Ari Is Missing!

••• Maximillian’s POV ••• “Are we all in agreement?” one of the Alpha Alliance's Elders asked everyone in the room. “We do,” we all nodded and reached a unanimous agreement about the rogues issue. “Alpha Maximillian,” one of the Alphas from a smaller pack came to me as the meeting ended. “Thank you for allowing us to participate in this meeting.” “My pleasure…” I smiled and drawled out my reply. “If not for you, we, the smaller packs, might not have opportunities like this,” he said with a grateful smile. I smiled and stood up, preparing to go home and wait for my sweet Arra to return from her office. The Alpha seemed to read my mind and excused himself. I went to my car and drove home, feeling satisfied with the outcome of the meeting. The meeting just now was held to discuss the issue of rogues that were said to have recently shown up again. Fortunately, it was easy for us Alphas to decide to unite against those rogues. Knowing that smaller packs would benefit more from this cooperation, I purposely invited the Alphas from those smaller packs to the meeting. It was good for me to gain more allies. Driving back, my mind wandered to my sweet mate, wanting to mindlink my mate, but I decided against it as she might bite my head off for disturbing her during work hours. “You can't even bear to part with her for a few hours,” Cyrus teased, and I rolled my eyes at him. “Why don't you ask Rosa to cast a spell on her to make her tiny so she could fit into your pocket, and you could carry her along wherever you go?” Cyrus suggested. “Is there such a spell?” I asked. My wolf, in turn, laughed like crazy. “I can't believe you actually want to do that!” Dammit! I fell into his trap and admitted that I didn't want to part with Arra for even one second! “It’s good that you find someone you love,” Cyrus said once he had his fill of laughing at me. “I’m happy for you.” I smiled as I heard his words. It was beyond my imagination to finally feel this way about a she-wolf and how good it actually felt. “You are happy too, right?” I asked him. “You know I am,” he confessed. “Arra and Iris… They are great mates for us.” “But Arra is still holding back,” he sighed. “She’s afraid of us finding our fated mate and then leaving her.” “I know…” I sighed along with him. That was the biggest problem for me and Arra. I didn't know how to make her believe I would never leave her. I got off my car once I reached the pack’s main house and was about to go to my study when I received a mindlink from one of my guards. “Alpha, there is a woman here. She said her name is Rosa, and she wants to see you.” Rosa? Why would she want to see me? “Let her in,” I ordered my guard through the mindlink. I went down to the living room to wait for her, and not long after, she rushed into my house. My heart skipped a beat as I looked at her panicked look, and a foreboding feeling settled in my heart. “Rosa, what’s wrong?” I asked her with anxiety. “Max!” she called my name without my title, and I didn't care about it for now. “Ari…” I seemed to stop breathing when I heard her say Arra’s name in panic. I grabbed her shoulders and shook her. “What happened? What happened to Arra?!” “She’s… Ari is missing!” Missing? “How did she go missing? How did you know?” I nearly yelled at her. “She… We were supposed to meet, but she didn't come, and I couldn't contact her,” Ross replied. “Arra?” I mindlinked her but received no reply. I sucked in a sharp breath and nearly lost control as I felt Cyrus ready to take over my body. “Calm down, Cyrus,” I told my wolf and maybe myself at the same time. It wasn't the time to lose our cool. We needed to find Arra. “Beta Jaxon!” I quickly mindlinked my Beta. “Alpha,” his reply came a second later. “Your Luna is missing. Search for her!” I commanded him, using my Alpha tone to show him how serious this matter was. “On it, Alpha,” he replied, and I was slightly relieved knowing how competent Jaxon and my warriors were. “Rosa, I’ll need to contact some people,” I told her and went to my study to get my phone. Rosa followed me, and I didn't stop her. I quickly called my allies around the city, seeking their help to gather more information on Arra’s disappearance. “Have you told the Alpha King and Queen?” I asked Rosa. Rosa shook her head. “I haven't. I’m not sure if we should tell them. They will worry.” It might be true, but this matter was too serious for them not to know. I quickly dialed Arra’s mom’s number. “Mom, this is Max,” I spoke once the call was connected. “Max, is there anything I can help you with?” Queen Charlotte’s pleasant voice came from the receiver. “Mom, Arra is missing. I’m trying to find her now,” I quickly told her. “Ari is missing?” her tone changed to one of panic. “I’ve asked everyone I know to keep a lookout for her,” I tried to comfort her. “Max, we’ll search for her. Thank you for telling me about this.” Alpha Queen hung up the phone without waiting for my reply. I understood how anxious she must be. They had lost a daughter; they couldn't bear to lose another. And I’d be damned if I couldn't save my mate. With the help of the royal pack, I knew it wouldn't be long for us to find her. “Max, I have a surveillance video of Ari’s last known location,” Rosa said, showing me her phone screen. I snatched her phone and played the video. Damn it, Arra, why must you help a stranger?! Not that I blamed her, but… she should’ve known better not to be too kind to strangers, especially not someone who looked like a living dead! “How did you get this video?” I asked Rosa. “She sent me a message telling me she might run late because she encountered a problem. Once she was late for more than an hour, I tracked her phone and went to the area. I saw the surveillance camera there and asked someone to get the video for me,” Rosa explained. “What was the purpose of your meeting?” I tried to get more information from Rosa. “I found out some information about dark witches,” she replied. “And Max… I suspect it was Abigail and Lina who kidnapped her,” she added. Abigail and her mom? “Why do you think so?” I asked Rosa. “That man…” she pointed to her phone screen. “He looked… strange.” I looked at the man in the video again. He did look strange. Malnourished… Hollowed eyes… But the strangest thing was his movement. He looked… stiff. “A rogue?” I asked her. “Might be,” Rosa agreed with me and added, “But I think there might be black magic involved too.” My heart skipped a beat again. If black magic was involved, this was way more serious than I thought. Now I knew why Rosa said she suspected Lina and Abigail. They had grudges against Arra, and Lina had dark witch energy. Suddenly, my phone rang, and I saw it was from an unknown number. I frowned and was about to reject the call but decided to pick it up as the caller might have clues about Arra. “Max~” a sing-songy female voice sounded, sending goosebumps through my body. “Who is this?” I snapped in irritation at the caller. “This is Abigail,” she answered. “Abigail,” I growled out her name. “Where is Arra?!” “It seems you already know, and you are right. We have Bella here with us,” she giggled and didn't sound the least bit regretful or scared for kidnapping my Luna and the Alpha Princess. Was she crazy? “I will tell you our location, but you need to come alone to save her if you don't want her dead,” she chirped. “I’m going to kill them!” Cyrus roared, and I let out a dangerous low growl because of our anger combined together. “Send it!” I ordered. “See you soon, Max~” she said in that annoying sing-songy voice. “Beta Jaxon, come to the pack’s main house with the warriors,” I ordered Jaxon through the mindlink. It didn't take long for them to come, and we began planning to save Arra. Everyone needed to be ready to attack, even if I would go alone at first. Once I got Arra’s location and made a full attack plan, I immediately set out with my Beta, warriors, and Rosa to save my mate. Arra… Please wait for me… I’m coming to save you… I won't let anything bad happen to you…