Page 34

Derrick

I wake up with a weird buzz under my skin. It’s not the typical game day hum, it’s more of an annoying itch. My dragon is restless, prowling just beneath my skin. The world feels sharp. Loud. Too bright.

The guys are already up and in the shared area of the dorm. Bas looks slightly dishevelled and he’s pacing the length of the living room. His dark hair sticks up at odd angles, like he rolled straight out of bed and forgot how to function. His jaw is tight, and there’s a twitch in his fingers every time he brushes them through his hair. He’s not usually jittery before a game, but today he keeps rolling his shoulders like he’s trying to shake off tension from an unknown source.

“Anyone else feel weird this morning?” Lucas stands in the kitchen in joggers and a faded team hoodie, shaking his protein drink like it owes him money. “Like the air’s too tight?”

“Yeah,” Liam answers with a jaw-cracking yawn. “Didn’t sleep for shit last night.”

None of us did.

I check my phone, looking for a text that isn’t there. No “Good Morning!” text. Not even a selfie or a sleepy fox emoji. My stomach twists.

She probably just slept in. Stayed up too late having pillow fights or whatever it is girls do during girls night. I pretend not to be worried about her.

Bas glances over. “She text you yet?”

“Not yet,” I say, pocketing my phone. “I texted her first thing but she probably just isn’t awake yet. Or she’s just getting ready for the game.”

Liam’s eyes flick to me, but he doesn’t call me on the lie.

I reach for the bond again, barely brushing the edge of it. It’s too quiet. Like shouting into a tunnel and getting no echo. No sparkle of amusement. No flutter of love. Just... silence. And my dragon does not like silence.

“Alright,” I say, clapping my hands once. “Let’s get our heads in the game.”

We move through the motions, grabbing our gear and our game bags before heading for the field. The whole walk over my eyes scan my surroundings searching every face hoping to see hers. But we still haven’t seen or heard from her when we walk into the locker room. Warm-up comes and goes, still no Rachel. Then just before the game’s set to begin, my dad pops up just over the fence from our dugout, his emerald and navy windbreaker flaps in the breeze as he scans the field with laser focus.

“Hey, son,” he says, flashing a quick grin. “You seen Rachel?”

The question guts me.

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

His expression darkens as his eyes scanning the crowd.

“Have any of the girls shown up yet?” I ask, trying to keep the desperation from my voice.

“Not yet,” he answers, making me feel a small bit better.

“She was supposed to come with them,” I reply.

I search our bond for answers but all I can feel from her is a soft gentle hum, almost like she’s asleep.

Dad must see something in my eyes because he mutters a curse under his breath and pulls out his phone. “Alright, I’ll check in with Helene and see if she’s heard anything. If she hasn’t, I’ll go looking for them.”

He doesn’t wait for a response. He turns and moves quickly, disappearing into the crowd.

My gut twists again.

“She’s fine,” Liam says from behind me. “Just with the girls and running late.”

None of us look reassured by his words. Still, we file out onto the field. Bas takes first base, Lucas moves onto third, and Liam jogs to the pitcher mound. I slide behind the plate, tugging my helmet into place, and try to focus on the game.

But I can’t.

Not without her.

The first pitch flies directly from Liam’s hand to my glove. Cheers and claps sound off around the stadium but I can barely hear it, because at that same moment, the door from the VIP box into the stands opens and gets my full attention.

My mom and dad emerge first and they’re not smiling. Dallas, Maya, and Aubree are right behind them, all wide-eyed and frantic. My mom scans the stands and the field like she’s searching for someone.

Rachel.

“Time!” I bark at the umpire, tossing my glove and helmet to the side as I jog to the fence behind first base where my parents are already approaching.

Lucas, Liam, and Bas aren’t far behind me.

“Talk to me,” I demand, voice rough.

“She’s not with them,” Dad says. “The girls say she left them a note saying she was heading back to your dorm and would meet them here for the game.”

