Damien

Maddox and I got back to the packhouse in time to send the children off. Liam was already downstairs, hugging his boys. Maddox told me he couldn’t convince Missy to go with them, said she was adamant about helping find Azalea. The former Alpha and Luna were standing next to my parents, looking a little grave. We decided they should leave in the middle of the night when no one will be expecting it. We also agreed that they should not tell us exactly where they were going; the fewer people that knew, the better. Lily had Lucas wrapped in a tight hug. Delilah’s eyes found me, and she ran at me. I caught her up in my arms easily.

“I’m gonna miss you, Daddy,” she said, her little arms wrapped around my neck.

“Daddy is gonna miss you too, princess. It won’t be too long,” I told her.

“Will you call me?” she asked, her face still in my shoulder.

“Every chance I get,” I said, giving her an extra squeeze. Lucas came over, and I scooped him up, not putting Delilah down as she clung to me. I held my pups close; my wolf was not happy to be letting them leave.

“Where’s Missy?” Maddox said. I could tell he was anxious but didn’t want to be rude. “Shouldn’t she be here to say goodbye?”

“Her door was closed. I didn’t want to wake her,” Felix said, coming into the front hall with the rest of us. He would be traveling with our children for extra assurance. Lacey clung to his arm; their hands intertwined.

“I’m going to go get her,” Maddox said. “She will want to say goodbye.” He turned around and dashed towards the steps. I sighed at the poor lovesick kid. For his sake, I hoped they were mates.

Maddox

“Missy?” I linked as we came inside the packhouse. I got nothing from her. Weird. My wolf was even antsier now that she was so close. Although it was late now, she should be up in her room, but she could have fallen asleep.

We found everyone in the front hall, getting ready to leave. Missy wasn’t here, though. Beta Damien was hugging his kids when I asked, “Where’s Missy?” I looked around, thinking maybe I missed her. “Shouldn’t she be here to say goodbye?”

“Her door was closed. I didn’t want to wake her,” Felix answered. He should have woken her up; she would be so upset to miss her brothers leaving.

“I’m going to go get her,” I said. “She will want to say goodbye.” I turned and sprinted for the stairs, not caring how tired my legs were from hours of tracking. I made it to the top floor in no time. The closer I got to her room, the more excited my wolf got. He was bounding in excitement, ready to have our mate.

I got to her room and tried to calm myself. I knocked softly before opening the door gently. Her scent hit me like a tidal wave, except so much stronger than before. How had I never noticed she smells like ripe strawberries and mint? My wolf howled in my head, and I breathed, “Mate.”

My brain finally caught up to my eyes, realizing she wasn’t in her bed. Confused, I moved over to the bathroom and threw the door open. “Missy?” I called, but there was no one in there.

I turned around, panic flowing through me. “Where’s our mate?” my wolf called.

“Missy?” I called to the empty room again. I threw her sheets aside but knew it was fruitless.

“Beta, she isn’t up here!” I linked. I threw open her closet door, and still no Missy.

Heavy footsteps in the hallways told me they got what I said. I turned to see Alpha in the doorway, looking around with wild eyes. I looked at him, desperately hoping he had the magic answer. Felix and Beta were behind him.

“She’s my mate. Where is she?” I said. “I told her earlier to wait in here for me!” I didn’t realize I was yelling. Lily pushed her way into the room, past Alpha, who seemed frozen as he stared at her bed. She moved towards me slowly.

“Maddox, calm down, alright?” she said softly.

“She’s my mate! I have a mate, but she isn’t here!” I could hear my voice cracking; my wolf whined in my head.

“When is the last time you talked to her?”

“I-I don’t know. Hours ago. She was wondering where I was,” I stammered.

“Okay, and you told her to wait up here?” she asked.

“Yea. I told her I would be back in a bit. But it took longer than I thought, and she isn’t here!”

“Do you have your phone? Did she message you?”

I frantically shoved my hand in my pocket to my forgotten cellphone. I opened the screen to see nothing there. I looked up at Lily. “There’s nothing! Where is she?”

Lily looked back at her mate and then at Alpha. Beta put his hands on Alpha’s shoulders. “There is no rogue scent in here. They didn’t get inside. She had to have left on her own. We’ll find her,” Beta said quietly, but I could still hear him. Why would she leave the packhouse? She was supposed to wait for me!

“The cabin!” I shouted. Everyone except Alpha looked at me. “There is a cabin she and Vlad found. They meet up there to be alone! If she went anywhere without me, she went there!” My wolf got angry. I would kill that little punk. He probably convinced her to go there after being MIA all day, and she would go just to make sure he was okay.

“Take me,” Alpha demanded. I nodded. He turned to everyone behind him. “Dad, you all should go. We will find her. I am sure Maddox is right.”

