The Shadow of a Luna
Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Chapter 24

TYLER POV

"Tessa." I sang out going into our bedroom. I know that I was out of line when I forbid her to do anything but she was willing to go on a suicide mission to go find her father. There’s no way I could let her go and do that. Not with other vampires and witch’s after her.

But when I walked into our room I noticed that she wasn’t there. I looked in the bathroom and it was empty as well. So I walked back downstairs to the bar area where everyone was hanging out.

"Has anyone seen Tessa?" I asked.

"Not since that fight your two had a couple hours ago." Aria said. " By the way, you were a dick." She commented.

"I didn’t ask for your opinion. She stormed up to our room but now she’s not there." I tell them.

"Am I missing something? What argument?" Bella asked.

"Tessa wants to go to New Orleans to find Angelo. I said no and she got pissed." I explained.

"Correction, you forbid her from going." Aria glared at me.

"Uh-oh." Bella says with a weird look on her face.

"What?" I asked confused.

"You forbid her from doing something?" Bella asked with widened eyes. "Sorry Tyler, she’s probably already halfway to New Orleans by now. No one forbids Tessa from doing anything. Not even her mate. Her dad used to beat the shit out of her, and she would still do whatever he forbids her to do. She always been kind of stubborn like that." Bella explained.

"Shit." I growled grabbing my car keys and leaving the house.

I got in my car and tore out of the driveway at top speed, through town until I hit the highway. I kept my eye out for her everywhere but I couldn’t see her anywhere. But she could be further in the woods for all I knew. If she was in wolf form, then she could be a lot further then here anyway.

When I got to the human town I went to see Sheriff Miller and he was in his office with a couple of deputies. He took me to his office and shut the door.

"Have you seen Tessa come through here in the last couple of hours? Or has there been any sightings of a large wolf in the area?" I asked.

"No. You know I would have called you. Especially about a sighting of a large wolf." He says.

"Alright. What forms of transportation are there out of town?" I asked.

"Only the bus." He says. _{fr\eewebno vel .c(o)m}

"Can you take me there and get video footage from them people? I need to see if she caught a bus." I asked.

"Absolutely. Let’s go." He says.

So we left the Sheriff’s office and we headed to the bus station and the manager there was happy to pull up the footage from the last couple of hours and we sat there sifting through everything.

"Wait, stop. There she is. She’s getting a ticket." I said. "Can you see where she’s headed?" I asked. So the manager pulled up the records on his computer and he says that there was only one ticket sold at that time and it was for Boston. The name is Addison Walker." The manager says and the sheriff looked at me.

"That’s her mother’s name. Alright, I guess I’m going to Boston." I say leaving the office and I head straight out to my car and tear it down the highway. I was actually hoping to catch the bus. It only had a two-hour head start on me.

I called Cade from my cell phone because I was too far out of service to use the mind link and told him what was going on. I was hoping to catch the bus before it got to Boston. The longer she was out here on her own, the more danger she was in.

"Listen, I think Tessa might be smarter than that. Bella has been alluding to the fact that you probably won’t catch her." Cade admitted.

"I saw her get on the bus and it’s headed for Boston. That’s the nearest airport. So, that’s where she’s headed. I will find her." I insisted.

"Alright then. Well, good luck." He says.

"Thanks. Just let me know if she calls." I say.

"Absolutely." He says.

I sped down the highway for some reason I didn’t see the bus anywhere. And it took me another two hours to get to Boston. I was sure that I would have caught up with it, but I didn’t. So I just headed straight to the airport. Maybe the time on the security camera’s at the bus terminal were wrong or something.

I got to the airport and I looked around the whole place looking to see if I could see her anywhere but she was nowhere to be see. I couldn’t see her anywhere waiting for a plane. So I went to the desk with a photo of Tessa.

"Can I help you?" The women asked.

