Not long passes with the bond being open and feeling her presence when a wave of disgust and shame hit the bond. It’s cut off so abruptly, as if she slammed the door to her bond. Her presence in the bond can still be felt unlike before but nothing else is coming through. What does this mean?
I look up to Eli who’s closest to me. His hands are gripping the arms of the chair he’s in tightly. Keelan’s eyes are burning, hotter than when we found out she was taken.
Turning to Ben, I ask, “Why did she do that?”
His eyes that looked heartbroken a second ago soften in…sympathy? He lifts his glasses and rubs at his eyes.
“What did she do?” Micah asks softly. He sounds so unsure of, well, everything. It’s so unlike him.
Everyone is looking at him now with a similar look Ben had. Liam is the one to speak up. “We felt her disgust and shame in the bond before she blocked it so we won’t feel anything else she’s experiencing.”
Experiencing. I’m a fucking idiot. He’s doing something to her, and she doesn’t want us to feel it and worry. I can’t sit, so I get up and pace the small room. I don’t even see the guys in the room anymore. When the block continues, I leave and go back to the security room. I need to find this fucker. There’s a way to trace what he did with the cameras. I just need to find it so we can find her.
It’s only a few minutes later that the bond is open again. She’s only letting her love filter down. I hate it. She doesn’t need to be strong for us. We should have prevented this. I should have put a tracker on her somehow. Though seeing this guy’s technical abilities, I doubt it would have made it past him. I’m going to find her and we’re going to bring our omega back home.
38
MICAH
It’s been almost a full day since she was taken. I fell asleep for a couple hours in the chair by the fireplace. Duke woke up after a few hours and Liam said he seems okay for now. He stayed by my side all night, sleeping on the floor near my feet. Most of the guys stayed in the room. I’m not sure why that was our place of solace, but it worked as best it could. I think we would have felt her absence that much more if it was any other room in the house.
Hearing what they were feeling in the bond from her drove me crazy last night. I’ve been going out of my mind not being able to know she’s at least alive and not in any pain. Everyone else will know except me. Because I’m a fucking idiot who gets in his own way, just like Eli said months ago.
When we get her back, I will never do it again. She’ll be sick of me for an entirely new reason. Because we are getting her back. I can’t imagine a scenario that doesn’t happen.
Harrison’s team have been here all night, and Logan arrived early this morning. It’s a full house, yet it’s never felt emptier. She brought back the warmth our pack was missing for a longtime. Without her, we’re all floundering. And Jake of all people went into a rage.
They’ve all been huddled in the security room for the last hour or so. Last night I let my emotions take over. Today I need to help in some way. Entering the room, I see everyone except Parker and Ren standing and looking at the monitors. Maneuvering further into the room, I catch a glimpse of one of them. It looks like someone is recording an approach to a house. Could it be?
Don’t jump to conclusions, Micah.
The camera stops and then it’s zooming in on the house. There’s a large window facing out. When it comes into focus, my breath catches. Thea. She’s there. Alive. And she doesn’t appear hurt. Her expression, as grainy as it is, looks wrong. Like she’s not there. No, he can’t break her. Not my wild cat. She will claw and fight him, I know it. But that expression…
“Where is this?” I demand, needing to know.
Jake is the only one who turns in my direction. “River found it. We have a drone confirming she’s there. It’s at least two hours away, though.” For the first time since we moved away from the city, I hate that we live somewhere so remote. Just then I hear a couple growls sound throughout the room. I’m pretty sure one was Parker’s and the other was definitely Taz since he’s closest to me.
Looking back at the screen, I see what caused it. He’s behind her. Mark Henderson. He wraps his arms around her from behind, making her jump. She’s scared, of course she is. I know her though, because under that fear is her anger. She’ll fight him and make him pay for what he did to Connor. I believe in her.
However, seeing her reaction makes a pang go through me. I should have protected her better. Somehow. Maybe if I could actually communicate with her, things may have been different. I didn’t feel the absence of her bond like the others since wenever bonded. But there’s been a deep hollow feeling in the core of my being since she’s been gone. Maybe it’s in my head, all my regrets about how I fumbled our relationship. That can’t be how things are left between us. I told her I wanted to be better for her, be someone she deserved. Looking back, I see she didn’t need anything different from me except to try with her. I won’t make that mistake again.
39
THEA
His arms wrapped around me might as well be barbed wire for how they make me feel. I was instructed to wait here until breakfast was ready. This position has my back to the door so he could easily check if I was in the spot without me knowing. I can’t risk his anger yet. The irony is I need him to feel safe, so when I do lash out at him it’ll catch him off guard, giving me my best chance at success.
“Breakfast is ready,” he croons in my ear. I so desperately want to rub my shoulder against my ear to get that feeling off of me. He leads me out of the room and back to the same seat as last night to eat. Gods forbid I sit in a different spot.
There’s eggs, toast, pancakes, bacon. So much food. “Eat up, we’ll need the energy.” He winks. Does anyone really pull off winking? It always looks cringey and coming from him, it couldn’t be worse.
Wordlessly, I put some eggs and toast on my plate and begin eating. I need a weapon. Something that could knock him unconscious would be best, but I probably wouldn’t be able to conceal any object like that. Also, there’s the height difference. I doubt I’d be able to swing hard enough to hit his head.
A knife is probably best. The thought of actually stabbing someone makes me sick. Although, stabbing Mark, the man who killed Connor, doesn’t sound so bad. I can’t really dissect what that means for me to be okay with that. I’m sure Connor wouldn’t have a problem with it.You need to survive Thea, by whatever means necessary.
“Are you feeling better?” he asks, jolting me out of my thoughts. I glance in his direction. His expression is soft, as if he’s concerned. He could never make me believe he actually felt that way.
“A little bit, still kind of tired,” I say, hoping that can become a handy excuse later on. He nods sympathetically but I see it if only for a moment, the tightening of his eyes. Not going according to your plan? Good. Well, actually no I don’t want him annoyed. Ugh. Playing along so he’s at ease and keeping my anger in check is harder than I thought it’d be. But I can’t push the anger down. It’s really the only thing keeping me together, and I won’t let him break me again.
