Chapter One
Kai
Thursday
“Logan? I’m home. Should I make something for us to eat before we leave?” I called, entering our student apartment and slinging my backpack onto the old couch.
This semester had been a lot and spring break couldn’t come soon enough. My boyfriend and I were going to Bali with our friends–and were leaving in just a few hours. I was excited for this trip. Not just the surfing, but a chance to relax–and spend some time with Logan.
We were both in the last semester of our last year of undergrad at the Hilo campus of Hawai’i University, with our respective doctoral programs looming aftergraduation. I was studying ethnobotany and he was studying kinesiology.
Opening the fridge, I appraised the contents–there wasn’t a lot in it, mostly because we were leaving. A sigh escaped my lips as I saw the sink was full of dishes.
“Maybe we should leave early and just grab something at the airport?” I called. I figured that Logan and I were going on our own, since our friends didn’t mention we were carpooling to the airport.
No answer. Huh. He should be back from class by now.
With a frown, I checked to see if he was in the shower. Nope.
He wasn’t anywhere in the tiny one-bedroom apartment.
“That’s weird.” Sitting on the bed in our messy room, worry pooled in my belly. Had something happened? Was he called into his off-campus internship and ended up in a car wreck?
I checked his location on my phone. We shared them for safety purposes–more his insistence than mine. But he was an alpha, I was an omega. It was in their nature to protect, and I had nothing to hide.
Logan was my boyfriend, my alpha. We’d met as freshman, got together sophomore year, and had moved in together this past fall. I was pretty sure he was proposing on this trip. Maybe we’d even bond. After all, we were both continuing our advanced degrees here in Hilo.
No location found.I frowned at my phone. His last location, at the airport in Honolulu.
Honolulu? We needed to fly to Honolulu first. Apprehension shot through me. What was going on?
My packed suitcase sat on a chair, but I didn’t see his. Weird. It was there this morning.
I texted him.
Me
Where are you? We should probably leave for the airport soon.
Immediately, I texted my best friend, Raven. She and her boyfriend were also going on the trip with us, along with two other friends.
Me
Have you seen Logan? Are you meeting us at the airport or are we all going together?
Her last location was also in Honolulu. What was even happening?
I went into the group chat we created for the trip and realized that I’d been removed this morning. Puzzled, I frowned at the screen. Why would they remove me? Not only had this trip been my idea, since I loved to travel, but I’d planned and financed most of it.
Getting my laptop out of my backpack, I logged into the airline portal. My heart fell. Canceled? Why was my ticketcanceled?
It hadn’t been canceled recently, either. Why haven’t I gotten a notification? I went into my settings and found that my email and phone number had been changed.
To Logan’s.
Why would they have taken me off the group chat? Why would they cancel my ticket and not tell me? Confusion and hurt consumed me. I didn’t understand.
I continued to stare at the canceled reservation. Where did the refund go? I spent a lot on this trip. Money that I really didn’t have to spend. I was the one with a credit card, with enough savings to cover the deposit. Everyone convinced me that it was worth it and said they’d pay me back. After all, graduation was coming. We’d all worked hard these past four years and deserved this trip.
