Chapter 43
ALPHA MAVERICK’S POV
“What is the situation so far, Shadow? Did you guys go through the footage? Any suspicious activity?” I asked my beta while looking at the management from the corner of my eyes as they looked at us warily.
And why not? It was their responsibility to ensure the safety of the students and this University that I built in my mother’s name. And such an incident happened when I was here, it wasn’t something that could be looked over just like that.
“Sir, the teachers are saying that everything was fine and they ensured that all chemicals were stored based on their instructions. It’s the fault of the last person who entered the storage room,” Shadow said, and I shifted my gaze back to him.
The last person?
Are they trying to put the entire blame on Valencia? She was the one I asked to arrange all the chemicals and equipment.
No matter how I see the incident, I don’t really think it was Valencia’s fault.
Though she acts and looks mischievous, I don’t think she is the type who would put so many lives at risk. And doesn’t she keep on saying that she wants to live a happy life and that was the reason she was here in the first place?
If it was her doing, why would she do something she knew she wouldn’t be able to handle?
The way she was sitting in the corner was a clear indication that she had some kind of past trauma related to fire, and if I hadn’t gone back to save her, she would’ve died then and there.
How do I know that? Because we had a six-year-old girl in our pack who goes numb whenever she sees fire just like Valencia turned numb.
“Forget about the management. They don’t know how things work in our world. Did you find anything p>
Shadow looked around cautiously before he stepped ahead and nodded.
“Most of the things are burnt, but we found something,” Shadow pulled out what looked like a piece of paper from his pocket.
It was a half-burnt photo, the base of the photo was burnt but the upper right part p>
It was Valencia’s photo. And it wasn’t her photo alone. I was in that photo too, standing close to her.
My face or body wasn’t visible in that photo, but I knew it. Why? Because I could see the reflection of my black shirt in the beaker behind Valencia. From the angle it was taken, it was clear that it was taken from the last window and quite some distance.
I turned to look at the top of another building that was facing the laboratory just at the right angle.
“Send someone there and see if you guys find any clue. Even a thing as small as a rogue’s scent can help us kill the suspicion that Valencia was involved. Because if we don’t do that, the University will suspend her, and as an Alpha, I will have to take action too,” I said.
Shadow nodded before he turned around and talked to the members of our team, who looked at the building and left to check.
The situation with the fire was under control now. But was the overall situation really under control? I highly doubt that. It looks like this was just the beginning of what’s going to happen in the future.
Someone was following Valencia and making things hard for her. But who could it really be?
Even last night that rogue had her photo.
Why were these rogues behind this girl? And why was she running and hiding among the humans? What did she really have with her that these rogues wanted? I am sure it wasn’t money.
Her presence and character were so confusing and diplomatic that it was literally making it hard for me to trust her and give her some kind of relaxation.
“Don’t tell anyone about it. Also, I think we should inform the council now,” I said, and Shadow looked at me with a troubled expression.
I know what was going on in his head.
The council will surely blame us that we were making things hard for us even when they explained it, but this was bigger than that.
“Sir, can you tell us where you took Valencia? We would like to visit her,” I heard a girl’s voice as I dialed Dylan’s number.
With a sigh, I nodded at Shadow, who stepped to give them the address as I walked to some distance.
“Alpha Maverick,” Dylan said from the other side.
“Dylan, we have bad news here,” I said before I explained to him what exactly happened at the University.
“Where is she?” Dylan asked, his voice strangely calm, and I furrowed my brows.
Judging from all the interactions I had with Valencia and the way she speaks so highly of these people, wasn’t his reaction a bit too cold?
“I will send you the address. We are going in the same direction. Let’s discuss the details later,” I said before ending the call.
Just what was the deal with this girl?
“Sir, we will handle the matter here. You can trust us and go meet the council members. We will record the words of everyone just in case,” Ashton walked ahead and I nodded at him.
“I want you to keep a close look at the management too. Make sure they don’t temper with anything, just to remove the evidence of their blunder if they did any,” I ordered Ashton, who bowed to me before turning around and leaving.
“Let’s go p>
With that, we left for the hospital immediately.
Two hours had already passed and we had yet to come to a conclusion just because it was a human University and we needed to be mindful of our manners and small slip-ups.
This was enraging honestly.
Rather than improving, the situation was turning for the worse.
First, the rogues only used to try to attack the pack members out of the city or in the city to annoy us, then they started coming closer to our pack and started using the no man’s land as their hideout.
Recently they have started to plant mischievous things in the area near our pack as if they are planning to attack and –
Wait. Hold on a second. All the times we discovered that uprooted soil, we never found anything that the rogues might have planted. Those dead bodies of the rogues that are found randomly in the guests these days, why does it feel like everything is related?
According to the data, Valencia has been studying here for so long, but why is it that only after her identity has been exposed to us are these incidents surfacing at such a high rate?
What are the chances that the reason these rogues are behind Valencia is because she is getting involved with the matters of our pack?
No. What am I thinking? She tries her best to stay away from matters related to our pack because of her fear of me. Why would she risk her identity and help our pack? Even if she wanted to help, she could’ve just anonymously informed us. Why did she get involved personally?
As much as it didn’t make any sense, it made sense at the same time.
As we were reaching the place, I looked at my phone and I had an incoming message from an unknown number. It was a private number, which means we won’t be able to trace it either.
It was a photo again.
It was the photo of what looked like a girl crouching near a dead body, holding what looked like a wallet in her hand. It was nighttime.
And it wasn’t just any other girl. It was Valencia! Her long hair and side profile was a clear indication.
And that cat mask on the ground p>
Yes. Everything made sense now. So many rogues were found with no money in their pockets. That day too she had run away and was wearing this mask. That was the only time when the wallets weren’t empty.
It’s because we interrupted her right on time.
She was helping us, but she was stealing from the rogues at the same time.
Just what type of girl this really was? It was so hard to decipher her character.
Then again, who sent this photo to me? And why? Do they want me to help the girl or punish her? What was the intention behind it?
I clenched my fists and looked out of the window, unsure of what to think anymore.