Chapter 87

Vi tries to say it gently, but her words are like knives in my gut. “She no longer resides in the pack. She’s gone, Ian.”
“What do you mean she’s gone?” I demand, shooting to my feet so quickly that the chair screeches as it slides back. I glare at Maggie and Josh across the kitchen, both of them looking guilty. “What the hell happened here? Someone starts talking. Now!”
“Okay, okay!” Vi takes a deep breath and sets her fork back on the plate in front of her before looking at me. “Josh, Maggie... Can you give us a moment, please?”
The couple leaves the kitchen in a hurry after Josh says a short ‘sure’. Their wolves must have felt the pressure of their Alpha angry feelings oozing out.
“Vi, spill it. Now.”
“Can you please sit down?” She points to my chair. When I continue to stare at her, she sighs. “Okay, don’t freak out, but a lot has happened since you were unconscious.”
“Cut the crap and tell me already.”
“First of all, I already told you that Josh wasn’t doing well. As our Beta, he was supposed to lead our pack while you were unconscious, but he couldn’t, Ian... He was hurt, too,” she tells me.
At the mention of Josh being hurt because of me, I sit back in my chair, my fists still clenched. “What does this have to do with Alicent? *Where* did she go?”
She presses her lips together. “Allie hasn’t lived here in the pack since we went after the witch, Ian.”
“What?” I almost stand up abruptly again. The weight of her words knocks the breath out of me, and I have to force air into my lungs. “Why?”
“She left as soon as we headed out for the mission. The same day, almost minutes later, according to Lucian.”
“Why would she even do that?” I ask, confused. “And why the hell would Lucian allow her to leave the pack?”
Lucian and Jacob usually take turns supervising the pack border patrol. Also, when one warrior isn’t overseeing who comes and goes through the pack gate, the other is on duty.
“Well, for starters, you didn’t tell them she wasn’t allowed to leave the pack,” my sister points out.
“I didn’t know she’d be that stupid to want to leave,” I say through gritted teeth. “You fucking know the danger she’s in!”
She nods. “But even though you didn’t order it, Lucian still didn’t allow her to leave the pack, especially since you were not here. He hesitated. Everyone knew you two had something, Ian...”
“So why the hell did he allow it?”
My sister takes a deep breath. “Because he asked Dad and Mom.”
“Fuck!” I run a hand over my face. I can already see where this is going.
“Yeah. They said she was free to leave whenever she wanted,” Vi says, resting her forehead on her hand. “That’s why Lucian let her leave.”
Fuck. Me.
I shouldn’t have bought her that damn car. If I hadn’t, she wouldn’t have been able to leave. Yet, my gut tells me that that tiny human would have found a way anyway.
“And she hasn’t been back since?” I ask, confused.
“No.” Vi keeps her forehead resting on her hand, her elbow propped on the table, as she slowly shakes her head.
“But that doesn’t make any sense!” I let out a string of curses. “She hasn’t been back ever since? Two months is a long time, Vi.”
I wonder if something has happened to her? My chest hurts just thinking about it.
“I know,” Vi puts both her hands on her face. “And again, she hasn’t been back ever since she left. I’m so worried about her, Ian.”
“And why didn’t you go after her, for Goddess’ sake?” I ask angrily.
“Please, Ian, not you.” My sister looks at me with tears in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I frown, standing up and then walking to sit in the chair next to her. The look of distress on her face makes my stomach churns with worry.
“How I can tell you this...” she whispers, blinking hard. “Lily has been blaming me ever since she woke up and found Allie and Az’s bedroom empty.” She looks at me with her chin trembling and eyes full of tears that with just one blink will spill over. “I wanted to go after her, Ian. I swear! I want to. But with you unconscious and Josh injured, I thought it would be best for me to be here in case something bad happened to the pack. I know Dad and Mom can fix anything, but seeing you like that really messed me up. Just thinking about what you went through... All of that because of *me*!” Vi blinks, and the threatening tears finally fall.
I hug her sideways. “It wasn’t your fault, Vi. How many times do I have to tell you that?” 
She silently cries out. “I had people looking for Allie, but they couldn’t find her,” my sister says, completely ignoring what I had just asked. “Lily has been asking me to go after them all these days. She blames me for not leaving the pack. Lily’s wolf has been whimpering almost daily. And it gets worse during the full moon because Az isn’t here. She hasn’t even spoken to Mom and Dad in days. Lily said they shouldn’t have let Allie and Az leave without saying goodbye to her... She’s not speaking to me either, Ian. She said such mean words to me...”
