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Mason turned to me. “Evan, you have to pull it together, man. This is the time you need to be most in control.”
“Easy for you to say,” I said, though my words held no venom. It was the frustration and utter helplessness speaking. “That bastard Tomas has her, and we don't know where, or what he's doing to her.” A growl rumbled deep in my chest, and my fangs pressed against my gums, threatening to push through.
“Easy there, buddy.” Mason lifted his hands. “We’re going to get her back. Just breathe.”
“Damn right we will. There’s no other option.” I glanced at him. “Does that mean you’d help me go in after her?”
He exchanged wary glances with Sebastian. “That’s not what I said. Maybe we start by checking in with the cops, see if they’ve gotten any leads.”
When we’d made our statement, the police said they’d work on getting a warrant to search Tomas’s land, but everything in the human world moved too slowly for my liking. My dragon roared within me, not caring about due process. Fuck that, he was ready to tear through anything that stood between us and Mariah.
“Last time I checked in,” Mason said quietly, “they hadn’t found any trace of Jax, either.”
“Because they’re useless,” I said, slamming my fist against the wall.
“Hey,” Mason said in a firm tone. After everything we’d been through together, I knew when he wasn’t messing around. “We’ll figure this out, okay? But you have to reel it in. Mariah needs you thinking with a level head.”
The frustration clawing at my insides threatened to tear me apart. “Then, what am I supposed to do? Damn it, I can't just sit here anymore!” I said, storming back into the living room. “I need to do something! I need to find her!”
“Clearly, you aren’t getting my message,” Mason muttered, following me inside.
Sebastian was right behind him. “I understand how you feel, Evan. I’d lose my mind if Abi were in danger, but we have to be smart about this. If you go storming into Tomas’s land without thinking it through, there could be consequences you can’t come back from.”
“Consequences?” I felt my dragon pushing against its human constraints. “This is already a war, Sebastian. That bastard has my mate, and I don't know what the hell is happening to her!”
“My point exactly,” he said. “We need to be careful. If we charge in recklessly, we might lose our only chance to save her.”
The meaning behind his words hit home. I had no doubt that Mariah was disposable to Tomas once he got what he wanted: me within his grasp at last, to use for his own sick games.
“We don’t even know if she’s there,” Sebastian said pointedly. “We need to figure out his endgame before making our move. He wants us to storm his land so he can use it as an excuse to come after our clan and truly incite a war. We can't do that, Evan.”
My hands balled up into fists as I battled between reason and instinct. I knew Sebastian was right, but it didn't ease the pain in my chest, or the panic that threatened to smother me whenever I thought of Tomas hurting my mate.
“Okay,” I finally said, forcing myself to take a deep breath. “But we have to do something. We can't just sit here and wait for news that may never come.”
Sebastian nodded. “We'll continue searching for any leads and gather as much information as we can about Tomas’s movements. If there's even a hint of Mariah being on his land, we'll act. Meanwhile, we hope the police come through for us.”
It was the next evening before the police paid us a visit. My heart sank when I opened the door and took in their somber expressions. The air felt thick, suffocating.
“Mr. Guerrero, we conducted a thorough search of Tomas Hawthorne's property,” the lead detective said in a solemn voice. “Unfortunately, we found no sign of Miss Bailey.”
I felt like I was going to be sick. My vision blurred as anger and despair churned inside me like a whirlwind. It was all I could do to keep myself in check.
The detective looked at her partner and nodded. “I will say,” the shorter man said, “everyone on his land seemed extremely cagey. We're keeping an eye on the place for any suspicious activity.”
“Thank you, detective,” Sebastian said, taking over when I pushed off of the doorframe and walked away before I lost control entirely. Every fiber of my being screamed in agony.
My dragon roared inside, demanding release, and my skin burned with the need to shift, to unleash hellfire on Tomas and everyone who stood in my way. I paced the room, keeping myself together, but my rational thoughts were slipping away, replaced by raw instinct.
“Sebastian,” I said in a growl. I didn’t even recognize who I was becoming. “I’m going. I won't just sit here while that bastard has Mariah. You can’t stop me.”
“Listen to me, Evan.” He gripped my shoulder. “I'll send out my best team to scout the area around Tomas’s land. We'll find her, but you can't lose control like this.”
“Control?” I spat, shaking off his grasp. “My mate is out there, scared and alone, and you want me to stay in control?”
“Damn it, Evan!” Sebastian now unleashed a temper I’d only seen a handful of times in my life. It was enough to make me snap my mouth shut as I stared at him with wide eyes. “That’s exactly what I expect. You’re the son of an alpha—heir to the largest clan in the country. I expect you to be strong for your mate, not go off half-cocked and set fire to everything in your path. You’re smarter than this.”
I gritted my teeth, even as the truth of his words hit home, and my chest heaved with the effort it took to hold back my dragon.
