34. Aizor

Chapter 34

Franklin kept coming to me and whining. Assuming he was hungry, I gave him food.

I still couldn't locate Vanessa, not in the pools, our home, or in the dining area.

Where was she?

Finally, when Franklin wouldn't leave me alone, I stooped down and held out my fingers for him to sniff. "Do you want pats? Vanessa gives you lots of pats."

But Franklin only darted away, rushing toward a trail weaving into the woods. He stopped and looked back at me, whining again. I don't know why, but an uneasy feeling shot through me.

I followed Franklin. He raced ahead of me onto the trail, stopping to look back as if he hoped I'd remain with him. I spied the plate lying on the trail ahead and jogged over to it and stooped down, noting the food Vanessa often fed Franklin. After, I started examining the ground around it.

That's when I found evidence someone had fallen over the edge of the cliff.

With my heart on fire and fear bolting through me, I leaped, racing down the side at too fast a pace, bellowing my mate's name. Partway down the steep hill, I found evidence someone had laid in the grass. It was crushed in a small enough circle that I suspected this was where Vanessa lay after she'd fallen. It had to be her. Rising, I peered around. Where was she now?

I worked in widening circles, slowly, until I picked up tracks. Many had been here. And since the tracks leading away were deeper than what I might make, I suspected one of them was carrying a person.

Nevarn had taken my Vanessa.

I was going to kill him.