Chapter 24
The wind gusted at my back, a light whoosh following before she was just fucking gone.
It seemed as if the world merged into slow motion.
My wolf’s instincts weren’t fast enough.
The strange scent left behind somehow masked her disappearance.
My reaction time resembled that of a damn sloth.
All I saw when I’d turned on my heel, claws extracted and ready to tear into whoever or whatever it was, was a void, a black outline that gave nothing away.
I’d swiped into dead air. Aurora was gone.
“Aurora,” I roared, prowling through the hallway.
I burst into every bathroom, not caring about shifters using urinals, or one shitting when my boot slammed the stall door open.
The fur already grew down my back, the quartz slowly impeding my vision.
I barreled my shoulder into the “employees only” door.
Two male shifters fondled each other in a corner.
They gasped and stood at attention upon recognizing me.
“Alpha, we—” one said, stepping away from the other.
“I don’t care,” I yelled, exiting no sooner had I arrived when her scent didn’t hit my nostrils.
As I headed for the main room, blood pounded in my ears. My chest heaved, breathing quick and staggard. Who took her? How could they have gotten past me? How were they so fucking fast?
The shifters of my pack fell silent when they saw their alpha half-shifted, ready to blow a gasket at any moment. My gaze swept the room as if one of them were responsible. I dismissed the asinine idea because Aurora wasn’t here.
“Everyone up now,” I ordered. When they hurried to their feet, I pointed a claw. “I don’t care what your opinion is of the vampire, or my relationship with her. We’re conductin’ a search party now.”
Garrick approached from my side, tentative hands raised. “Harkin, what happened?”
The werewolf kept poking at the surface, but I forced him down, for now. “She disappeared.”
“What do you mean, disappeared?”
“Exactly what I just fuckin’ said, Garrick.” Growling, I dipped my face into his. “Something took her.”
Garrick nodded vigorously. “Got it. I’ll organize them into groups.”
“That’s better.” While the others searched the evident locations, I stepped outside and halted in the parking lot.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep, throaty inhale, consuming all the scents within a ten-mile radius. Irritation itched at my spine when hers, when my vampire’s scent, was nowhere. There weren’t even subtle traces. We were dealing with someone powerful. Someone with powers beyond my scope.
I rushed down the street, a sigh escaping me. Phel still sipped beers on his front lawn. Waffles had curled into a ball at his feet, sleeping.
“Harkin, hey pal—” Phel’s wide grin dropped to a frown when my royally pissed expression came into view. “—oh, fuck, what happened?”
“Something took Aurora,” I snarled. Every time I said it, only made my hackles rise more. Fur grew up the back of my neck. With my eyes squeezed shut, I forced it back.
Phel stood, careful to step over a still slumbering zombie pug. “What do you need me to do?”
“Do?” I thundered, raising my fists between us. “We need to find her. Now.” My speech had changed, dipping deeper, grittier.
Phel placed a stiff hand on my shoulder. “Hey, big guy.”
Heat blazed in my stomach and I growled, “Don’t call me that, only my—” A harsh lump choked me.
Phelan patted my arm. “Only your mate may call you that?”
My mate. That was what I wanted to say. She was my mate. This profuse panic over her absence, the ingrained instinct to protect—it was unmistakable. Aurora was mine.
A haze lifted from my mind, and I kicked a rock, making it disappear into the woods. Now, I had no clue where she was or how to find her. Removing Phelan’s hand from my shoulder, I tensed my claws at my sides, emitting a sound that was a blend of a roar and a howl at the fucking stars.
“Harkin, do not shift into your werewolf form. We need you cognitive right now. Your were will not help to find your mate, it can help to get her back.” Phelan licked his lips and slapped me across the face. “Do you hear me?”
Flashes impeded my vision, but the calmer side of me faded into my mind. The fur settled under my skin, the claws only partially retracting. Snorting, I rolled my neck and narrowed my eyes at my old friend. “We’ll talk about that slap later.”
“I’ll take what’s coming to me, Alpha. It was worth it.”
All the tendons in my arms grew taut. “They used magic. I highly doubt she is anywhere in the vicinity. It’s possible she’s still not even in the Cove.”
“Magic? Well, this is like—”
“Findin’ hen’s teeth,” I finished for him.
“What do you want to do, boss?” Phelan gave me his full, devoted attention.
The answer was crystal clear to me. I understood what I had to do, yet recognized it would leave me indebted to her. Aurora was worth it. There was no other option.
I looked skyward at the crescent moon. “Summon the Shaman, Phel.”
“The Shaman?” Phel blanched. “Hark, it’s not a blood moon. That’s the only time she appears, you know that.”
Impatiently, I cracked my knuckles. “I know that, but think she’ll let it slide when she hears what I got to say. Summon her.”
Phelan stared at me as if waiting for me to tell him I was joking. When I didn’t budge, he gave a stern nod and slipped his phone from his jacket pocket. His thumbs worked feverishly over the screen.
“She can be summoned by text now?” I peered over the top of his phone, but he pulled it closer to his chest.
“She’s adapted. You should be happy. The old school homing pigeon would’ve taken days. This—” Phel did one final thumb press. “—is instantaneous.”
After a few seconds, I raised my brows at him. “Has she said anything?”
