Derek’s head felt dizzy for a second when he heard the offhanded short statement of Yodah. He staggered for a bit, before reclaiming a stable stance of his body.
“Derek, are you okay?” Clem asked him, stepping closer and holding him lightly by the arm.
But Derek shook Clem’s hand off, not interested in his beta’s sympathy. He just wanted some answers.
“What do you mean by gone?” He heard Anthony ask Yodah, breathing heavily especially as he heard the slight trembling underneath his brother’s tone.
“She is no longer at the pack. She left like an hour ago, to the airport, in the company of Freya and Aiden.” Yodah replied, now feeling a bit sorry, just a tiny weeny bit, for Derek who was looking as lost as a sheep without its shepherd.
“Where is she heading to? What’s her destination?” Anthony asked frantically, almost immediately after Yodah’s answer, already feeling the not so good state of his younger brother. The situation wasn’t looking good. He thought.
“To her family in Florida.” Julius mentioned, darting glances between Derek and Anyhony.
Clem stood by the side watching the whole thing playing out, not really knowing what else to do. Derek hadn’t needed his comfort a while ago, so there was nothing else he could do other than just to wait and watch, and perhaps carry out his orders if he should give any.
” Anthony, let’s go then!” Derek shouted, his voice sounding like a roar, as he turned away from Yodah and Julius, ready for a run to the airport. “If they left an hour ago, we can still catch up with them.” He pointed out, shaking his body to the left and right, readying himself for a shift.
“You still don’t get it. Do you?” Yodah asked, folding his arms across his chest. “Do you think they are walking or they have used a medium of normal transport?” He queried further, piquing up his left eyebrow. They would be dimwits if they had thought that his kind lived the public transports!
Derek opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it. Of course, he had understood what Yodah had just spat out of his mouth. Anthony did too. Of course, he had watched Freya and Yodah appear out of mist during that fateful day when he had met them for the first time. He concluded that if the same mode of transport had been what Aiden had applied for Emma, then they had no chance of finding the redhead.
“Take me there then, through any means necessary.” Derek muttered strongly, knowing that if Julius would apply the same mode kf transport as his history teacher had used, then there was still a high chance of him meeting with Emma again before she enters the plane that would take her away from him.
Julius chucked a bit at Derek’s statement annoying the latter.
“Why are you laughing at me? Do you think this is funny? You think I am funny or that I am not making sense?” Derek asked Nulius, stepping closer to the older man, unaffected by Anthony’s strong grip on his shoulder almost immediately.
“Not really. I am just amazed at Emma’s foresight. She had mentioned that you will plead like this after knowing that she was gone, wanting to convince me to take you to see her. Well…she already prepared an answer for that.” Julius replied, staring down at Derek, whom he was taller than of course.
“And what reply would that be?” Derek asked, already fearing the worst. It was now that the reason for Maru’s weird behaviors and earlier silence despite his callings were now dawning on him. His wolf had known that their mate was gone!
“She doesn’t want to see you ever again. As a matter of fact, she asked us to keep you away from her, to do anything possible within our reach to stop you from following her to the airport, and of course, never to help you. Actually that’s our main reason for staying back. That’s the only reason why we are still here. To stop you from following her. So, Derek, you have to let her go for now.” Julius answered slowly but firmly, making sure that his words were filled with every form of earnest-y and seriousness. He didn’t want a fight with Derek who he saw as a small lad compared to him, his Alpha title notwithstanding.
Derek staggered back this time around, feeling his heartbeat dull on its own accord, as if it was beating its last set of pumps.
Was he dying already? He thought, raising his hand and placing it on his chest.
“Stop being so dramatic at this serious moment. You should be thinking of a plan to out-best your history teacher and his kind.” Maru mentioned to Derek, after noting that his human version was now feeling guilty and stupid for his earlier act.
“But what can we do? They are vampires for fudge sake! And not even the younger ones! At least Yodah should be around eighty years old!” Derek screamed frustratingly at his wolf inside his head.
“And whose fault is it that all this is happening eh? Stop shouting at me! Remember, you brought this down on us!” Mary shouted back, obviously pissed off. But it shut Derek’s mouth up regardless.
Derek sighed, feeling things were getting out of control. Even his wolf was now shouting at him. Has that ever happened before? He thought, cocking his head one side, aware that he was being watched by the four men all around him. Was he really not going to see his little witch again?
Derek staggered again on his feet before slumping down to the floor like a sack of tomatoes, before either Anthony and Clem could stop him. He bent his head to the ground, then lifted it up suddenly to glare at Julius.
“Your work here is done then. You can leave now. Take him and go.” He started, pointing at Yodah after he spoke, his gaze quite steely, a sharp contrast to what it had been before, all this while.