"Yeah. I’m looking for this woman. She’s 17 years old and she ran away. I need to find her. Can you see if she came through here at all. She might be using a couple of different names. I’m not sure." I say.

"Well, we take photos of everyone that comes through here. I will have a look at the photos." She says. And she pulled up all the photos of the people that came through in the last three hours. " I’m sorry, sir. She hasn’t been to any of these terminals. She hasn’t checked in to any flights." The women says.

"Alright. Are there any flights leaving today for New Orleans? Or any place close to New Orleans?" I asked.

"There is a flight at 9pm tonight for New Orleans. That’s the only one we have today." She says. And I look at the clock and it only said 5pm.

"Alright. Thank you." I say. So I go to find a seat near the entrance so I would see her when she walks in.

I had every intention of grabbing her the second she walked through the door. She wasn’t getting on that plane.

Bella texted me to find out what was going on. And I told her that the flight doesn’t leave for four hours and she’s not here yet. I’ll get her the second she walks through the door. But Bella seemed a little skeptical about that. She then called me.

"Did you find out if the bus stopped anywhere between here and Boston?" Bella asked.

"I know that it made a couple of stops. Why?" I asked.

"She probably bought a ticket to Boston but got off at one of those stops. She could be anywhere. At a motel for a couple of days or she could have rented a car. Tyler, she knows that you would have gone looking for her. There’s no way she’s going to make it easy to find her." Bella explained.

"How do you know that she would do any of that?" I asked.

"Because I’ve known Tessa since before we could walk. I know how she thinks. And she’s sneaky. If she doesn’t want to be found, then she won’t be. She used to hide on her dad all the time. But then she knew the longer she stayed hidden the worse the ass kicking would be. So she stopped hiding. But I’ve seen her do it. And she was hiding from him in the same house that he was in. She’s good." Bella explained.

"Well, I’ll wait for this plane to New Orleans to leave and if she’s not here then I’ll back track and check every motel and hotel. How much money does she have?" I asked.

"I don’t know. See how many of your bank cards are missing." Bella says. So I pulled out my wallet.

"Fucking hell. She took two bank cards. They’re not credit cards so she can withdraw the money and leave no paper trail." I say.

"Exactly. Smart." Bella says a little smugly.

"Thanks Bella. At least now I know what I am dealing with. If I don’t find her tomorrow then I will catch a plane to New Orleans and she is going to be sorry." I warn.

"I know. But she’ll be willing to take it. Just so long as she gets there." Bella says.

When I got off the phone I just sat there and waited. Each minute that passed, I was getting a little more angrier and upset and worried all at the same time. But by 9pm, the flight to New Orleans was taking off and there was no sign of her.

So I got up and got in my car and headed back the way I came.

I spent the whole night stopping at every motel and hotel to see if she was staying the night there but everyone told me that they hadn’t seen her. And they would definitely remember someone who looked like she did. One creep almost got punched in the face at how he drooled at her photo. That was until I mentioned that she was my wife and I looked deadly serious at him and he backed off a little.

I headed back to Boston and I bought a ticket for the first flight to New Orleans. It’s almost like she vanished off the face of the earth. And then I started getting the sinking feeling. She was in trouble. Maybe the witch got her. Maybe Josiah got her.

I called Cade and told him to get together a search party and send them past the boarder to try and pick up her scent. I don’t care how far they have to go. Ask other pack’s for permission to cross their lands if they have to. Just try and find Tessa and see if they find any traces that she might have been taken. I needed to know. These thoughts were now creeping into my head and I didn’t know how to make them stop.

She had been gone over night with no trace of her. A witch could make her trace disappear. What if Bella was wrong. What if Tessa didn’t leave the packhouse on her own accord. Maybe a witch had something to do with it. I saw what that witch did in the woods with the trees. And that was just her showing us what she was capable of.

Who knows what else she could do. What if there was something else that she was able to do. She could have forced Tessa to leave the packhouse. She could have gotten in her mind. I was really starting to make myself worried now. I know that I shouldn’t be thinking like this. But I can’t help it.

