Chapter 64

Elroy’s POV

The neon lights of the casino blurred together as my eyes finally broke open. I was alone in an empty casino, and Olivia was gone.

I was groggy and uncoordinated, barely thinking as I struggled to push myself standing. My neck hurt where they’d buried the needle in, and whatever they’d given me to knock me out was still making its way through me. Not a single part of that made it through the haze in my brain.

Later I’d claim the drug was at least partly to blame, weakening my consciousness and allowing my wolf to rise to the surface, but some part of me knew my actions wouldn’t have changed if I’d been clearheaded either.

I wasn’t thinking in words, just images, and the moment I saw the passageway standing open I was hurtling towards it. I could smell Olivia’s scent lingering in the air, and absolutely nothing else mattered.

Fear, fear, find, protect, Mate, need, find--

I tore through the tunnel, gaining speed as my werewolf metabolism burned off what was left of the drug, my wolf howling in primal rage. My mind raced with fragmented thoughts, flashes of Olivia's face, the nearly unnoticeable swell of her pregnant belly. My child, our future. All at risk.

I didn’t know how long I ran for, or what the distance might have been—time meant nothing to me, every vein filled with pure mindless instinct. All that mattered was that my feet were pounding on the damp, hard-packed dirt, each step launching me closer to where my Mate was.

She needs me, they need me, the baby, so scared, so scared! Run, run, faster, Mate, find, protect.

Eventually I burst into an open area, shocked by the sun hitting my face. Five minutes ago it had been night, hadn’t it? Hours, hours must have passed, hours where Mate was alone and in danger, where anything could have happened to her.

Anxiety spiked so high that if I’d been more conscious, I’d have probably retched.

I vaguely understood I was looking at an encampment, and that there were people who didn’t smell like home. They were strange, they were not-pack, they had my Mate. Why couldn’t I see my Mate?

I couldn’t waste time fighting them. I had to find her, had to, and I needed these people out of my way. Without conscious thought or hesitation, I did the one thing guaranteed to neutralize every potential threat—I unleashed my Alpha aura.

My full Alpha aura.

I had never used it all like this before, always holding back, but now raw power radiated from every pore. The nearest figures crumpled instantly, collapsing like puppets with cut strings. Those further away gasped and fell to their knees, pinned by an invisible force.

My eyes scanned the clearing frantically, uncertain whether to growl or whine. Fear, scared, need my Mate. Where is Mate?

My nostrils flared, desperately seeking Olivia's familiar scent amidst the chaos. Panicked thoughts raced through my mind wordlessly: Was Mate hurt? Was pup hurt? It had been hours.

I charged forward, leaping over prone bodies and upended crates. My eyes darted wildly, searching for any sign of Olivia among the sea of unfamiliar faces. I couldn’t catch her scent.

A faint pulse of energy rippled through the air, barely perceptible but unmistakable to my heightened senses. Olivia's Alpha aura, weakened but present.

Mate is here!

I bounded across the encampment, heart hammering in my chest as I followed the tenuous thread of her aura. If I had been cognizant enough I’d have prayed to the Goddess that I wasn’t too late. As it was, I had no thoughts, only ancient and desperate instinct.

Instincts that led me to a makeshift hut, and I almost ran right through the weak stick wall before I saw the doorway. I charged in and skidded to a halt at what I saw.

There she was, my Mate, my Olivia. Everything in the world narrowed down to her, to the pained squint of her eyes and the sweat pouring down her neck, and I felt a simultaneous swoop of pure joy and relief alongside a deep fear. Mate was hurt.

I scrambled over to her, holding her face in my palms as she gasped for breath. I rolled her from her stomach—had she been trying to crawl to me?—to her back, wordless anxiety swelling in my chest. I noted the unconscious body of the woman from the casino, but she was out cold and therefore no threat.

Something was wrong. Something was hurting my Mate, was hurting our pup, but I didn’t know what. I had regressed so far that the only things that made sense to me were the physical, and without any visible wounds I was left at a complete loss.

I patted her down anyway, looking for anything that might explain why she was struggling. Her clothes and face were dirty, her hair was a horrible mess after being in that wig, and there were red marks around her wrists that indicated she’d probably been tied up at some point, but nothing else. Nothing.

My mind spun a million miles a second, desperately trying to understand what she was trying to choke out. Her eyes were crossing like she was barely clinging to consciousness, but there was no blood, no wound, nothing I could do. I whimpered, my own fear and helplessness choking my throat.

This was my Mate. I had taken a vow to her, swearing to protect and support her, and she was stuttering on air because I had failed to follow through.

Panic forced my aura to pulse stronger, fueled by my growing distress and need to protect my family. Olivia whimpered, her trembling intensifying. No, no, no!

Mate was hurt, but no blood, no wound, nothing I could do. She needed, but I didn't know what she needed, but it was my job to give it to her and I couldn't, I couldn't—Shift? Maybe she needed me to shift?

I didn't know why she'd need that, but it didn't matter. She needed, I gave.

My body tensed, muscles rippling beneath my skin as the transformation began. Bones cracked and reshaped, fur sprouting across my body in a dark wave as I fell onto all four massive paws as they replaced my hands.

My claws dug into the earth, the transformation smooth and painless after so many years, but not fast enough for me. I needed to be holding my Mate, cooing to her in words she could understand, but language was beyond me.

All I could do was shift and pray I was right.

You need, I give, I thought, settling into my wolf form. So please, please breathe.