Gabriel’s POV
I couldn’t breathe.
Images of her being tortured and killed kept replaying in my mind.
He was going to use her and kill her.
I can’t let that happen. I have to find her.
“NICK!” I yelled. “Trace her scent!”
I could hear him walking behind me. Anger was rolling off of him in waves.
He ran past me into the forest, picking up her scent and following it. Jacob was next to me, and I could see how tense he was.
I think this was the hardest on him. Blake was his friend. And as much as I hate to admit it, Jacob was in love with Aria. Blake’s betrayal hit him the hardest.
We have been running for a while now, and I could see the road ahead of us. My heart tugged painfully. If they left in a car, there was no fucking way we would be able to track them down.
Nick stopped by the end of the road and sniffed the air.
A loud growl pierced the silence.
“I lost it,” he muttered. “I can’t smell her anymore.”
“They left in a car,” Jacob said, rubbing a hand over his face.
“FUCK!” Nick growled and started punching the tree with his fist.
I fell down on my knees and gripped my hair in my fists.
She was gone.
How the hell were we going to find her? We had no fucking idea where Victor was hiding. We couldn’t find Patricia. We had absolutely no leverage against him.
I could see Nick screaming in anger, but I couldn’t hear him. The only thing I could hear was my heart beating in my chest.
Jacob was staring down the road. His hands were clenched into fists. His jaw kept twitching.
I had to move. I had to get up. I had to go to her.
I stood up and walked over to the road, trying to find the slightest clue in which direction they went. Tire marks, scents, anything would do.
But there was nothing. Not a fucking thing.
“Gabriel,” Jacob called me quietly.
I turned around to look at him. His eyes were red, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks.
Nick was on the ground behind him, clutching his chest. I could hear him whining quietly.
“We have to go back and make a plan,” Jacob said. “He won’t kill her. He needs her.”
“GO BACK?!” Nick roared and stood up. “I am not going back there until I find her!”
Nick looked feral. I had never been afraid of him, but now I was. I’d heard what happened to werewolves when they lose a mate, but seeing it was totally different. She hadn’t been gone long, but he already looked like a lost, wild man.
“Jacob is right, Nick,” I said slowly. “We need a plan. We don’t know in which direction they left. He is not going to kill her. He needs her.”
Nick growled and looked at me. My blood froze.
This wasn’t Nick. This wasn’t my friend.
This was a wild, hurt monster.
He lunged at me, but I managed to avoid his attack. He lost his footing and fell to his knees. I turned around quickly, anticipating another attack.
Nick was hurt and wasn’t thinking clearly. His attacks weren’t calculated. He was guided by pain and rage. I knew I could defend myself. I could avoid his attacks. I just can’t let him touch me. Right now, his strength was the real danger. The need to find and protect his mate just made him stronger than ever. If he managed to control his movements, he would be the world’s most dangerous weapon.
He got up and turned around to face me. His canines were on display and his claws elongated. He lunged at me again, but a sudden blast stopped him.
“Altum somnum,” Jacob mumbled, and Nick fell down with a loud thud.
I looked at Jacob and released a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
“Thank you,” I sighed.
I hated that Jacob had to do this. But Nick was gone. Jacob had no other choice.
“You are welcome,” Jacob mumbled. “Grab him and let’s go home. We don’t have time for this.”
I walked over to my friend, grabbed him around his waist, and threw him over my shoulder. He was heavy, but I managed to carry him.
When we approached the house, Cassie ran outside. Blake followed her and my vision blackened as soon as I saw him.
“Oh, Goddess!” Cassie gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. “What happened?!”
“I had to put him to deep sleep,” Jacob explained. “He attacked Gabriel.”
Cassie gasped and looked at me. “Are you okay?”
I nodded and walked past her. I gave Blake a murderous look as I walked by him.
I took Nick into his room and placed him on the bed. He groaned and grabbed the pillow that, I assumed, belonged to Aria. He nuzzled his nose into it and his body relaxed.
I heard Jacob behind me.
“How long until he wakes up?” I asked him.
“A few hours maybe,” Jacob said.
I nodded and turned around to walk downstairs. Jacob closed the bedroom door and followed me.
When I got downstairs, I saw Blake sitting on the couch. I clenched my fists and walked over to him.
Cassie’s eyes widened, and she ran toward us. She stood in front of Blake and looked at me with pleading eyes.
“Gabriel, please,” she said quietly.
Blake stood up and moved Cassie to the side. “It’s okay, Cass. I deserve everything.”
I wanted to punch him, but Jacob beat me to it. His fist flew into Blake’s nose, and I could hear a crunching sound. Blake fell backward onto the couch, holding his hands on his nose. He was grunting and I could see blood between his fingers.
“Jake!” Cassie shouted and sat next to Blake, holding him protectively.
I wanted to be the one to punch Blake, but what the hell. Seeing him in pain was satisfactory enough.
“You are going to do everything you can to help bring her back!” Jacob shouted. “Do you understand me, Blake? You will not sleep, you will not eat, you will not do anything that doesn’t include searching for her!”
Blake looked up at his friend and nodded. “I wasn’t planning on anything else.”
