Chapter Twenty-Four
Kaden's POV

Something was wrong.

I was in an emergency pack meeting when the familiar bond between Elle and me snapped, and I could no longer sense where she was. The thousands of microscopic connections, like strings, flailed in the wind, fluttering aimlessly as they reached out for her.

It was quiet.

Agitated by the missing pressure, I grasped at my chest, the air catching in my lungs. It took a moment to realise why everything around me sounded quieter.

I shivered, frantically glancing over my shoulder as though I could summon the sound of her heartbeat back into my ears.

But nothing changed, and I was left clutching at air.

Pushing away from the table, I sent my chair clattering across the room. My father called out, but I ignored him as I stalked through the house, desperate to get outside. I was pushing my legs to pump faster than my racing heart.

I'd almost gotten free, but Jacobi pushed open the door and blocked my exit, his hair slicked with rain. Breathing frantically, I pushed him aside, stumbling out into the downpour, trying to push the bond further to find her.

'Where is she?' I cried. Every part of my body was strained. My heart and chest searched for the physical bonds that tied us together while my ears pricked for the sound of her heart. 'Do you know where she is!'

'Who?' Jacobi heard my desperation, and he squinted through the rain as it soaked us both.

Words failed me, and my head spun as the earth tilted beneath me. I grounded my feet as fears of falling into the abyss took the last shreds of my thoughts.

The world seemed to split apart before my eyes, and I couldn't drag the air into my lungs quickly enough. I blinked away the hallucination and deepened my breaths, thinking about where she might have been.

She couldn't be far.

The bond hadn't stretched further than it usually did before disappearing.

The furthest she could be was the edge of Aucteraden.

She had to be close.

She needed to be close.

'Is it Elle?'

He'd only needed to read the devastating panic that had ruled me incapable of answering to realise that it had to be her. My thoughts burst into a thousand shattered fragments, and I grappled for the puzzle pieces, desperate to solve them. 'I can't sense her.'

I felt lost.

I couldn't remember when I hadn't felt our bond or heard the soft thrum of her heartbeat as the backing track to my life. I'd become dependent on it after thirteen years, so much so that I didn't notice it unless I wanted to, and now that it was gone, I couldn't feel anything but the loss.

'I don't know where she is.'

He squinted at me as water poured from the heavens, his mouth set in a grim line. 'We'll find her.'

'How? Her scent is gone, Jacobi. It's pouring!' I raked my hands through my hair and wrapped my hands around my skull like claws. 'I can't feel her. I can't hear her. There might be no evidence that she's even disappeared.'

'You don't know that.' He paced, shadows grabbing at his face as the hard lines of despair etched into his skin. 'Humans solve these sorts of cases all the time. And we don't even know that she's really gone. Maybe Lachlan has given her wolfsbane?'

'How is that any better? It's even more poisonous to humans than it is to us.'

'But it's treatable. I promise you, whatever has happened, we'll find her. She'll be alright.'

I pulled at my hair, emptiness gripping my heart. 'I need her.'

He nodded desolately, 'I know.'

He tried to lead me into the house, but I fought against him, shoving him aside and delving into the forest that cut through to Elle's house.

It didn't take long to arrive, and I squinted through her window, praying I would see her walking around in her room, safe. My hands trembled as I knocked on the door, the tension doubling when Jacobi stepped onto the patio deck. I almost thanked him when he didn't drag me back onto pack lands, but the door swung open, and Elle's grandparents, still in their nightclothes, greeted us.

They knew who I was, the look in their eyes gave it away, but they greeted me with polite confusion. They knew who I was, but they turned to Jacobi instead, and I was grateful as they welcomed him into their arms. 'Elle told us about your promotion. We're proud of you, Kobes.'

'Congratulations!'

'Thank you,' Jacobi smiled graciously, but it was tense, and his hands were clenched in his pockets, 'is Elle in?'

Elle's grandmother, Edith, shook her head, her frown of concern lost amongst the wrinkles. 'No, she spent the night at Kendra's. Didn't they invite you?'

'No. I've been a little busy.'

Maxwell wrapped his arm comfortably around Edith's shoulders and drew her close. 'Is there anything we can help you with? Did you want a towel to dry off?'

