My Dark Knight (COMPLETED)

Chapter 8

                 

((EDITED 5/17/2016))

(A/N at the end this time!)

~ ~ ~ A Couple Hours Earlier ~ ~ ~

Maria's POV

I glared mutinously at my father, our dark eyes locked in a silent standoff as we mentally argued.

You need to stay here, Maria, he was insisting. You've been looking for Skylar all night and now the others are searching the city. It's your turn to rest. You look exhausted.

I don't give a crap if I look tired! I snapped furiously. She's my best friend, Dad. I don't care if I have to search for a week without sleeping.

Our pack is taking shifts. Do you not trust her father and Will to find her?

They've been searching all night without rest, Dad! They aren't taking any breaks!

He sighed, closing his eyes briefly and running his hand through his dark hair. I knew that my father, as pack Beta, was trying to avoid causing a panic while keeping everyone rested and on full alert. For all we knew, an attack on our pack was imminent if one of our own had been kidnapped. My father was right to be cautious, and he was even more so when it came to me. I had been searching all night with no luck. We could find no trace of her scent anywhere. After a while, Alpha Brett commanded that Anne, Jake, and I return with a report and others would take our place searching. Skylar's father, of course, had been in the city since we first reported Skylar missing and he refused to return to the pack until she was safe. Will had somehow avoided being called back to the village and was still searching alongside Skylar's father.

I knew I couldn't rest, either. I was physically exhausted from lack of sleep but my mind was on constant alert. I couldn't help but feel that something bad had happened to my best friend and I couldn't allow that to happen. So here I was, stuck arguing with my father about letting me leave and rejoin the search party.

"Dad, please!" I finally spoke out loud. We were in Alpha Brett's house and there were others conversing nearby but I didn't care at this point. "I won't be able to sleep. And maybe they'll need my help. It's a big city." Well, a big city when you were trying to find one she-wolf, I thought.

My father clenched his jaw and looked down. I could tell he was close to caving. I noticed that Alpha Brett had finished his conversation and was coming to stand next to my father. I hoped they wouldn't gang up on me.

"She'd do it for me, Dad," I added quietly, knowing it was true. Skylar would not hesitate to look for me until she collapsed with exhaustion, if our situations were reversed.

My father glanced at Alpha Brett, and the two appeared to be having a silent conversation. After a moment they turned back to me and my father opened his mouth to speak but Alpha Brett suddenly froze, holding up a hand. His eyes became unfocused as he paused, listening to something in his head. I shifted from foot to foot, itching to Shift into wolf form and return to the search.

"Her father just contacted me. Skylar sent him a message. It was brief but she sent him a picture of what she could see. It won't narrow it down much but it'll help. I'm going to pass it along to all of the searchers, including you, Maria." The Alpha said. I felt a rush of hope.  Any hint was helpful at this point and it sounded like he was going to let me return to town.

I closed my eyes as I felt the touch of a mental contact. I opened my mind, receiving the image that Alpha Brett was sending. It was somewhat fuzzy, having been passed through Skylar's father, but it was better than nothing. There wasn't much to see in the mental image but from what I could gather, it looked like some sort of warehouse. I tried to memorize the layout and color of the surrounding buildings outside of the room Skylar was in.