Smith's POV
"Well, there goes your smart plan," I muttered, my voice filled with sarcasm. I glared at the empty hole, the result of hours of digging that had yielded nothing. Lombard and I had been confident that we had Annabel cornered, but it seemed the girl had escaped after all.
Lombard let out a frustrated sigh, wiping sweat from his brow. "This doesn't make any sense. We were so close, Smith. How could she have gotten out?"
I clenched my fists, my annoyance growing with each passing second. "She's not just an ordinary Beta. Annabel is resourceful and cunning. We underestimated her."
As we stood there, the silence between us was deafening. The storm of uncertainty that had marked our pursuit of Annabel was far from over. We needed to regroup and come up with a new plan, one that w
