Not My Alpha (Completed)

Chapter Thirty-Six - Three Days

It had been three days. Three days of waiting, without a single word. Three days of Samuel disappearing, leaving me behind with my thoughts. It had been three days of complete and utter torture. 

We'd left the hospital soon after Samuel revealed to me that my mother had gone missing. From there, he brought me straight to a small apartment that sat in the middle of town. For what seemed like hours, he grueled me on everything I knew about James; who he was, how he met my family, where he used to live. The only problem was that I had no idea about any of it. I was too young to remember living anywhere but this town, and consequently too young to remember my mother meeting James. He never spoke of it, either. It was a torturous thought to realize that it took my mother's disappearance for anyone to see that James was a complete stranger. 

I hadn't seen anyone but Samuel since we arrived in his apartment. Apparently, despite the circumstances, Riley insisted my sentence of house arrest stayed intact. This resulted in Samuel leaving me alone on a daily basis, for hours at a time. He told me he was searching for my mother, and I could only hope he was telling the truth. The thought of escaping and finding her on my own crossed my mind more than once, but every time I tried, something got in my way. Either Samuel would come home early, a door would be locked, or someone would be standing just outside the apartment. Samuel told me Riley insisted on having a few men guard me during the day, for my own safety, of course. 

Another day had come and passed, and it was night once again. I was sitting upright in the bed, staring blankly at a book Samuel had given me. Though it was the first new novel I'd seen in years, I couldn't pay attention to it. There was no escaping this reality, no matter how desperately I tried. 

The sound of voices just outside my bedroom door echoed through my ears. They were tense, though careful not to rise in volume. It was easy to distinguish who the voices belonged to; Samuel and Riley. 

I perked up at their arrival, hoping I would be able to catch a glimpse of what was going on outside this apartment. Samuel updated me every day on what was happening, but he could never tell me much. Nothing had changed. There were no leads. 

Carefully and quietly, I crawled out of bed. Tan sheets wrapped around my ankles and threatened to trip me, but I didn't let them. My hands gripped the bed posters that shot up to the ceiling, allowing my balance to stay intact. 

When steadied, I padded my way across the small room, staying as silent as possible. I knew that Samuel and Riley would sense my presence at the slightest of disturbances, and I wanted to hear their conversation before that happened. Thankfully, the path to the door was a straight shot. It sat right next to the door leading to my bathroom, so I knew if I got caught I could use that as an excuse, as well. 

I heard Samuel's voice the minute I leaned against my bedroom door, holding my ear to the opening. 

"I don't understand."  

Riley immediately responded. "There's nothing to understand, Samuel. It's my decision. You have to support it."

"I know that," he growled. "But, this is Samantha we're talking about."

I heard a heavy sigh from Riley. "You know the only reason I let this happen was because it's your mate, Samuel. If it were Eden, I'd have done the same thing. But, we can't do it anymore and you've got to know that. We've got the best trackers out there looking, and for what? A human and a wanderer?" Riley suddenly scoffed. "Do you know how ridiculous that is?"

"It's not ridiculous," Samuel raised his voice slightly. "And if this were Eden you would have done all of this and more." 

"Maybe," Riley mused, unaffected. "But, I've made my decision. I won't have the pack putting themselves out there for a human who's probably already dead, or even better, turned."