Hated By The Alpha-Chapter 200: Missing Children

In the general loving room, the atmosphere was tense, and everywhere was as quiet as a graveyard.

Audrey was staring at Lake with narrowed, angry eyes while Lake looked everywhere but at her.

"I’m waiting... where is my baby?" She questioned.

Lake rubbed his face, "I swear, I left him up there an hour ago, he told me he’d wait for me to return. I never knew he’d leave." He mumbled.

Audrey was about to reply when Caleb and two guards rushed in.

"Alpha," The guards bowed their heads.

Lake frowned as he saw them with no boy beside them. They didn’t find Mikhail.

"You didn’t find him?" Lake asked, glancing at Audrey as he felt her death glare.

The guards nodded, "Yes, Alpha. We have searched the whole pack, even outside the borders, and we couldn’t find them."

"Them?" Audrey asked.

Caleb stepped forward, "Yeah, the twins went with him. Someone told me he saw them heading toward the forest, but once he went to look for them, he couldn’t even find a trace of them." He said, looking at Audrey and trying to get her to understand his hint.

"Forest? I searched the forests, but no one was there," Lake said, frowning.

Audrey suddenly remembered something and froze. Her eyes found Caleb’s and he subtly nodded at her.

’Shit! How am I supposed to tell him I know where they are?’ Audrey panicked in her head.

She waved the guards up, "Get up, go. Thank you for your help." She said to them.

"Thank you, Luna," they said and left the room.

Audrey raised a brow at Lake, "Luna, huh?"

Lake smirked, "You are," he tried to touch her but she slapped his hand away.

"This is no time to flirt. Our children are missing," She pointed at him as if it was his fault.

Lake sighed and brought his hand back to himself, "Sorry. I’ll go search the forests again." He mumbled.

Audrey softened her glare on him, feeling guilty for playing him like that.

"You don’t have to go. I’ll go," She held his arm, stepping closer to him.

"We can go together," Lake said, placing his hand over hers.

Audrey glanced at Caleb and shook her head, "You have gone before and come back empty-handed. I think women are more intuitive, I’ll find them if I’m alone and without distractions," She ran her hand across his chest.

Lake narrowed his eyes at her and held her hand, "I feel like you’re hiding something from me but I’ll let you go. If you don’t find them within an hour, we’re pushing into the closest pack to search for them." He said.

Audrey raised her hand in a salute, "Yes, Alpha." She smiled.

"Be safe," He leaned down and pecked her lips.

Audrey blushed, "Stop it, I gotta run. Bye, Caleb!" She waved as she ran out of the pack house.

As she ran into the forest, she hoped the children were safe and were really in the garden because, if they weren’t there, then they might have a case of missing children.

She huffed as she reached the two tall trees, looking around to make sure no one was there. However, she did scent someone hiding behind a tree but she ignored the person and sniffed into the air, smiling when she sniffed Mikhail’s scent with the twins.

"Come on, Maria, our naughty babies are in there," She said and moved toward the trees, raising her hands to make the white gate appear.

Maria’s disappointed groan was heard from behind Audrey, followed by her approaching footsteps.

"Ugh! Come on, can’t you act clueless for once?" Maria asked as she walked up beside Audrey.

"I did act clueless for a while. Come on, hurry and enter before anyone sees us," Audrey grabbed Maria’s hand and entered the white gate.

"Why is the place so quiet?" Maria whispered as they walked along the beautiful flower gardens.

Audrey furrowed her brows and looked around everywhere, "I don’t know, I thought the place would be chaos by now." She muttered.

Maria sighed, "I think they’re hiding." She said.

Audrey shook her head, "I can feel their heartbeats, it’s calm, I think they’re sleeping." She informed.

"Aww, poor babies," Maria cooed.

"So, we just have to find where each of them fell asleep," Audrey said and stretched her hands above her head.

"Right..." Maria nodded, "I’ll go that way -"

’That wouldn’t be necessary, ’ The statue’s voice rang out, halting Audrey’s and Maria’s steps.

Audrey shared a confused glance with Maria before turning to look at the statue.

"What do you mean? Where have you kept them?" She asked with a frown.

’I’ll tell you on one condition,’ The statue spoke.

Maria walked closer to Audrey, standing by her side and curiously staring at the unmoving statue.

Audrey went closer, she didn’t want to hurry and agree to the statue terms, She no longer trusted her; these days, she seemed to be getting more mischievous as days went by.

She folded her arms on her chest and raised a brow at the statue, "And, if I refuse to agree to your terms? Will you seize the children? Can you take care of them? I know for sure you can’t kill them, so, are you ready to manage their hyper activities? This garden wouldn’t look the same in a few days with them in it... who knows... You might even lose an arm, an eye, pushed down... broken..." Audrey sighed, shaking her head.

"It’s a pity, I would really miss you when you’re gone. Let’s go, Maria. We’ll be back in a few days to clear her ruins," Audrey held Maria’s hand and pretended to leave.

’Hold on,’ The statue called after them.

Maria chuckled, "Can’t believe she’s scared of those little children." She whispered.

"Who wouldn’t?" Audrey replied and slowly faced the statue again.

