Chapter 18
Rudy
Running. Running. Moonlight. Trees. Splashing through a stream. Chasing rabbits. Stars. Leaves crunching. Freedom. Salty sea air. Torchlight. Sandy beach. Bowen. Bowen. Bowen.
Our dreams tangled together, combining images from the night before with ones yet to come. My wolf dreamt in simple flashes of moments, while I felt the emotions that came with each one. Bowen, beautiful Bowen, was there in all of them. Always such love and wonder in his face and in his heart.
In harmony with my wolf, my entire body felt weightless.
I was floating, buoyant, no longer weighed down by the burden I’d carried my entire life.
It was all thanks to my mate. My mate, whose scent was in my nose.
I reached an arm out, seeking him in the dark.
My hand hit soft fabric. It swept around, but there was no body next to mine.
Sitting straight up, my eyes flung open to find I was in my bedroom, and the door was wide open. The mattress beside me was empty. Panic woke me like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on me. I shot to my feet, but managed to calm enough to use my senses before freaking out.
His scent was all around me, but then he’d been sleeping in my bed.
I listened carefully to see if I could hear him, but tried not to jump to conclusions when I couldn’t.
Forcing myself to stay calm, I put my hand over my heart.
He was there; I could feel him. There was a sense of determination that wasn’t mine; it was Bowen’s.
There was something else, too. It sparkled and zapped like…
mischief. The sensation brought a small smile to my face as relief filled me.
With another glance around, I saw a piece of paper sticking out from the messy bedding. Diving onto the bed with a flop, I hurried to grab it, as if the paper held the answers to life and death. I carefully opened the folded note, bracing myself.
“Gone shopping, be back soon. You were amazing last night. Thank you for sharing that with me.”
Shopping. I let out a laugh. He was safe, and he would be coming back.
As for the rest of the note, I clutched it to my chest and rolled onto my back, feeling all kinds of big, gooey, smitten puppy love from a few simple words.
The way Bowen not only accepted my beast side but encouraged it reached into the very depths of my soul and healed a wound that had been festering for a long time.
If I didn’t love the man before, I most certainly did now.
Knowing he was upstairs shopping in the gift shop or maybe rummaging through the courtesy closet, I decided to take advantage of the time and clean the woods off me and brush the taste out of my mouth.
My cheeks flushed at the memory of Bowen giving me another treat from his bag after taking a break.
He sat by my side in a small clearing, his hand on my large, clawed one, while I gnawed away on a bully stick, as if it were a perfectly normal thing to do. Damn, but it felt normal with him.
After showering, I dressed and made my way upstairs to get some actual food, and hoped that I would find my mate while I did.
I could still feel him within me, but, strangely, he felt further away.
Maybe it was just the bond settling into place after the intensity of our connection that was still forming.
Maybe it was because my wolf was at peace within me after being free all night.
Or maybe Bowen was resting somewhere. I didn’t really know how any of this fated mates stuff worked anyway.
Through the uncertainty, though, I felt a niggle of worry sinking into my gut.
I tried to convince myself it was ridiculous, but the worry didn’t go away. In fact, it grew. It grew as I walked down the hallway, nearing the dining hall, leaving me feeling off-kilter. Food might help after all the energy I exerted last night.
Bypassing the tables, I went straight into the kitchen where Zee was carefully placing sprigs of green stuff around a plate. He glanced up and his brows arched when he saw me. “Trouble in paradise already?”
“What? No, no, it’s great. Perfect, actually. Bowen is… fuck, he’s the most amazing being in the world.”
Zee pointed a pair of tweezers at me. “Your face is telling a different story. You look a little pale. You all right?”
I ran a hand through my hair. “I don’t know. I feel kind of weird, but I think I just need to eat something, maybe.”
Zephyr snorted a laugh. “Wore you out, did he?”
I glared at him, but the squinting of my eyes made my head swim, and I staggered slightly.
“Wolfie? Shit.” Zephyr hurried around me, grabbed a chair from the dining hall, and forced me down into it. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. I can feel him… Bowen, like I feel him inside me.
” Zee opened his mouth, and I could already hear whatever smartass thing he was about to say, so I put a hand up to stop him.
“No jokes, please, just listen. He’s there, like there’s a connection between us.
