Chapter 44

Harper’s POV

“Harper, do you see her?” My mother whispers, pointing into the distance. I look out and squint to see what Mom is talking about.

“Oh,” I gasp, spotting the fox in the underbrush. It’s wiggling, trying to get out of a trap that caught it’s leg.

“We’re going to help her out of the trap and make sure she’s properly healed,” my mom says while motioning for me to follow. We slowly crawl closer to the frightened animal, and I watch my mother as she sends calming magic out toward the fox.

It wiggles more, but she soon goes still and quiet.

“Mommy, are we going to…”

I look around, but all I see is darkness. My mother is gone. The forest is an endless expanse of black nothingness. It stretches and covers everything, blocking out all light and leaving me in the cold darkness.

My chest tightens, and I gasp for air. There’s no air. I can’t breathe.

I try to call out to my mother, to anyone for help, but no sound leaves me.

Help me!

Save me!

Someone! Anyone!

Please!

Lucas’s POV

“Something is wrong,” my wolf mutters. I glance at the window in my bedroom and rub my eyes. The sun is barely up, and my alarm hasn’t even gone off for the day, but he’s right.

Something is scratching at the back of my mind, and not in a good way. Something happened during the night that has my wolf on edge, meaning, I’m on edge.

Closing my eyes, I let my consciousness filter through the pack bond, touching on each of my members. Most seem to still be asleep, while a few are awake. No one feels distressed. Every now and then, I come across a hint of sadness or pain, but upon further digging, I find injured warriors or grieving families.

“What do you think it is?” I ask my wolf while throwing a hoodie and a pair of sweats on. I shuffle over to the window, checking the front and finding nothing.

The nagging feeling grows, and I push my way out of my room. The pack house is eerily quiet, but what should I expect at four in the morning?

“I’m not sure. It’s not a pack bond, though,” my wolf says, and my first thought is Sierra. Did something happen to her?

Turning, I make my way down the hall while feeling for her through our bond. She doesn’t feel like she’s in distress. Quite the opposite, actually. Our bond is calm and quiet, letting me know she should be sleeping.

However, the closer I get to Sierra’s room, the more I feel that this nagging has nothing to do with her. Even so, I quietly push her door open and scan her room. She’s asleep on her bed, breathing softly like I thought she would be.

Help me!

The broken voice rings through my mind, and my wolf growls loudly, “Someone needs us.”

A woman, but her voice was so soft and so raspy that I don’t recognize her. In the next second, pain, hot and heavy slices through my chest. My knees nearly buckle beneath me at the pain, and I have to lean against the wall to keep from falling over.

“Where are you?” I call through the miniscule thread of a bond.

When there’s no response, I shove off the wall and follow the pain. It grows with each step I take toward the center of the pack house, becoming so heavy that I have to stop and take deep breaths when I reach the common room.

I try to move toward the front doors, but the pain pulls me to the left.

“That way, toward the medical wing,” my wolf howls, pushing me forward. I let his strength meld with mind as we move.

The pain spikes again when I reach the medical wing. Was someone injured during the night that I didn’t know about? If they were, the night patrols should have reported to me, but I wasn’t alerted.

I force myself to keep walking, gritting my teeth against the agony continually growing in my chest.

“Alpha? Are you alright?”

“Jenna,” I croak. “W-Was anyone injured last-last night?”

She stares at me then shakes her head, “Are you injured?”

“No, but someone is. Someone… I can’t…”

Jenna jumps forward, calling for help as she tries to catch my much larger form. Two male nurses grab me and pull me over to an empty chair, but I shove them away.

“Someone needs my help!” I growl, my wolf surging forward.

All three of them jump back, and I try to reign my wolf in, but he doesn’t retreat. He stays on the surface, snarling, “I need to find her.”

“Who?” Jenna asks.

I don’t answer her because I don’t know. Instead, I shove out of the chair and drag myself from patient room to patient room. No one is awake or in enough pain to project it onto me. Each of the patients seems to be sleeping peacefully with no troubles.

Fuck, who is it?

“Keep going,” my wolf rumbles, tugging my senses toward the back doors of the medical wing. “That way.”

“That way? The only thing back there is…”

“The doctor’s quarters,” he finishes for me.

Harper.

Shit.

“Are all the doctor’s accounted for?” I turn to Jenna, who again is staring at me.

She looks around momentarily before nodding, “I’m the only doctor on call tonight. Everyone else went to their rooms, but Alpha, I really think you should sit down.”

Jeanna motions for the nurses, and before I can blink, they’ve grabbed my arms.

“Alpha, I think there’s something wrong—”

“I’m not staying here,” I snarl, shoving the male nurses off my arm.

Pushing past them, I focus on the double doors at the end of the hallway. I put all my energy and strength into fighting against the pain and making it to those doors. If Harper is the one in trouble, I just have to make it past those doors.

Just a few more steps.

I can hear Jenna yelling something from behind, but the pain and the need to make sure Harper is alright blocks out everything else.

The double doors slam against the walls as I sprint down the hallway. She’s the furthest section from the medical wing and in the next building. Fuck, why are these hallways so long? Why did I put her so far away?

Everything is quiet, and with each room I pass, I feel my pack members. I try to feel for Harper, but our bond isn’t strong. It should be like all the others, but something is clouding it.

“Harper?!” I call through the pack link. “Can you hear me? Answer me!”

No response.

Had I gone too hard on her during our fight? I held back and tried to make sure she wasn’t hurt too much, but she kept pushing. I should’ve stopped the fight sooner. No, I shouldn’t have fought her at all.

She’s only been training for a few days.

Skidding around the last corner, I slide to a stop in front of Harper’s door.

I pound on the door and turn the knob only to find that it’s locked from the inside.

“Harper!”