The Missing Father.

　　As soon as Camilla slept off, Ethan left her with Lisa and went to the guard quarters where he knew Peter would have kept Anita.

　　Peter saw him coming and came out to meet him halfway.

　　"How is Camilla?" He asked him. "I had to call Lisa, so she could help calm her. How is she?" Peter asked.

　　He knew that humans like every other creature developed their strengths faster when they were surrounded by their loved ones or people they felt really comfortable with. For werewolves it was the reason why they moved in packs for humans, they had families.

　　That was why he called Lisa for she was the only one close to a family Camilla had.

　　"You did well by calling Lisa," Ethan said holding his shoulder in gratitude. Camilla seem to let him be only when she saw Lisa. It made him happy that she felt that connected to him as well. It was the mate bond, but she didn't understand it yet.

　　"What did Adams say?" Peter asked as they started moving towards the cell.

　　"He said she barely got scratches, they will heal in no time. As for an infection, he took samples. He will call," Ethan explained to him.

　　"I see, that's good news." They got to the cell and Peter pushed the door open.

　　Anita had been subdued by Ethan and Peter. She had no strength left in her. Her left leg was throbbing badly and she knew it must have broken. She was at the bottom of the pack, so her healing in such magnitude of the injury took a longer period to manifest especially since her injuries were inflicted by the Alpha.

　　Ethan raked the metal doors and she raised her bitter eyes to him.

　　"What gave you the right to lay your filthy hands on my mate!?" Ethan growled.

　　Her eyes sparkled with more evil and she opened her mouth. "She doesn't belong to you!" She snarled, spitting out blood.

　　Peter scoffed. The girl had the guts to even say the things that left her mouth.

　　"And you think she belongs to you?" Ethan asked her.

　　She wiped her mouth with the back of her hands and sneered at Ethan. "She is unmarked and she is human. It means anyone can have her! You had no right to hit me like this!"

　　Peter furrowed his brows watching the girl. She wasn't even remorseful that she had hurt someone. She was completely fine. In fact, her anger was because she got stopped and she couldn't do what she had planned.

　　"I have been watching her for days now! I have a perfect opportunity to make my mark!" She screeched.

　　Ethan felt his anger build up and he shook the locks. He would rather kill her with his bare hands before he let her live to say those kinds of words again.

　　But Peter stopped him.

　　"No Ethan, stop!"

　　"Let me finish this silly woman! I should have killed you that night in the forest when you came to me in your wolf form!" Ethan howled.

　　Assuming he hadn't felt pity for her that night, he would have killed her and they wouldn't be suffering from incidence at the moment.

　　"The packed council will say she was right in a way. You haven't marked Camilla," Peter reminded him in a way.

　　Ethan hissed. Peter was right.

　　If he couldn't kill her then she had no right staying in the estate either. "Send her away right away! I want her to be exiled. The day she returns she will be killed on the spot!"

　　Hearing her own judgment, Anita started laughing like a deranged person. She laughed hysterically and threw herself against the wall like a maniac.

　　"See that it is done, Peter!" Ethan barked before walking out of the cell walls. He had heard and seen enough of Anita and her madness. She would be exiled and Camilla would be fine.

　　Now there was only one problem. He had to mark Camilla but he needed her to get better and confess her sins before he could take the next step.

　　Ethan returned to check on Camilla but met she was already sleeping. He would have to become hard on her again since Dr. Adams had said she was fine.

　　He returned to his room and prayed to the goddess to help turn things around for them. The longer Camilla stayed without his mark the riskier it was for her. Others like Anita might come their way, they needed to be careful.

　　*

　　Days passed and Camilla was slowly starting to walk around the house again. Anita was exiled from the pack never to return again, the threat was over but she still felt reluctant to be alone with people aside from Mary and Lisa -who visited once in a while.

　　Ethan had grown distant all of a sudden the moment Dr. Adams declared Camilla well and healthy. Camilla had thought the incident will get them close again as they once were. But Ethan barely paid her any attention.

　　She wanted to thank him for taking care of her in the last few days plus the many hospital bills he had to clear for her well being.

　　She had to go see her father. He was the next source of comfort for her. Since Ethan was avoiding her, she could always run to her father but she needed money.

　　Camilla moved to Ethan's office and she placed her ears by the door. She could hear movements in the room, it meant he was in the office.

　　She scurried to his room to find some money or something to sell. These days she hadn't been searching for long, Ethan always had spare money lying around his room. It almost felt like he was purposely leaving it behind but Camilla didn't mind. She needed the money and that was what mattered to her.

　　Her eyes fell to his bed and right there by the foot of the bed laid an envelope. Camilla moved to it and picked it up. There was money in it.

