CHAPTER 23 – TRYING TO FIND RICH

SCARLET’S POV

We scampered around town trying to locate Rich’s resident. We have never been to a visit at his place before now and the most we have gone was the day when we tried escorting him home after one of the training sessions.

On that day, we walked for a couple of kilometers with him until he stopped us and insisted that we go no further and had pointed to the direction that he claimed led to his house and that was the direction that we had followed today.

We have asked a number of persons that we’ve met but none seems to know his exact resident. They claim to know him but they were not sure where he lives. However, a young woman had informed us that he sure does live around and that if we persisted, we might soon find someone that would give us the proper direction to his place.

We have followed the young woman’s advice and had been roaming around this vicinity for quite some time now trying to get a lead.

“For just how long would we continue like this? This search is unending and why does it look like no one knows him?” I murmured in distress.

“Maybe we should just move away a little bit from here. Who knows, we could just meet someone that knows where he lives” Lara replied.

“I am sorry I have to make you do this, Lara” I apologized. “It’s just that…”

Lara stopped me. “It is okay, Scarlet, I know how it feels. Maybe I was just more concerned about myself, but please no need to apologize”

“Thanks, Lara,” I said.

She smiled at me and I smiled back. We continued with our search for a few more minutes and still no result.

At a point, Lara stopped and turned to me. I was wondering what had made her stop and so I stopped too and looked at her inquisitively.

“You can still remember everything about Rich, right?” Lara asked.

“Yes,” I muttered still wondering what she was up to.

Lara smiled when I responded in the positive and she asked yet another question. “And we are sure that he lives around this place right?" she paused. "Okay, maybe not here, but it should not be too far from here”

“Get on with it, Lara, what are you getting at, I am already becoming impatient?” I asked anxiously as I was already running out of patience.

“Then you can track him. There is no need for this long and unending search. Just track him” she beamed in a smile.

“Track him?” I asked. I was lost as to what she meant.

“Yes. If you can still recall his appearance, then you should be able to track him with his smell” she said.

I still looked at her with confusion written all over me. Sincerely, I don’t know what she was driving at and this whole scenario is already making me go gaga.

“Come on, Scarlet, you can always track someone. Remember, growing up you were very good with this. If Rich is somewhere around, you would be able to track him” she explained.

Now I see what she meant. Growing up, it was always easy for me to find just about anyone. But was a long time ago and I can't say if it is still possible for me to do something like that.

“Come on Lara, that was years ago and I can’t even remember how I do it,” I said and I continued to gaze at her with uncertainty.

“And that is why I asked if you still remember what he looks like” she replied.

“And what difference does that make still?” I asked as I was getting even more perplexed.

“Come on, Scarlet, there is no way you should forget about this. See, you have to do this if we are going to get out of here with our mission accomplished” she said.

“Yes I want our mission done but how?” I asked.

“Okay, I think how you told me you do it when we were still little children was that you think of how a person looks like and once you can get it right, you will be able to get the person’s scent and then trace the person or where the person has been to or what the person has touched. It’s just like scenting with every other werewolf, but in your case, you don’t need to get the person’s personal property to know the person’s smell” she explained.

“Of course I remember all about it now, Lara,” I replied.

“Then you have to do it” she requested.

Yes, now I can remember it but then that was years ago since I stopped doing that, and I was skeptical if it would still be possible for me.

“Okay,” I said and I closed my eyes.

I started by trying to recall how Rich looks like but my memory was blank and I could not capture his face even though I tried as much as I could to remember. “But I can’t see him” I cried.

“Please keep your eyes closed, Scarlet, now let me try and refresh your memory about him” Lara offered.

I did as she had suggested and she tried as much as she could to explain the attributes of Rich to me so that I would be able to recall exactly how it looks.

“Remember he is huge and appears intimidating to you. Can you get his training sessions, remember how you longed for his visit every single passing day” Lara said.

I was still not getting it. The face I was seeing was a bit blurry and I could make out nothing from it. Nevertheless, Lara did not relent as she continued to remind me of different things

that would cause me to remember him.

“Okay, maybe you should try remembering the first day that you set your eyes on him. Remember you have told me that you did not trust his unusual calm composure” she said.

I tried to think of the event that Lara had narrated and slowly, his face started to become clearer. It finally clicked and I saw him looking right into my eyes with a smile on his lips.

