Curtis waited for thirty minutes after his father had left the pack before sauntering into his father’s study to begin the quest that was his mission to the pack in the first place.
The office was still the same, still organized as it had always been. The servants were doing their job then.
The servants.
He remembered that he hadn’t seen any of them since his return.
Had his mother sent them away so that his father wouldn’t have anyone to prepare food for him?
Curtis chuckled. He knew that his father couldn’t cook to save his life. What had the old man been feeding on then?
He should have teased him with that. Curtis thought.
After his discussion with his mother earlier, she had prepared a delicious meal, for the both, even though Curtis was aware that she had purposely left some in the pot for her mate. He was also aware that his father had eaten the stuff up. He had been in the kitchen before the study.
His parents.
He didn’t know if he should hope for their reconciliation or work on separating them from each other. It would have been easier if they were mere humans. But they weren’t. If his mother should go away, she would suffer the most from the ignored mate bond.
Curtis sighed, moving to the large oak table. Time will tell. He would allow the goddess to decide about his parents. Right now, he had a mission to accomplish. Without wasting any more time, Curtis began his search. He needed to be back in the pack before morning.
***
“What do you mean that his tracks and scent stopped here?” Maya asked Yodah, as she stepped from behind the large tree where she had shifted from her wolf nature to her human self, and put on her clothes; a soft blue cotton top and black shorts. She was barefoot.
Yodah shrugged his shoulders. To do the work of scenting well, he had taken the body of the wolf, and sometimes an eagle to see if he could see the young man from afar. So far, nothing. They had been following the scent for more than two hours. It had led them to this area at first, and then it had disappeared.
Yodah was though conscious and cautious of crossing the line that brimmed with energy a few feet away from them. It was the reason why he had stopped. The line seemed to be a portal to another timeline, or someplace entirely different.
He also knew that it was a boundary line, a boundary to somewhere unknown, but he didn’t want to test that theory, not at the moment. There was a lot at stake here. And so he didn’t tell Maya about his thoughts and theories.
“Then what do you think happened to him? He turned to a ghost?”
Maya couldn’t believe what Yodah was saying, even though she herself had stopped perceiving her mate’s scent. It was as if he had just vanished from the face of the earth.
“I don’t know, Maya. If there’s someone that should know how Leo is thriving, that should be you. Feel him. Reach out to him. Talk to him through the mind path.”
Maya fell to the ground in a heap, utterly hopeless. “Do you think that I haven’t tried? He blocked me out. He blocked me away.”
A sob escaped from Maya’s lips.
Yodah sighed, and sank to his knees, then pulled her into his arms.
“Hey, don’t cry. Everything will be fine. He might have cut you off, but you can still feel his heartbeat, you can still know he is alive and doing well.”
“I know. I know. I know he is alive. I’m not sure he is doing well though. He is just nervous, restless. I don’t like these feelings. I know he is still traveling. But why doesn’t he want me to find him? Doesn’t he want me anymore?”
Yodah shook his head. “You know the bond doesn’t work like that. We are not like humans whose love is barely forever. Most are fickle. Only few experience true love, true partnership. Leo still wants you, and I’m sure he misses you like hell. But his honor is at stake here. Honestly, I would have done the same if I had been in his shoes.”
Maya stopped sobbing, her breaths coming in heaves. She looked up at Yodah from his arms, expecting him to explain that statement.
Yodah sighed.
“Leo is a man, and worse, he was the chief of the pack warriors. And because of some reason, of the blood path which he had no control over, he betrayed his pack…”
“He had no choice..” Maya said softly.
Yodah nodded. “That’s true. But it won’t change the general fact, or what he feels about it. He feels inadequate, and will continue to do so until he earns a place back in the pack. If he returns like that, because Derek forgives him, or the pack overlooks his shortcomings, he would never be proud of himself. He would loathe himself and perhaps the pack for the longest time. So, let him find himself. You can always feel him right here.”
Yodah pointed at Maya’s heart then. “You can always know what he is feeling here. And you can keep trying, at reaching him. Keep pouring love through that bond. I’m sure he will get tired of locking you out soon. He will be back, Maya. I know it.”
Maya sniffed, then subtly slithered out of Yodah, who was perceptive enough to know that the strong lady’s guards were back up, and that she was ready to go home without his arms around her.
“Thanks Yodah for this. I really appreciate.” Maya mentioned as she got to her feet, a small smile on her lips.
Yodah shrugged his shoulders. “It is nothing. We are allies now.”
Maya chuckled, and threw a jab at Yodah’s shoulders at the subtle indication there.
“So what are you shifting to on our journey home?” She asked, as they turned back in the direction of the Blue Moon Pack.
“Well, I’m not sure. But what do you think of traveling as vapor?”
Maya wheezed around to stare at Yodah, a twinkling that spoke of mischief in her eyes.
“Oh, I would really love that.”