CHAPTER 136: HELP ME

Callum’s POV

"Father... I need your help." The words tumbled out of me, raw, trembling with desperation.

He gave me a puzzled look, the same one he’d worn since I walked in. He hadn’t expected to see me like this. For weeks he had begged me to visit, always asking when I’d come home, and I had always refused. I’d hidden behind excuses—assignments, school projects, but the truth was, I hadn’t wanted to come home.

Now here I was, standing before him, not as the strong son he had raised—but as a broken man begging for help.

His brows furrowed. His voice was low and curious. "Callum... what’s going on? Why do you look like this?"

My chest rose and fell heavily. I could barely keep the tremor out of my voice. "It’s her... she’s gone."

The air shifted. He stilled, eyes narrowing, confusion flickering. "Gone? Who?"

I clenched my fists, my throat tightening. "Hailee. She was everything to me... and now she’s gone. She left. Out of the country, out of reach." My voice cracked as the words spilled. "I don’t know where to start. I don’t know how to bring her back."

For a long moment, he just stared at me, searching my face. He didn’t know her name, didn’t know our story—but he could see me falling apart. His wolf stirred behind his eyes, sensing my torment.

I swallowed hard, my voice breaking. "Please... I can’t lose her. Tell me what to do."

His brows pulled together even tighter. "Who is she, son?"

I swallowed hard, forcing the words out. "She’s... she was my girlfriend. The girl who made me believe I could be better. The one I wanted a future with." My throat tightened as I went on. "I thought she was okay, that she was with me. But I was wrong. She left, Father. She’s out of the country now—out of reach." My voice cracked. "And I don’t know how to bring her back."

For a long moment, disbelief hardened his expression. I could see it—he never thought he’d live to see me look this desperate for anyone, let alone a girl.

"When was the last time you saw her?" he asked, sounding like he was ready to help me.

"Yesterday morning," I responded quickly.

Father hummed, rubbing the ring on his index finger the way he always did when he was deep in thought. His eyes sharpened, no longer just curious but calculating. "Give me her picture."

I blinked, startled. "Her picture?"

"Yes," he said firmly, his voice carrying that edge of authority I’d grown up with. "If you want my help, I need to know who she is. A face, a name, anything. You say she’s out of the country, but people don’t just vanish without leaving a trace."

My hands shook as I pulled my phone from my pocket. My thumb hesitated for a moment over the gallery, where her smile lit up nearly every memory I’d kept. My chest tightened, but I forced myself to open one and hand it to him.

He took the phone carefully, his eyes scanning the photo. Hailee’s laughter was frozen there, bright and alive, like she wasn’t already slipping away from me.

"She’s beautiful," he said quietly, though his expression remained unreadable. Then his wolf stirred again, and his gaze snapped back to mine. "Tell me everything about her, Callum. How you met her, what you know about her family, her friends, where she’s been spending her time. Leave nothing out."

I swallowed, my throat raw. "Father—"

"No." His tone cut through me, not unkind but commanding. "If you truly want her back, we start here. With the truth. Every detail you give me might be the thread we pull to find her."

My chest ached as I nodded, sinking into the chair opposite him. My hands twisted together in my lap, the weight of his stare pressing down on me.

"She’s... the cook’s daughter," I finally confessed, my voice low. "An omega."

Father’s brows lifted slightly, surprise flickering across his face, but he didn’t interrupt.

"That’s all I know about her family," I continued, shaking my head in frustration. "I never cared about where she came from, or what rank she had. She was just... Hailee. She made me feel like I wasn’t just living for duty, like I could be more than what was expected of me." My voice cracked. "She was my peace."

Father’s expression softened for the briefest moment before hardening again, sharpening with thought. "And now?" he pressed.

I dug my nails into my palms, forcing the words out. "In the message she left me... she said she isn’t who I think she is. That everything I knew about her was only part of the truth. She said she was going back home." My throat tightened, and I looked down at the floor. "But I don’t know what that means, Father. I don’t know where home is for her. She didn’t tell me."

The silence that followed was heavy, filled with the sound of my uneven breathing. His wolf stirred again, a low hum of authority in the air.

"Not who you think she is," he repeated slowly, rubbing his chin. "And going back home." His eyes narrowed, sharp with suspicion. "Then she has a past you were never meant to see, Callum. A truth she kept hidden."

I swallowed hard, my heart pounding in my chest. "Then how do I find her?" My voice broke. "Tell me how to bring her back."

He leaned forward, setting the phone down on the table with Hailee’s smile still glowing on the screen. "We start by finding out what she meant by ’home.’ If she’s hiding her truth, then someone knows it—maybe even people she left behind. You must be ready, son. The girl you love may not be the girl you thought you knew."

My stomach twisted, but I lifted my chin. "I don’t care. Whoever she is, whatever she’s hiding—I just want her back."