Chapter 15 : Why Can’t You Just Listen?

*Soren*

I waited for Mila to go into her room and shut the door. I stayed there a few moments longer and waited to see if she'd try to run right away.

Going to her door, I listened in until I heard the shower turn on. Nodding to myself, I headed to my own room.

I shut the door and it immediately opened again. Payne came in and slouched down in a nearby armchair.

“I caught up with her attacker. It took a while, but I got answers out of him," he reported with a heavy sigh.

“What did you learn?" I questioned.

“The people after Mila tonight were related to Norwind. They aren't just sending their own tracking parties after her. It seems like Norwind has reached out to a lot of bounty hunters, the underground kind, to hunt her," he explained.

“And I guess the unsavory people she met in the woods are those bounty hunters?" I asked.

“Yes," Payne nodded.

Norwind was one of the most powerful, wealthiest packs. I couldn't fathom why they were after an omega.

Mila was certainly pretty, there was no doubt about that.

However, I doubted Alpha Chandler would recruit underground bounty hunters and waste so many resources just to come after a pretty face. He was smarter than that.

Besides, with his wealth, he could get whatever woman he wanted, and that meant he had his pick of beautiful women.

Whatever he wanted from Mila was something different than why he claimed to be buying young women. It had nothing to do with loneliness or companionship, otherwise, he wouldn't be so fixated.

Whatever her value, it wasn't common knowledge.

Mila had said it herself, Saboreef had left her for dead. They didn't care what happened to her. So, they obviously had no idea why Norwind was after Mila.

If they had, they wouldn't have let her poison herself. They would have demanded more money from Norwind and they would have kept a closer eye on her.

Saboreef had no idea what her importance was. If they did, a greedy, money-grubbing pack like that would have held onto her for longer. They would have created a bidding war among other packs to drive up her price.

Instead, they let her poison herself and then left her to die, or in her case escape.

To Saboreef, Mila was a worthless omega.

That was a shame. It meant going to Saboreef and doing more digging would be useless. But it would save time, now that I knew they were oblivious.

So, whatever Norwind wanted from Mila, they also wanted to keep it as a secret.

I wondered if revealing their desire for her would somehow be advantageous. It would make life very dangerous for her but it could create enough chaos that Norwind would be slowed down.

I shook my head.

That probably wasn't the best idea.

With Norwind after her, I couldn't help but wonder why Mila risked coming to Miltern. What was her relationship with this pack? She'd come here as soon as she was strong enough to move.

There was something urgent here she desired.

“Soren, I can hear you thinking. What's on your mind?" Payne asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

“I was trying to figure out why Mila came here. What her connection is to Miltern," I admitted.

It wasn't a coincidence. She wouldn't have rushed off if she didn't have a destination in mind. She had a ring from a Miltern seer. Did that mean this was her home pack?

Based on our little interaction, it didn't seem like she was planning to settle down here. It was more like she came here on a mission.

Payne rubbed his cheek and sighed. “You're guess is as good as mine. We hardly know anything about her, even after all our investigating."

“That's another curiosity," I said, shaking my head.


“Agreed. Although, in regards to Miltern, there is something that… Well, didn't you notice how strange this pack is?"
































































“What do you mean?" I asked, arching an eyebrow. I'd been more focused on finding Mila and keeping her from running off again.

“In the woods, while I was chasing that guy, I saw a group of Miltern residents in the woods. I mean, I think they were Miltern. They looked ragged, insane, and… hopeless.

I nodded. “Mila mentioned them. She was trying to go back and help them.

“Was she? Help them from what?" Payne asked.

I shrugged. She hadn't told me anything about what she thought was wrong with them, just that she wanted to go after them.

“Well… anyway, I thought they were just some random outcasts. After dealing with the bounty hunter, I went to check them out and I checked out the town a little more," Payne told me.

“And, what did you find?" I pressed.

“I didn't notice it when we first arrived because we headed straight after Mila. But I checked out the town to familiarize myself with my surroundings. People were acting very strangely, a lot like the group in the woods, more or less," he reported.

Payne sighed and creased his brow. It seemed like he was having trouble thinking of the words to describe what he'd seen and experienced.

“The whole pack… it is like there is no hope or happiness here. I tried to get information out of them but they were very evasive. Most of them wouldn't talk to me and walked off. When I brought up the group in the woods, they locked up tighter than a bank vault. Everything here is cold… and I don't mean the temperature, the atmosphere," he continued.

I nodded slowly. When Mila and I came to the hotel, I hadn't given it much thought. The man at the front desk hadn't said anything or even spared us a glance. How did he know we even had rooms?

Suddenly, I gasped and rubbed my throat. It wasn't just the Miltern pack. I could feel it deep in my chest, an overwhelming feeling of sadness and hopelessness.

“You're right. Ever since we've come here there's been a depressing cloud over everything, even us. It seems like it is slowly draining our energy and happiness away," I agreed.

“No wonder not a lot of people live here, now. I thought Miltern pack was thriving but this… it is not what I expected," Payne said.

“It's true. This is different from the last time I visited," I admitted with a nod.

“Can you blame them? It is such a gloomy climate. There's fog all day and the sun barely breaks through. Then at night, it clears enough to see the sky, but everything is dark. I can imagine it is hard to find happiness in a place like this," Payne suggested.

“Hmm."

“Do you think it is something else?" he asked me.

“Before we entered Miltern packland, it was very sunny and clear. Almost as soon as we crossed into the packland, a thick fog consumed us. It thinned throughout the day but it never fully dissipated," I recounted.

“It had done a good job blocking out the sunshine," Payne recalled.

“Is it blocking out the happiness too? Is there… something wrong with the fog?" I queried.

Before Payne could answer, I held a hand up to silence him. Footsteps in the hall pricked my ears.

They were light and quick. Whoever it was didn't want to be heard or caught.

I glanced at Payne and nodded to the door.

He nodded his understanding.

We went to the door and Payne yanked it open.
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