Chapter 25 - Sebastian
My cheeks ached from smiling as that positive atmosphere surrounded me, finding myself locked in a deep conversation with Roman, Levi, and Zoe as we discussed her plans to build the new local gym.
Even if the celebration was about the baby, we easily covered a multitude of topics, often laughing at one another’s antics as night set in and the bonfire illuminated the backyard.
It all seemed so picture-perfect, and for a time, I was able to forget about everything else.
As I laughed at something Ethan said, I glanced around me and noticed that Lydia still wasn’t back. I remembered her going to get a drink a while ago, but I couldn’t find where she went after that.
Brows furrowing, I strained a little more to get a better look at the pack around me. She wasn’t by my side. She wasn’t at the drink table or by the food, and from what I could tell, she wasn’t standing around talking to me anymore.
Getting more frantic then, realizing her scent seemed to be quickly fading from the area, I moved through the group of shifters, hoping I was mistaken.
“Seb?” Zoe called, evidently noticing my shift in behavior as I looked around. “What’s going on?”
“Have you seen Lydia?”
Concern etched into her features then at my words, but she shook her head and also began looking. “I thought I saw her a while ago, but now that I’m thinking about it, that had to have been at least twenty minutes ago.”
Startled, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. “No…there’s no way. I would’ve noticed…”
It didn’t make any sense to me. She had been with us, and suddenly, she was gone.
The guys also took notice of my more frantic state, and Levi was there at a moment’s notice, catching my gaze.
“Where’s Lydia?” I asked, loud enough for everyone in attendance to hear as I became more flustered, letting that worry grip my heart tightly. “Has anyone seen her?”
“I’ll check the house,” Zoe said, struggling to understand it too, as she hurried toward the house and pushed her way inside.
At once, everyone started looking, glancing around at one another and checking the area.
“Don’t worry,” Ethan said, putting a supportive hand on my shoulder. “You’ll find her. You have your bond, right? Can’t you use that to find her?”
My state of confusion infested my mind with a haze that I struggled to look past, but as his words sank in, I nodded absently. “Yeah…I just need to calm down first. I can’t focus like this.”
He nodded with understanding, directing me over to the drink table. “She came this way. I know that much.”
Pulling myself together, aware of what was on the line and how dire the situation was, I pulled in a deep breath and steadied myself, scenting her as the other pack members took to searching for themselves.
As my heart steadied and I searched for that tether, I felt its warmth, even if it seemed strange. I looked toward it as my guide, along with her fading scent, mapping out her trail in my head and heart.
“This way,” I mumbled as the guys followed closely behind me, keeping their eyes peeled while we exited the backyard and moved through the woods. Before long, Zoe slipped in with us.
To my dismay, it was obvious her scent wasn’t as potent before, and as Zoe predicted, she had already been gone for quite some time. Even thinking about it made my heart ache. I couldn’t understand how I didn’t notice. She was my mate, for Christ's sake. I should’ve been able to detect that.
“What the hell was she doing out here?” I heard Ezra mumble.
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter,” Zoe returned sharply, keeping everyone on task while I focused.
I tried to maintain my composure as best as I could, but on the inside, I was terrified of what it meant. More so, I was furious with myself for not noticing she was gone in the first place.
My mind was racing, and I felt like I was on the brink of going insane. But even so, I pushed on, thinking only about Lydia and finding her as soon as possible.
After traveling for some time, we reached a clearing, and at once, many scents hit me. The sound of muffled crying in the distance immediately piqued my attention, and I raced over to where fresh tire tracks were imprinted into the grass, and two figures were huddled close by.
Defensively, we all stopped, poised as he looked at them and as their gleaming eyes glanced back at us.
My brows came together as a wash of anger hit me at the sight of them. Scott and Iris Finch. Lydia’s parents.
Iris sniffled to herself as Scott held her close, consoling her. They looked more fearful and concerned than angry to see me, which I had expected instead.
My heart was in my throat as I approached them. “What the hell happened here?”
As the others surrounded me, there was no point in them taking a defensive stance. Instead, Scott helped Iris to her feet, who had a noticeable red mark across her cheek.
“We…we were wrong,” Scott admitted, voice forlorn as he could barely meet my gaze. “We sought Lydia out and convinced her to speak with us…”
My brows set angrily at them. “You’re the reason she came out here by herself?”
Iris nodded with another sniffle. “It was wrong of us to corner her like that, but we didn’t think Jack would take her by force like that. We hoped she would go willingly instead. We told him to be gentle—”
My heart dropped as a frigid chill moved through me. At once, everything around me seemed to stop, and even if, for a moment, I couldn’t breathe.
“What?”
The clearing was nearly silent then, save for Iris’ crying.
It took everything in my power not to lose my mind or my temper right then and there.
They lured Lydia out to convince her to go back with them and Jack…only for him to take her forcefully.
The very thing I was trying to prevent for weeks.
Despite my efforts, it still happened anyway.
Zeroing in on them, I grit my teeth as my entire body went rigid with anger. My voice was somewhat shaken, yet stern enough to let them know we didn’t have even a second to waste. “Where was Jack planning on taking her?”
Even if they had a hand in the reason why Lydia was gone, her parents were riddled with regret. At the very least, they didn’t resist.
“Jack intended to make Lydia his mate regardless of what Lydia wants, even if it takes time for the connection to form,” Scott began, tone heavy with remorse. “He’ll…he’ll likely be at the pack grounds. He wanted to get her back ever since she left.”
My skin and blood underneath felt like it was on fire as that white-hot fury coursed through my system, and with every fiber of restraint I had, I held it back in. Clenching my fists, I continued past them, feeling like I didn’t have anything left to say at that point.
They didn’t matter then. Not while I needed to get Lydia back before it was too late. If I hesitated or tracked back to try and come up with a plan first, I risked Jack harming our bond in some way by using torturous methods to break it with force. Before he could hurt her, I needed to get her home again.
“Wait!” Iris said, making me pause in my place as I glanced over my shoulder.
“What?”
She swallowed hard at the sight of my fury that couldn’t be fully tempered. “What can we do? We want to make sure she’s all right?”
I bristled at her words. While I could only imagine they did want her to be safe, given how the plan didn’t unfold as they anticipated, I didn’t have the patience left to space.
“You can leave. If you don’t want to get caught in the middle of this, then go,” I muttered, jaw clenched. “You’ve done enough.”
While this made Iris’ eyes swell with tears all over again, I didn’t care. I wasn’t looking for words or false promises.
I needed to take action, and I couldn’t waste those precious moments on the very people who both hurt my mate in several different ways and lured her into a trap on top of it.
“Let's go,” I said to the others, watching as they all fell into step with me, prepared to let me take the lead as we moved through the woods, following those tire tracks along with the mental map our bond provided me, even if it was somewhat hazy due to my worry and unfettered anger.
Prepared to face Jack once and for all, I knew I had to finish it then and there.