The Alpha's Broken Witch

Conundrums

If Kylen had thought the first part of the day was frustrating, it was nothing in comparison to the rest of the school day. True to his word, he had shadowed the girl for the remainder of the day. Classroom to classroom, office to office as she seemed to move about the small world of their high school in an altogether different realm. While the classes were rote and as normal as could be, no one but him seem to notice the female as she moved about quietly. Even the teachers seemed to dismiss her presence or barely register her existence from class to class.

For a few brief moments, Kylen had hoped that when he saw her lunch period, he would finally get answers by finding people who knew her, but as with all other things, she never spoke a word to anyone the whole time. Instead, bypassing the cafeteria to go straight outside onto the courtyard where she opened her books and began working on homework. For a few moments, he considered walking over to speak to her. Something, anything to erase this picture of her cold, aimless existence from his mind.

More than that, when he had heard her stomach growl over the din of yelling high school students and blaring music, he considered going over and demanding to know why she did not eat. While their bond was still knew, he also knew he had felt an extreme sense of discomfort and weariness. Considering he had been fine earlier this morning, he was almost sure it came from her. All of it made him question just what was going on with the human.

When school ended, he had watched the other students file out, moving to the buses or the cars in the parking lot. Everyone but her. He had maintained his distance, watching her as she moved to her locker, quietly exchanged some of her belongings, zipped up her backpack and then headed out the front entrance. Keeping his distance, he had silently moved to follow her quietly, making it to the entryway and standing quietly in the shadows to watch what she did next.

To his surprise, she moved past the student parking lot and the people there, making her way to the small path that led through the woods to the west of the school. A growl leaving his lips as he watched his mate head out into the overgrown forest area alone. Did no one see her? Did no one notice? Not one head turned to follow her movements. Not a student, not a faculty member, not even the school safety officer.

For the whole of the day, no one had even acknowledged her presence. He had been close by, carefully watching. Other than the stuttered apology she had tried to utter in his presence, he had not seen her say a single word all day. No one actively tried to speak to her, or start a conversation. It was as if she existed on the fringes of their reality and was just barely there.

More to the point, all day, he had never caught another hint of her scent. That vanilla and citrus aroma that had brought him such peace for a brief moment had remained elusive for the rest of the day. Nothing about this girl added up. To make matters worse he still did not know her name. He had gone so far as to ask Mr. Niall, but the man couldn't even remember her, let alone what her actual name was. All of it was very peculiar.

Staring at the point where the path in the woods began, Ky straightened his shoulders and moved to follow. Just as he stepped outside the door, he found himself face to face with Erik. At a height of six-foot-three Erik was a mere four inches shorter than Kylen. Something impressive for a beta. He was also built like a linebacker in his human form, with a wall of muscle that would stop about anyone from challenging him physically.

"So, where is she?" Erik asked, his grey eyes glittering with mischief.

"Walking home. Alone. By herself." Kylen growled, moving to push past Erik and head towards the path once more.

"Do what? Well, what is her name?" Erik asked, arching a brow as he moved to step in front of Ky once again.

"I still don't know. Seriously, not one person acknowledged her all day. Mr. Niall couldn't even remember what she looked like, let alone her name. It's almost as if no one realizes she is here and exists." Kylen growled softly, one hand lifting to run through his hair. "None of this makes sense, Erik. And she's out here, alone. Walking through the woods by herself."

"Ky, something about this is not right. Surely, you know realize that this is all pretty weird." Erik spoke softly, his tone almost apologetic.

"I know, but I have to know she's safe." Grimacing, Ky nodded towards the path and moved to descend the stairs, making his way towards the forest with Erik hot on his heels.

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Twenty minutes later, Erik and Ky stood in the middle of a clearing, slowly moving to inspect each and every single piece of bent flora and fauna that was present. After everything, they had lost her. There was no trail, no scent to track, it was as if she had just up and disappeared.

Frustration was making Kylen antsy, his wolf closer to the surface than he could ever remember. He wanted to strangle someone, something. Anything that would help him focus and possibly find answers about his supposed mate. Nothing from today made sense. Least of all a human disappearing right from under their noses.

"This can't be right, how can a person just vanish without leaving a trace?" Erik growled, his mouth set in a fierce frown as he leaned forward, sniffing the air to try and catch a small trace of anything to follow. Gray eyes flickered a little, his pupils shifting shape to indicate his wolf pushing closer to the surface to make his assessment more accurate, "I have nothing, Ky. Not a single bloody hint of anything to give away if she was even here or what direction she headed off in."

"I know, I can't pick up anything either. How is this even possible?" Growling a little, he came to a stand still. His body suddenly feeling leaden as he leaned against a tree for support. Was that her? Was his mate in trouble? Cursing softly under his breath as Coda suddenly surged to the surface.

Mine! You lost her and she is mine!

Coda, I'm trying to find her.

Do better. We should have taken her this morning. Marked her. Made her ours.

She is human. We must be careful.

Better with us then with others. Something is not right. Mate is in danger.

You can't know that Coda. She is probably fine. We will see her tomorrow.

"Coda isn't happy, I take it?" Erik's words snapped Ky out of the argument he was in with his wolf.

"Not a bit, he insists we should have just claimed her this morning. I am trying to tell him that she is human and we must be careful. Not to mention the fact that we have to consult with the elders." Ky relented, exhaling a little as he peered about. It was obvious that trying to track her this way would not be productive today. Yet, there was always tomorrow.

"Yeah, after this, I definitely think we need to get the elders involved. Something about this is just not right." Erik moved then, one hand clapping Ky's shoulder. "C'mon, let's head to the packhouse. If nothing else, we can talk to your Mom and see what she thinks."

Nodding, Kylen turned, looking once more about the clearing and cursing softly as he turned to make his way back to the packhouse.