Fate's Pawn

Pt 24. What Ifs, Maybes, and Almosts

The minute the car stopped in the packhouse garage, Xander and Aisha jumped out, made an excuse to leave, and ran away. Atta sat in the car for a while, before ducking out of the vehicle. He took a deep breath before smiling at no one and leaving the garage.

"Atta, right on time!" He was pulled into a hug by the smaller man. "But where is Mavis? Didn't she leave with you?"

"She... decided to stay there. But that doesn't matter; I need to look at some records. If we can find out what happened to the Gratis pack, maybe we can find out what happened to Luce."

Beta Jayden paused, giving Atta a confused look. The man just walked away, heading to the Beta office. The Beta followed behind, unsure of Atta's behavior.

Reaching the room, both were silent as Atta pulled books, papers, and binders from around the room. The Beta stayed in the doorway, watching. Something had defiantly happened when they were down at The Forested Ones, their strained relationship near the breaking point now.

"So, we know they were in Canada five years ago, that was their last reported position from the nearby packs. They continued, and so between here and here, they disappeared."

The Beta stepped forward to see where Atta was pointing. Between the Canadian pack and their pack, there was a large stretch of land. Too much ground to look at if they wanted to find Regina quickly.

"Do you think, maybe they were attacked?"

Atta looked up, pausing to think. To be missing for five years, and they were a large group, there was no way they just found an area to settle down. A rogue attack or an attack by another pack would make the most sense. That wouldn't be good news for Regina, though.

"If that was the case, we shouldn't be looking for pack sightings; we need to be looking in crime reports."

Atta ran back over to the bookshelf, pulling out different binders. Jayden joined him, and the two started to flip through the books.

It was quite common for packs to attack each other; territory was vital for a pack. Over the years, there have been many disputes for land when one pack grows too large of their area. This meant that looking through the binders would be more challenging than they thought. Pack skirmishes filled what seemed to be thousands of pages.

Both men shared a look; this would take longer than they thought.

The only interruptions they had were short bathroom breaks, Betan Raven bringing them dinner, and the Alpha coming to check on how things were going. They had nothing to report; there were too many things they still needed to check. So, the Alpha ushered them out of the room, telling them to sleep and rest.

"We can talk more tomorrow, Atta; I think we are pretty close. We just need to look more into this Bloody Claw rogue group, and I'm sure we can find her."

Jayden left with a smile, talking about how his mate was waiting for him. Atta dragged his feet, not wanting to go home, alone.

Mavis and Regina Luce were gone, the house would be quiet, and he would be alone. No one to ask about his day, how things were going, or tell him goodnight. He had spent years with Mavis, never really spending nights alone. Now that he had to, the idea sounded horrible.

Was it something he had done? He never talked much, preferring to stick to his books and watching from the background. Maybe if he had spent more time with Regina, she wouldn't have doubted their love for her. If only he had reassured Mavis more, she wouldn't have been so upset. There were so many what-ifs, none of which he could change.