“It’s probably because she’s getting close to being a teenager, Vi. She’ll come around. Thank Goddess, she and Az aren’t old enough to mark each other yet, or else we’d be screwed.”
She gives a watery giggle. “Could you imagine it?”
I smile, shaking my head and let her go. “Where’s Jordan?” I ask humorlessly.
Vi’s eyes look away. “He came here last month,” she says, crossing her arms. Now that I’m looking at her, I notice that I’ve never seen her like this with her clothes so... mused. Maybe it’s because her mate isn’t around. “But he went back to wherever he was. He said Kelly still needed him. I suggested bringing her here, but he hasn’t had time to answer me yet.”
This fucking piece of shit. Goddess, I wish I could fucking kill him.
I run a hand over my face and then through my hair, trying to organize the list of priorities in my mind. “Have none of your contacts found anything about Alicent?”
“No, they haven’t found it. Yet,” my sister repeats, sounding frustrated as well. “Ian... You told me you fucked up before you interrogated Mac. Did you imply to Allie that you didn’t want her living here anymore?” 
My eyes meet hers. “What? No! I would never do that, Vi. Are you mad?” I snarl indignantly. “We fought, okay? She... I...” I try to recall our argument. “Fuck! I said a lot of things to her, but none of them were anything remotely close to asking her to leave the pack. She said she loved me and I... I shouldn’t have said—”
“Maybe that’s why she left. I’ve watched the two of you, Ian. Any idiot could see she loved you. I warned you about this!” 
Fucking hell. My mind flashes back to all the things she told me, about the danger she’s in and about her feelings for me.
I say to myself before I realize I’ve said it out loud. “I need to go after her!”

🐺 🐺 🐺

How can this be me, sipping whiskey on the couch in my place over my nightclub? 
I’m almost drunk. 
I am alone, free from all my responsibilities, and *finally*, without a curse on my head. And just on this day, at this moment, what are my thoughts of? It’s not my pack. Or my family. Or my past conquests that come into my mind as I realize I’m finally free to choose a path in my life other than chasing the witch.
Little Dove’s face floats across my vision. 
The way her nose squinches a little bit up when she laughs. 
That glint she gets in her aura before she sees me. 
That eager look of hope that crosses her face when she wants to please me. The way her body feels when she’s tucked beneath my arm. 
A perfect fit. 
At this moment, lost and unable to find her even after almost a week, I come to a shocking revelation. 
I *might* love her. I might truly love her in the manner that she’d hoped I would. It only took this moment, now that my curse is broken, to reveal it to me. 
I might love her, and I need to tell her. 
I still haven’t found my fated mate, so we can still date. Because, Goddess help me, I can’t live without her anymore. After Vi told me she wasn’t living in the pack anymore, I didn’t even go to her bedroom to check it out with my own eyes because I didn’t want to go there and then find the room empty and quiet. I don’t even know if my wolf could handle it. We promised we would protect her!
In the first few days here in Summerville, I’ve tried calling her, but it just goes to voicemail. She’s ignoring me. And there’s no way to track her because she doesn’t even seem to be using her phone lately.
I’m feeling almost crazy. The longer a werewolf waits to find their mate, the crazier they get. And Right now, my wolf’s practically a wild animal. 
She isn’t my mate, but I need her. 
I slam the glass of whiskey down on the coffee table in the living room before I quickly leave the apartment.
‘Ian?’ my sister mindlinks behind me as I get down at the nightclub. ‘Where are you going? It’s getting late. You should rest. We’ll continue tomorrow.’
‘I can’t rest, Vi. I need to find her!’ I answer. ‘I can barely control my wolf.’
I get in my car, and before I can start driving, my sister gets in, too. “You shouldn’t drive while you are like this, Ian! What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to fucking hunt her down around the city, Vi.”
“This is crazy!”
“Crazy is not finding her!” I yell, starting the car. “We’ve been looking for her for a week now and nothing. She’s gone! If we can’t find her with all our resources, I’ll let Kral track her by her scent!”
“Ian, Summerville is huge! You can’t find her like that!” My sister tries to convince me. “I want to go after her too, but you are not thinking straight!”
“If she’s still in town, I’ll find her, Vi,” I say, opening all the windows of the car.
I want to be mad at Little Dove for leaving Blackmoon and not answering my fucking calls, but at this point, I just want her to be alive.
