Author's POV
"How long has she been gone?" he questioned Theodore, who was almost shivering. His eyes burned with fury.
"I—I don't really know, Alpha. I just received the news from the maid now," Theodore replied, his voice trembling.
Maltin took a deep breath, trying to get hold of his beast. The anger rising inside him was becoming difficult to control.
"Search the entire castle. All of you. Find her now," he ordered, turning away from Theodore.
"Yes, Alpha."
Theodore immediately disappeared with the other guards.
Maltin began pacing the chamber restlessly, his footsteps echoing against the stone floor. Waves of anger and trepidation slammed through his being. He was utterly disappointed and couldn't understand how the girl had managed to maneuver his men.
Four guards. Four trained Lycan guards had been stationed outside her chamber, and around the castle, yet somehow, a human girl had escaped them and none of them noticed that she was gone.
How? His jaw tightened.
He had underestimated her, perhaps that was his mistake. He had assumed she was frightened, confused, and helpless because she had been brought into a world she knew nothing about. He had seen the fear in her eyes and heard the uncertainty in her voice. But perhaps beneath all that fear was something else.
Determination.
Maltin stopped pacing and stared at the closed door.
The girl had dared to challenge him once. She was never frightened of him, he should have expected her to try an escape. But that wasn't what bothered him the most. Something inside him felt wrong and that made his beast restless.
Beneath his rage was a fear he was desperately trying to push away. An unfamiliar anxiety had settled deep inside his chest, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake it.
His wolf was going wild inside him, and his attempts subdue his madness was futile. This can only tell him that there is a problem. He could feel it, but what it be?
Maltin clenched his fists.
Why was his wolf stirring up so strangely because she is in danger? Why did he feel this sudden ache and anxiety because this strange girl had escaped? Was it because he had yet to uncover the mystery surrounding her? Could she be carrying a secret with her? Maybe something that could liberate the pack? He frowned at the thought.
"No. That can't be possible, she is just a human girl." He muttered.
But even as he said it, something inside him rejected the words. A human girl shouldn't be able to affect him this way.
He had lived for centuries. He had faced wars, betrayals, bloodshed, death, and countless threats without allowing fear to control him. Yet now, because one strange girl had disappeared from a chamber in his castle, his heart refused to settle.
"For goodness' sake, why am I tense?" he growled, running a hand through his hair. "Why are you acting up, Dairis?"
Daris seemed calm for a moment, then his voice echoed through his mind. "You're just so stubborn, Maltin, and I won't let us be until you listen to me."
Maltin shut his eyes. Utterly frustrated but his wolf persisted "THE GIRL IS IN DANGER!"
The force of Dairis's voice made his eyes snap open again. "She walked into it her self!"
"And we have to do something to save her." Daris demanded in return
Maltin's breathing became heavier. He stared ahead, unsettled. Dairis had never behaved this way before. His wolf had always been powerful, disciplined, and obedient. Even during the worst moments of his curse, Dairis had remained under control. But now, he was restless, almost frantic, and he didn't understand this new behaviour, he hated not understanding things.
He took another deep breath, trying to calm himself.
"Fine," he finally muttered. "We'll find her."
Finally." Dairis growled in satisfaction as Maltin disappeared from the chamber at the speed of light.
Under normal circumstances, the Alpha would never join the guards in searching the castle. He had people for that, except in very rare situations, when something important was on the verge of destruction, would Maltin personally involve himself. But here he was, searching for a human girl whom he had known just for a few days.
He moved through the castle corridors, stretching his senses to their limits. The hurried footsteps of guards moving through different sections of the castle echoed but there was no sign of the girl. Maltin's frustration grew.
Where could she have gone?
He turned down another corridor, his eyes narrowing as he searched every corner.
"She couldn't have gotten far," he thought.
But a strange feeling told him otherwise, and he stopped on his track. For a moment, everything around him seemed to disappear.
The voices, the footsteps, the movement of the guards all faded into the background. And there, he could hear something else, a faint voice, almost impossible to detect. Maltin's eyes widened.
It was her.
He stood perfectly still to confirm as the sound came again, but this time, louder than before. It was a scream. His wolf stirred violently.
"There," Dairis said.
Maltin's ears perked as he turned towards the direction. The voice was coming from somewhere deeper within the castle. He knew this part of the castle. This was the direction to the forbidden south wing, the most dreaded and oldest sections of the castle, built long before his reign, and very few people ever came here.
It was the place where the ancient Lycan kings had once tested their warriors. It is filled with hidden mechanisms, false doors, dead ends, and traps designed to keep enemies from reaching the inner chambers, and this passage was not meant for ordinary people, let alone a human. Even trained warriors knew better than to enter it without permission. If Alina had somehow wandered into that section of the castle, then she is in… His expression changed at the realization.
"The Snare Passage," he muttered in shock.
Maltin's heart dropped and wolf snarled inside him. He didn't waste another second and dashed towards the south wing..