Getting in the car and driving to work with Tobias, I know he feels the shift too, something has changed. I just can’t put my finger on it, something deep is nagging, trying to pull me back to her. The pull she has over us has always been there, yet right now, we truly have to fight against her pull just to stop ourselves from turning back and going home again. Neither of us utters a word, both trapped in our own heads. When we pull up to work, we both stand silently, waiting for the elevator, both watching the numbers go down.
“You feel it, right?” Tobias asks, glancing in my direction before looking at the stainless-steel doors, I nod my head. “Something has changed, I can feel it in every part of me. What if we broke her?” He asks.
Worry laces his words; I have never seen Tobias like this, he is always so concealed in the way he feels. Even after centuries being by each other’s side he has always kept those walls up, never letting slip how he truly feels, kept himself guarded, not giving anyone the chance to hurt him, not even me.
Yet, Imogen has softened him. It used to bother me, jealousy can be a cruel thing sometimes. We have known her for a year, yet her impact on him had him opening up, letting both Imogen and myself in.
I haven’t had that effect on him, and we have been together for centuries. Yet, she broke down that wall the moment he marked her. Tobias has always been the dominant one, the one that needs control and I let him have it, but with her came a sort of possessiveness that both of us weren’t prepared for.
I love Tobias, yet if I have to choose, I will choose her and know Tobias would choose the same. We both share the same desires for her that we have for each other, yet she is different and neither of us could live without her. She is light in our darkness. I worry the darkest parts of us are tainting her and will be her undoing. We have already condemned her, took her idea of life away from her selfishly, all because we can’t live without her.
“We haven’t broken her. I don’t know, I could even taste it in her blood. Something is different like something is coming alive in her. Then, there is also something else…”
“Something else?” Tobias asks, pressing the button to our floor.
“She tasted like a werewolf. I could literally taste you in her blood.” Tobias glances at me and I can feel his head racing, trying to think of why until I suddenly feel a light click on inside him. “No, can’t be. I saw that she was on the pill. I noticed them in her bag.” I answer his thoughts.
“I haven’t seen her take them though, have you?” I try to think, yet I come to the same conclusion: the only pills I have seen her take are pain meds.
“She can’t be, can she?” I ask.
“Call the council and get her blood test results. Surely, they looked for everything,” Tobias says. The door rings open, and my eyes instantly dart to her desk even though I know I won’t find her there. Walking to my office, I pull my phone from my pocket, deciding to call Tarina. If anyone has seen her blood test result, it is her, and I know she will answer with honesty. The phone rings for a few minutes and I tap my foot impatiently, sighing when I hear her chirpy voice.
“Little unexpected, Theo. What are you calling me for? I know it isn’t for a friendly chat,” she asks, not even hiding her shock. Besides going to the council, I never speak to her. Yet, I know I can trust her.
“You know me too well, I’m actually calling about Imogen’s blood results.”
“Oh, your mother picked those up yesterday for you, I can check her file though.”
“Yes, please, Tarina.” I can hear her typing away on her computer, before I hear her make a weird noise and rapidly typing again. I can hear her fingers moving fast over the keyboard repeatedly.
“Her file has been deleted, completely wiped,” she murmurs. “Give me a second, Theo, let me check the other computer.” I wait, but the same result. “It’s gone, Theo. I think someone has tampered with her files and wiped them clean. Her name doesn’t even appear in the database at all.” My heart starts hammering when Tobias walks in the room. I hang up the phone, not even saying goodbye.
“What?” Tobias asks, alarmed.
“She said mom took her physical file, yet when she checked her digital file it’s gone as well.”
“What would your mother want with it?” Tobias asks, his voice not even hiding his anger.
“Call her now,” he hisses at me as his eyes change to that of his wolf. I dial her number, and it goes straight to voicemail. Then, suddenly, fear comes through the bond and it isn’t either of us. We have nothing to fear yet, the feeling vanishes as quickly as it appears.
“I know you felt that,” I state, looking at Tobias.
He nods. “Yes, but maybe, she startled herself? She feels calm again. Or maybe your mother is with her?” Tobias guesses, making me relax slightly.
The morning passes by quickly, I try to call my mother a few times, but I always get the voicemail. Yet, I know if she is with Imogen, she will have no service. So, I let it pass and know I will be able to ask Imogen for her results once we get home. My mother would have told her, yet nothing comes from the bond and after an hour of feeling nothing coming from Imogen, worry sets in. I pull on my teether to our bond, pulling on the link that joins us, but when I feel nothing, I walk into Tobias’s office.
“What, Theo?” He asks as I step in the room. It still pisses him off that my mother took her files. I’m almost nervous to ask him. Sensing my nervousness, he looks up, his eyes softening slightly. “I’m sorry, I’m just stressed,” he says, running his hands through his hair. I watch him; God, I love this man no matter how infuriating he can be.
“I can help with the stress,” I say, my eyes darkening as my dick twitches in my pants.
“Tempting, but first, what’s wrong?” I completely forgot the reason I originally came in for, suddenly feeling guilty for distracting myself.
“Can you feel her through the link?” I watch his eyes glaze over, searching for her. The pull we always fight so hard against.
He stands up abruptly, knocking over his chair, his beast enraged, flinging the table into the wall. I step back. I know he won’t hurt me, but I know his beast doesn’t enjoy coming up empty. The fact he has come forward at all is proof enough at what Tobias found. His entire being shakes with anger, yet there’s also panic.
The ringing of the phone that lays on the floor pulls him to his senses, distracting that primal side of him long enough for Tobias to regain control of his emotions. He walks over, trying to pick up the phone, his claws impeding it, as they slash through the carpet. I quickly walk over, picking it up. “Hello?”
My father’s worried voice comes through the phone. “Have you spoken to your mother today?” That’s when I know something is definitely wrong. Something that includes not only my mother, but our mate. This is no coincidence.
“You there, son? Did you hear me? I can’t feel your mother, like she just vanished, leaving no trace, no pull to her.” My father is almost frantic.