Chapter 137
Dominic
Lucas could not drive fast enough for me.
It was late, the roads dark, but we wasted no time in getting out to the Brooks compound and to see Rae. I didn’t realise how restless I was until Wyatt interrupted my spiraling thoughts.
“Sir?”
It sounded like a voice from far away until I focused on him.
“What?” My voice was gruffer than I expected. “What is it?”
“Your leg,” Wyatt said, eyes casting downward.
My food had been bouncing on the floor of the car, and had increased to an intense rhythm and force. I was sending small tremors through the car each time.
“Sorry,” I said, shifting in my seat and placing hands on my knees.
This was the closest I’d felt in a long time to getting Mira back, and my heart and brain were racing out of sync.
Rae’s parents looked tired when we arrived, but were gracious hosts nonetheless. We declined refreshments so as not to be a bother. They sat with their daughter on the couch as she excitedly recounted her tale.
“He got out,” she said, the joy breaking through all pretense. “Somehow, he got out! He’s traveling, trying to get home.”
“That is very good news, Rae,” I told her, wishing she had news of Mira. “What did he say? Did he say anything about where he was? Is he alone?”
Rae shook her head softly. “I don’t know exactly where he is,” she said, sounding almost guilty. “He still seems… like chaos. I can only get some of it, we’ve been disconnected for so long. But he kept saying ‘I’m free’ and ‘on the road south’ and I can sometimes get a vision of where he is but it’s blurry and it’s usually just trees.”
Her speech sped up as emotion took her. Her mother placed a hand on her back for comfort.
“It’s okay, Rae, really,” I said, hoping to make her feel at ease. “You’re doing all you can, and this will help us find him. If he knows he’s moving South, he’s on a good track already.”
Rae nodded, a small tear sliding down her cheek.
“He’s getting closer,” she said, hopeful. “His thoughts are clearer every time I hear from him. It started like a whisper last night, I almost didn’t notice. But today…”
She swallowed hard, then continued.
“It was like a train rushing at me,” she said, “like I heard it’s whistle from far away and it was moving fast towards me.”
“Maybe he found a ride somehow, and he’s moving faster than on foot,” Wyatt offered.
“Maybe,” I said, unsure if a scared teenager would risk hitchhiking. “Rae, do you think you can reach him now? Tell him we are coming?”
“Now?” Rae’s father looked concerned, but his wife gave him a look that said to be quiet.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your night like this,” I said to the parents. “We cannot waste anytime in this, but of course we don’t wish to put Rae in any danger. If she can guide us, we will go—“
“I’m coming with you,” Rae said confidently.
“Rae, dear—“
“No, Mom, I’m going to find him,” she said, shaking her shoulders a bit to distance herself. “They won’t find him without me, or at least not as fast. I need to do this, for Julian.”
There was silence in the room, until all eyes were on me. Every look held a different question being asked of me, and I sighed as I realized what I had to do.
“Alright, you may come,” I said, then held up a hand, “if you’re parents agree. I will not be your kidnapper.”
Rae beamed, then looked between her parents. Eyes were rolled and mouths were pursed, but they eventually both nodded.
“I’ll be ready so fast!”
The adults all turned to watch the young woman fly up the stairs.
“I promise, I will keep her safe,” I told her parents. “You have my word, on my honor and with my Pack behind us.”
“We couldn’t keep her here if we tried,” her mother said sadly. “All she talks about is Julian and Mira. She loves your wife very much.”
My heart was in my throat, but I swallowed it.
“The feeling is mutual, I assure you,” I said, breaking eye contact. “We should discuss our plans, if you’ll excuse us.”
Lucas and Wyatt took my hint and followed me to the kitchen, and we pulled up a map to plan a route north. Based on where the other facilities had been, we had some idea of where we might look.
But it still felt like a shot in the dark.
The ride felt surreal and almost comical, given the teenaged addition to our group. Lucas stayed focused on the road, Wyatt looked amused, and I was just surprised to see Rae still had so much energy this late at night.
She talked incessantly, about anything and everything. I recognized it as a nervous reaction to a stressful situation, and so I let her talk.
“Julian is the smarter one, and the quiet one,” she mused, focused back on the lost boy. “Even when I was freaking out, he would calm me down. Seriously, it was sometimes hard to tell what he was feeling or thinking, even when I was in his head.”
“When did that start?”
She looked at me. I hadn’t spoken in a while, and she seemed surprised that I was listening.
“I think I felt him the moment we entered the same building,” Rae said, going back in time in her memory. “Doe that make any sense? Like, when our bodies first were near each other, we were drawn to each other. That doctor is crazy, but he is a great matchmaker.”
I laughed, suddenly and loudly. It was strange, something I hadn’t done in weeks. Rae smiled, and I felt both Betas turn their heads slightly to look at me. It dawned on me that I must’ve been terrible company for Lucas and Wyatt, but this youthful energy might be bringing me back to life a bit.
I thought about that it would be like to have a daughter like Rae. To raise not just a small child but to foster them through the tough teenage years, through traumatic events and recovery. I made a small wish that I would be so lucky to bring such a person into the world and society.
And I wished again to do it all with Mira.
“She misses you,” Rae said quietly, reading my thoughts. “I know she does. She loved you too much to get you involved. She’s sacrificed her own happiness to do this.”
The sage wisdom of youth.
“I appreciate that,” I managed to say.
A thoughtful silence took over, and all four of us fell into the lull of the journey north. Rae’s breathing became steady and slow, and it seemed she had fallen asleep against the window. Outside was a blur, and as the seconds ticked by I wondered if my feat was futile.
Rae woke up with a loud gasp, making the three grown men in the car jump out of our skin.
“Gods, Rae, are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” she was breathing fast, but smiling. “Julian, he’s just…repeating numbers..”
“What?”
“What numbers?” Lucas asked from the driver’s seat.
“78 & 9,” Rae said, leaning forward. “78 & 9, he just keeps saying it!”
“What does that mean?” Wyatt asked, looking among us.
“Ah,” Lucas said, a rare smile visible on his face. “I know where he is. “
