<h4>Chapter 208: Finding Riley...</h4>


    <strong>Rhett</strong>


    "You’re going to help us find your friend. And if something’s happened to him, if the Collectors have him..." My father’s jaw clenched. "You’re going to take responsibility and live with what your choices caused."


    "I’m sorry," I said, and my voice cracked. "Dad, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know."


    "Sorry doesn’t bring back kidnapped wolves," my father said coldly. "It doesn’t stop fighting rings, sorry, it’s useless."


    He turned and started down the stairs. I followed, my mind racing with horrifying possibilities.


    ter in a cage being forced to fight. Beaten, broken, turned into something he’d hate.


    All because I’d helped him cross the border. All because I hadn’t asked enough questions. All because I’d trusted that everything would be fine.


    We reached the ground floor. Through the windows, I could see pack members gathering outside. The Elite Warriors—ten of our best fighters—were assembling with weapons and gear. They moved with military precision, checking equipment, loading into vehicles.


    Nn approached my father. "Alpha Raymond has responded. He’s given full authorisation for retrieval, and his team is mobilising on their end. They’ll meet us at the Millbrook border."


    "Good. Are our people ready?"


    "Yes, sir. We have trackers, fighters, and medical personnel on standby."


    My father nodded. Then he turned to me. "Get your gear. You have five minutes."


    I ran to my room and grabbed what I needed:fortable clothes, good shoes, and a jacket. My hands were shaking as I changed. I kept seeing ter’s face, the way he’d looked when I dropped him off at the border. He’d been so excited to see his sister.


    And I’d just let him walk into danger.


    I made it back downstairs in four minutes.


    Nn immediately came to me with a small canvas pouch. "Masking salts," He said, passing it to me.


    I scrubbed the salts along my throat and wrists, the scent ttening into something nd and clean. Nn tossed me a ck jacket and a thin hood to tuck my hair under. He strapped a small radio around my bicep, checked the batteries, then clipped a narrow de to my belt. "Nonlethal first," he said. "You know the drill."


    "Copy."


    My father was already in the lead vehicle, along with Marcus and three other warriors. I climbed into the back.


    "Move out!" my father ordered.


    The convoy pulled away from the pack house. Five vehicles total, all moving fast toward the border.


    I stared out the window, watching familiar territory blur past. My face still throbbed where my father had hit me. But the physical pain was nothingpared to the guilt eating away at my insides.


    ter was my friend. My brother in everything but blood. And I’d sent him straight into a trap.


    We reached the border in twenty minutes. Alpha Raymond’s convoy was already there—another five vehicles with fighters I didn’t recognise.


    Alpha Raymond himself stepped out of the lead car. He was a tall, imposing man with dark hair and a presence that made you want to stand straighter. ter got his looks from his mother, but his bearing from his father.


    My father got out to meet him, and I followed.


    "Raymond," my father sounded surprised. "I didn’t expect to see you so soon. I received word that we’ll meet at the Millibrook border. Were you already in Ravenspire?"


    "Yes," ter’s father nodded quietly. "I came here in respect to the court situation with the Greyes. I was asked a favour of Ss, and I came to fulfil my part. Where is my son?"


    "We’re tracking him now," my father said. "Our trackers picked up his scent trail leading toward Millbrook. He’s on foot, alone, and has been in human territory for approximately three and a half hours."


    "You let him cross alone." It wasn’t a question. "What shitty kind of security do you have?"


    "I’m sorry," My father tried again, but in a more measured tone. "I was not aware that ter wanted to go to the human world. You know if I were, I would have done anything in my power to stop him."


    "So how did he gain clearance?" Raymond asked.


    "My son facilitated it without my knowledge or approval," my father said, and I felt the weight of his disappointment settle on me. "But the responsibility is mine. I should have had better security protocols."


    Raymond’s eyes moved to me. "Rhett."


    "Sir," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.


    "My son trusted you. Considered you one of his closest friends." Raymond’s expression was cold. "I hope, for your sake, that we find him alive and unharmed."


    I couldn’t speak.


    "Enough," my father said. "We need to move. Every minute we waste is another minute the Collectors have to find him first."


    "If I don’t find my son, Terry..." Raymond started.


