Chapter 144

Lindy POV

Following the Alpha Inspector or his witch wasn't possible. They could move through space using magic and I didn't have any. I had my senses though and I'd always been good at being invisible.

No one paid me any attention when I slipped out of the apartment to track the scents of first the Alpha Inspector then his witch.

Windsor hadn't left much of a trail to follow. For all his magnificent muscles and size, he was proving to be lazy, preferring to use magic to move around rather than his two good legs.

The witch was less careful. I found her tracks outside the apartment in a concentrated area where she must have spoken with the Alpha Inspector for a while before parting company. I was able to follow her scent much farther since she seemed to have just strolled away.

I knew no one wanted me poking around for information on Nathan, but how could I not? He was my mate! I'd never dreamed I would find my fated mate much less learn he was wonderful, handsome, and the Alpha heir to a great pack.

Even if Nathan had been a homeless human, I would have wanted him. Knowing how amazing my mate really was? Nothing was going to stand in my way of getting to him.

We were destined to be together. The Moon Goddess had fated our union. As far as I was concerned, I had more claim on Nathan Lewis than anyone else on the planet.

Squeezing through the crowd flooding the sidewalk, I kept my pace brisk and even to avoid attention. People only looked if someone was trying to stand out. I was an expert on blending in.

I lost the witch's scent for a while outside a restaurant. I battled my natural shyness to go inside the place to order something small for myself. Eating alone wasn't unusual for me. Doing it in public was, but I focused every thought in my head on Nathan to keep any awkwardness at bay.

No one approached me as I paid for my meal and stood to leave.

On a hunch, I went to the ladies' room where I caught the witch's scent all over again. She'd been here! I followed her smell out the bathroom window -tricky because of the size of the window, but easy because I wasn't a large woman by any means- then wound through back alleys trailing her smell until I was in a rundown neighborhood.

All the buildings might have once been grand homes. Now, they were on the verge of ruin.

The sidewalks were cracked, railings designed to help guests enter the steep stoops were broken away, and more windows were covered with boards than glass.

Every step through the decaying neighborhood brought me closer to the edge of the divide between the living world of today and the dead world of yesterday. I felt like I was stepping back in time; I shook all over as I realized how isolated I was, how alone, how cut off from anyone friendly or kind.

Was this where they were keeping my Nathan? In an urban wasteland where his father''s trackers wouldn't be able to pick his scent out of the muddled mix of city smells?

Why was it so important to keep my Nathan missing in action when the war we were all fighting was against Patrick Flores and---

I stopped that line of thought as soon as it started.

Richard Campbell was still my father in my mind. He'd possibly done some things wrong, but everyone made mistakes. The Alpha Council would understand. Daddy only acted in the best interests of the pack. He was a great man and a greater Alpha.

I would not turn on him.

Not until they proved he'd turned on me first.

Going from dilapidated building to building, I tracked Nathan's scent as best I could until it began to get stronger in an alleyway. I saw a cellar door which was padlocked from the outside. I knew this was where they were keeping him as surely as I knew my own name.

Although I was beginning to wonder if I did know my own name. Who was I if I wasn't Lindy Campbell? Where did I come from? Who were my real family if I didn't belong with House Campbell of Moonglow Pack?

I was strong as an Alpha female, but the heavy metal padlock on the outside of the cellar doors was stronger. I couldn't break the lock if my life depended on it.

Examining it, I realized I could pull the hinges free from the doors though. I'd fold them open the opposite direction they were meant to work.

I tore my nails pulling the hinges apart, but I managed to get one set completely unpinned.

Lifting the door by the outer edge, I moved it with a heave and it folded right over onto the other door, exposing the steps leading into the basement of the building. No light was shining there, but I could see in the dark.

I'd find Nathan even if I had to walk through a nuclear wasteland much less a deserted building's basement.

"Hello?" I called, "Nathan?"

Following the steps down into the basement, I basked in the heavy scent of my mate. I made my way into the cellar only to realize---Nathan was no longer held here. Wherever they'd taken him? I wasn't there now.

Tears flowed down my cheeks and I swiped at them with my hands, trying to get myself under control. For a moment, I was only a girl again and I wanted my daddy to help me.

I called my father on my cell phone without thinking, "Daddy? They took my mate. I don't know where he's being held. What do I do? I'm going to die without him, Daddy."

My father listened before explaining, "This is what you'll do, my sweet girl. First, you'll go to wherever the Alpha Inspector is and then? You'll go wherever he goes. He will have to take you to your mate if he's holding him."

Daddy and I spoke for a few more minutes as I tried to understand how finding Windsor would find Nathan. Daddy was patient and kind and I couldn't imagine he was capable of the things they'd said he had done.

Getting to Our Blessed Goddess Medical Center was more of an adventure than I expected. I had to take the subway and then walk. People everywhere muddled my senses.

When I got to the hospital, I didn't know how I would get into the room where Ethan Flores was being held with the Alpha Inspector watching over him. Luckily, a nurse came over and asked me if I wanted to see him.

"Excuse me?" I asked, wiping at my tears again.

"Are you wanting to be escorted back to your brother again, Miss Flores?" the nurse asked, reaching out to touch my arm comfortingly.

Nodding, I didn't say anything in case my voice gave away the surprise of being mistaken for Rachel. I let the woman take me into the ICU bay where Ethan was being held. Art Windsor was sprawled in the room's only chair. He looked up when the nurse prompted him.

"Alpha Inspector? I brought Mister Flores's sister to see him," the nurse said.

Windsor looked at me in surprise, opening his mouth to protest or explain I wasn't Rachel Flores, and I launched myself at him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my body against his massive chest, crying into his neck as I shivered in his arms.

I didn't even have to fake my shaking. The Alpha Inspector terrified me with his huge size and fierce expressions.

The nurse muttered a farewell before leaving us alone and Windsor pushed me away.

He asked, "What are you doing here, Lindy?"

"I had to come. Nathan is missing and I need him. I need him," I repeated, feeling helpless and foolish and far too young for a woman of my years.

Windsor held me gently and tried to explain, "Lewis isn't safe for you to be around right now, Lindy. We've got him somewhere safe. How about you stay with Ethan here and I'll go check on him. I'll see if you'd be safe to visit?"

Nodding, I held my breath so I wouldn't do something stupid like scream I would see my mate even if he wanted to tear me apart with his Lycan claws. I didn't care. He was worth dying for and Windsor had no right to keep me from him.

I let Windsor push me against the bed railing. I waited until he had stood from the chair and given me an apologetic smile.

I waited and waited and waited---then when he started to disappear, I threw myself at him again, holding onto his neck once more and when Art Windsor disappeared, so did I.