Tessa is my whole world. She has been since the second that I met her. If she died, then so would I. I know that I would. And then there was another thought, New Orleans is huge. How in the hell am I going to find her if she is there. And if she’s not then I would need to find Angelo. I wouldn’t know the first place to start looking.

When we finally landed down in New Orleans, I had been a bundle of nerves the whole time and I needed to hurry up and get off this plane. I didn’t have an luggage so I just headed straight out of the airport and grabbed a cab.

I told him to take me to the center of the city. And when he did, I realized just how far in over my head I was. I didn’t know anyone here. But I did know that a wolf pack lived here. So maybe that could be my first point of contact.

I called Cade and got him to go to my office and find the location of the New Orleans pack and he gave me the address where to go. So I got out my GPS and I started walking that way.

It took me away from the center of town and out to a more deserted area. When I got to a gated off area I tried to open the gate but I was met with two much smaller wolves then myself.

"It’s alright. I’m Tyler Peterson. Alpha of the Blue Moon Pack in Maine. I need to speak with your Alpha." I said to them. And I saw one of them mind linking before they both turned their backs on me. But one motioned with his head for me to follow them.

So I walked through the gate and I passed a lot of makeshift houses and pretty crappy conditions to be living in before I got to a house right at the end of the area. A man was standing out the front waiting for me.

"So, you’re from Maine. What are you doing in New Orleans?" He asked.

"My mate is missing. I believe she came here looking for her father but it’s not safe for her. She has people and things after her. I need to find her as soon as possible. I don’t have any idea where I am around here. I’ve never been to New Orleans before." I explained. And his whole pack was out as well. Watching me. But there were only about 200 people. Not very many at all.

"Have you got a photo of your mate?" He asked. So I showed it to him.

"She’s pretty. She hasn’t come to us seeking assistance." He says.

"She wouldn’t have. She knows that you won’t help." I admit.

"Why wouldn’t we help a fellow wolf?" The Alpha asked.

"Because she’s a half breed. Her mother was a werewolf. Her father isn’t. But his last known location was New Orleans." I explain.

"Is he human?" The Alpha asked.

"No. Vampire." I admit. And that caused whispers and chatters from everyone.

"We don’t associate with vampires." The Alpha says sternly.

"I know. Which is why I know that she didn’t come here. I just need someone to point me in the right direction. Can you at least do that and then you won’t see me again. I can handle it from there and I won’t ask for you to get involved." I promised.

"What’s her father’s name?" The Alpha asked. And I took a deep breathe in and out.

"Angelo Andres." I hesitantly say. And the people got more frantic at that.

"Your mate is Angelo’s daughter?" The Alpha snapped at me.

"It’s not her fault. And she’s only met him once when she was 6. If she’s here she’s probably searching the streets. She wouldn’t know where to begin either. I want to find her before she finds him." I admit. "This was just the last known address. We don’t even know if he’s still here." I admit.

"He is. Alright, I’ll tell you where he is but then you don’t come back here. We have too much trouble with vampires and witch’s. We don’t need any more trouble from them." The Alpha ordered.

"You have my word. I won’t come back here." I say.

"There’s a mansion. On the corners of 117th street. Hard to miss. That’s where Angelo and his gang of vampires live. Be careful. And make sure that you get your point across very quickly otherwise they will kill you before you have a chance to say a word." The Alpha says.

"Thank you. Very much." I say. And I turn to leave.

I find the mansion that he was talking about and he was right. I wouldn’t miss it, even if I tried. I walked inside the front gates to the courtyard and it seemed really quiet. It had to, it was still day time. But I walked closer to the front entrance of the mansion and I slowly opened the door and I had to let my eyes adjust because of how black it was.

I opened the door a little wider and before I had a chance to notice anything something struck me on the back of the head, I felt pain and my body falling before I slipped into oblivion.