"I expect the two of you to keep her words among us… it's already been nine years… and I want us to leave everything as it is… Kurah must never hear about what the maid just said… Are we on the same page?" Alpha Gavin declares with all seriousness.
However, instead of responding, his sidekicks had questions of their own to ask. "Pardon my curiosity… but… I don't see any connection between Drucilla's words and Kurah's anger… After all… as she's already aware… we lost many pack members to rogues in the past" Wesley probes further.
"I'm not speaking of our dead comrades… but a missing Benson" Gavin states openly. Beta Wesley had his eyes bulging like they could fall off at any moment. He also left his mouth hanging in an 'O' shape, as he couldn't believe what the Alpha was saying at the moment. If his conjecture is right, then the best words to describe the situation would be, trouble in paradise for Drucilla.
He couldn't help his mind from drifting to what Drucilla's fate would be if Kurah learns of the current development. His head jerked to the side where he held Alpha Gavin's gaze for a while before mouthing silently, "Drucilla!"
At that point, Beta Ortiz shouted the name "Benson Smith!" He then looks towards Alpha Gavin and asks, "How did he end up with the rogues?" Alpha Gavin didn't bother responding to Ortiz's ridiculous question, but rather retorted, "mind if I send you to ask him?" Ortiz withdrew his gaze and awkwardly scratched his head as he realized he just asked a silly question.
They've all been baffled by Benson's long absence all these years and chose to keep hope alive by hoping and praying that he is alive and kicking somewhere. Even though Gavin knew that Benson's death was a high possibility, he didn't expect to hear about his tragic death. His anger towards the red-haired woman deepened, as he swore to make her pay.
"No one mentions anything to anyone… Not even my mother" Gavin declared, to which the betas responded as though they rehearsed the statement beforehand, "Not a word to a single soul!"
Gavin nods in satisfaction and then asks none of them in particular, "Anything on Lolita Clint?" Wesley quickly teased his friend, "we thought you'll never ask!" After that, the two burst out laughing while enjoying the disinterested look on Gavin's face. They however didn't forget to know their place and quickly responded to Gavin's question.
"Erm… last I heard… She lost her grandmother a few weeks ago… then she moved out of town… however, I followed your instructions and didn't do any further checks on her… So that's all I know" Wesley said. Beta Ortiz then added, "a town folk also mentioned that she moved to a University… in Greenville… but they couldn't give any further details… besides, our people only went there to check on her. We weren't particularly tracking her."
Alpha Gavin was shocked to learn of the passing of Lolita's grandmother, and something kept telling him that her death wasn't ordinary. "How did she die?" He asked. "In a fire… their house got burnt… the fire was ruled out as arson," Ortiz says in response to the alpha's question. Gavin couldn't believe that the old woman had already died. "How has Lolita been coping all this while?" He couldn't help himself from wondering.
Ortiz and Wesley saw the clear worry in the alpha's eyes. They could tell that Alpha Gavin feels differently for Lolita Clint. He mentioned her in his sleep so many times that they were tempted to look for her and bring her to his side. However, strangers do not get into Wolftown without the alpha's permission. It was the only factor that kept them away from inviting Lolita to Dark-Dawn avenue.
Such a rule should be what's keeping their alpha alive. Lolita could have killed him in bed and damn the consequences if she had been invited to Wolftown by the betas.
"Find her… I want to know where she is… How she's doing…how she's coping… just find her… by tomorrow!" The two betas looked at each other and lit a candle for themselves in their hearts. It's bye-bye to their sleep tonight. The faster they locate her, the better for them. After noticing that his message sank in, Gavin dismissed his friends and decided to take a nap. Everything is just weighing so heavily on him that he wished to sleep it away, even for a little while. He hasn't recovered fully yet, and the mental stress right now is just too much for him to bear.
"Join your abilities… save The Realm…" The voice speaks imploringly to Gavin from no specific angle. He could hear the voice from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He looked confused, but still asked anyway, "What abilities?… Who am I supposed to work with?... How can we save The Realm?... Who exactly are you?"
Alpha Gavin didn't hear any response, but he is extremely sure that this is not an ordinary dream. With his back soaked with so much sweat, he struggled on his bed for a while, only for him to finally wake up and feel an uninvited presence in his room like most times. He was initially startled, but instead of fear, he became rather curious.
"Oh!... It's you…You could have come straight away… Why did you have to stress me so much in my dream?" Gavin received no response which made him realize that he had asked the wrong question. Her silence indicates that she wasn't the one who appeared or even spoke in his dream.
Urika smiles beautifully at Gavin and says with enough reverence, "my Lord… you know I don't beat around the bush!" She then asks Gavin for the message in his dream, which he repeated word for word. Urika smiled with visible joy in her eyes, and for the first time, Gavin saw a different side of her. She looked so beautiful when she smiled like that. It's like she's not from this world, and couldn't even be bothered about mundane things like her smiles or looks. Looking at the beauty before him, his vision was still not overshadowed, but the beauty rather directed his mind's eye to the face he had longed to see all this while.
Urika's smile broadened as she said, "find your mate… and bring her here… you'll understand better" Gavin was surprised about Urika mentioning his mate because as has been the practice, the oracle tells wolves about the state of their bond. It's the same oracle that tells them whether the bond is strong or not. How then could he be tasked to find his mate and not a supposed partner?
"How do I find her if you don't tell me?" Gavin enquires. Urika, however, shakes her head and says, "your mate… your bond!" She then disappears into thin air, just as she always does after delivering her message. However, this time around, she had Gavin covered in a white glow so bright and hot that it could rival the sun. The most amazing thing was that the light never seeped through any crack or opening in Gavin's room.
When the light finally faded, Gavin was back to perfect health, in a state where he felt so strong that he was beyond his peak before the injury. Urika also left the mind-boggling message that being close to his mate, and finally getting accepted by her would be the breakthrough he'll need to fulfill his destiny.
Gavin has never understood Urika's motive for having multiple identities. She appears to pack members as a male seer that everyone knows, and no one even knows what he's called.
However, Urika appears in her true form whenever she visits Gavin. He could never explain why the seer chooses to come to him whenever the need is, instead of having him pay a visit like everyone else.
Moreover, she speaks with so much reverence that Gavin is tempted to wonder if she is really the seer that everyone knows and reveres.
***