Chapter 211

Zane POV

I spent the morning mildly irritated at myself at how often checked my phone to see if Sarah would call again. I contemplated sending Ollie out to wait at the gate, but sanity prevailed, barely.

By lunch, I was getting concerned, and by dinner I was downright worried. I put the girls to sleep with promises that I was going to go myself and bring their goddess-mother home, and Ollie was obviously going to ask me about going to the Luna Temple so late when he looked more closely at my expression and obeyed my direction without comment.

Seething but (hopefully) stoically, I sat in the car as he navigated the half-hour journey to the temple gate. However, when we got there, it was not only locked but also unattended.

“Pull over to the turnabout,” I told Ollie. He did and parked. I took off my jacket and got out to walk east. The temple grounds were extensive and had more than one entrance. I knew there was a less imposing gate for the supply trucks, and when I got there I sized it up.

Unlike the near-solid stone wall that encircled the grounds, the cross-hatched gate offered many footholds. With a running jump, I got almost all the way up, then it was a simple matter of one-two, and I was over to land lightly on the paved road below, the impact of my shoes slapping loudly in the near-silent night.

Where are the crickets? I wondered as I jogged down the road. Where are the birds?

Not too far down the road, and I was losing the ambient city light, but the full moon glowed brightly enough that I didn’t have to transform to navigate the road. I did slow down to make sure I didn’t trip over anything, and the silence over the grounds made the blood rushing in my ears sound like a waterfall.

Finally, the temple came into view. The smooth marble cylinder with its dome had no visible door seams in the moonlight, and there were no windows. At 1,600 feet in height, it was impossible and probably pointless to scale.

I looked down and found the usual visitor’s path, which then ended at what seemed like a solid curve of marble. I put out my hands and concentrated on the sense of touch. Goddess, please, guide me. I had become convinced Sarah was somehow in danger.

There, my fingers found the seam, and I remembered that the door opened out, not in. At some instinct, or perhaps a nudge from the goddess, or just plain desperation, I pushed in until I heard the vaguest of clicks. I eased up, and the door opened.

I expected increased darkness inside, but there were sputtering candles along the walls, and with little effort, I found my way to the main chamber. Uncertain what to do now, I stood there, listening to breathing that wasn’t my own as it came closer. Was it an Oracle?

“Zane?”

“Oh, thank the goddess,” I breathed, rushing to her and wrapped her up tightly in my arms. We kissed, and I tasted cheese before her sweet taste emerged beneath it.

But there was something more, the relief I had felt was whisked away by a rush of desire. My hands went to her breasts, and she moaned, cupping my backside and digging in with her fingertips.

I was vaguely aware that the main chamber of the Luna Temple really wasn’t the place for this, but that awareness faded as she pressed herself to me with another moan. She was strong and soft against me, and my need for her did not so much build as soar.

“Sarah,” I groaned as together we pushed her pants down her thighs and then got my own pants out of the way. Rather than taking each other to the floor, she leapt up and wrapped her legs around my waist. Wanting my hands to stay free, I pushed her up against the nearest wall and plundered my mouth, tasting nothing but her now, every delicious drop of her.

Meanwhile, my fingers dipped into her other moisture, making her shiver with each delicate touch. I couldn’t wait long, however, before I lifted her up and then, oh goddess, down and over me. She was so warm, so tight, I had to order my knees not to buckle.

She hung her head over my shoulder, letting her head rock back and forth with each pumping motion, her breath loud in my ear urging me to thrust up and pull down harder. I was crazy with it, with her, and the near-total silence otherwise seemed to envelop us in our own world.

She spasmed around me, muffling her shout into my neck, and I reached climax not long after. Gasping, I slid her down to the floor, where we remained wrapped around each other. I had again a vague sense that something was wrong, but everything was so warm and comforting that it seemed perfectly natural to lie down on the floor with her, hard as that floor was, and go to sleep.

We were perfectly safe. We were perfectly well.

I dreamed of a future with her, and when I woke up she was gone.

The candles had been replaced and were burning brightly, but there was no sign of anyone in the area. I was lying there with my pants still undone and hanging around my hips. I stood and got myself together.

“Sarah?” I called, but there was no answer. The Oracles should have been there at least.

I searched the temple, but I only found the rooms I had seen before: the bathing areas, the corridors, the spirit walk platforms, and the front and back doors. Everything was clean and quiet and still.

It was by the back door that I finally found something, a torn scrap of white silk and some scuff marks on the white marble floor. Had Sarah struggled? Who could have taken her?

“What the hell is going on?” I demanded, but there was again nothing but silence. With determination, I tried to open the back door leading to the Oracle’s living quarters, but it wouldn’t open, and though I threw myself against it several times, the heavy marble slab never moved.

I got out the front instead and found it was early morning, with the grass still wet with dew and still not a soul in sight. I ran around the temple to get to the back, but there was a tall hedge running at a diagonal that proved to hide a wall inside. The hedge ended at the wall surrounding the perimeter.

I wanted to check the other side, but I knew it was pointless. The Oracles had taken Sarah. I stood there, and for the first time in my Pack Alpha career, perhaps even my alpha life, I felt completely helpless.