At six-thirty a.m. sharp, my eyes snap open, and I’m awake.
My years in the military primed me to sleep on the go and wake up early, so early mornings are not unusual for me. What is unusual is how well I slept last night. I’m usually a light sleeper, but I was lights out after an intense night of lovemaking with Lena.
I smile at the thought of her as I stifle a yawn.
That little minx gets me going just by looking at her. Her ass gives me life. Her delicious little hole is so fucking satisfying.
Sitting up, I stretch and notice that Damon is fast asleep at the foot of the bed. Max is snoring loudly beside him, one leg dangling over the side of the bed.
Looks like Lena knocked their lights out, too.
Her scent is dwindling, and I realize she’s not in bed with us, so I shuffle off to check the bathroom. She’s not there, and her dress and shoes are gone. I’m still half asleep, but I snap awake as I check the lounge and kitchenette and don’t find her there either.
Panic starts to seep into my blood as I approach the balcony.
We didn’t go outside last night, and I don’t see her sitting on one of the chairs, but I open the doors anyway, peering around the small space as if she’ll magically appear. A cold feeling slides into my stomach, and I peer over the balcony railing and onto the street below, but Lena is nowhere to be seen.
She’s not here.
I step back inside and shut the balcony door, my mind whirring with possibilities. Could Zorin have taken her? It can’t be. There is no other alpha scent in here.
I sniff the air, trying to discern other scents in the room. Lena’s distinct perfume of vanilla and wild honey lingers in the air, along with Damon and Max’s scents, but nothing unfamiliar saturates the space.
I let my gaze rove over the surroundings, looking for anything that might be missing or broken. Everything is the same; nothing is out of place. The only thing missing is Lena.
If she wasn’t taken, that means she left on her own.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
She still doesn’t trust us. My mind kicks into high gear as I consider where she might have gone. If she didn’t leave too long ago, I could track her.
I rack my brain, trying to figure out if I felt her leave in the night and what time it could have been, but it’s useless. I was too wrapped up in her to notice anything- I was passed out by the time we went to bed.
I head back into the bedroom and quickly shove on my suit pants and shirt from last night. I keep as quiet as possible, not wanting to wake Damon and Max unless it’s vital. If I act quickly, I might be able to catch Lena, and all this panic would have been for nothing.
The hallway is quiet when I leave the room, the plush carpet of the hotel muffling my footsteps.
Sniffing the air deeply, I try to pick up on Lena’s scent. I can smell it, but it’s faint, mixed with the other smells permeating the hallways. My nose leads me to the elevator and into the lobby, where the night manager sits at the reception desk. He smiles when he sees me approaching.
“Good morning, sir. How can I help you?”
“I’m looking for a woman,” I say, cutting straight to the point. “My girlfriend.”
The word feels inadequate for what she really is. She’s my omega, my love, and the mother of my child.
“Yes?”
“I’m wondering if you saw her leaving? Perhaps in the early hours of the morning?”
“What does she look like?” he asks.
“She’s about average height, roughly five feet five, with wavy auburn hair. One blue eye, one green eye. She dresses quite modestly in muted colors. She might have been wearing a black evening dress.”
The night manager shakes his head. “I’m afraid I haven’t seen anyone matching that description all night.”
“Are you sure? Can you ask another staff member who was on duty?”
He disappears into a room behind the front desk for a few moments, then reappears, looking apologetic. “My staff says they didn’t see any women come through the lobby last night.”
“May I check your security cameras?” I ask, starting to get frustrated. Someone must have seen something.
“I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t allow you to do that. It’s against our policy.”
“But it’s an emergency. My girlfriend is missing,” I say, raising my voice.
“Unless you return with a warrant or a subpoena, I can’t help you.”
He’s completely useless to me now, so I head out the front door, shading my eyes against the sun as I look for Lena. She’s not outside, and all I see are desolate roads for miles.
I stalk back inside, knowing it’s time to inform the pack. Lena’s scent has disappeared, and I know I can’t track her further. I have no choice but to wake the others and see what we can do. Worry churns in my gut.