“I just sent it, Harkin.”
With my patience completely exhausted, I snarled into his face, “You said instantaneous.”
Phelan opened his mouth to retort when a bell sound chimed on his phone. “Here we go. She said, and I quote, ‘Meet me by the tree. This had better be good.’”
“Oh, it sure as shit is.” I tossed my hat onto Phel’s lawn chair. “Stay with the dog. Need to do this alone.”
“You’ll find her, Harkin,” Phel reassured with a gaze drenched in pity.
Silently, I nodded and entered the woods.
The tree she referred to was a gnarled, wide oak tree that’s height reached above the rest. Its existence matched that of the Shaman, who has lived for seven hundred years.
I leaned a shoulder against the trunk, frowning when I remembered I’d left that incredible cigar in the ashtray.
“Well, well, Harkin,” Soma the Shaman said. She appeared from the forest shadows, traveling within them with the moon’s glow. “This is a first.”
Her long, white, knotted hair matched the color of her snowy wolf form. There were deep creases in her cheeks that were accentuated whenever she smiled, which she currently did in spades.
“You’ll wanna hear this. Trust me.” I stood tall.
Soma glided closer, her nose sniffing the surrounding air. Her vibrant grey eyes brightened, and she gasped. “You found your mate.”
I scratched the corner of my jaw with a deep frown. “Your insight takes a lot of grandeur out of things, realize that?”
The Shaman offered a tender smile that bordered on damn pity again. She patted a withered hand on my cheek. “I’m happy for you after the last one. Is that why you summoned me?”
The moon saw fit to bless Soma with the gift of celestial sight. Based on the situation, she could see the past, present, or future. When one conferred with her, your results were unpredictable.
“Does your third eye not tell you what my mate is?”
Soma chuckled and whisked a hand skyward, sending sprays of silver magic. “Not this night, it doesn’t.”
“Her name’s Aurora. She’s a vampire.” I paused there to gauge her reaction.
Soma rested a hand on her bosom, fiddling with one of a dozen beaded necklaces. “I could never have seen that coming.”
“Who used to be a deer shifter,” I finished.
A grin as wide as the old tree behind me spread over the Shaman’s lips. “This is something indeed. I see now why you called for me.”
“Why I summoned you, Soma, is because some magical force has taken her. Need to know where she is and how to get to her.” The werewolf clawed underneath my skin, growing as impatient as I felt, begging to get my mate back now.
Soma nodded pensively, her fingers winding the necklace tighter. “Before I seek the stars’ guidance, you’ll answer my questions.”
A growl seethed in my chest, but I beat my fist against it to shut it up. “Anything.”
“Her rarity, her blood, have the other shifters noticed?”
I ground my teeth so tightly that I thought I had cracked one. “Yeah. Started as smellin’ her, but the more she was around me it escalated to licking. Eventually, they tried to bite her.”
Soma’s eyes brightened. “Intriguing. And you’ve since marked her, then?”
I craned my neck to the side. “No. I haven’t.”
Soma gasped and swatted my arm. “Tsk. Tsk, alpha wolf.”
“Only just realized she’s my mate minutes ago. We didn’t even get to talk about it before they took her from me.” The claws sprang out, Soma’s gaze zapping straight to them.
“Minutes ago?” Soma tsked again. “I blame the other one. Fear blinded you.”
With my head bowed like a scolded pup, I scratched my brow with a thumb claw. “Yeah. You’re probably right. What do I do, Shaman? How do I find her?”
Soma’s eyes turned bright white, her hands steepled against each other. “The shifter problem is easy. They will no longer detect her scent once another replaces it.”
My heart galloped inside my chest. My scent. She meant mine.
“It’s of the utmost importance that you mark her, claim her, as soon as possible. Especially as the alpha. Bring her to me once it’s done.”
She didn’t have to repeat herself.
“Understood. What else?” I suppressed the urge to bounce from one foot to the other.
Soma cocked her head back, her face poised at the moon. A radiant glow shone in her eyes. “A moment.”
One moment seemed like an eternity. My rapid thoughts did nothing to ease my impatience. Where was she? Was she safe? Was she hurt? Why did they take her? Would I ever see her again? Would she reject it? Reject me?
“Harkin,” Soma beckoned, extending her hand. I wrapped it in both of mine, cradling it. “This won’t be a simple task to bring her back. You cannot go alone.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes, Shaman. Anything.”
Soma gripped my hands tighter, her face contorting into an almost painful expression.
“Soma?” I stepped closer.
“The moon wishes to see you together and will provide passage to where she’s being held.”
Being held? My vision toggled between normal and tunneling.
“Soma, who has her?” I urged, setting my jaw to keep from sounding too forceful.
The Shaman’s eyes returned to normal, her bottom lip trembling like what she witnessed terrified her. “Harkin, it will be a tough fight. Choose wisely who you bring with you.”
“You haven’t witnessed an alpha with the power of the were when their mate is in danger. I will bring her back.” My brow knitted, and I slipped a hand to Soma’s elbow to steady her wavering stance.
“It is a blessing you possess such ancient abilities, my Alpha.” The Shaman put a palm on my cheek, her hand shaking. “Because the one who took her is Aurora’s maker.”