Chapter 166: Findings
Nathan's POV
The boy stood frozen in the middle of the road, the headlights bleaching his small frame in pale light. His hair was messy, his face streaked with dirt, and his thin shoulders trembled as though he had been running for miles. Something inside me clenched hard. My wolf stirred, uneasy, growling low in the pit of my chest. I didn't know him, and yet… something about him pulled at me. Drew me like a magnet. Before the driver could even speak again, I shoved the door open and stepped out. The night air bit against my skin, but all I saw was the child staring at me, his chest heaving, his eyes wide with fear and desperation.
"Hey," I said, keeping my voice low and calm. "You're safe now. No one's going to hurt you."
He shook his head violently, stumbling forward. "No! No, you don't understand!" His voice cracked, frantic. "They took my mom. They took my brothers. You have to help me. Please!"
My pulse spiked, my body going rigid. "Who?" I demanded, crouching low so I could meet his eyes. "Who took them?"
His lips quivered. "Vampires. Four of them… maybe more. They had charms, guns… everyone was too scared to fight. They dragged them away. They'll kill them!" His small hands balled into fists as he sobbed. "Please—you have to help!"
The ground seemed to tilt beneath me. His words—his terror—they matched the dream. Every damn detail. My throat went dry, my chest thundering with barely contained rage.
I grabbed him gently but firmly by the shoulders. "Listen to me. I'll help. I swear it on my life. But I need to know—who's your mother?"
His eyes brimmed with tears, his voice breaking as he whispered, "Hailee."
The name ripped through me like lightning. My heart slammed against my ribs, my vision going white at the edges. Hailee. My Hailee.
I staggered back half a step, my breath leaving me in a harsh exhale. "Hailee…" My voice cracked, rough. "Where—where is she? Where did they take her?"
"I don't know!" he cried, shaking his head. "They forced everyone off the train. They put Mama and my brothers in a truck, and I—I ran away to get help!" His sea-blue eyes—sea-blue like Hailee's—locked on me desperately. "You have to save them!"
My hands trembled as I gripped his shoulders tighter. "Wait—your brothers. You said brothers."
He nodded quickly. "Yes. They're with Mama."
The air slammed from my lungs. Three. Not one boy. Three. Triplets.
My wolf roared inside me, shaking my bones, my instincts tearing me apart. Hailee had triplets. Ten years. And all this time she'd kept them hidden—kept them from me.
My voice was hoarse when I whispered, "You." I swallowed hard, the pieces slamming together. "Are you… are you Oscar?"
The boy blinked up at me, confusion flashing across his small face before he shook his head. "No. I'm Oliver." His chest heaved, his voice urgent. "Oscar and Ozzy are with Mama. You have to hurry!"
Oliver. Oscar. Ozzy. Triplets.
My whole body went cold, then hot, fire roaring in my veins. Whose sons are they? Her husband's? …mine? Callum's? Dane's? The thought twisted deep into my chest, leaving me shaken, furious, desperate. Ten years of silence, ten years of searching—and now this.
I stared down at Oliver, my voice a broken rasp. "Hailee… you had triplets?"
He didn't answer, only clung to my arm, pleading again. "Please, sir. Don't let them take her. Don't let them take my family."
I didn't waste another second. I scooped Oliver up into my arms—he was trembling, exhausted, but still clinging to me like I was his last hope—and carried him back to the car.
The driver's eyes widened in the mirror but didn't dare question me. "Drive," I barked. "Back to the hotel. Now."
Oliver's head rested against my shoulder, his small body shivering. My wolf rumbled low, protective, like this boy already belonged to me. I strapped him beside me, tugging the seatbelt across his thin chest, and pulled out my phone. I dialed the first number that came to mind—an Alpha I knew had ties to Europe's underground. He picked up after two rings.
"Well, well. Alpha Nathan. To what do I owe this rare call?"
I didn't bother with pleasantries. My voice was sharp as a blade. "I want information. Now. There's been a kidnapping—vampires with charms, a moving train. They took women and children. Where are they headed?"
A low chuckle hummed over the line. "You always did cut straight to the bone." He sighed. "You know there are things even I can't touch."
"Don't play with me," I growled, my claws threatening to tear through my skin. "You know something."
Silence stretched for a beat, then his voice dropped lower, quieter, like he didn't want to be overheard. "There's an underground network, Nathan. A trading ring that's been moving for years. Vampires, witches, even Lycans—all in on it. Influential men back it, ones so powerful even I can't stop it."
My grip on the phone tightened. My wolf snarled furiously. "Tell me where."
Another sigh. "There's a sale happening tonight. A big one. They'll parade kidnapped victims. Sick bastards pay fortunes for them."
My chest heaved, fury burning through every vein. "Where?"
A pause. Then, reluctantly, he gave it. "An abandoned railway depot outside Lyon. You'll find it if you follow the old steel tracks into the woods. But, Nathan—listen to me—if you go there, you won't just be facing vampires. You'll be walking into the den of men who believe they own the world."
"I don't care if it's the gates of hell," I snarled, my voice vibrating with rage. "If Hailee is there—if those boys are there—I will tear it down brick by brick."
Oliver stirred beside me, his small hand clutching my sleeve. His voice was faint but certain. "Mama will be there. I know it."
I looked down at him, my heart twisting violently, and then lifted the phone again, my voice full of anger. "How do I go in as a buyer?"