The Alpha Postponed Our Wedding, So I Married Another novel · Chapter 22 of 32

Chapter 22: Missing

Alaric stood in the middle of the little room and breathed in.

He did it slowly, eyes half closed, his head turning by inches.

I watched his face change.

"Two men," he said. "Not long after we left."

"Redoak?"

"Oak sap on one. Hair oil on the other. Good boots, both of them." He opened his eyes. "He didn't fight. He went down the back stairs between them."

"He went with them?"

"He was afraid." Alaric touched the doorframe. "It's all over the wood. Old fear. Not new."

Prue was looking at the razor laid out on the washstand.

"He meant to shave," she said. "He folded his shirt."

"He meant to come."

The tavern keeper hadn't seen anything.

He said it twice, very loudly, with his eyes on the floor.

Alaric put one hand flat on the bar and leaned down until their faces were level.

The keeper looked at the scar, and his throat moved.

"Two gents," he said. "Three in the morning. Said they were old friends from the border command. Said they'd see him home."

"What did they look like?"

"Like gents. Like money." He swallowed. "One had a pin. A little red leaf."

We followed the scent out into the lane behind the tavern.

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