My suit stuck awkwardly to my skin, wet from the rain, but in my moments of panic, I hadn't thought about how we would look to them. The fear of Elle's safety loomed over us.

'No, thank you, Mr Loughty. I did leave a notebook up in Elle's room last week. Do you mind if I run up and get it? I've got an assignment due soon, and I couldn't do it without my notes.'

They let us in without a fuss, and Jacobi bounded up the stairs, three at a time. I followed but hesitated in her doorway, catching myself on the doorframe. Going into her room without her permission felt wrong, so I watched, seeing a glimpse of Elle's life that I'd never seen before, safely backing into the hallway.

I could see the bookshelf propped against the wall from where I was. There were so many books that they sat on each other. More than half sat stacked beside the bookshelf, and from my spot against the hallway wall, I recognised many of the titles. A fleeting smile lifted the corners of my mouth. It didn't last long for the fears to continue climbing the walls of my brain.

A slow caress of calmness settled over me as I breathed in her scent. It was the strongest in her room. But I would never fully relax until we found her, and the feeling was short-lasting. The vanilla scent engulfing me was stale. At least twenty-four hours old, she hadn't been in the room since yesterday morning.

He didn't find any clues, and we rumbled down the stairs as panic bubbled under my skin. Edith caught Jacobi as he was about to burst through the front door, laying a hand on top of his shoulder. 'She shouldn't be long if you and your friend want to wait for her.'

'Maybe another day, Mrs Loughty. I've got to finish this assignment.'

He waved a plain notebook as though it validated his story. He'd found it in the bottom drawer of her desk, where Elle kept all her school supplies, an empty notebook she had discarded some time ago.

'Good luck!'

My nerves were shot as we scoured the town, my hands shaking with anger and fear. I prayed to every god I knew that we would find her and that she would be safe.

We finally went to Kendra's house, where her sister opened the door. She scowled at us, snarling at Jacobi with a displeasing sneer, and when we asked where the girls were, she snorted, crossing her arms across her body defiantly. 'The aliens couldn't afford for her to blow their cover, so they've beamed her back up.'

'Lulu!' Her father bustled down the hallway, pushing his youngest daughter aside as he reached for my hand, shaking it vigorously, ignoring the tremor as my thoughts strayed. 'Alpha Kaden, what an honour.'

Jacobi leant closer to the man, drawing his attention away from me, and I was thankful as I struggled to hold it together. I didn't know what words to say. 'We're after Kendra. Is she around?'

'Afraid not, young man. She stayed at Elliot's place last night. I can call her if you would like?'

'If you don't mind, Mr Mcgarth.'

I bounced on my toes as we waited, studying the cracks in the grout. I felt his eyes on me as he listened to the ringing tone. I couldn't acknowledge the attention, my pulse racing, fear edging through my thoughts.

'She's not answering.'

'Okay, thank you. We'll just have to try Elle's then.'

***

Two days later and she still hadn't been found.

I hadn't slept. I'd barely eaten. Dread churned in my stomach as no word from either girl had been heard.

Both families had filed a missing person's report, but we were just expected to go about our lives as though nothing had changed.

My father was the hardest on me. He'd lost his soulmate, and he'd survived. He was trying to prepare me for the worst, but it wasn't helping. It reminded me that she wasn't there, and I felt worse.

Those two days I mainly spent driving around town or in the woods. Usually with Rylan, but sometimes Jacobi had no other leads, so he would join us too. When I'd worn the roads down to the dirt beneath the streets and learnt the twists and turns enough to map them out in my sleep, I prowled along the edge of the forest, just by her house, foolishly hoping she'd run out as though she'd never been gone.

'The pack needs you, Kaden.'

My father rested at his desk, slightly adjusting his reading glasses as he studied a thick bundle of papers, sliding the spectacles across the bridge of his nose. He hadn't looked at me since I'd come into the room. The Beta stood by the door, having been the one to usher me in.

I ground my teeth, glaring at him as his uncaring posture shifted. 'What exactly do they need me for?'

'Your mate can't be everything, Kaden.'

