Her eyes fill with tears, and I pull her into my arms, trying to comfort her.
“Something bad happened,” she whispers.“She wouldn’t go quiet on me.”
“Service can be spotty out here?—”
“All day?”she cuts in, voice cracking.“Roxie never goes all day without calling me back.”
I step back an inch and take her shaking hands in mine.“We will find her.I promise you that.”
My bear reinforces the words with something primal and unshakable.No one hurts our mate!
Fern grabs my phone.I hover at her side as she writes down her car information and searches social media for photos.
“There.That’s her.I think that’s everything.What else do you need from me?”
“That’s it for now.You keep trying to call her.I’m going back to the Midnight Haven cabin.I’ll let everyone know to be on the lookout for Roxie.We’ll find her.”
Fern nods.
I kiss her quickly.“I’ll be back as soon as I can.Lock the door behind me.”
I kiss her once more and head out.As soon as I enter the Midnight Haven cabin, everyone is on their feet.
“What’s wrong?”Abe asks.
“We have a potential missing person,” I tell them.“Friend of Fern’s.Human.She was traveling toward Night Grove Falls.No contact all day.”
The atmosphere shifts immediately, like a switch flips.
“We’ll put eyes on every access road,” Logan says.
“Send out the vehicle description to all perimeter teams,” Knox adds.
Reyes frowns.“No cult movement reported yet.”
“Then we find her before that changes,” I snap.
They scatter without hesitation.
“What do you want me to do, boss?”Abe asks.
I take a deep breath.“She could be lost.Someone needs to drive the back roads from Tacoma to here and see if we can spot her or her car.”
“I’m on it.I’ll be in touch if I find anything.”
“Thanks, Abe.”
He claps me on the shoulder, then leaves the cabin.I look around, wondering what else I can do.I send a few teams out to search around town, Cooper leaves to search the main roads for her, and I send all the information to the Alphas so they know to look out too.They’ll get the information to the whole pack.
Only when every team is moving do I finally drive home to my mate.
Fern is waiting for me on the couch, knees pulled to her chest, phone still in her hand like a lifeline.When she looks up at me, fear is written all over her face.
I sit beside her and pull her carefully into my arms.
“We’re searching,” I tell her softly.“Every road.Every trail.If she’s anywhere near here, we’ll find her.”
She nods against my chest, barely breathing.
