Killian’s POV.
“Dear moon goddess, please protect my mate,” I muttered under my breath as tiny droplets of tears welled up my his eyes.
I had found my way to the river where I had taken Elena to the previous time. It was where we shared our first kiss after her return.
Every memory of her replayed continuously in my head, haunting me terribly.
It has been a whole twenty four hours, and there is no sign of her, the search party has been roaming tirelessly to ensure she is found but their efforts seemed fruitless as no sign of her was detected.
I even tried to track her using our connection link but that was futile too because I had rejected our mate bond years ago, and until I reclaim her again as my mate and we both accept the mate bond, I won’t be able to use the connection link on her and vice versa.
My wolf kicked and howled, in hunger for her.
Why does this keep happening when we are on the verge of taking our relationship further? There always has to be something to disrupt us with.
When I find whoever is behind this, I’ll make sure they pay terribly.
I had interrogated every member of the pack but it turned out no one saw her leave the palace.
What then could have happened?
It suddenly felt like the wooden bench that I was sitting on was beginning to spark fires, prickling painfully at my butt.
I was slowly losing my mind as every corner I turned to seemed to send stabs of thorns through my flesh, I am nothing without Elena. My existence could only sour beautifully with her by my side and now that she’s gone, it felt like my world was crumbling to the mud right before my eyes.
I stood to my feet, pacing to and fro the river shore as the thought of Elena taunted my head.
I couldn’t help but blame myself for not being able to protect her, I let her down the first time, and now I’m doing it again.
I ran my hands roughly through my hair in frustration as my mind painted an image of what could have happened to my innocent mate during the night while I enjoyed the comfort of my bed.
Or could it have happened during the day while I was putting everything together for our mating ceremony?
I tried to relieve myself of the guilt by shifting the blame to the guards and housekeepers who couldn’t keep their eyes on her but it was only a few seconds before the blame was pointed back towards me from all corners.
If only I hadn’t assumed she was deep asleep that night that I came to check on her, I could have still opened the door to make sure she was in the room, but I left without seeing her face like a coward.
If I had opened the door and she wasn’t there, I could have raised an alarm earlier and that would have increased the chances of her being found faster.
But I fucking left!
As I paced around the place, a thought suddenly struck my head.
What if she had left on her own will? And not because someone took her?
The pack might be facing some sort of underground attacks lately, but our security was still intact and impenetrable, and I found it hard to believe she was abducted and taken out of the pack without anyone noticing.
Could it be that she suddenly decided not to be my mate again because of what I did to her years ago? Could it be that she hasn’t properly forgiven me and the mating ceremony being only a day away stirred up her anger for me again and she fled? Or could it be that she was truly abducted?
The mixed feelings running through my head scared and infuriated me at once, I was totally clueless about what to believe at this point.
All I knew was that I didn’t want to fail her again, I may have done that before but not anymore.
Despite how complicated the situation might seem, I was determined to find my mate.
After what felt like forever of pacing and crying out to the moon goddess for help, I headed back to the pack. I couldn’t run away from my responsibilities.
“Alpha!” I heard someone call from behind and I turned to see Graham walking towards me.
“What is it, Graham?” I didn’t mean to snap at him but I don’t seem to be in control of my emotions anymore. “Were you able to locate her?”
He shook his head negatively making my heart sink further in anguish. “We have searched through the entire pack border, we have also turned her old house over, and every possible corner in the pack, yet no sign of her,” he replied.
I felt a painful pinch of pain stab me across the chest as his words filtered into my ears, Elena has really vanished from the pack without a trace?
“You couldn’t find anything at all? Not even a trace? Just something,” it was taking everything in me to stop me from yelling at him at this point.
“Nothing for now Alpha, but I assure you, we are putting in all efforts to find her,” he replied.
I nodded at him and turned to walk away.
“Alpha,” he called again and I turned back around to face him.
“Do you perhaps have anyone in mind who could have done this?” He asked.
“There’s only one person who is capable of this,” I shrugged slightly, my gaze intense on him. “Aria.”
“What? Your Luna?”
“She’s no Luna of mine, Elena is,” I growled at him.
“But are you sure about this? I mean it could be someone else,”
“I know, she has also denied it but I still have my nose on the ground, I’m certain I’ll fish whoever it is out in no time,” I replied.
I noticed a slight change in his facial countenance but it disappeared as quick as it came.
“We… We will still keep on the search Alpha, I have to go now,” he stuttered, quickly turning around and walked away hastily.
Why is he suddenly acting different?