The Alpha's Healer

18 : An Ungrateful Daughter

"Alpha, We haven't found anything so far. Her scent became extremely faint around two kilometres away from the house, and disappeared. Besides, its been snowing for the past two days, it has severely affected our tracking efficiency." The leading tracker in the army hung his head as he reported their pitiful findings to Alpha Brian.

Alpha Brian sighed into his wrinkly palms, rubbing them over his face in an attempt to erase the unease settling into the aging lines. The sudden ordeal had aged him overnight.

Iris didn't take anything significant. Her room, the attic, stayed the same and her faint scent led to a dead end. Alpha Brian tried to recall her scent, but found that his memory of it was bitterly lacking. He didn't know, or rather didn't care, what his daughter's scent was like.

For the first time in over a decade, he ventured into the attic where Iris spent her life until two days ago. The wood creaked under his weight, the walls so thin the chill froze his body to the core.

The old bed, broken wardrobe and the desk that was too small for even her petite frame, made his head throb for a long time.

He quickly called for a search party and distributed the little things that carried her faint scent. However, the news wasn't optimistic by any means.

A sharp knock made both their heads turn at the same time. Amada walked in with two warm cups of coffees and replaced them with the cold cups on the desk. She then went behind Alpha Brian's desk and gently kneaded his tensed shoulders.

Her brilliant eyes were heavy with distress. "Ryan, have you found any trace of Iris?"

The leading tracker name Ryan shook his head, "Not yet, ma'am. Her scent is too faint on the items we received to begin with and she has no friends that can be contacted. We hit a dead end every time."

"Where do you think she went, Alpha?" She sighed close to his ear, whispering, "She never left the house on her own without informing. Do you think someone....."

She trailed off intentionally. Alpha Brian frowned tightly, "What do you mean?"

"I'm just saying that Iris is at the age where she can be easily deceived. It's undeniable that we've been negligent towards her, and its easier to find the outside world more appealing. You've been worrying about her future day and night and even arranged a good marriage for her but she saw it as a form of control. She must be in a rebellious phase right now, seeking freedom outside."

Her reasoning sounded so convincing that even Ryan nodded along to it. Brian held his throbbing head, closed his eyes and released a deep sigh.

"Iris lacks courage. She couldn't have gone far." Amanda assured, then addressed Ryan directly with a trace of authority, "Stop looking if you don't find her today. I'm sure she's just throwing a tantrum and will be back once hunger hits."

Seeing that Alpha Brian didn't oppose it, Ryan had no reason to argue. With him gone, the study plunged into cold silence once again. Amanda switched on the lights and lit up a candle with soothing scent.

Alpha Brian's raging headache slighly eased. Amanda sat on the arm rest of his chair, gently threading her neatly manicured fingers into his greying hair.

"Are you worried about Iris?"

"Hmm." Alpha Brian closed his eyes under the influence of comfort. "She is naive..."

"I think Iris knows what best for her." She whispered closely. "I've been thinking about it recently. The incident with Sandra and James wasn't that big of a deal to begin with.

But Iris has been against this loveless marriage to begin with."

Her reasoning sounded normal on the surface, but underneath lay an intricate accusation. That Iris had dusted herself off the responsibility and left after a minor inconvenience.

Alpha Brian's lips twitched down in a sneer. The hazy image of Iris in his mind started to distort once again.

The rotten attic, torn clothes, minimal possessions in the drawers and dirty mirror faded out of his mind. Anger flickered like blazing fire, licking away every bit of logic out of his head.

All he remembered were the years of raising a disappointing existence. Iris didn't have a wolf and had nothing he could be proud of.

He worked himself to the bone for the pack and expected little from this daughter that everyone called unlucky. And yet, when he extended a hand of goodwill and an opportunity to turn it all around, she smacked it away with shocking decisiveness.

The ungrateful brat ruined the path he carved for her with his own hand.

As thoughts spiraled out of control, Alpha Brian's face turned bright red and his chest heaved violently. The lack of oxygen in his lungs made him desperately reach for a source of life.

Amanda hopped down the armrest, avoiding the hand reaching for her as if it was dirty. His desperately failing hand slammed against a cold surface and his fingers curled around the wood, nails digging into it until they turned into mangled mess of blood.

The door opened with a soft creak. He forced his head up and looked at the pair that entered his study. Sandra's pink clothes carried a hint of sweet fragrance she often wore since he brought her home.

James' golden hair was unmistakable even behind the blurry haze. Alpha Brian's mouth opened and closed, his throat constricting the use of his vocal cords for some reason.

Neither of them showed concern over him. The airway to his lungs kept getting smaller and smaller, just like his vision kept tunnelling into black and white.

Soon, his limbs stopped responding.

They fell limp against the chair with only a faint rise and fall of his chest as an indication of life in his body.

---

Sebastian drove Iris to the lab right after breakfast. A strange, unfamiliar tickle of excitement kept her on edge the entire way, and it only got worse when her eyes locked on Robert and Claire waiting by the door.

Were they waiting for her? Iris dared to have such a bold thought. Daring to assume she could make friends.

"Here we are. Good luck on your first day. Try not to get hurt and text me when its time to pick you up."

Sebastian dragged her attention back to himself. The caring words he said reminded her of school days. The first days when Amanda would crouch in front of Sandra, kiss her on the cheeks and wish her well on the first day.

The innocent Iris would wait for her turn, but it never came. Sebastian was the first one to ever wish her like that. In the eighteen years that Iris lived, nobody treated her as good as Sebastian had in a matter of days.

"Thank you." She had nothing better to say, no words could convey how grateful she was for his presence. Still, she naively hoped for him to see her sincerity.

"See you in the evening. Have a nice day." He waved, not acknowledging her word of thanks. "Ah, don't forget to text me occasionally. And don't switch off your phone. We don't share a mind link yet."

Iris nodded bashfully and dashed out of the car. She stayed back to see him leave before rushing over to Robert and Claire. Together, they took an elevator up to the lab.