His Unidentified & Untouchable Mate

The Factory (4)

Zahraa POV

While Jacob had his hero moment, I held the door.

Jacob stood inside, ushering people in, instructing them not to push. The first to come out was Jared’s beta, and one of Jacob’s childhood friends, Danny. Danny showed a few other males the way out, so they could help carry the injured wolves out. While this happened, Danny took the time to contact the High Alpha. A squad of gammas was there to assist before even half of the wolves were out the door. Jacob moved then - from the inside, ushering the people through, out, to his father’s side. He was having his back patted, while I was becoming more and more exhausted.

“Zahraa,” a familiar voice called.

I looked up to see Alpha Rowan there. The other alphas, including Jared, had gathered with Alpha Derick and were huddled in the hallway. The last of the injured had been carried out, and now it was just a slow, steady march as the wolves made their way out the Door, and down the broken window that Jacob and I had entered. From what I could hear, someone was doing a head count as they exited, and they were musing whether or not it would be worth their while to force another entry point open.

“Wonderful work on the Door,” he smiled, and through the haze of exhaustion something melted in my heart.

He’d been the only one to say that – the rest were busy patting Jacob’s back.

“Thank you,” I replied. I knew that I couldn’t keep this up very long – I was tiring. I’d been told once that this magic was interdimensional, and that was a very costly magic in the way of energy. It never bothered me if I was in and out, but holding it open this long was taxing.

I could see a question lurking in the peripherals of Rowan’s expression – it was there in the tenseness of his mouth, the uncertainty in his eyes. “How did Jacob find this place?”

“Hasn’t he already told Alpha Derick?” I asked, casting them a glance. I could’ve sworn that was one of the first few questions that had been asked.

Rowan’s mouth twitched at the corners. “Well, yes. I just find it difficult to believe. I’d like to hear it from your perspective. You were with him this morning, weren’t you?”

I nodded hesitantly. Before I told him anything, I asked, “Do you suspect he’s done something wrong?”

“Not wrong,” Rowan spoke too quickly: defensive, almost. “Just… this whole case stinks.”

I scrunched my nose. “Well, it’s all very odd, sure, but take it from me. Odd things happen.”

“That’s very true,” Rowan replied with a forced chuckle. “But… well, let me put it this way. When there’s an investigation that you don’t understand, with circumstances that don’t add up, the common way to settle it is to start looking at who stands to gain.”

I was beginning to see where he was headed with this. “Are you suggesting that he kidnapped thousands of wolves and crammed them in a tiny factory room? Overnight?”

“Don’t be absurd,” Rowan huffed, though that was what he was implying. “I just think maybe he had insider information.” Rowan scratched the back of his head, ruffling his long, shaggy hair as he did. “Maybe he’s using this to gain favor with father… to further his position. I’m not sure why or how, but right now, he’s the chief suspect.”

The words were jarring, and I was not prepared to be shaken so badly. “Rowan, Jacob wouldn’t do something like that.” I said it with confidence, but I still felt like Rowan heard the unspoken question. Would he?

We stared at each other in silence as the march continued. Sometimes the line of wolves would come to a complete standstill as someone needed a little extra help making it out the window. The wolves were cold from being underground for so long; they hadn’t had water, there hadn’t been room to sleep, so they were exhausted.

When Rowan didn’t answer what hadn’t been asked, I added, “So did anyone say why exactly they’re down here?”

“Yes,” Rowan frowned, and I could already tell this would only deepen the mystery. “They claimed that they had thrown a party here, and fell through the floor.”

There were no words.

A party in an abandoned place wasn’t that much of a stretch – but there wasn’t enough room here for any kind of gathering. Only the upper floors were above water, and those were thin walkways and narrow rooms. There had been no signs anyone had been there but us – the dust was undisturbed, nothing had been laid out to help them into the building, through the window. If there was another entrance, no one made any mention of it. They just shambled past until the last of them made it out of the room.

“Let’s check this out,” Rowan said, nodding towards the Door. I stepped through, stooping to get through the fridge opening, then closing it behind us.

The water was deeper in this room. Whereas it had been ankle high in the hall, it was mid-calf here. What Jared had said was true – there was a door that was leaking water slowly, but steadily. I didn’t need to look up to see that there was no hole in the ceiling large enough for thousands of wolves to fall through. I didn’t need to calculate the square footage to know that while this was a very large break room, it wasn’t large enough to hold all those wolves, even if they were packed in like sardines.

“Do you see what I’m seeing?” Rowan asked.

I didn’t want to say it for fear that my mate might come into question, but it couldn’t be helped. “There’s not enough room in here for everyone that just left. And this room was secured very tightly from the outside – so how did they come to be trapped inside?”

Rowan nodded, “My thoughts exactly. Maybe the full count will be different,” he suggested. “Maybe this is only a portion of the missing wolves. I suppose we’ll have to call someone in to search the entire area. And then…” his eyes fell to me, filled with a kind of hard-hearted sympathy. “We’ll need to do some heavy questioning of everyone involved. I’m sure you know that involves Jacob.”

I exhaled, heart heavy at the mere thought that he could be involved. That heaviness turned to anxiety that hung from my heart like so many quivering spiderwebs when Rowan added:

“And you.”