Pregnant With Four Alphas' Babies: A Reverse Harem Romance Chapter 241: Why Aren't You Here?

*Eli*

“You sure ‘bout this, Alpha?” asks Eustace for about the third time.

I’m trying to be patient with him because he wasn’t in a real pack with a true Alpha, so he’s probably not sure how to act around me. I know we’re going to have to deal with the group of shifters that are still living in the abandoned resort up in the hills, but first things first.

I need to find Kelly, and I’m positive we’re going in the right direction, because I feel like I’m getting closer to her as we drive.

Our surroundings don’t look as promising as my optimism right now, though. The farther we go, the more we seem to be headed toward the middle of nowhere. We’re far off the highway now on a dirt road that sort of looks like it’s been traveled recently, but it’s hard to tell because the soil is packed hard.

On one side of the road is a fairly thick forest, and on the other is a big stretch of wide-open fields that must have once been farmlands. There’s an old rusty fence that’s falling down about every twenty feet, so it clearly hasn’t been useful in decades.

Eustace moves suddenly, in a way that’s much more energetic than I’ve seen him move up until now, and he points his finger toward the tree line.

“She’s over there!” he yells, even though he’s sitting right next to me in the SUV.

Rubbing my ear, I look out the window in the direction he’s pointing and shake my head. “I don’t see anything,” I say.

“She’s answered me!” he says. “Pull… pull over, youngin’!”

Brent, who is driving the car, slows down a bit and glances back at me, clearly confused. I’m not sure whether he’s trying to figure out if he’s really a youngin’ since he’s not exactly a teenager, or if he really doesn’t know who Eustace is talking to. I give him a light nod to show that he should go ahead and come to a stop so we can figure out what’s going on here.

It’s at that point when I realize that the “she” Eustace is talking about isn’t Kelly. It’s Heather.

The car barely comes to a stop when Eustace jumps out and starts running toward the forest. I’m not far behind him; if Heather is here, Kelly must be around here somewhere. I need to find her right away. I start asking for her in the mind-link, not really expecting an answer, when I hear a response.

‘Eli, is that you?!’

Relief washes over me as I recognize the voice of my sister. I’d feared the worst for so long but hadn’t wanted to admit it. But now I know that she’s alive, and wherever she is, whatever she’s doing, I will definitely find her and bring her home.

She doesn’t say anything else yet, so I figure she’s running through the forest headed for us, hopefully along with Heather, the girl missing from Eustace’s “pack.”

But the group that comes running out of the tree line is something I’d never expected.

There’s a man, a huge man; he’s obviously an Omega, so he’s not big in an intimidating way, but he’s just really large. Behind him are two young girls, and Kelly is nowhere to be seen. I recognize one of the girls as Heather, and so does Eustace as he runs to her, slowing down a bit as he passes the man and gazing up at him suspiciously.

I know I’ve never seen the other girl before, or this man, so I stay back a couple of yards while Eustace greets Heather. She looks dirty and hungry, but not too worse for wear, and she’s definitely smiling. That tells me that the man is someone who has helped her, so he probably isn’t a threat.

‘Did you get Heather?’ Kelly asks in the mind-link.

‘Yes,’ I tell her. ‘And two other people. Should I be worried about them?’

‘That’s Randolph. He’s harmless,’ she says. ‘The girl is Kara, and she’s a victim too.’

‘A victim of what?’ I ask. ‘And why aren’t you here?’

Kelly is quiet for a moment, and I recognize that as my sister doesn’t want to share what she’s up to. I’ve dealt with her enough in my life to know that she’s up to something. I take the break in conversation to focus on what Eustace and Heather are saying. Heather is introducing the others—Randolph and Kara—and saying that they both helped her escape.

“Where’s Kelly?” I ask Heather, hoping I’ll get a straight answer out of her since Kelly is still quiet.

“She wanted to explore the airport and see what’s going on there,” Heather says.

“Airport….”

“The bunker was at the airport,” the man—Randolph—explains to me.

I glance over and look him in the eye. He doesn’t look afraid of me, but he doesn’t look guilty or deceitful either. Since Kelly has already said he is trustworthy, I confine my questions to Kelly’s immediate situation. I can find out more about this guy later. “So why did Kelly want to explore it?” I ask.

“She wanted to find out who was in charge there,” says the other girl, Kara. “I didn’t want her to stay, but she wouldn’t listen to me.”

I can’t help but chuckle. That’s Kelly, all right. Once she’s made her mind up to do something, there’s no talking her out of it.

“Okay,” I say. “So where is this airport?”

“We got a little turned around in the forest, so I’m not sure,” says Kara.

I look over at Trevor, who’s pulling up a map of the area on his phone. “Down this road,” he says. “Looks to be a bit south of us.”

I nod. “Brent, get these three back to Alpha Mark’s castle. It’s the closest. I’ll inform him and have him get everything ready.” I look over at Randolph and the two girls. “You all look like you could use a good meal and a bath. And we have some snacks in the vehicle.”

“Thank you,” says Heather with a huge smile.

I shudder to think of what has happened to that girl since they’ve been captured. I’m also worried about Kelly, who has gone silent again, which is odd for her.

Eustace looks at me, and I tell him, “Go with Heather. She’ll need you there to get settled. When I get back, we’ll talk about what’s going on up at your resort and see what we can do to help everyone there.”

“’Preciate it, Alpha,” he says, then he puts his arm around Heather and leads her to the SUV, where Brent has opened the door for them. The girls and Eustace get in, followed by Randolph.

“Well, let’s go get my sister,” I say to everyone else, and then I get into the other SUV with Trevor, Sean, and Valda.

As we’re driving, I hear from Kelly again. ‘I see six people here, and they’re talking.’

‘Are you somewhere safe?’ I ask. ‘Kelly, we’re almost there. The others are safe and headed back to Mark’s castle. Don’t do anything stupid.’

‘You always were a worry wart, brother,’ she says with a hint of a laugh in her voice. ‘I’m not going to get caught.’

‘All right,’ I say. ‘We’re about ten minutes out.’

I look out at the road and watch the rusty fence pass us as Trevor accelerates. I send a quick message to Mark explaining about the people on their way, and he tells me he’ll have his people take care of them. I also tell him to tell Rose that I’ll be home as soon as I can. I can’t wait to see her there, all happy with all four pups in her arms again.

I have so many questions. I’m sure I’ll get answers for a few when I can talk to Kelly more, but wondering who is behind all of this—and why—is giving me a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach. Why would they want Kelly? It just doesn’t make any sense.

We round a corner, and I can finally see the airport off in the distance. It’s very small and clearly designed for small planes, so it’s not quite what I’d pictured. Since there’s so much farmland out here, it’s probably where all the small crop-dusting planes land. As we get closer, I see a couple of cars in front of a small building that must house the staff here, although I doubt it takes many people to run this airport.

Now I have even more questions. Where did they keep Kelly and the girls out here? The buildings look small, but they could have some sort of basement where they held them; the one girl, Kara, doesn’t look like she’s been out in the sunshine in years.

I’m debating whether I should just barge in on what’s happening or sneak around to wherever Kelly is hiding.

‘I’m here,’ I tell her in the mind-link. ‘Where are you, and do you want to stay hidden?’

‘Yes, definitely,’ she says. ‘I’m overhearing some good stuff here.’

“Pull into this bushy area here,” I tell Trevor.

He does so, and we all get out, quietly. The tree line works its way around the airport, so we’ll be able to get in close and probably hide wherever Kelly is at.

‘What kind of good stuff?’ I ask Kelly.

‘Well, I know who’s behind all these kidnappings now,’ she says.