The former Alpha must have been in the hallway. Everyone started to exit the room, and I rushed to follow them. We were downstairs quickly, and I ran out the front door, heading for the trees. I didn’t bother to discard my clothes as I shifted and took off as fast as I could. Alpha Liam and Beta Damien kept up with me easily, so I pushed myself even faster.

Low growls sounded from Alpha as we got closer. “Maddox, slow down,” he linked me. I listened immediately, but I was confused. She was so close; I just knew it. She had to be at the cabin.

Alpha and Beta started sniffing all around us as we moved forward at a walking pace. I lowered my nose and smelled as well. Something was wrong. “Is that….” I started to link Alpha.

“Vampire,” he confirmed.

My b***d went cold. Without thinking, I took off again. I broke through the trees around the cabin. The vampire smell was all around the cabin. I shifted back and rushed to the door. One of the hinges was broken; it looked like someone had put up a fight as they left. I threw it open and yelled, “Missy!”

I couldn’t smell her; all I could smell was vampire. I looked everywhere, my wolf frantic in my mind. Beta Damien appeared in the doorway. “She isn’t here!” I yelled.

He gave me a severe look. He turned moved away from the cabin. I ran back outside, trying desperately to pick up any trace of her scent. There was so much vampire scent everywhere.

More warriors were coming out of the trees surrounding the cabin. Sean ran up to Beta, who seemed to be surveying the area. “Sir, we can’t find her scent anywhere. The vampire scent goes in a few directions, but her scent is covered by it completely.”

Missy

My head throbbed painfully as consciousness floated back to me. I reached my hand up, feeling dried b***d and a healing cut right inside my hairline. “Ow,” I g*****d. I pushed myself up and opened my eyes. Cement walls surrounded me.

As my eyes circuited the room, I realized someone was standing by the lone door. He stood from his leaning position and stepped into the dim light flooding in from a tiny window near the ceiling. Vlad.

“Where are we?” I asked, trying to remember what happened.

“Missy, I am so sorry. I tried to keep you out of it,” he said.

“V, what are you talking about?” I asked, desperately trying to recall how I got here or why I was bleeding.

“I swear I did everything I could to keep you safe,” V said.

I looked around the room again. This looked like a cell. Why would I be in some kind of cell? Then it hit me. My head snapped to Vlad. “Vlad, where am I?” I demanded.

“I am going to try and get you out; I promise,” he said carefully.

“What did you do?”

“Missy, I couldn’t do anything. He would have killed me. But I swear to you I tried to keep them away from you. The bracelet was supposed to hide you! They took my phone and….”

“So, you didn’t ask me to come to the cabin?”

He shook his head. “I’m so sorry….” I remember now. I ran into the cabin, so anxious to make sure he was okay that I didn’t bother to notice the wrong scent all around. And it wasn’t V in the cabin; it was someone else. I fought him, but he got his arms around me and pulled me from the cabin. I even grabbed the door on my way out, trying to get out of the man’s grasp to no avail.

Anger rose inside of me. I trusted him. For years now, he was my only friend. I told him everything, and I trusted him. “Why?” I growled, my wolf pushing to take control.

“I did everything he asked so he wouldn’t touch you, I swear.”

“Have you been helping the vampire that’s after my family?”

“I didn’t have a choice-”

“You did! You could have told my dad! He would have helped you!”

“It wasn’t that simple!”

“But it is! Isn’t your dad some kind of special investigator? He could have helped you too!”

“He’s the reason I was bit!” he shouted at me, looking angry now. I was silent for a moment, waiting for him to explain. “His stupid investigations are what got my mom killed and me bit. I lost my wolf, Missy! I am lucky to be alive, but I can’t even shift anymore!”

“So, you’re one of them?”

“No, not really,” he said with a sigh.

“Then why?”

“Cause he threatened you.”

“When?”

“When what?”

“When did you start doing his bidding?”

“About six months after we met. It didn’t take long for him to figure out what was important to me. Apparently, my dad was wrong in thinking he found a pack that a vampire wouldn’t come after.”

“So what? You’ve been doing this vampire’s bidding for almost two years?”

“Kind of. I only did what I had to keep you safe. I swear I didn’t know he would take your brothers!”

“You helped him take my brothers?”

“He wasn’t supposed to touch them! I made him promise not to!”

“And look where those promises got me?” I gave him a deadly glare as I threw my arms out wide. I couldn’t believe any of this. The whole time. I thought he was my mate. My head snapped up to the window. It’s daylight out. It’s my birthday. I turned back to Vlad and sniffed the air. He didn’t smell any different.

“I’m going to try and get you out of here,” he said solemnly.

“Just like you tried to keep me out of here,” I spat at him. There was a knock at the door.

“I have to go. Just be good, and I’ll get you out, okay?” He didn’t wait for me to answer. He turned and left the room, the door lock clicking behind him.

“Where are we?” I asked, trying to remember what happened.Belongs to - All rights reserved.