Except… he feels far away right now. I don’t know, maybe it’s all just too new, and it’s still getting sorted. ”
Zephyr squatted down in front of me. “Have you called him?”
Heat crawled up my neck. “I, uh, actually don’t have his number.”
The griffin slapped his head to his forehead. “For fuck’s sake, Wolfie, you marked him as your mate, and you didn’t even exchange numbers?”
I shrugged as my cheeks pinked. “It didn’t come up.”
A loud laugh bellowed out of him as he stood, putting his hands on his hips. “I guess it’s good your man fell into your lap. You would be hopeless in the dating world.”
I huffed in agreement because I couldn’t argue with the point.
“Let’s get some food in you first, and then we’ll track him down, okay?”
I nodded, grateful to have a plan and a friend to help through whatever I was feeling.
In just a few minutes, I had a hefty breakfast burrito loaded with bacon and ham.
Any other day, I would have devoured it, but only a couple of bites in, it wasn’t sitting right in my stomach.
The worry was building into an ache. Zee must have noticed, because I heard him rattle off instructions to his staff.
Next thing I knew, his hand cupped under my elbow, and he was pulling me along. He led me to the lobby, catching Maxime’s attention. I felt Maxime’s gaze land on me, worry creasing his brows.
At this point, the ache in my belly was expanding to my chest, and I couldn’t find words when the vampire approached. Luckily, Zee was with me.
Zee’s hand stayed under my arm with enough strength to help steady me on my feet. “I think we need to find Bowen. Any idea where he might be?”
Maxime looked me over and hurried to the computer.
“He was in the gift shop earlier, but he came and asked me if there were any other shopping options. I told him we have regular deliveries that are made for food and other necessities, and we can order anything by request, but he seemed keen on picking something out in person. Oh.”
Maxime’s red-rimmed eyes widened ever so slightly, making me tense. Taking a step toward him, a snarl loosened from me. “What?”
“Hold on, Rudolph, I need to check something.” He got onto the computer, typing rapidly. He must have found what he was looking for because he began shaking his head. Maxime folded his hands on the desk and met my gaze. “I know where Mr. Thomas is. The good news is he’s not alone.”
My wolf was pushing from within, replacing the dizzy weakness I felt with rage. For once, I wasn’t going to try to stop him. “Tell me!”
“His name is listed on the passenger manifest for the group excursion to the big island.”
My chest tightened, and my mind swirled. Catalina. It both helped and made it worse to know where he was and to know I was too far to reach him.
Zee’s voice sounded next to me. “You have his phone number, right?”
“Of course. Normally, I would be opposed to sharing a guest’s confidential information, but seeing as how Bowen is no longer a guest, I’ll make the exception. Let me pull up his registration.”
“Wolfie, phone.” Zee held out his hand, and I pulled it out of my pocket, unable to think.
I heard him punch in the numbers, and when he handed the phone back to me, it was ringing. My stomach knotted as I waited, each ring a shrill sound through my over-sensitive ears, with my wolf so close to the surface.
“Hello?” My knees buckled at the sound of his voice.
“Bowen.” His name was the only thing I could say as relief filled me.
“Rudy! Is that you?” I couldn’t tell if his voice was shaky or if it was just me.
“Yeah, yeah. It’s me. Gods, I needed to hear your voice. Are you okay?”
“I think so. I don’t know… been feeling a little queasy if I’m honest. I didn’t get seasick last time, so I didn’t expect to this time. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I was hoping to surprise you later.”
I squeezed the phone in my grip and allowed myself a moment to breathe before responding, not wanting to lose it. “It’s okay, just tell me you’re not alone.”
“No. There’s a group of us, like tourists in a foreign country.
It’s a little laughable, actually. I don’t normally do group activities, but it’s been surprisingly fun.
I had to hang back for a moment because I got dizzy right before you called, but I can see them. They’re just a few stores ahead of me.”
Thank the gods. His being dizzy must have been what I was feeling. Unless he was feeling it from me, I wasn’t really sure, but there was definitely a connection. I found it strangely comforting. “Okay. Okay. Just stay close to them.”
The brief moment of relief I felt was gone in a flash as my veins chilled. Icy fear pulsed in my mind and filled my chest. “Bowen?”