“Good,” I said as I glared at him. “I would hate to have to make good on my promise and have your blood on my hands.”
Nick’s POV
I knew I was dreaming because the images kept flashing before my eyes. I couldn’t hold on to just one.
The first image I saw was from the day that I first saw her. She was standing behind Annie, wearing a tight t-shirt and pajama bottoms. Her long brown hair was tied into a ponytail. Her green eyes were wide and staring at Gabriel. Her smell hit me like a fucking train. Nate whined inside and said a word I was sure I would never hear.
“Mate,” he said so quietly that I thought I had imagined it.
She smelled like Christmas. Cinnamon, cocoa, and snow. Her skin looked soft and invited me to touch it. I struggled to hold Nate back.
When she spoke, it was the greatest melody I had ever heard.
It was perfect.
She was perfect.
The next image was of her crying the day I met her.
My muscles tensed and I felt this intense need to protect her. To kill and destroy anything and anyone who ever hurt her.
Her cheeks were flushed from crying, and her eyes were puffy. She was beautiful even when she was crying. I held back, but all I wanted to do was touch her, hold her to my chest, and never let go.
The images moved and I saw us standing in Gabriel’s backyard. I told her she was my mate, and her green eyes were staring at me. The wind carried her scent and my mouth watered. My heart clenched painfully when she turned around and ran away from me. I can’t let her go. She was mine. I ran after her and grabbed her hand, turning her toward me. Sparks flew through my body. I saw small cuts on her face from branches. I loved the forest, but at that moment I wanted to burn it to the ground because it hurt her.
I blinked and we were at the club. She ran into my arms, buried her face in my neck, and wrapped herself around me. I was finally whole. But I felt her fear and my guard went up immediately. My love was afraid. I needed to protect her. She was mine to protect.
The next thing I saw was the first night we spent together. She came to me wearing shorts and a tight t-shirt, and Goddess knows how I managed to compose myself and not make love to her right then and there.
The image distorted and I saw my mate wearing that red dress. She was glancing at me and smiling. I could hear her voice.
“Your birthday present,” she said with a small moan.
My whole body vibrated with the need for her. I could feel her lips on mine. I could taste her skin as I kissed her jaw and her sweet neck. She even tasted like Christmas. I felt the need to mark her, but I wanted her to decide when she wanted to bear my mark on her perfect little body. I kissed and licked every part of her that night. I could feel her legs wrapped around me, pulling me deep inside her. I could hear her sweet moans in my ear.
The image distorted again, and I saw her standing in the kitchen, holding my hand.
“It will be okay,” she said, smiling at me. “Go upstairs. I will come soon.”
I growled at Jacob and let her go. I watched her walk behind Jacob to the kitchen. She turned around and smiled at me.
She was perfect. And she was mine.
And I let her go.
The image distorted again, and it was something I hadn’t seen before.
My mate was tied to a bed, screaming my name, begging me to help her.
Calvin was standing next to her bed. His hands touched her body. His hands were touching what belonged to me. My mate was screaming and thrashing, trying to escape the restraints holding her captive.
But Calvin was dead. I watched him die. I helped kill him.
My mate in the pool of her own blood. Her lifeless eyes were staring up at me. That green color that I adored was gone.
She was gone.
My whole body felt like it was burning. My heart broke into a million pieces. There was nothing left of me. The only thing left was pain. I closed my eyes and wrapped myself in a ball. Her scent surrounded me, and I tried to hold on to it.
“I love you too,” she said quietly.
I heard her voice, but I couldn’t see her.
I couldn’t see her because she was gone.
I forced myself to open my eyes. I had to see her.
I was back in our room. Back in our bed. I was clutching her pillow to me, and I was shaking.
She was gone. She was really gone.
I couldn’t hear Nate, but I could feel his pain, anger, and despair.
I tried to remember what happened.
The last thing I remember is that I was running through the forest, following her scent. I reached the road, but her scent stopped there. I wanted to try and follow it further, but…
I remember.
I growled loudly and jumped up.
The fuckers stopped me! They stopped me and put a spell on me!
I heard footsteps running toward my room, and a few moments later, Gabriel and Jacob barged in.
Gabriel’s eyes were wide as he stared at me.
“You bastard!” I growled.
“Nick, listen to me, please,” Gabriel said quietly, raising his hands in surrender. “We had to do it. You attacked me. You weren’t in control.”
“OF COURSE, I WASN’T IN CONTROL!” I yelled. “MY MATE IS GONE AND YOU STOPPED ME WHEN I TRIED TO FIND HER!”
“I HAD TO!” Gabriel yelled back. “You weren’t thinking clearly. You still don’t. There is no way we could find her like that. We don’t even know in which direction they left. We need a plan!”
“I could have followed her scent,” I said through my teeth.
“What scent, Nick?” Gabriel sighed. “You lost her scent when we got to the road. You couldn’t follow it, because there was no scent to follow.”
I clenched my jaw as I stared at him. He was right. Her scent was gone.
“I know you are hurting,” Gabriel said and placed his hand on my shoulder. “I am hurting too. But we will find her. We will bring her back.”