I bit back my snarling response, locking my hands under my arms. 'The pack is in order. There are no crises, and I haven't missed any important meetings. I need her by my side if I'm to take my position as Alpha. I won't do it without her.'

'You don't know if you'll find her.'

'I have to.'

I turned and walked away before he could argue any further because, eventually, things would escalate, and we'd both say things we would regret.

Rylan and Jacobi joined me by the car.

'Maybe we should walk. You might notice something different.'

Rylan was polite in saying he didn't want to drive with me when I was in the state I was in. After my last argument with my father, I gripped the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white, and every pulse seemed to jerk through the car as I was on edge.

I agreed, hoping it would help clear my mind. We started walking, and it wasn't long before we reached Aucteraden. It was nothing short of a miracle when we arrived at the plaza strip. Rylan went into the café while Jacobi veered off to the supermarket. I was alone for the first time since she'd disappeared, and the silence became deafening.

I tried explaining it to them, but nothing I compared it to seemed enough. It was like being home alone when the power shut off, and the gentle hum of the fridge switched off. It was like sitting on the highway where the cars no longer drove by, and the wind had stopped howling across the tar. It was like waiting during a suspenseful movie, knowing something was coming but not knowing when.

I never thought it would be so easy to miss someone I had never met, but the loneliness ached within me, and despair weakened my limbs. She had made me feel as though I had a purpose, as though I was alive for something other than just ash and bones to soil the earth, and I missed her so much.

He was sitting upwind, so the scent of his pack hit me before I saw him, and I knew it was him without having to look.

His whole body lifted when he saw me, and his eyes gloated as he paraded down the street, a grin stretching across his face. 'I heard your father's not too happy with you.'

'And why is that any of your business?' I bit the anger back, holding it between my teeth as I ground them together.

'Oh, I'd say it's some of my business.'

Something about his smug look and the anger I'd harboured for him for years caused red to flash before my eyes, and all I could see was the pulsing joint at the base of his throat. I couldn't remember lunging forward or wrapping my hands around his throat, but when the static cleared, Tim was wheezing, and my nails were digging into his skin. 'What did you do?'

The breath rattled from his lungs in slow airless gasps as he struggled to drag oxygen into his chest. 'N-noth-ing.'

Just as I shouted 'Where is she?' in desperation, I felt hands, like vices, wrap around me, pulling me back with enough force to halt a speeding car.

Tim fell to his knees while I fought against three of my pack members. A gravelly growl tore from the back of my throat, and my hair stood up on end. I shook off the shackling hands, only for others to take their place, their hands ripping at my shirt to hold me back.

Blood oozed from punctures in Tim's neck, a trickle of red ribboning down his skin. He cowered on the ground, his pack members watching as their future alpha crumbled. He trembled, cupping his throat, blood smeared across his hands. 'I don't know who you're talking about. I haven't done anything!' His voice cracked, and he flinched as I ripped away from my pack members.

They caught me again. This time, six bodies held me back, keeping me pinned to my spot. I glared flintily, directing my anger at whoever I could, roaring in rage as I failed to break free from their restraints.

Tim had wrapped his arms around his chest and dug his fingers into his elbow, drawing himself into a tight ball. His eyes were wide, and he swallowed back his fear, never taking his eyes from me.

I breathed in sharply, clenching my hands into fists and shook my pack members off, squeezing my eyes shut. I couldn't smell her on him or anyone around us, but I could smell the fear on his skin. 'I'm only going to ask once,' I growled, my face twisted into a feral stare. 'So don't lie to me, Tim. Do you know where Elliot Clarke is?'

His Adam's apple bobbled, and he shook his head, trembling. 'I don't. I promise.'

The fight left me, and I sunk back, pushing past those who had held me back, ignoring the chaos I'd left in my wake. I needed to keep looking for her. I needed to find her.

'Wait!'

Tim scrambled upright and half jogged, half limped towards me. 'She's your soulmate, isn't she?' My silence was enough for him, and he whimpered. 'We'll help you. I can't imagine losing a mate. The Umbra pack will help you.'

I nodded solemnly before stalking across the parking lot to Jacobi, who'd only just noticed the confrontation. 'I need to call for a search party. I don't care what my father says. We're going to find her.'