Chapter 9

(Siobhan’s P.O.V)

“Do you want to talk about what happened last night?” Artis asks as we are driving to her sleuth to interview the cub’s parents.

“No, I really don’t. Though, thank you guys for being there and staying with me.” I murmur.

I never want to talk about my nightmares, they are always so vivid and they take a lot out of me emotionally. Artis and Preston don’t push the issue, they know it won’t do any good to try and pry the answers out of me. We pull up to the gates of the sleuth’s territory and the werebears at the gate allow us entry after confirming with their Alpha that we were welcome on the territory.

“I will be escorting you to the family’s home, so please follow me.” A tall and burly warrior says before shifting into his bear and running ahead of our vehicle.

We make our way through the expansive territory, covered in beautiful lush forest and the smell of pine was everywhere, soothing my mind and emotions. The warrior makes his way into a small cul-de-sac and up to a large, white two-story home. Flowers and bushes lined the walkway and a beautiful lemon tree was the centerpiece of the front yard. The warrior nodded his head as he ran back to his post at the gate, while we park the SUV and get out. Knocking on the front door a man that I can only say looked like a lumberjack answered the door; tall, bearded, with huge muscles.

“Are you Matthew Johnson? Father to Aiden?” Artis asks.

“Yes, I am. You must be Artis, the Alpha let us know that you were coming here with your team. I would say welcome home but under the circumstances, I doubt that you are happy to be home.” He mumbles.

He walks back into the house; we walk in behind him, Preston closing the door behind us. Matthew’s mate is sitting on the couch, tears streaming down her face, a tissue clutched in her hand.

“This is my mate, Georgiana. Please have a seat.” Matthew says as he sits on the couch next to Georgiana.

“We are so sorry for the circumstances that bring us to your home. We just need to ask you some questions about what happened. Could you please give your account of what happened when Aiden went missing?” Preston asks.

Georgiana launches into her retelling, having to take deep breaths to calm herself still distraught over the disappearance. Her mate held her hand, rubbing his thumb along her knuckles doing his best to support her. She states that Aiden was playing in the backyard while she was hanging out laundry on the line. She had come back into the house to place the next load of laundry into the washer, and when she returned to the backyard Aiden was gone.

“How long were you in the house before you went back outside?” I ask.

“I would say no more than 20 minutes.” She says, her voice trembling with suppressed emotion.

“What did you do when you found that he was missing?”

“Since our backyard isn’t fenced, I thought he just went off into the woods. I tried to find his scent but I couldn’t find it. It disappeared like he had never been in the backyard at all. I mind linked Matthew and then our Alpha and Beta.”

“Matthew, what were you doing at the time your son disappeared?” Artis asks.

“I was at work. I’m a doctor here at the pack hospital and I was performing surgery on one of the pack cubs who fell and broke their leg. When Georgie mind linked me, I had to call in another doctor to finish the procedure. By the time I got home, the warriors were making their way into the woods and the Alpha and Beta were here.” Matthew answers.

“Can I take a look in the backyard? I know that you can sense that I am Fae, and I know it can be difficult for shifters to pick up on magic but your story is similar to a pup that went missing in the Hallowed Manes Pack.” Preston says.

“Of course, that’s fine,” Matthew says, showing us to the sliding back door of the house.

Preston walks to the center of the backyard and sits down, legs crossed, and he closes his eyes and breathes deeply. Artis and I walk around the backyard trying to sniff out any scents that don’t belong here. After what seems like hours, Preston gets up off the ground and I can see that his eyes are glowing green.

“Preston, calm down. What did you find?” Artis asks.

“Dark magic, ancient dark magic.” He spits out.

“Spell casters or Fae?” I ask.

“Older, I’m talking eons ago type of ancient. The type of magic we only read about,” Preston says.

“So then how come you know about it?” Artis asks.

“I’m a healer. I had to learn about all types of magic on the off chance that I come across it, no matter how obscure or old the magic is.” He answers.

“So, that’s what you are feeling here? Did you feel it at the other sites when you visited them the other day?” I ask.

“No, it wasn’t as potent. I knew there was magic involved because I could still feel traces of it, but this kidnapping was the most recent, so the potency of the magic is stronger and enough for me to be able to feel into it.”

“You’re talking as if the magic has an intent, can think.”

“It’s old magic, I can’t explain it, but it feels evil. That there is evil behind the kidnappings, they are for a dark purpose.” He murmurs.

“Okay, we need to contact Camilla and Anders, have them meet us back at the hotel room. We know that at this point the children are still alive, or at least the pups, cubs, and spell caster children.” I sigh.

This is going to be a long night.