    "Raymond, listen, our sons mean everything to us, and I understand how dreadful it is at the thought of him alone in the human world with all the threats, but we cannot help him if we sit here pointing fingers. I am not saying that my son did the right thing; this is me taking responsibility for my son’s actions, that is all I can offer now."


    Alpha Raymond sighed after a while and nodded. "ter has always been set in his way, and didn’t we do more than they did when we were boys?"


    At that, the corners of my father’s eyes crinkled with smiles as both men burst outughing.


    "It’s such a pleasure to reunite with you, Terry, after a long time," Raymond said, grabbing my father and giving him a manly hug.


    "Same here," my dad nodded. "Now, let’s go rescue ter. I can’t wait to give him an earful."


    "Sounds like a n," Raymond chuckled.


    The two Alphas started coordinating their teams. I stood off to the side, feeling useless and terrified.


    One of our trackers—a woman named Sarah with the sharpest nose in the pack—jogged over to my father.


    "Alpha, we’ve got something. Our contact across the border has pulled footage of him and a trail leading straight to Millbrook Elementary School. There’s arge festival happening there today. Lots of human activity, lots of scent contamination. But we can still track him."


    "The school," I said suddenly. "That’s where his sister works. He went to see her."


    "Then that’s where we’re going," my father said. "Sarah, lead the way: everyone else, standard search formation. We’re going into human territory in broad daylight, so keep your weapons concealed and your wolves in check. Thest thing we need is to expose ourselves while we’re searching for him."


    The teams mobilised. I rode with my father again, staring out the window as we drove deeper into human territory.


    Two hourster, we hit the road to Millbrook, following the directions of the contacts we already had on the ground, and made our way to Millbrook Elementary School.


    The festival was easy to find. The noise alone could be heard from a mile away before we arrived at the location. Crowds of people milled around with balloons and banners.


    Deciding not to be caught up in the difficulty of moving our transport in such a crowd, we parked several blocks away and assessed the situation before moving. We all crowded into the back of the situation van.


    "Talk to me, Nn," My father said as soon as we climbed in.


    "Pulling public CCTV near the school," Nn said into his mic. "I’ve got a town cam at the square. Another at the station. Nothing useful yet." He tapped more keys. "Wait—there’s an open feed from the festival ground. It’s a local live stream for parents."


    My heart jumped. "Let’s see it," I blurted before my father could respond.


    A screen in the dashboard lit up. Kids in wolf masks poured across a cardboard stage. A painted moon hung crooked in blue cloth sky. All around, families were cheering, taking pictures, doing things normal people would.


    "Switch angles," my father said.


    Nn toggled between each camera. Spanning to the concession stand, a line for tickets, the festival location gate, and then the garden path, just behind the gym, where everything was happening.


    The camera feed blurred for a moment, and when it came back on, there was nothing. It was just empty.


    "Go back ten minutes," my father said.


    "Ye,s Alpha," Nn nodded and backed the feed to ten minutes ago. The feed was slightly blurry, showing two figures in the shot with their backs to the camera. There was a young woman with dark hair, almost as tall as the man in front of her, who was ter.


    That means the girl standing in front of him would be...


    "Riley?" I heard Alpha Raymond’s voice call out in shock. When I turned, his eyes were filled with disbelief, happiness, guilt... everything all at once. "Please, can you pause the feed and zoom in?"


    "Yes, Alpha," Nn agreed.


    Alpha Raymond leaned in, staring at the screen. I noticed his hands were beginning to tremble.


    "It’s my daughter," he called out in a cracking voice, cing a hand over his mouth as he turned to my father. "It’s truly my child, Terry. It’s Riley. She’s not dead. Oh, gods! Meriam, she’ll be beside herself with joy. Our daughter is alive."


    "A good thing, Raymond," my father said, pping him on the back. "Now we know why the boy was here." Then he turned back to Nn. "Resume ying it."


    We watched as both Riley and ter faced each other; they were saying something.


    "Can you give us audio?" my father asked.


    "There’s none, Alpha," Nn replied.


    Just as the words left Nn’s mouth, a shadow slid into the frame from the left; it was so fast that it was almost difficult to notice it.


    The camera lens shifted like something had brushed it. Then the picture remained static for a while, and when it cleared, the garden came back into view, but this time there was no Riley or ter.