Chapter 458
Ian:
“We gave it some thought,” Haiden explained. “We were just angry, and we realized we were taking our anger out at the wrong time and on the wrong person. I mean, kind of the right person, but at the wrong time,” Haiden tried to make it sense, but he ended up slapping his forehead when he could not come up with a good excuse for why we returned.
“It was simple that we are doing it for Clementine,” Troy replied.
“I am sure Clementine will appreciate it,” I told them.
Our attention then turned to Renee and Sebastian. They were the ones who had packed their bags before everyone else. They were really, really excited to go back home.
“I really hope the academy stays closed,” Renee began, stopping in front of us while Sebastian carried her bags. “But that does not mean we can stop worrying about Clementine p>
“She is right,” Sebastian agreed. “We need to do everything to find her. This is not the time for vacationing p>
His agreement made me smile comfortably.
“I also think we should all just look for Clementine,” Sebastian added, but then I noticed the way they were looking around.
“Everything okay?” I asked, following their gazes.
“Yeah,” Renee replied. “Mira was supposed to join us, but she has not come to pick up her stuff or pack her things. I am wondering where she is,” she stated, showing concern.
“She must be talking with the ring leaders or something before leaving,” Troy suggested, but Renee only shrugged. The concern never left her face.
“Anyway, I think we should also speak with Joshua and see if he can help us,” Renee suggested.
At that point, we all shared glances.
“Right, I mean, he is the alpha of his pack,” Sebastian remarked. “When he goes back, his father is still an alpha, and he is still a very beloved son. I think it would be much better if he gets on board with looking for Clementine p>
Sebastian started to focus on the idea, and although I understood what he meant, I did not know how much I could trust Joshua. He had always had trouble with us. I had also seen him get a little too comfortable around Clementine, and he was unpredictable.
“Yeah, let’s see,” I suggested, glancing at Troy. “If he is not ready, then we are still enough p>
Troy gave me a small nod, as if agreeing.
“Okay,” Renee replied. “I will go look for Mira and bring her here. Then we can decide where to meet every day and talk about the areas we are going to cover while looking for Clementine p>
She sounded deeply worried, as if she did not want to miss a single chance to help. As she walked away, we began to decide the rest of the details, like where we would start the search and which areas we had already covered. We also filled Sebastian in on the locations we had checked.
At the same time, we noticed Joshua stepping out from his side of the passage. He had clearly taken a shower. His hair was still wet, and he shook his head to get rid of the water. When he approached us, he gave a brief nod.
“What are you guys doing?” Joshua asked with a grin. “Do you not want to go back p>
I did not know what he was acting so confident about, but everyone chose to ignore it.
“We were talking about how we are going to find Clementine,” Sebastian told him.
I noticed everyone watching Joshua’s reaction. If he offered to help on his own, it would be much better than trying to convince him. Every time we suggested something in the past, he had been against it.
“So she was with the council members, you said?” Joshua asked me.
I gave him a short nod.
“And we were thinking you might be able to help us,” Sebastian added, taking the lead since no one else seemed ready to speak to Joshua about it.
“Yeah, I mean, definitely. Let me know whatever you need my help with,” he replied, without putting on much of an act.
That was confusing, but like I said, any help was useful.
We had barely processed it when blood-curdling screams filled the air. I started looking around, along with the others. What made it worse was that we recognized the voice.
“That’s Renee,” Sebastian pointed in the direction the sound was coming from, saying only that before he sped off that way. We all chased after him, running toward her.
“Renee!” Sebastian shouted.
I could tell everyone was worried. There was no reason for her to be screaming like that.
“Renee!” he yelled again.
“I’m here! Come here! Please!” she cried from somewhere on the academy grounds, sobbing loudly.
With every step we took toward her, we worried about what could have gone so wrong that she had been screaming like that. We ran and ran until I noticed Sebastian was about to trip. Not only did I see it, but Haiden and Troy also reached out to support him, yet he kept running. That was the kind of care we all had for our mates.
“Guys please come here p>
There was pain in her voice as she called for us to follow the sound. We kept moving toward her until we finally reached the spot.
Behind the large trees, she was sitting on the ground. We slowed down as soon as we noticed she was sitting in front of someone, completely overwhelmed.
I saw legs first. Then I stepped closer, moving around Renee until I stood in front of her, and that was when I saw who it was. Shock hit me all at once.
Renee lifted her head to look at us standing there, all of us staring at the body with the same stunned expression.
“Somebody killed Mira,” Renee said quietly.
Right in front of us was the dead body of our friend, lying still, not in the North, but on the mainland where she was supposed to be safe.