Recrudescence

Alpha Omar hadn't left his study since his tracker had informed him that Sonia went missing.

He was torn between guilt, the what-ifs, and regret. His dark thoughts consumed his day and night.

He sat tense on his chair, resting his forehead on his fists on the table, shaking. His wolf was loud in his mind, fighting him for control. Eyes shut, Omar was growling and huffing.

I gave the tracker one job—to keep an eye on Sonia—and yet she couldn't do it!

Unable to sit still any longer, he sprang up, knocking his chair over in the process. His knuckles turned white as he pressed them against the wooden surface of the table.

“We will find her,” Ajamu said, trying to calm him down.

Burning hues pinned the beta in his place. “You claimed she’s the best tracker in the pack. The fastest, you said, and has the strongest sense of smell. And now she lost her!” he said through gritted teeth.

Omar was at his wit’s end. His thoughts kept straying to dark places. He snatched the remote and turned the TV on. The cheerful voice of the reporter was rambling about some visiting band that the whole town was going crazy about. It helped distract him from drowing himself in self-loathing or lashing out at his beta.

The door burst open. Josef came in, trailed by two bodyguards. The man had the aura of an alpha even if he was human. Omar always held respect for him growing up.

“Where is she?”

“I sent her home.”

“She's not there. She didn’t show up to work too.”

Omar sighed, just when I thought things can't get worse.

“We’re looking for her.”

A vein appeared on Josef's forehead, threatening to burst as he repeated in disbelief. “You’re looking for her! You’re looking for her! I particularly told you to keep her with you!” Josef pointed at Omar, an accusing glare in his eyes. A warning growl erupted from the agitated wolf and caused the bodyguards to go in a defensive position, their hands on their guns.

“Please, have a seat, sir,” Ajamu rushed to diffuse the tension. “We’re tracking her. It's only a matter of time until we find her.”

“You don't understand.” He looked between the two. “She’s in danger. Everytime she gets lost, we find her injured and bruised. She’s my only child,” he said, pounding on his chest, “If anything happens to her, I’ll kill you!”

Ajamu interjected again, always the peace maker, “Why don’t we calm down. I think you promised us an explanation, sir.”

He sat at last, sighing.

“I don't know what to say. It's her story. I wanted her to be the one to tell you,” He said, rubbing his temples.

“I need to know. I want to help her,” Omar said.

Josef looked at the young alpha, debating his decision then sighed, “Sonia has a mental illness...She has paranoid schizophrenia.”

Schizophrenia!

Schizophrenics are aggressive, homeless people, not his Sonia. He met her. She was not crazy.

“That’s not true,” Omar said.

Before he could argue, the alpha's phone chimed. He jumped to take it.

“Talk.”

The tracker's voice was tense with a hint of fear. “We found her in a run-down hotel. She's not in a good condition.”

“What do you mean?” Omar growled.

“I sent you videos that would explain everything. We ask permission to contain her and bring her to you.”

“Do what you have to do.” He hung up, impatient to see the videos.

There were three in total. The first showed Sonia alone in a grocery store. She seemed very agitated, looking in every direction, even laughing at one point. The second was in a park of a sort, she was sitting on the grass, talking to herself. The third, the most disturbing, was filmed through a window. It showed Sonia in full rage, trashing the whole room.

He turned back to the dad, not able to utter a word. His eyes asked all the questions his tongue failed to say.

“She’s going through a psychosis.”

Josef said, not at all surprised by what he saw.

“What’s going on?”

“She’s hallucinating. I suppose she was talking to her ‘friends' in the videos. It's the illness. Her brain interprets things abnormally, which causes the hallucinations and delusions. It’s usually controlled by the medication, but in psychosis, she can no longer differentiate between what's real and what's not.”

We’re here. The tracker mind-linked Omar.

“She’s here.” The alpha said to Josef.

The door opened, and in came Sonia held by the tracker and a female warrior.

Ignoring everyone in the room, her eyes locked on the TV. The reporter was still talking about the band coming to town, but the expression on Sonia's face was as if the world was ending.

She was different. Long gone was the elegant woman Omar saw days ago. She was wearing mismatched clothes, her eyes red and sunken, her lips chapped. She was shaking her head, pulling at her hair.

Her father called her name which broke her trance. She was hysterical. Her father tried to contain her, but she was out of control.

In a second, she went from full rage to numbness. She took a packet of cigarettes from under her cape.

Tapped on it like a phone, then threw it on the floor and crushed it with her foot, repeatedly.

Omar took this opportunity to order the two warriors to take her to his room, his eyes looking back at Josef.

The man needed a moment.

As they left the study, Josef went back to his seat. He was shaking. He took a handkerchief and tapped the bloody nail mark she left on his cheek.

Omar offered him a glass of water that he drunk, looking out of the window, a million emotions clashing in his eyes.

In front of him sat a broken man. Pieces of his soul were leaking from his eyes. Futile was his attempts to blink them back, no matter how much he looked up, blinking, sighing and praying.

When all hope left his body, Josef wiped his tears.

The void that was his eyes looked at Omar. “I don't know if we can save her. The last time was a miracle. She cooperated at once. She accepted her condition. We made progress. What have I done? I just wanted her to live her life. I wanted her to be loved and have someone to hold her hand when I pass away.”

Omar couldn't wrap his mind around what he saw. He lost her before he could even have her.

How can we have future together? Will I even have a chance?

Despite his despair, his decision was clear in his mind. “She’s a part of my pack now. We take care of our own.” In a wolf pack nobody was left behind.

She's my mate and I accepted her, no matter what luggage she's carrying.

An alarm went off, blaring around the building.

Omar said in all alpha mode, “We need to evacuate.”