-HIM-

I knew something was wrong.

Something felt wrong. Terribly wrong.

"What is it?" Tryfon asked me instantly as soon as I halted in my steps. We were halfway crossing the mountain and it was hard for us to move ahead because the wind was blowing right from the front, pushing us two steps back whenever we took three steps forward.

"Stop," I commanded and listened to my lycan. He got very restless all of a sudden and instantly the thought of Celeste crossed my mind. My heart raced. I clenched my jaw and teeth.

I should have gone with her!

Why didn't I go with her? It would have been easier because, with every step, I was wondering what was going on in the tunnels. Even though I was keeping my calm on the outside, I was getting sick worrying about her from the inside.

"Did you hear that?" Tyrfon asked all of a sudden. It was hard to hear anything above the loud howling of wind but I was sure I heard it before the mountain beneath our feet shivered. The sound got louder and louder until it dominated the howling of the wind.

"There's an avalanche on the other side of the mountain," Tryfon voiced my doubt and this made my lycan almost take control over me. I was fighting hard with him to stay in control even though I felt like losing control and rushing to the other side of the mountain to look for Celeste.

"Are you sure?" I growled because I didn't want to believe what he was saying.

"Look there!" Tryfon pointed at the mountain ahead of us from where we could see huge clouds of snow raising even in the dark and of course, there was the sound to drive me crazier.

This was happening!

There was a fvcking avalanche.

"Wait, where are you going?" Tryfon asked me when I started to stride ahead with much more determination than before, not caring if the wind was against me in all way.

"I want to see the tunnel," I growled.

"It would be covered, Ezekiel,"

"What if sh-they're caught in the avalanche?" I growled. Tryfon fell silent for a while before he started to search for a watch.

"I don't think they'd have made it to the other side of the tunnel yet. They'd be safe if they're still inside the tunnel," Tryfon did his best to give me hope but both of us knew it deep down that the chances of them getting caught in the avalanche were more likely.

The hope from Tryfon's face was washed away as soon as he looked at the watch. I snatched it from him and looked at it. It was already past the time when they were supposed to exit the tunnel. This made me more anxious and my lycan was willing to do anything to look at what was going on there.

"Stay here," I commanded as I shoved the watch into his hands and dropped my weapons, and undid my fighting gear, almost stripping down before transforming in my lycan. Tryfon tried to protest but I shut him down before racing forward into the snowy weather.

Nothing was going to stop me now— not the snow, not the winds, not the gods! I was going to get to her anyhow.

I somehow managed to round the mountain and was instantly met with huge clouds of snow which instantly blinded me. It got harder for me to look and the snow here was blocking everything.

I tried to penetrate the snow but it was hard because a lot of snow still seemed to be sliding off the mountain and the new snow that had collected at the bottom of the mountain was soft and fresh, going several feet high. It was basically like quicksand but my lycan was still very much determined to get in there and find Celeste, that is if she was even there in the first place.

Just after penetrating a couple of strides into the snow, I found myself sinking into it slowly. I instantly knew it was a bad idea but the more I tried to get out of there, the more I found myself sinking into the snow.

I kept struggling until I heard Tryfon calling for me before a rope was being thrown at me. I instantly held onto it before he pulled me out of there.

"It's a bad idea, Ezekiel," Tryfon tried to tell me after he'd managed to get me out of there. Meanwhile, I was still looking at the new snow, trying to think of some way to clear it out but so far my head was empty and I was feeling very frustrated.

"I know why you want to get there as soon as possible but we have to think more reasonably," Tyrfon tried to calm me down but if anything, I was growing more and more restless with each passing second. I needed to see Celeste as soon as possible otherwise I was going to go mad!

Fvck this mate bond!

"Then tell me," I turned towards him and clutched his collars, and demanded, "What to do? Tell me how we are going to find out if she's under the snow or not!" I was growing at his face without realizing it and I have to give it to him for staying calm in the situation.

"Ezekiel, calm down," He told me, "It's not that hard to figure out if they're under the snow or not. We need to ask the leading wolf on our side to mind-link someone from that side,"

As soon as he was done speaking, I was already racing back to where we'd left our army. It didn't take me long to reach there this time because I was traveling in the direction of the wind.

I was there in no time and demanded, "Who's in charge of the wolves here?" My thundering growl was heard clearly even above the loud howling of the wind. There was slight hesitation among the wolves before a wolf stepped in front.

He lowered his eyes as soon as they met with mine. Without wasting any time, I stalked towards him and demanded, "Did you mind link the other group?"

He nodded weekly.

"What did they say?" I demanded and was met with silence for a whole minute and this pushed me onto the edge. I was seeing red now. I clutched the wolf's face and forced him to look at me.

I asked him next, "What happened there?"

"Th-there was an avalanche," He somehow managed to answer me. I could smell the fear in him when I asked next, "And?"

He remained silent for a while, shaking in front of me. His eyes were squeezed shut to keep him from looking directly into my own eyes.

"AND?" I was already so much impatient and his lack of response was driving me crazier. I was seeing red and if he didn't answer me soon then I might have to explain to Celeste why some of her wolves went missing but first, I needed to know if Celeste was alright or not!

"TELL ME!"

"Our General is lost,"

_

A/n>I know I mentioned that Celeste brought Pax with her but I've decided to omit him from here because he kinda seems unnecessary and why would Celeste bring her beloved pet into something dangerous?

So, just pretend that pax is not with them while I go back and edit him out of the previous chapters. Though don't worry, you'll get to see more of him when Celeste manages to go back to Zaeris.

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