43. Rian

Thank you, Rian…

I wake with a start, hearing her voice.

"Belle?"

Quickly, I jerk my head sideways, and to my horror, she is not beside me.

The sheets are cold where she once lay, and I know something is wrong immediately.

I stumble out of bed, tripping across the floor as my feet get tangled up in sheets.

"Shit!"

I can"t afford to lose another moment…

Belle is in trouble.

Leo"s door rips wide open next, and then his feet thunder down the hall.

The moment he bursts into the room, I know that he felt it too.

Like a rip in the very fabric of the universe…

I heard her voice.

Leo and I storm down the stairs next, and not one of us has bothered with pants.

I don"t give a shit if I freeze to death.

Belle needs me.

Jeremy"s door swings open somewhere behind us, and I spy the same taut expression on him, too.

"You sensed it?"

My face is solemn when I meet his gaze, and he doesn"t need to be told twice.

Now we all search the house for Belle.

Meanwhile, I kick my dipshit of an Alpha who snores on the couch, and he wakes with a grunt.

"What the fuck?"

With a growl rivaling that of any Alpha, I reach down, yanking him up by the collar. "Where is she?"

It takes him a moment to realize who I"m talking about, but then his eyes widen with fear, and he stumbles to his feet.

"Belle is gone?"

Oh, so he does care about her after all. The prick.

A little late for all that now, though.

We have an Omega to find…

Jeremy stands by the kitchen island, a note in his hand, and we circle around him.

The blood drains from my face when he passes it over to me.

No.

I refuse to believe that she left of her own free will.

Someone blackmailed her.

I saw that sorry creature at the compound.

Someone is forcing her to leave, and with a snarl befitting any Alpha, I run straight after her.

I will track her down all night if I have to.

I won"t give up on her…

Jeremy and Leo aren"t too far behind.

Troy remains at the house.

I hope he is happy.

If he hadn"t been so black-out drunk, then she may still be here.

No. I won"t blame him.

This is all my fault.

I only have myself to blame.

Her scent brings me back to the house though, and I curse out loud.

Someone is leading us astray, creating a dummy trail, but I won"t stop.

"Rian!"

That"s Jeremy, but I barely hear him over the sound of my own raging heart.

We will find her.

I"ll search all of creation until she is safe in my arms again.

And then when I finally find her, I will make her mine.