She could be anywhere by now, and she’s pregnant with our pup.
In my haste to alert Damon and Max, I burst into our room, the door slamming against the wall. Damon wakes instantly, springing up from the bed.
“Max!” I shout, throwing a pillow at his sleeping form. “Wake the hell up! Lena is missing!”
“W-what?” Max asks groggily, sitting up and staring at me in confusion. “Why are you being so fucking loud?”
“Lena is missing,” I say again. Pain lances through my chest at the thought of her out there alone and vulnerable.
“What do you mean?” Damon asks, now wide awake. “She was right here all night long!”
I shake my head. “When I woke up, she was gone. I searched everywhere but couldn’t find her. I asked downstairs at reception, and they said they hadn’t seen her.”
Damon slumps onto the bed, anguish clear on his face.
“Now I know why she didn’t want to be marked last night,” he mumbles, scrubbing a hand across his face. “She’s been planning to escape from the start. Just when we let our guard down, she disappears this morning.”
“It can’t be. This is a mistake,” says Max in disbelief as he throws on clothes.
Damon chuckles bitterly. “We must have scared her if she would rather be out alone than be protected by us. Do we even bother looking for her?”
The hurt on our pack leader’s face cuts me to the core. He might not always show it, but I know just how deeply Damon feels. He loves Lena, and her withdrawal from his life with the pup he’s always wanted has destroyed some part of him.
“Damon—” I say, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugs me off.
“I don’t need pity. Hell, I know you all feel the same.”
“I think it’s time we let her go,” I say, coming to a realization. “She doesn’t want us.”
“She’s carrying our pup,” Damon snarls, getting up and approaching me. “And she is the only thing I think about!”
His eyes darken with anger, and I can feel my own eyes start to glow in response. With an irritated grunt, he turns sharply from me and begins to pick up his clothes from the floor.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I ask, confused by this sudden change in behavior.
“I’m going out to find her,” he says shortly.
“The longer you argue, the further away Lena gets. Do you want to find her or not, Gunnar?” Max cuts in.
“Yes,” I say finally, as Damon and I glare at each other angrily for a moment. But I feel my eyes return to normal as my temper cools.
Max is right. We don’t have time to mull over how Lena feels about us.
“There’s a note from her,” Max says, picking up a piece of paper from the dresser.
How can I fucking miss a note from her?
Damon and I rush to either side of him, reading over his shoulder. The letter looks like it’s stained with teardrops.
I’m sorry I had to leave like this, but I know you would have convinced me to stay if I hadn’t. Please know that my leaving is not your fault. I’m so grateful to you for being so kind and loving towards me, but I’ll never feel safe as long as Zorin is out there. Not even you can protect me from him.
Please don’t try to look for me. I promise I’m going somewhere safe for the baby and me.
Take care of each other.
Love,
Lena
We finish reading the note, and I realize my worst fears are coming true. This is the second time it’s happened. Another omega leaving us. Lena is gone, and she’s not planning on coming back.
Wordlessly, we gather our things and make our way out of the hotel as quickly as possible. Our next stop is Lena’s apartment building, where I hope we can find answers about her whereabouts.
I can smell her faintly at the apartment when we arrive, and I chase the scent into her room. Max unlocks the door with the spare keys he had cut, and we head inside. It’s quiet, but there is evidence that she has been there recently.
“She’s been here recently,” Damon says darkly. “Do you think she went back to Zorin?”
“No, she’d rather be alone forever than be with another pack,” I reply.
“This reminds me of…” starts Max, but I cut him off.
“She’s nothing like Zalia,” I say, cringing at the memory of the first omega, leaving us high and dry for another alpha pack. She had seduced every one of us and left during her heat when she wanted a bigger pack. “Lena is innocent, caring, and wants a peaceful life.”
We check each room, looking in all the nooks and crannies where she might be able to hide, all in vain. All of her suitcases are gone, and her scent is still too faint to trace. I slump hopelessly onto her bed, my heart cracking behind my ribs.
I exchange desperate looks with Damon and Max, the pain in my heart reflecting on their faces.