　　"Yes!" She exclaimed punching the air.

　　She placed the envelope under her T-shirt and ran out of the room as fast as she could before someone could see her.

　　Getting to her room, she placed the envelope in her small waist bag and sat still waiting for the whole house to go to sleep. Ever since the incident with Anita, she had been carrying a pocket knife with her for her protection in case she was met with strange people.

　　Camilla sat still till it was almost midnight. The house had gone silent and it was time for her to leave. She jumped her window as usual and got to the ground.

　　She moved swiftly to the small gate and slipped out. She got a taxi in no time and the man drove as fast as he could to the city hospital.

　　As soon as she got to the hospital gates, she felt strange. Her heart started thinking heart for no reason and she wondered what was happening to her.

　　She held her chest, calming her racing heart, and took long strides to her Father's ward.

　　As soon as she gets to the corridor of the room, she knows something is wrong.

　　There are no beeping sounds in the background. Did they disconnect his machines? But she had paid them in advance, so they wouldn't dare do that.

　　Camilla's legs became heavy as she lifted them to get to his ward. She got to the door and had a strong urge to pee. Something was terribly wrong.

　　She pushed the door open and her legs almost gave up on her weight.

　　The ward was empty!

　　She felt like her heart would burst out as the sound was the only thing that filled her ears. Where was her father?

　　Her hands started shaking as he moved to the doctor's office.

　　"Where is my father!?" Camilla asked as she pushed the doors open.

　　The doctor in the office dropped the files in his hands and looked scared all of sudden. He wasn't the doctor in charge of her father's treatment but once in a while, they all assisted in administering his medication. They should know where he was!

　　Camilla's blood was pumping into her system so much that she couldn't understand a thing. She was breaking down yet she stood firm.

　　"Miss Camilla please sit," the doctor tried to tell her.

　　"What are you saying?" She stuttered as her ears rang even louder. "Where is my father?" She snapped.

　　Her hands were still shaking and she was still in shock. How could a man who was in a coma disappear from a hospital just like that? They were hiding something from her.

　　Did he die? No -her father couldn't die, they would have called her to sign a document. It wouldn't have been like this.

　　"Just try to be calm, it is a thing-" the doctor started to say and she raised her hand at him.

　　"I do not want any explanation. Where is my father? That's the simple question I am asking all of you and no one seems to have an answer for me! Why isn't he here? Answer me!" Camilla barked at the doctors that had now increased in number.

　　"Miss Camilla it isn't the way you think-" one tried to say but she caught him off as soon as she focused her attention on him. Her eyes were bloodshot like someone who hadn't slept well in days.

　　"Then how is it?" She screamed to his face.

　　"Please tell me where he is and bring him out for me to see! If anything had happened to you, you would have called me. But you didn't call me and I come here only to find my father missing! What sort of a hospital are you people running? " Camilla cried out.

　　Her voice was so loud that she drew the attention of everyone in the hospital. "Miss Camilla I am certain there is a good explanation for all of these. Just try and relax. We have already placed a call through to Doctor Owen. He will be here soon and we will find a solution. Just relax," One of the younger doctors comes out trying to calm her.

　　She gave him a death glare and he took a step away from her.

　　"I should relax? If it was your father that went missing from the hospital what would you have done, stay calm?" She asked him at the top of her voice.

　　Her heart was racing and a million thoughts were coming into her head. But she refused to think the negative.

　　The security came up and everyone gathered here. Camilla was uncontrollable. She wasn't crying yet but she was shaking and screaming at anyone who dared approach her.

　　"Where is my father!" She screamed. "Bring him out to me!" She yelled.

　　A matron tried to explain to her that it was a hospital and she was disturbing other patients that needed rest and she pushed the matron away from her. "If I don't find my father no one is going to sleep! Everyone will wake up!"

　　They had to call the doctor responsible for her father that night and the man rushed down to the hospital. "What's going on here?" The man asked seeing the number of people in the corridor.

　　Nobody could respond. His assistant was looking down at his shoes unable to give him a response.

　　"What's happening. Somebody talk to me!"

　　"Owen, where is my father!? " Camilla emerged from the crowd. "None of your other doctors can tell me where they have thrown my father and I will not take it! Where is he!?" She shrieked like a mad chicken whose chicks had been stolen.

　　"Camilla, your father is no longer in our care," doctor Owen said in a matter-of-fact tone. "It means you have no right to be here! Do you understand?"

　　She felt her heart sink and her defenses fall.

　　"What do you mean by that? How is it that he is no longer under your care?" Camilla's voice was barely a scratch as she demanded for answers.

　　"That is the only thing I can't tell me. Please try to figure that out on your own. "