Chapter 35

"Emily?" I was hiding in the bathroom again, and I needed a way to get out of here.

I didn't want to ask any of the boys because I had caused them enough trouble. The only other person I trusted was Emily, so I called her as soon as my cries had softened.

"Maya? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" She asks me.

"I'm hurt a little, but just a few scrapes. Nothing serious. But can you come get me?" I hoped she could hear in my voice how badly I needed her help.

"Of course, meet me out front of the University! I'll be there soon!" She said hanging up quickly.

I waited until I was sure the next set of courses had started and there were less students around before heading toward the entrance of the University. When I was finally passed the gates without encountering any other hostile woman, I slumped down onto a bench nearby. I watched car after car drive by waiting for Emily to arrive. It seemed like I had been waiting for over an hour before a car pulled up in front of me. The window slid down and a young guy leaned over and called out to me.

"Hey there! You need a ride?" He yells toward me.

My body tensed up at the sight of him. He didn't look dangerous, but everyone seemed suspicious to me now and there was no way I was getting into a car with him.

"No thanks I actually have a ride coming." I say back trying to act like I was freaking out on the inside.

"That's too bad, I guess I will just have to insist!" He said with a smirk.

As his words hit me, my heart sank. My eyes widened and I knew right then that this was not just any guy. Before I could move I felt a sharp pain in my neck, and I felt my body go numb and darkness was once again around me.

*****

(Emily's POV)

I had been with a patient when I got Maya's call, so I finished the exam quickly and rushed to my car. Something bad had happened and I could hear in her voice that she had been crying. It killed me to hear her soft voice sounding so broken and hurt. Even though we had only started getting to know each other, she had become one of the closest friends I had ever had. She gone through hell and was still so strong but kind. When I found out she was mated to Tommy, Eli and Noah I was happy. She had no one and had felt so alone that I was happy she would have them to look after her.

I hated that she blamed herself for ruining their lives or causing a drift between them, but she was wrong. I could see as soon as they were all in my office together that those boys loved her. Even after we talked about Noah, I still knew how much he cared about her. There was so much she didn't know about him yet, the reason why he was so against having a mate. It was not my place to tell her, but I tried to encourage her to wait it out and let Noah come to her when he was ready. I had grown up with those boys and they had been through some tough times growing up. So, in a way it seemed to me like they needed Maya, she would be a good thing in their lives, something worth fighting for.

It seems like I was hitting every red light trying to reach Maya, but finally I was turning into the University parking lot. I scanned the front of the gate but couldn't spot Maya at all. I took out my phone and tried calling her.

"Hi this is Maya, I can't take your call now, but I will call you back really soon! Bye!" Her voicemail....

I called again and stepped out of the car to see if I could hear her phone ring. At first I didn't hear anything, but I walked a little closer to the front gate and I could hear the faint sound of a phone ringing. I looked toward the direction the sound was coming from but there was no one there. That's weird...

I walked over to a bench and saw a phone sitting at the top of a pile of trash in the bin next to the bench. Maya's phone? Why is it in the trash?

There had to be a reason, because I had just talked to her! The area around me was empty and my wandering search still did not turn up Maya anywhere. I didn't want to assume the worst but finding her phone in the trash and her nowhere around my mind drifted straight toward panic. Where was she? I quickly dialed Tommy's number and yelled at him to find the others and meet me right away. I didn't give him a chance to ask me why before I hung up.

I placed back and forth for several minutes waiting for the boys to find me. When I finally spotted them, they ran toward me and looked utterly confused.

"Emily? What's going on? Why are you here? Why did you call me?" Tommy starts hitting me with questions and all I wanted to do was slap him.

"Tommy stop!" I yell at him and his mouth clamps shut.

"Guys I think Maya is gone!" I say straight away.

The mood between us changed to one of confusion to one of anger and confusion.

"What do you mean she left?" Eli asks me his voice straining from anger.

"She called me to come get her! She said she wanted to leave, and it sounded like she had been crying...." I started to explain.

"She was crying?" Noah asked interrupting me.

"Yes, I could hear it in her voice." I say.

"Oh god." Noah says letting out a growl.

"What?" Tommy asks him.

"This is my fault! If I hadn't been trying so hard to push her away, she wouldn't have been crying!" Noah says sounding chocked up himself.

"What did you do Noah?" Tommy asked sharply.

"I had told her I didn't want to have a mate that I didn't need one. That I didn't ask for any of this." Noah blurts out.

"What the hell man! Why would you say that to her? This is not her fault!" Eli yells at Noah.

"I know! Earlier I was trying to explain to her that I didn't mean those things, but she ran from me after we hugged and I lost her in a crowd, I figured she wanted to be alone." Noah says softly dropping his head.

"I am not sure why she was upset but she also said she had gotten hurt, but it wasn't too bad, so I rushed over her but when I got here..." I held out her phone in front of them. " I found her phone in the trash."

These stepped closer and looked at each other and then me.

"I don't think she just left....I think she was taken."