Chapter 31
Alec
We don’t quite make it to the full hour we’d promised to give Bell, arriving back at her door around forty-five minutes after we’d left it.
I knock, Nath at my side and Reid leaning against the opposite wall as we wait for her to open up. After a minute of silence through the door, I knock again, louder this time.
“Bell?” I call, knocking for a third time, trying to ignore the creeping edge of panic at her lack of response.
“You don’t think she went out, do you?” Nath asks.
“Suki isn’t barking, so maybe she took her for a walk,” Reid suggests, frowning as if he doesn’t quite believe his own theory.
The door a little down the hall and across swings open, and Arabella’s neighbour slips out.
She stands there staring at the three of us like she's the judge and jury, deliberating over our fate and sentences. After a long moment of silence, she sighs, waving a hand through the air like she’s had enough of whatever nonsense has irritated her.
“Nice to see you too, Ruth,” Reid says, somehow both genuine and sarcastic at once.
“Shush, you,” she scolds him before explaining, “Arabella left about fifteen minutes ago—”
“What?” Nath blurts, speaking over her. “Where—”
Ruth stops to glare at us all, cutting off any more attempts to interrupt her with our questions.
God, she’s kind of scary for an old woman…
“She came and got Suki, then took off in that car of hers that I never usually see her use. Said something about going to see someone important, so my guess would be that she’s gone back to Ashridge,” she says, her voice loaded with something that I can’t unravel.
“Why Ashridge?” Nath asks.
“Yeah, I was under the impression Arabella didn’t have any family left,” Reid adds somewhat hesitantly, hand twitching toward his pocket.
“She grew up in that town, and there’s someone there who she loves dearly.
It’s not a big place, so I’m sure even a direction-challenged moron could find her,” Ruth answers.
“I wouldn’t be telling you this if I didn’t believe she would be better off with you alpha-brained fools following her, so instead of asking me questions, just get on the road. ”
Instead of giving us the chance to ask more questions or argue, she slips back into her flat, leaving the three of us awkwardly standing in the hallway.
“So,” Reid says slowly, dragging the word out. He’s got his phone in his hand, already having a map displayed showing the route to Ashridge. “Is one of you driving, or am I?”
“She wasn’t kidding about this being a small town, huh?” I say as we all get out of the car, looking curiously around at the place Arabella grew up in.
“If it weren't for the cafe and shops, I’d call it a village,” Reid agrees.
"There are only two of them,” Nathan points out, gesturing at said shops.
“Two shops are still shops.” Reid shrugs, but he doesn’t quite pull off the casual gesture given the way he’s scanning the entire area like a hawk. “There was a decent-sized supermarket on the outskirts too.”
“So, how do we go about finding her?” Nathan asks.
“A place like this? I bet everyone knows everyone, so someone should be able to tell us where to find her.” I look around, spotting a woman around Arabella’s age, and decide she looks like a promising bet.
If she grew up here, they likely went to school together.
“Her,” I tell the others, pointing her out.
I head across the road, hearing Nath and Reid following me as I approach the woman. As I get closer, I notice it looks like she’s been crying. Her eyes are red and puffy. I’m tempted to try and find someone else to ask, but she looks up, meeting my eyes with a curious look.
“Can I help you?” she asks softly.
“We’re trying to find someone. She came here to see family,” I answer, guessing that whoever is important could be considered family to her. “Her name’s Arabella.”
“Arabella Knight?” the woman asks, visibly paling at the mention of her name.
She definitely knows Bell, then.
“That’s the one. Have you seen her?” I ask, ignoring her obvious discomfort at the mention of our omega’s name.
“She’s in town?” she asks, sounding shocked but not waiting for an answer before she continues. “I haven’t seen her, but if she’s here, she’s probably in the cemetery.”
“The cemetery?” Reid asks, coming up to stand beside me.
“Yeah. It’s not far. Just follow the main road that way until you can see the church, then go left and follow the road until you see it,” she says, helpfully pointing in the direction we need to go.
“Appreciate the directions,” I tell her, turning to go, when her hand reaches out, stopping just short of touching my arm.
I pause, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Uh, she probably doesn’t wanna hear this from me, but when you get a minute, could you please tell her that I’m really sorry?” she asks, looking like she’s about to start crying again.
“What’s your name?” I ask. While I don’t think it’s a wise idea to bring it up whatever the situation is today, I can always ask Bell about this later.
I hope that she will let us have a ‘later’ anyway.
“Sophie,” the woman answers, then nods to herself before walking briskly away.
“That was weird,” Nathan notes as the three of us head in the direction of the cemetery.
“Yup,” I agree, already setting the interaction out of my mind.
All I can think about is finding Arabella and making sure she knows that all three of us want nothing more than to be with her. We want to make her happy and give her anything and everything she could ever desire.
I won't let her listen to her fears and slip away from us again.
Spotting a familiar dog looking out of a car window, I stray off the path to check inside the car.
Only Suki is there, and I quickly stop to let her sniff my fingers through the opening in the window.
She wags her tail at me after doing so, and I’m embarrassed by how relieved I am that she seems to like me.
I know how much Arabella loves this dog.
Reid and Nath also take a moment to greet the pup, and I continue on towards the cemetery while they give her some pets. Reid says something in a soft voice to her that I miss as the distance grows between me and them.
I scan the rows of headstones, finally spotting Arabella in the distance. Seeing her makes me almost sag with relief.
She’s here.
She’s okay.
It takes all of my self-control not to run straight to her. I don’t want to disturb whatever moment she’s having with whoever is buried here, so I walk over there quietly. I come to a stop a little behind her, catching just enough to realise she’s talking about the three of us.
“What kind of omega wants three alphas all to herself?”
The silly kind who doesn’t realise she already has us. The one who somehow hasn’t figured out that there’s no way we’re going away, not when we know she wants us back.
I take another step closer, determined to make sure she knows how much she means to us, to me.
We’re not leaving this place without her.