Chapter Thirty-Eight
Ciaran was feeling off during his training, and for the life of him, he couldn’t understand why.
His wolf was pacing inside his head, howling as if calling someone, and that was giving him a headache.
To make matters worse, today’s session was full of stay-at-home moms that chatted, flirted, and did everything in their power to attract the instructor’s attention.
All but physical exercise. He shook his head, secretly amused.
Like a wolf mated with his true mate, his interest in them was nil.
Of course, they didn’t know it, and he wasn’t willing to say anything.
He left as soon as the last woman left the room, meeting with Tanya near the water cooler. He rubbed his chest, frowning. There was something in the air that was bothering him, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“Are you okay, cous?” asked Tanya, and in that moment, someone yelled, “Hey, anybody home?”
It came from the front desk and the two frowned.
Peeking through the hallway, Tanya yelled, “Coming!” before downing her water in two gulps.
Ciaran followed her, as the guy seemed impatient, but once there, the frown deepened.
Freya wasn’t at her usual post, behind the desk, and the phone was ringing nonstop.
“About time, I’ve been here for almost ten minutes.”
The guy’s grumble was like a bucket of cold water.
Ciaran immediately turned away, heading to the bathroom.
Could Freya be there? Was she feeling unwell?
He knocked on the door, ignoring the giggles of two girls who were giving him seductive looks while saying, “It’s for women!
”, and went in. The bathroom was empty. No sign of Freya.
He felt a grip of panic tighten around his heart.
It couldn’t be. If Freya wasn’t at her post or in the bathroom, where could she be?
A quick glance around the gym told him she wasn’t there.
He ran to the parking lot, frantically looking around, but there was no sign of Freya.
And suddenly, the smell. An oppressive smell, as if someone had used a deodorizing agent to mask it.
He turned as white as the whitewash on the wall.
To mask the smell of rot, decomposition.
“Declan! Freya’s missing!”