made me feel better.

I kept glancing toward Elliott, who hadn't said anything in almost a day. Every so often he would tremble, like a cold breeze had gone through the room. I didn't know how to help him. I didn't know what to say to him.

"I'm going to go for a drive," I said, receiving a glare from Oliver.

Oliver had been the one of the three of us who was able to talk about it. He carried the largest burden-- speaking to the police, managing the comfort from our parents, and talking to pack members who stopped by. I wouldn't have been able to do it.

"Don't you think you should stay here?" he hissed, voice low.

"I can't."

I left.

I took the truck down the route that Elliott had described. Through the neighborhood, all the way to the highway. I went down the highway and frantically searched, like I half-expected to see the vehicle sitting along the side with my children in it.

There weren't any signs. Just like yesterday, it was a cold expanse of roads and exits. They could have gotten off any of the exits. They could've driven through the night.

In my mind, I calculated the hours they'd been missing. I calculated the mile radius they could be in. I tried to stop thinking about it.

Back at the pack house, everything was as I left it. Elliott was still a blank slate with glowing red eyes. Oliver was still talking to the police, acting like he wasn't about to fall apart any second. Our parents were there. Elliott's alpha was there. We'd obtained a casserole-- awesome.

"When's the meeting?" I asked, glancing at my mom.

She looked shocked to see me. "You're back already? Honey, what meeting?"

"Zander's pack meeting. I'm going to it."

Apparently that was the right thing to say. In seconds, Elliott was up and next to me, eyes a clear blue. "I am too."

I didn't know Elliott's voice could sound like that. I hadn't realized that he could sound so quiet.

"Mason's going already," Oliver reminded us.

Mason had been spying on Zander and his pack, just in case Zander had been lying. So far, not sign of a gray truck with the license plate Elliott had given us.