Chapter 91

Thorne’s POV

Glancing at the time, I push through the building’s front doors. Work ended just half an hour ago, and Aurora has been staying at work late, usually with me, so maybe she hasn’t left. I’ll probably find her hunched over her desk, typing up a file or scribbling notes about one of our latest meetings.

She’ll probably have that cute, overly concentrated look on her face that she gets when she’s thinking. It’s cute and distracting.

I step off the elevator on the top floor where our offices are to find silence and empty desks. Including Aurora’s desk.

The lights are off, other than a random desk lamp and a light at the other end of the room.

“Aurora?”

Jace hadn’t sent me a message to let me know she was home, which means she either went home on her own, or he forgot. However, something tugs at my gut as I look around.

“Jace, did you take Aurora home?” I ask through our mind link.

“No, she told me she would wait until you returned and go home with you,” he responds, and that tug in my gut turns sour.

“When was the last time you saw her? Are you still in the building?”

I make my way to Aurora’s desk, looking beneath it for her belongings, but they’re not here. If she went home, she would have told someone. She wouldn’t worry me like this.

“I’m in my office, and I saw her just after everyone else left,” Jace says. “She was in the conference room, looking at some files for tomorrow morning’s meeting.”

“Meet me in the conference room now.”

Maybe she’s still there.

However, the conference room—actually, both conference rooms are empty. There’s no sign that someone was in here to begin with, which means that Aurora must have left right after Jace saw her.

“She’s not here,” I growl when I feel Jace’s presence behind me.

“Maybe she got tired of waiting?” He asks, glancing down the hallway before humming. “But she wouldn’t leave without telling someone. She didn’t message or call me.”

Pulling my phone out, I find no notifications from Aurora, which is alarming. If she left, she would’ve told me.

“Me neither,” I mutter, glancing down the empty offices.

A sound from the other end of the hall catches my attention, and I can tell Jace hears it too because he’s right behind me as I search for the sound.

“Big brother!”

Ivy steps out of her office, settling her designer purse over her shoulder as we stop in front of her. She smiles up at me then nods respectfully at my Beta. A quick peek over her shoulder tells me that she’s alone. She’s been working on wedding preparations, it seems, by the looks of the wedding magazines and board behind her desk.

“Are you looking for something?” She asks.

“Have you seen Aurora?”

Ivy’s happy expression immediately sours, and I try to hold back my retort. I know my stepsister doesn’t like Aurora, but she’ll have to get used to being around Aurora because my woman isn’t going anywhere.

“Not recently,” Ivy says dismissively. “I thought I saw her leave earlier.”

“What time? Was she alone?” Jace asks, stepping up.

Ivy eyes him for a moment before sighing and looking at me, “I’m sure she left at the same time everyone else did.”

She waves me aside and slinks between the two of us to leave. She doesn’t offer any parting comments or looks.

“Aurora wouldn’t just leave without telling one of us,” Jace says, checking his phone again. I pull my phone out, clicking Aurora’s name and listening to the endless ringing. After two more calls, I can’t stop the growl that fills my chest.

“No luck?” Jace asks. I shake my head. “The gammas at the house said they haven’t seen her either, so she’s not at home.”

“Then where the fuck is she?” I drag my hands through my hair and look around. That nagging, gut feeling returns, telling me something is wrong. And, as someone with heightened senses, I trust my gut.

“Search the building. We won’t leave until we find a sign that she left or until we’ve found her,” I tell him while linking the gammas I have stationed around the vacation house.

“If you see Aurora, link me immediately and keep her with you.”

Several respond with, “Yes, Alpha,” before going silent.

Before long, Jace and I split up and search the building. I continue to call Aurora’s phone, hoping she’ll answer, but she never does. I check offices, lobbies, break rooms, but she’s nowhere in the building.

With each passing moment, the dread in my chest grows. I reach the lobby and click Aurora’s name once more, listening for the ring of her phone. It doesn’t go directly to voicemail, which means it’s not dead or off.

“Did you hear that?”

I spin and find Jace walking toward me. I’m about to question him when I hear it. A faint ringing sound from nearby. The hallway to the left is faintly lit by the overhead light, and I take off, making sure to keep the phone ringing until the sound becomes louder and louder.

“A storage room?” Jace shoves the door open. I push past him and snatch up the ringing bucket. I toss aside the rumpled towel, finding Aurora’s purse and phone at the bottom of the bucket.

“If she left, she didn’t leave willingly,” I growl. The dread I’ve been feeling drops like a stone and worry replaces it. Had someone grabbed her and took her? There hasn’t been any word or warnings about intruders, but there also hadn’t been any warning before Aurora was attacked before.

“It could be an inside job,” Jace mutters, moving back into the hallway. “We still haven’t found the possible mole who attacked her before.”

“Then we need to focus a group of men solely on that purpose,” I order.

“Already on it, Alpha.”

Nodding, I step into the hallway and focus all my senses. I let them reach out and touch every inch of the building, letting my mind clear as I search for any sign of my woman. If she’s here, I will find her.

A clank and a thud sound from somewhere below, and I pause, focusing my hearing to the basement and below. The hum of machinery reaches me, but just beyond that, I hear her.

“S-someone.” It’s a raspy croak from below, but I know it’s her.

“Follow me!”

I run past Jace, taking the stairs three at a time in order to reach the bottom sooner. The closer I get, the easier it is to hear her. Her ragged breathing, the faint beat of her heart, and the desperate tone in her voice as she tries to call out.

A series of soft thumps come from somewhere nearby, and I catch the scent of blood, but it mixes with the sounds of machines and metal.

“Aurora!”

I pause at the end of the hall, glancing left and right.

“I’ll take the left,” Jace says, splitting off.

“Aurora, I’m coming for you!”

Still, there’s no response, even as I reach a dead end. I yank on the large metal door, but it doesn’t budge. The lock rattles as I pull again.

“Th-Th..”

“I’m here!” I snarl, grabbing the lock and squeezing it in my fist. It cracks then shatters beneath my strength, the pieces falling to the ground as I pull the door open. It flies back, and I react just fast enough to catch Aurora when she falls forward.

Wrapping my arms around Aurora, I cradle her against my chest.

“I’ve got you.”