Rising to the top with my three hybrid mates-Chapter 107: Face to Face

Eleanor’s POV

The impact slammed me forward, the seatbelt digging sharply into my shoulder. For a moment, everything was a dizzying blur of shock and the acrid smell of deployed airbags.

This was a completely terrible idea. My head throbbed, but I pushed the crumpled door open with my legs and stumbled out, coughing from the dust and smoke.

The disruption worked instantly. The blare of police sirens, which had been distant, now screamed from every direction, and three cruisers skidded to a halt, boxing us in. An officer rushed to my side. "Miss! Are you alright? What happened?"

"It happened so fast," I gasped, putting a hand to my forehead for dramatic effect. "I didn’t even see the van!"

The van’s driver was already out, his face a mask of pure fury. "What the fuck! Are you blind? Why did you hit my van?" he roared, even as another officer tried to calm him.

This was my cue. I stormed toward him, letting my own voice rise into a shrill, offended pitch. Let’s see if I can be good at acting.

"How is this my fault?" I shot back, pointing a trembling finger at him. "You didn’t even press your horn coming out of there! How was I supposed to know a van would come flying out? You are definitely going to pay for my insurance!"

I pulled out my phone, my hands shaking with a mixture of real and feigned anger as the man continued to shout obscenities.

"Miss, please, try to calm down a bit," another officer said, stepping between us.

"Calm down? Why should I calm down?" I exclaimed, my voice cracking. "If this was any worse, I’d be in the hospital right now!" I fumbled with my phone, opening the camera app. "I’m getting evidence. This is ridiculous."

I pointed the camera at the wreckage, making a show of documenting the scene. Then I deliberately panned over to the front and back of the van.

"Wait a minute," I said, my tone shifting to one of sharp suspicion. I zoomed in with the camera. "How come this van doesn’t have a license plate?" I turned to face the officers, my eyes wide with feigned realization. "I bet you did that intentionally! So you could get away with it, right?"

The man’s furious expression vanished, replaced by a flash of pure panic. He looked from me to the police, his mouth opening and closing without a sound.

The atmosphere shifted instantly. The officers’ postures straightened, their previously mediating tones turning hard and authoritative as their attention locked onto the driver and the plate-less van.

One of the officers, his hand resting on his holster, stepped forward. "Sir, why is there no license plate on this vehicle?"

The driver’s eyes darted around wildly. "It... it got damaged! I was on my way to get it fixed!" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"That’s a lie," I interjected, pouring every bit of conviction I could muster into my voice. "I’ve watched a lot of crime documentaries. No plate is a huge red flag. He’s definitely up to something illegal."

The lead officer’s gaze hardened. "Sir, open the back of the van. Now."

The man took a step back, his bravado crumbling into sheer defiance. "No! I have my rights! You can’t just—"

The officer drew his weapon, his voice dropping to a dangerous, low command. "I won’t ask twice."

A silent, fierce triumph surged through me. "Yeah, let’s see what you’re hiding, you douchebag, I bet it’s drugs."

The driver, trembling now, walked to the van and slid the side door open.

I made sure my face was a perfect mask of horrified shock, my gasp loud and genuine as the line of collared, bruised werewolves was revealed in the dim interior.

"On the ground! Now!" the officer shouted. In a flurry of motion, the driver was forced to the pavement, his hands cuffed behind his back. Other officers rushed forward, their voices shifting to gentle, reassuring tones as they began carefully helping the captives out of the van.

A female officer approached me, her expression stern. "Miss, you need to stop recording. This is an active crime scene."

I lowered my phone immediately, letting my hand shake. "I... I expected something bad," I stammered, "but I didn’t know it could be this... this awful."

"You’ll need to come with us to give a full statement," she said, her tone softening slightly.

"Of course. Anything to help," I agreed readily.

I was led to the back of an ambulance, where a paramedic began checking me for injuries. But all I could feel was a wave of profound, bone-deep relief.

My head ached, my car was totaled, and I was probably in a world of trouble. But my stupid, reckless plan had worked. The captives were safe.

As the paramedic finished checking my vitals, I scanned the chaotic scene. My blood ran cold. There, near a cluster of police cars, stood Dr. Evans, speaking with an officer in a calm, professional manner.

And a little way off, Mr. Hans observed everything, his hands in his pockets, the picture of a concerned citizen. To anyone else, they looked like curious onlookers. But I could feel the rage simmering beneath their composed facades.

Once I was cleared, I made my way to the area where the freed captives were being tended to. The silver collars had been carefully removed, revealing raw, burned skin on their necks. I approached the woman i met at the dressing room. When she looked up and saw me, her eyes widened in shock.

I crouched down so I wasn’t towering over her. "How are you feeling?" I asked softly.

She didn’t speak, just dropped her gaze back to the ground, her shoulders hunched.

"I’m sorry," I whispered, my voice thick with guilt. "I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you sooner, back in the mall. But... I’m glad I did something stupid enough to get you all out."

Her head snapped up, a dawning realization in her eyes. She understood that I was the reason for the crash.

"I just couldn’t believe it when they said you were the one who hit the van."

The smooth, oily voice came from behind me. I stood up slowly and turned to face Mr. Hans, my expression carefully arranged into one of shaken distress.

"It was a terrible accident," I said, my voice trembling slightly. "But what I never expected was to see... people held captive inside." I took a deliberate step to the side, gesturing toward the woman. "Even your daughter was in there. Didn’t you know?"

Mr. Hans’s smile was a thin, dangerous line. "I know now. I came as soon as I heard. I have no idea how this could have happened." The lie fell from his lips as easily as a breath, but the venom in his eyes was meant only for me.

"Yeah," I said, holding his poisonous gaze without flinching. "I hope they catch the perpetrators."

We stood there, locked in a silent battle of wills. Then I saw Dr. Evans approaching, and my breath hitched. What I wasn’t expecting was to see Mr. Nomad gliding silently beside him.

Dr. Evans’s eyes narrowed on me, filled with sharp recognition. "You again?" He turned to Mr. Hans. "You know her?"

Mr. Hans’s smile was all teeth. "Oh, yes. I know her." He then turned his body slightly toward the obscured figure of Mr. Nomad. "Allow me to introduce one of the esteemed Vexxon Raiders, Miss Eleanor Moore. She’s the one who so... heroically... saved these people. And my dear daughter."

All attention shifted to Mr. Nomad. Even though his face was hidden, his eyes were visible, and they were fixed on me. It felt like he was staring directly into my soul, peeling back every layer of my carefully constructed act. But I refused to look away.

I met his unnerving gaze head-on. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "It was pure luck and coincidence that I could help."

Mr. Nomad hummed, a low, thoughtful sound that seemed to vibrate in the air between us. "Luck and coincidence," he mused, his tone deceptively mild and intellectual. "One might wonder how an individual with the reflexes and spatial awareness requisite for a professional racer could find themselves in such a profound... miscalculation."