🐺 🐺 🐺

As soon as I cross a dead end street, I immediately *feel* something strange. 
Oddly familiar.
With my sister’s help, I’ve been looking for Alicent for almost three hours now, sniffing everywhere. We’ve been trying to find even a trace of her scent. But nothing.
I park the car.
“Why did you stop? Can you smell her? Or Az?” Vi asks next to me, looking at me confused. “I don’t smell anything. My nose isn’t as sensitive as yours, though.”
“I can’t smell her scent, much less Az’s. However,” I try to find the right words. “My gut tells me we’re on the right path. Go down that street, and I’ll turn into this dead end street. Try to be subtle and don’t shift, Vi. It’s nearly ten, and the streets are deserted, but someone might end up calling the cops.”
“Okay,” she says, getting out of the car right after and heading in the direction I indicated while I make my way to the dead end street.
Every house along this stretch seems to have a basement, and while they all share a similar vibe, none are exactly cookie-cutter replicas. Some glow faintly with light in their windows, while others sit in complete darkness, giving the street an eerie, half-asleep feeling. But I don’t waste time studying every useless detail. I trust my gut and keep moving.
I follow the delicious smell I’m smelling.
A growl rises in my throat. Kral is dying to be unleashed.
Fog seems to swirl around my feet as I quicken my pace, the pull intensifying with every step I take down the darkened street. I can’t help but follow it, chasing it like a fucking high. 
I don’t bother to turn and see if my sister is around or to check other houses around me. Because I *lied* to Vi. The scent I’m smelling coming from here isn’t Alicent’s. It’s something amazing and familiar.
An automatic light turns on when I walk near one of the houses. Yet, it doesn’t stop me from checking the place. 
I take a deep breath to calm my wolf’s rage and to ease the fire swirling inside my chest because I can’t shift. Fuck! That fucking scent hits me again. 
I follow it, my cock hardening behind the zipper of my black jeans. I desperately search for the cause of my cock and soul ecstasy. 
Taking another deep breath, I tilt my head down. I’m too overwhelmed.
A puddle on the asphalt reflects my face, forcing me to stop in my tracks to stare at it for a little bit. 
Then I start walking again.
My breath catches. 
I stop breathing. 
Kral roars in my mind, pounding so hard inside me that I nearly double over. ‘Let me free!’ he growls.
Mine. 
Mate. 
My everything. 
Sweet... pure pheromones. Something *animal* wakes in me. A part of me that has been missing, and I never understood what it was. 
Her scent hits me like a brick wall. It’s like an electric shock that blows my pupils and turns my senses all the way up. I want to shove my cock deep inside her pussy and never let her go. I want to paint her with my cum so everyone would know who she belongs to.
We finally find our mate.
My stomach drops. My step falters. My mind quiets. 
As my eyes spot her through the living room closed glass window, sitting on the sofa, I realize two things.
The first thing is that she is human. And that doesn’t change what I feel for her at all.
The second is that the curse wasn’t strong enough to make me feel nothing for my fated mate.
No curse could ever.
Alicent.
My eyes roam over her delicate face as she says something to someone that I don’t have the slightest desire to take my eyes off of her to find out who it is.
I simply can’t take my eyes off her. 
Goddess, she is so fucking beautiful! 
She’s wearing a long purple dress with a rounded neckline. Her light blonde hair looks even shinier, as do her flawless skin and her pair of vibrant meadow green eyes.
I am surprised again by how inviting her scent is to me as it hits my nostrils. 
Everything recedes. 
‘Mine!’ my wolf hisses. 
I inhale several times in rapid succession, filling my lungs and pulling her in. 
A guttural sound rises from my chest, but I rapidly suppress it. 
Her scent wraps firmly around my mind, dulling my senses. No longer does she smell like things I can describe. She smells soft and warm now, sweeter like a female in heat, and her fucking scent is making me wild. 
“Mate,” I say at the same time that Kral repeats it in my head.
I open a huge smile. My heart feels like it’s about to burst from how fast it’s racing, overwhelmed with pure joy. 
I square my shoulders, ready to burst through the house door and proclaim my love. 
Claim what is mine.
Just a small distance separates us. I’m in the middle of the street, facing the house where she is. 
But then, something happened that I could have never expected.
My pupils widen. My brows furrow. My nostrils flare. 
I watch the person who is talking to her sit down next to her and then kiss her. 
Not just anyone. 
Her ex-husband.