“What? No, no, it’s great. Perfect, actually. Bowen is… fuck, he’s the most amazing being in the world.”
Zee pointed a pair of tweezers at me. “Your face is telling a different story. You look a little pale. You all right?”
I ran a hand through my hair. “I don’t know. I feel kind of weird, but I think I just need to eat something, maybe.”
Zephyr snorted a laugh. “Wore you out, did he?”
I glared at him, but the squinting of my eyes made my head swim, and I staggered slightly.
“Wolfie? Shit.” Zephyr hurried around me, grabbed a chair from the dining hall, and forced me down into it. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. I can feel him… Bowen, like I feel him inside me.” Zee opened his mouth, and I could already hear whatever smartass thing he was about to say, so I put a hand up to stop him. “No jokes, please, just listen. He’s there, like there’s a connection between us. Except… he feels far away right now. I don’t know, maybe it’s all just too new, and it’s still getting sorted.”
Zephyr squatted down in front of me. “Have you called him?”
Heat crawled up my neck. “I, uh, actually don’t havehis number.”
The griffin slapped his head to his forehead. “For fuck’s sake, Wolfie, you marked him as your mate, and you didn’t even exchange numbers?”
I shrugged as my cheeks pinked. “It didn’t come up.”
A loud laugh bellowed out of him as he stood, putting his hands on his hips. “I guess it’s good your man fell into your lap. You would be hopeless in the dating world.”
I huffed in agreement because I couldn’t argue with the point.
“Let’s get some food in you first, and then we’ll track him down, okay?”
I nodded, grateful to have a plan and a friend to help through whatever I was feeling. In just a few minutes, I had a hefty breakfast burrito loaded with bacon and ham. Any other day, I would have devoured it, but only a couple of bites in, it wasn’t sitting right in my stomach. The worry was building into an ache. Zee must have noticed, because I heard him rattle off instructions to his staff.
Next thing I knew, his hand cupped under my elbow, and he was pulling me along. He led me to the lobby, catching Maxime’s attention. I felt Maxime’s gaze land on me, worry creasing his brows.
At this point, the ache in my belly was expanding to my chest, and I couldn’t find words when the vampire approached. Luckily, Zee was with me.
Zee’s hand stayed under my arm with enough strength to help steady me on my feet. “I think we need to find Bowen. Any idea where he might be?”
Maxime looked me over and hurried to the computer. “He was in the gift shop earlier, but he came and asked me if there were any other shopping options. I told him we have regular deliveries that are made for food and other necessities, and we can order anything by request, but he seemed keen on picking something out in person. Oh.”
Maxime’s red-rimmed eyes widened ever so slightly, making me tense. Taking a step toward him, a snarl loosened from me. “What?”
“Hold on, Rudolph, I need to check something.” He got onto the computer, typing rapidly. He must have found what he was looking for because he began shaking his head. Maxime folded his hands on the desk and met my gaze. “I know where Mr. Thomas is. The good news is he’s not alone.”
My wolf was pushing from within, replacing the dizzy weakness I felt with rage. For once, I wasn’t going to try to stop him. “Tell me!”
“His name is listed on the passenger manifest for the group excursion to the big island.”
My chest tightened, and my mind swirled. Catalina. It both helped and made it worse to know where he was and to know I was too far to reach him.
Zee’s voice sounded next to me. “You have his phone number, right?”
“Of course. Normally, I would be opposed to sharing a guest’s confidential information, but seeing as how Bowen is no longer a guest, I’ll make the exception. Let me pull up his registration.”
“Wolfie, phone.” Zee held out his hand, and I pulled it out of my pocket, unable to think.
I heard him punch in the numbers, and when he handed the phone back to me, it was ringing. My stomach knotted as I waited, each ring a shrill sound through my over-sensitive ears, with my wolf so close to the surface.
“Hello?” My knees buckled at the sound of his voice.
“Bowen.” His name was the only thing I could say as relief filled me.
