“I kind of liked it,” she whispered, her breath tickling over my cheek.
I gave in and grabbed her ass and squeezed, rocking her back and forth. Her pussy clenched around me, and I pumped up my hips, ready to fill her again. She looked like a goddess riding me. Her full, caramel body blending into mine. Her white curls framing her face and shoulders like rays of light. And those tempting lilac eyes had me lost of all thought. I only wanted her. To be in her. Be with her. Forever. My little dragon.
* * *
YOSEF
It felt like my heart had been ripped from my chest. When we finally got home after hearing of the Nodoor attack, Zelda, who had been taken to the infirmary, told us that she didn’t know what happened to Lila. However, she surmised that since reports stated that some citizens were kidnapped, and we, fortunately, could not find Lila’s body; Lila had been one of the taken.
Cold dread spread down my spine. Beyond the concern for her glamour holding up, I worried what the Nodoor would do with someone like her. She was powerful, beautiful, and intelligent. They would use her until there was nothing left. I couldn’t even let my mind wander to Melina’s kidnapping. She was an unclaimed omega. Time was not on our side.
And we didn’t even know how to get to them.
I left Zelda to rest at the hospital. She’d be perfectly fine by the morning. I still needed to go to Samson’s family to let them know he died. It would be unpleasant, but it meant more if I were the one to say something personally. Then we’d have a lot of fighters and defenseless people to bury. We needed to find a way to rescue those kidnapped and get rid of the Nodoors once and for all. The court would not let this rest.
I walked to my car in a daze. Lila was mine whether she liked it or not. I had claimed her, and there was no scenario in which she could be ripped from me and turn out fine. Especially so early on in our claiming. She was a beta, and she needed me. Just as I needed her. We had not strengthened or played in our bond for us to be apart for long. Lila was strong, but an alpha claiming was a magic she did not understand.
I pounded at my chest. My heart felt like it had been carved out. I needed that connection to her. She was mad that I had claimed her, but it left me just as vulnerable to her. I knew it was the worry. I’d been gone on duty and only ached somewhat from being afar. Now, with the knowledge that she was gone, the ache had turned to a dull, persistent pain. As a beta, would she feel that pain? She’d been gone for hours now, but if it turned to days, what would happen?
I made my way to my car, finding Xander hunched in front of it. He was busy pounding his fist into the cement ground until it looked almost like a bloody pulp.
“You’ll be no good to us if you lose a hand,” I said in an even voice, although I was feeling as desperate as he looked.
Xander looked up at me, his silver eyes seemingly darker, streaks of blood dripping down his face. His blood tears. It was unnerving and crushing. Not the bloody face. The fact that he was so emotional. I’d never seen sadness in him before. He had fallen for our human, just as much as I had.
“How do we get her back?” he croaked out, dropping his head to his chest.
I sighed, leaning against the side of my car. “I’m going to try to contact her mentally. She’s never responded to me, but I know she can hear me.” Her mental wall had kept me from feeling she was in danger but it wouldn’t stop me from talking to her.
Xander stood up slowly, his damaged hand hung limply at his side, dripping blood to the ground. He seemed unbothered by the pain, but I understood him enough to know that pain was his comfort. “She won’t be able to say where she is. We need to be out there, spreading wide and following after them.”
I nodded, rubbing my forehead. I understood his frustration. “We already have people doing that. Hell, we’ve been searching wide for months now.”
He brought the side of his fist down on my car hood, and I winced, seeing the indentation he caused. “How could they just disappear that fast? What kind of magic do they possess? It’s not fae.”
I tore my gaze away from the car. “It probably isn’t. We know there is a wizard in our lands. There could be mages, wizards, and witches everywhere here. Hell, this Nigel could have been a part of this breach. The Nodoor were emboldened to do this. They’ve gotten too comfortable, even though they are a weak nation. They blind-sided us with their audacity, but we will teach them.”
I inhaled a deep breath and closed my eyes. I focused my mind’s eye on Lila’s beautiful honey-colored eyes. Instantly she appeared in my thoughts.
Lila, are you okay? It’s me, Yosef.
Silence.
Lila! I am your alpha, and you will answer me!
Still, nothing.
Now, damn it!
I was faced with more silence. She’d never responded before. Why would I think she suddenly could now?
I opened my eyes and stared vacantly forward. If she was an omega, I’d be able to at least sense the direction she was in. However, I had not even a pulling trace in my stomach of her location. Maybe if I focused more, I could make something happen. I cursed us for not working on our bond.
Xander opened the driver’s side door. “I say we just drive, keep talking to people. I’m not sitting in that house hoping for a miracle. I’m going to fucking kill anyone who touches her. I will rip them apart.”
I nodded in agreement, getting into the passenger side. Xander liked to drive even if the car wasn’t his, and I was fine in that moment to let him. “But I’m sure our human can hold her own.”
Xander gave a curt nod, flexing his injured hand, which I knew had to hurt. “I know she can.”