’I will give them back to you. But I just needed you to do one thing. It’s not a condition anymore. It’s a request. Will the great one help me fulfil a wish?’ The statue asked softly.

Audrey shrugged, "If it’s feasible. The children first." She replied.

They suddenly heard the rustling of leaves above them and raised their face to see what it was.

Maria gasped as she saw the three children being lowered in a swing bed made of vines and leaves.

"Oh, dear. Who makes babies sleep in trees?" Maria murmured, staring in awe.

Audrey slowly shook her head, "Only she can do that." She chuckled, shifting as the children were gently laid in front of her on the ground.

They looked so peaceful and undisturbed, a testimony that they loved the way they were treated.

’You have them now. Can you do something for me, now?’ The statue asked again.

Audrey reluctantly nodded, "Let’s hear it." She said.

’You have to mark the Alpha,’ The statue’s voice was an urgent whisper.

"What?" Audrey snapped, glancing at Maria before glaring at the statue.

"What the fuck do you mean? Mark the Alpha? You want him to die now?" She asked, angry.

’He won’t die, but if you don’t mark him, he will die. I did something and, the only way to counter it is to mark him, and it must not be forcefully, he has to agree to the marking, too,’

Audrey chuckled.

"You’re not making sense. Firstly, why would Lake not want to mark me? Secondly, what could be more dangerous than me marking him at this critical moment? Thirdly, what did you do to get him into this urgent and dangerous situation?" Audrey folded her arms, waiting for the statue to clarify to her.

’All I can say is that you should have probed Ava when you felt something odd from her. Her face might have changed, but her heart is still the same. Your time is ticking, and so is the Alpha’s.’ The statue spoke and a gentle breeze blew across them.

Audrey was about to question the statue’s vagueness when she felt a hand touch her leg.

"Hi, Moma," Mikhail looked up at Audrey as he wrapped his hand on her ankle.

Audrey smiled, "Hey, baby, you’re awake," she smiled at Maria as the twin also woke up from sleep.

"Are we in trouble?" Cherry asked, running her eyes with the back of her hand.

Maria sighed as she helped them stand from the ground.

"You could be with your dads," Maria replied, narrowing her eyes at them.

"Sorry, Moma, I was just trying to help you and then I met Dora and Cherry and they asked me to bring them here to see Catherine," Mikhail lowered his head as he stood beside Audrey.

Audrey furrowed her brows, "You were just trying to help me? With what?" She questioned, sensing something was off.

Mikhail raised his head and pointed to the statue, "She asked me to give it to Ava -"

"Adeline," Dora corrected.

"What?" Audrey and Maria asked at once, sharing a look of disbelief.

Adeline?

"You said, Adeline?" Maria questioned slowly.

The three kids nodded.

"Catherine asked me to give it to Ava... but the twins said she is Adeline," Mikhail informed, pointing at Dora and Cherry.

"Huh?" Audrey couldn’t form a sentence anymore.

She wasn’t understanding what they were trying to say.

Was Ava the same as Adeline?

Audrey was sure it wasn’t the work of magic, she would have known. Plus, Ava’s wolf was almost as good as dead, the scent and presence were barely there and Audrey hadn’t really minded figuring out why.

Realisation dawned on her.

Ava might actually be Adeline; with the help of plastic surgeries, her face and body were altered and her wolf was faded because Audrey had wounded it years ago during the "acceptance challenge" fight.

Now everything was starting to make sense.

"Um, why are you looking like you’re believing what they’re saying?" Maria asked with narrowed eyes.

Audrey slowly nodded, "She is the one. She is probably back to avenge her father and to get back at me simply because she despises me for being Lake’s mate." She smiled coldly.

This was interesting. Audrey had felt very bad when she learnt that Adeline had fled; now, she had returned, and Audrey couldn’t be happier.

"That crazy biscuit," Maria muttered, balling her fists.

"What makes her think she could be a match for you now?" Maria asked.

Audrey shrugged, "Stupidity, I guess."

"How did she change her look? I would never have known," Maria asked in awe and anger.

"Plastic surgery. I always felt like she was familiar, but I decided not to probe because I wanted to enjoy watching her slowly unfold her plans. But, like Catherine said... I should have probed," Audrey frowned.

"Thank you, kids. You’re my superheroes," Audrey touched each child’s head with a sweet smile.

Dora and Cherry blushed while Mikhail simply smiled.

"Um, Moma, don’t you want to know why I gave her?" He asked in a small voice.

"That’s true. What did you give her?" Maria asked, giving Audrey a worried look.

Audrey nodded, waiting for her son to speak.

Mikhail pointed to the statue, "She said Adeline would recognise it and tell Dad everything, so I gave her the letter you wrote to Dad five years ago." He said, looking all innocent and calm.

"What?!" Audrey and Maria asked in shock.

Audrey could feel her heart pounding anxiously.

Adeline had Audrey’s letter to Lake, and she would definitely recognise her writing, plus, knowing that Audrey’s situation with the Alpha, she would be more than willing to tell him everything she knew from the past.

"That bustard! We need to leave, now!" Audrey ordered.