Gone
Dane
Falling asleep with the woman I love in my arms brought me a peace I’d never known.
Vera was running, and I knew it was due to her shitty ex.
When she cried out her safe word, I saw red.
She’d been through enough for me to know he was running on borrowed time.
Luckily for him, I didn’t need his info, but I’d get it.
One problem at a time, and we still had the drunk from the party to deal with.
I’d obsessed over her from a distance, but I hadn’t expected this.
When I sent Kade to follow her to that party, I didn’t expect him to claim her.
But seeing her in person—scenting, tasting?
Fuck. I knew right away why I’d been haunted.
All that time I’d Snarled her, I had no idea she was my other half.
I should have known when I sent Kade after her.
After Ava, I didn’t think I deserved Vera. When my ex had come to me holding her belly, one sniff and I knew Dahlia was mine. I did right by her. I’d convinced myself my daughter was enough—that her happiness was the only thing I needed.
I’d spent years denying my instincts, refusing to search for the one thing meant for me.
But when Vera called me drunk, I lost it.
I couldn’t leave her weak and alone. As soon as I’d walked through that door, her sweet scent hit me like a train at full speed.
Kade’s gaze hadn’t been teasing then; it promised pain.
When I found that drunk with his filthy hands on her, I knew he’d die a slow death.
Instincts demanded I breed and mark her right there, but I couldn’t. Something was wrong. My mate didn’t recognize my scent or Kade’s. That realization broke a part of us I didn’t know we still had.
She was warmth and sunlight. She brightened up my dark world, and the last few days had been heaven on earth.
A shell of a woman had come alive as I breathed into her.
I didn’t want to fix her; I wanted to gather the shattered pieces of her soul and squeeze them until they cut flesh.
Her pain was mine. I’d destroy every bad memory she had and replace it with a new one.
And then I’d kill the man who broke her.
With me, she had nothing and no one to fear. No one.
She didn’t flinch when I touched her, but I saw the way her eyes dilated—transported to a darker time. And fuck if that didn’t make my heart shrivel. But she wasn’t afraid of me. That knowledge had me ready to bring the world to their knees for her.
I’ll make her happy. I’ll love her the way she deserves.
After my separation, Ava made seeing Dahlia almost impossible. She’d uprooted our daughter for the man she’d been unfaithful with, taking everything from me while I slept.
Sharing the truth with Vera was a weight off my shoulders. I’d feared the truth would make her reject me, but seeing her fury dissolve at the mention of my daughter gave me a strand of hope I hadn’t felt in years.
Then I woke up.
At the foot of my bed, sunlight filtered through the crack in the fort. I rolled over, my hand searching for Vera, but the spot beside me was cold. My spine stiffened. My eyes flew open.
She wasn’t by my side.
My chest tightened, the air expelled from my lungs as if I’d been punched. I bolted upright. Kade was still snoring against the edge of the bed. I grabbed the blanket and yanked, tearing the fabric from its clips, bathing us in light. My gaze raked the room.
Nothing.
No, no, no.
Not again.
“What’s going on?” Kade groaned, stretching.
I ignored him, lunging for the bathroom. The door was ajar, but I knew before I crossed the threshold. Vera was gone.
I backtracked, trying to pinpoint where I’d fucked up. I’d done everything to ensure I didn’t push her. I closed my eyes, my breath coming in rapid, shallow hitches. I’d been wrong. The world went still while my heart splintered. With her gone, the darkness rushed back in.
Kade’s eyes narrowed, his gaze darting behind me. “Where’s Vera?” But his tone told me he already knew.
“She’s gone.” I cracked my neck, clenching my fists. We stared at each other, and I watched the pain etch itself into my brother’s expression. His eyes fluttered shut, and when they opened, the psycho I’d grown up with was staring back.
“If we’d marked her last night, she wouldn’t have been able to leave,” Kade growled.
“She needed… time,” I seethed.
“She needs us.”
“Fuck!” My hands balled into fists.
“You’re right.” His eyes widened at words we both never thought I’d say. “Our mate left while we slept.”
The rejection stung. It replayed the memory of Ava stealing my daughter in the night. Darkness had stolen Dahlia, and now, it had taken my mate. No goodbye. No note.
I strode over to my bedside table and checked my phone. The last strand of hope vanished as the screen lit up. I had notifications, but none from her. I opened SnarlChat and called her, but she didn’t pick up. I dialed my head of security.
“Sir?”
“Where is she?” I growled.
“She… left this morning.”
“You let my mate walk out of here?” I ran my hand through my hair, pacing the length of the window.
“I didn’t know. It’s my fault.”
“How did she leave?”
“A man picked her up.”
Those five words stopped me in my tracks and shredded through the last of my self-control. She ran from me and called someone else.
He was a dead man.
I tapped SnarlChat and sent her a single message.
Me: Run, little Omega.
“Let her run,” Kade said, standing to his feet. “We’ll catch up.”
“When do we leave?”
“After we check the problem in the basement,” I said, my voice dropping.
“Let’s get to it, then,” Kade hummed, a twisted smile touching his lips. “I want our Omega home.”