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I heard Markus calling my name, but I didn’t listen. With tears flowing from my eyes, I ran around the corner of the restaurant and shifted, not caring that my beautiful maxi dress was shredded in the process.
I let Kara take us away, knowing that neither Markus nor Atlas would be able to catch us. Kara howled out my heartache as we let instinct take charge of our direction. I could feel Markus trying to mind-link me, but I couldn't bear to open the channel.
Where do we go?Kara asked as she kept running away from Markus. That was my only goal at the moment, getting away from Markus so I could think clearly. I flashed Kara an image, and she changed direction. We were going home.
We ran for over an hour. Our legs were burning, but we could no longer feel the tug of Markus’ mind-link. We ran up the steps of what was once a place in which we felt safe. It wasn’t until we were in front of my parent’s old bedroom that I shifted back, opened the door, and dropped onto the bed, passing out from the exhaustion I had forced on our body. Welcoming nightmares while tears still flowed from my eyes, I felt warmth building inside me as I slept.
Chapter nineteen
Markus
Celesteranawaytwodays ago. I didn’t sleep; I didn’t eat. All I could focus on was finding her. Every time I closed my eyes, I flashed to the look of pain in Celeste’s eyes as she was coming up the steps. The whole evening was a disaster.
I didn’t catch the undertone Marcie had towards Celeste right away, but Celeste did, and so did Kelly when I explained what happened throughout our dinner. She called me an idiot and stalked off after I finished telling her what happened at the restaurant. She joined the search for Celeste but would only mind-link me occasionally to remind me that I was an asshole who hurt her friend. I didn’t know what to think anymore, but I needed my Tuli back, so I took Kelly’s insults, hoping they would miraculously bring my mate back.
Marcie’s kiss caught me off guard. I didn't expect it because I clearly introduced Celeste as my soon-to-be luna. I was never with Marcie, even before Celeste, though I always knew that she wanted more from me. I was friendly because her father was an alpha and because the chef made amazing food, but I always circumvented her interest or ignored it, and she had never been that forward. I didn’t think she would try something so outlandish in front of my mate.
It took me a second to react when I saw Celeste turn and run. I ran after her, but by the time I was out of the restaurant, I couldn’t see her. I followed her scent around the corner and found pieces of her shredded dress. I shifted, and Atlas tried to catch up to her, but Kara was fast, and I quickly realized that she was much faster than she’d led on. We lost her scent in the woods. She was initially headed to the pack grounds, so I kept going toward home, but when I reached the borders, the guards at the gate said she hadn’t returned. I sent every guard and tracker to search for her, but she remained hidden. Atlas was pissed at me. We hurt our mate and made her leave us. He never liked Marcie, and now he was ready to see her head separated from her body while I thought finding our mate was more important.
‘Anything?’I mind-linked Gillian for the five hundredth time when I searched the area she’d taken off from to see if we could pick up any sign of which way she went.
‘Nothing from the trackers yet,’Gillian said. It was eleven at night, and I knew they were all exhausted. Wherever Celeste was, she didn’t want to be found, and I would have to spend another night without her.
‘Call them all back to rest. They can start back up again tomorrow,’I conceded.
‘Yes, Alpha,’he said. I could feel the sadness in his voice. Everyone loved Celeste.
‘Hey man, you coming back?’Danny asked.
‘No, I need to keep looking,’I answered tersely.
‘You haven’t eaten or rested in two days.’
‘I need to find my mate.’
‘How are you going to do that if you pass out,'he asked, pissing me off. Nothing mattered without Celeste.
‘I AM NOT GOING BACK TO AN EMPTY ROOM. I NEED TO KEEP LOOKING!’Atlas and I boomed together through our mind-link, unable to keep the raw emotion from my voice.
Danny sighed in my head.‘At least come back home and grab a bag of food. Maya will get something ready for you and Celeste when you find her.’
‘Fine, but have it ready by the time I get there, or I’ll keep going without it. I’m not wasting my time,’I growled, running towards the pack house.
When I arrived at the pack gates, they were instantly opened as I approached, and I tried not to notice the looks of pity and sympathy from the guards when I passed by.
“Alpha?” Maya said tentatively when I walked towards her. I hadn’t shifted back to human form in two days. Atlas nodded at her to continue as he allowed her to tie the bag to his back but stopped when he smelled the bag. Maya put one of Celeste's dresses inside, which smelled like her. We stopped Maya from moving so we could inhale her scent like a drug, letting out a whimper as we thought about our mate. “Have you considered she’s not in the area?” Maya asked when Danny came and tied the bag to us, then put his arms around his mate. Atlas turned away from the sight. It hurt too much to see the love they shared, knowing ours was in tatters. I opened communication with Danny and Maya through the mind-link.
‘Where would she go? The only place she knows is Blood Moon, and she hates that place,’I said.
‘What about Sky Moon? Outside of here, it is the last place we were safe. It’s where I would go.’she said quietly. Atlas snapped his head towards her. Why hadn’t we thought of that? It was far on foot without going through the pack grounds and the river, but not far enough that she couldn’t get there in her wolf form.
‘Danny, your mate is a genius, and I promise I will buy her a new wardrobe if Celeste is there,’I replied as Atlas went up on two legs and licked both of their faces.
“Dude, gross.” Danny gagged while Maya laughed.
Atlas took off running, hope giving us the energy for the long trek to the Sky Moon pack grounds.
It was the dead of night when we finally approached the grounds. We couldn’t see or hear anything moving about.
