My Alpha Wants Two Lunas? I'M Done (Laila and Holt) novel Chapter 158

Chapter 158 Raymond Isn’t Dead?

Laila’s POV:

After arriving in Wexfordshire, Pearl and I split up to look for Woodrow.

I found him not long after.

He was standing under a dead oak tree. He looked terrible. His skin was peeling from the sun. His face and neck were red and dark in patches, like a wild boar that had rolled in the mud. I almost didn’t recognize him. The last time I saw him was in the trenches at the Vagen Battlefield, and he had looked much better then.

“Woodrow?” I walked closer. My wolf’s sense of smell confirmed it was really him. “Weren’t you with Prince Vance at Moonlight Academy? What happened to you?”

Woodrow turned around and gave a wide grin.

His white teeth only made his messy face stand out more. “Ms. Laila, you’re finally here.”

“What exactly did Samuel send me to Lunaris for?” I asked directly. This trip had been rushed, and I’d felt uneasy the entire way.

“Prince Vance did take me to Moonlight Academy,” he said. “We stayed there three or four days and were already on our way back. But when we reached Moonleaf County…” He sighed and scratched his sunburned neck. “My wallet got stolen by a little thief.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“But I caught him on the spot,” Woodrow said with a grin. “He was skinny and fast, but unlucky for him, he ran into me. I was about to drag him to the Elder Council when I saw a few ragged kids at the corner of the street. They were so scared they ran in all directions.”

His expression became complicated.

“Prince Vance happened to look up at that moment and spotted one who was slower than the rest.

“That child had a limp. He was hopping awkwardly toward an alley to hide. And Prince Vance said that face…”

He swallowed. “Looked exactly like Mr. Raymond!”

Raymond?

My heart clenched hard.

“And then?” I asked.

“Then everything turned chaotic.” Woodrow frowned. “A delivery cart suddenly rushed out of nowhere. It knocked several people over, and goods spilled everywhere. Prince Vance had to help the injured first. When he looked up again, the limping child had already been grabbed by a big, burly man and thrown

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Chapter 158 Raymond Isn’t Dead?

onto a covered wagon.

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“Prince Vance shouted ‘Raymond,‘ he told me later it was instinct. He didn’t even think. The child had his head down, but when he heard that shout, he suddenly looked up toward us.”

My nails dug into my palm without me realizing it.

“Prince Vance dropped the person he was helping and chased after them. But the overturned cart blocked the road and knocked down more vendors. He had to jump over it. By the time he reached the wagon, it was empty. The burly man and the child were gone.

“Moonleaf County’s streets are a mess. There are alleys everywhere. We had no idea which way they’d run.

“The scents at the scene were mixed together. There was no way to track them.”

Woodrow sighed.

I swallowed. “What about the little thief?”

“He’s mute,” Woodrow said bluntly. “And he can’t write. Prince Vance questioned him for a long time but got nothing.”

“In the end, Prince Vance handed him over to the Moonleaf County Public Security Office. When the chief heard Prince Vance was there, he personally came out to greet him.” Woodrow paused. “When Prince Vance asked about those street kids, the chief looked troubled. He said that group of children had been in Moonleaf County for some time. Some begged. Some stole. Someone was controlling them from behind the scenes. The Public Security Office had made arrests before, but they only ever caught small players. The real mastermind never showed up.

“And it’s not just Moonleaf County. Several towns have the same problem.

“Some of the children had their voices damaged by drugs. Some had their legs broken on purpose. They couldn’t say where they came from, so they couldn’t be sent home!

“The authorities tried sending them to shelters. But as soon as they were placed there, they ran away.

“The one Prince Vance caught had already been locked up two or three times for theft.”

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