“Yes, Lara, I can see him now and I think I know exactly how he smiles, and if my prescription is correct, I should be able to take us to where he lives” I revealed.

*

After the whole challenge, I was finally able to lead us to Rich’s house. It turned out that we were far away from it and that we should have continued going forward as his house was the next clan.

When we arrived at the clan, the first person that we asked about him led us directly to his house.

He was surprised to see us and at first, was afraid to entertain us until I had assured him that no harm would come to him for receiving us. He took us inside his small house and made us feel comfortable.

I explained the reason for our visit to him and this caused him great discomfort.

“I knew it would come to this someday. But instead of making you pass through all of this, why didn’t they just chase you away and allow you to find your own path?” he lamented.

“You know they will not do that because I am one of them. They would not want it to be said that someone with their blood is seen in the slums. They will prefer that I die instead” I said.

“Then you shouldn’t be made to suffer for their pride, you did not make yourself this way” he replied.

“And that is why I have come to you. You remember your promise to marry me right? Come and inform them of your intention. If I should choose you then they have no reason to force me to marry another” I said.

“And that other is the alpha of the Black Moon Pack remember? Who am I to stand up against him?” he asked.

“And that is the more reason why this marriage should be stopped. We both know that alpha Jake is a monster. My life would be a terror with him” I cried.

“And beta Tim?” he asked.

“Just agree to me and I will find a way to go about my father or any other member of my family” I replied.

He took a couple of minutes to reflect on all that I have told him. Looking at him, I could see the confusion written all over him. I could see that he so much desired to be of help to me but with the status of my family, he found himself in a very difficult situation.

“And let’s say I agree, Scarlet, where would I bring you to if beta Tim should give you to me?” he finally spoke.

With this question, I took another look at his apartment. It was a small sitting room with a tiny room attached to it. I could tell that the bathroom was very small and the kitchen could barely cook a decent meal. But that was not my concern right now. All I want is to evade the terror that was about to befall me. I desperately want to evade the marriage to alpha Jake.

“Here of course, where else?” I asked.

“Here, in this shackle? I should go take beta Tim’s daughter, the first daughter of Diamond Cut and bring her to the slums?” he asked in deep regrets. His voice was coarse and sounded so different.

“But over here is far better than the room I have known since my childhood, this is like paradise to it, this is decent” I replied.

“But then, that is not what they want to do, to give you a better and decent room to lay your head. They want to give you a mansion and it doesn’t matter if you would have to sleep with the dogs in that mansion for the rest of your life” he said.

He was right. All they cared about was their prestige. Just let it be said that beta Tim’s daughter, the first daughter of Diamond Cut got married to an alpha and after that, nothing else mattered, not even how the said daughter is being treated where she is. I know I would be dead to them the very moment a step out of their house to Black Moon Pack.

“But…” I wanted to say something but he stopped me.

“Wait, Scarlet, no but. You are the first daughter of the Pack and do you know what that means? I am nobody to stop beta Tim” he said.

As he said this, hot tears started to run down my cheek. My world was again shattered right before my own eyes.

Seeing that I was getting emotional, he rushed to me and knelt in front of me. He used his hands to wipe off the tears. “Please stop crying, Scarlet, I don’t want to see you cry let alone be the reason why you are doing this” he tried to console me.

“You are not the reason, Rich, it is just that I had such great hopes. Now I have to go to Ray. He is the only one that can save me from this” I replied.

“Ray” he exclaimed.

I was surprised by the way he had reacted on hearing me talk about my intention to go see Ray so I asked him. “Is anything wrong?”

“No,” he said in defense, and then he looked at Lara and asked her. “Is she going to Ray?”

“She said she has to. He is an alpha you know” she replied.

I still do not understand what was going on. “Is anything the matter?” I asked the two of them this time.

“Nothing at all, Scarlet. But you mustn’t go to Ray, it’s been long you saw him right?” he asked.

“Yes and that is because he is busy” I replied.

“But then he might be busy today, you never can tell,” he said.

“I know what to do. I must speak to him today. There is no way he would be too busy to see me today” I replied.

“Okay, since you have made up your mind to go on with it, please let me think about all that you have said to me and after you see alpha Ray, do tell me the outcome and I will tell you what I have decided,” he said.

“That is so kind of you, Rich. Hopefully, my visit to Ray would be positive and I will revert to you” I smiled.

I noticed that they were looking nervous and when I gave them an inquisitive look, they forced some smiles on and I smiled back in response.