“But when we got here, she wasn't,” Dallas adds. “We thought she’d be here.”

My chest goes tight. The air feels thinner, heavier. Murmurs rise in the stands and behind us on the field. Heads turn in the crowd, whispers ripple out in every direction like someone dropped a stone into still water. Even the ump goes quiet, but I don’t give a fuck about any of it. My mate’s missing.

“She left the dorm? After dark? Alone?” Lucas rambles as the panic sets in.

“It had to be sometime after midnight,” Aubree informs us. “That’s when we all went to bed.”

“What the hell is going on here? We’re in the middle of a game! Get back to your positions!” Coach roars behind us.

Ignoring the pissed off lion, I reach for the bond again, more focused this time, trying to grasp it like a tether. It feels like I’ve grabbed hold of it physically and I begin to shake it, pumping all of my concern and worry through the bond. For a brief moment I get a sensation of pure panic back but it’s gone so quickly I wonder if it was my own anxiety I felt. Then the bond is back to how it was, soft, faint. A dull strum.

“She’s not just late,” Bas mutters, his voice thick with grief. “She’s missing.”

The words are like a gut punch.

“Who’s missing? What are you boys talking about?” Coach Mace grumbles and I notice we have a crowd forming around us.

“Our mate,” Lucas breathes.

“We have to find her,” Liam growls through clenched teeth. “Now.”

“No more waiting,” my dad agrees, stepping away and putting his phone to his ear.

The second whoever he’s called answers the phone he starts barking out orders. Invoking protocols, calling in security, and alerting Dean Harold.

“We’ll find her, son,” Mom says, tears glistening in her eyes. “You four go get changed and meet us out front.”

I nod, but my pulse is pounding. The world around me is noisy. Too much. Not enough.

Bas growls, low and vibrating in his chest, and I swear I feel it echo in mine. Liam has gone still, that scary kind of still he gets when he’s barely keeping his wolf from the surface. Lucas’s already moving, headed back toward the locker room, fists clenched at his sides.

I follow him, barely aware of my feet. My dragon is pressing against my skin, scales brushing bone, wanting out.

“Hey! Where are you going? We’ve got a game to play!” The other team's coach yells. “If you walk off this field, your team forfeits!”

“Fuck you and your fucking game,” I snarl as I rip off my catcher’s gear and throw it at him. “Take the win. Everyone knows it’s the only way you’d get it.”

The noise in the stands is deafening as my brothers and I storm off the field into the dugout.

The locker room is a blur. Jerseys stripped off, cleats kicked away. None of us speak until we’re out the front gate, where Mom, Dad, the girls, and two uniformed campus guards are waiting.

“She’s not in her dorm, and she’s not in yours,” Dad tells us. “Security’s been alerted. We’ve got permission to initiate a soft lockdown. No one in or out without clearance. Quiet, for now. We don’t want to start a panic.”

“Where do we start?” I ask, barely holding my voice steady.

“Between dorms,” Aubree answers. “She would’ve taken the usual path, maybe with your noses we can catch her trail.”

“You take the boys and start the search,” Mom directs at Dad. “The girls and I will go meet with the incoming search team.”

Liam doesn’t wait. He shifts mid-stride, bones snapping into the lean shape of his black wolf. His fur is slick with the sheen of adrenaline and his eyes glow faintly as he drops to all fours. He bolts toward the path, nose to the ground. We follow in tight formation as he bounds across the quad towards the dorm. He’s much faster on four legs than we are on two, by the time we catch up with him we find him nose to the ground just off the path between the dorm buildings. He snarls and bolts toward the edge of the woods before stopping abruptly, hackles raised, pawing at a spot in the dirt where the grass has been scuffed away.

Bas drops to a crouch beside him, fingers brushing the ground. His hazel eyes sweep the disturbed grass, expression tight and unreadable. A low growl rumbles in his throat like he’s already imagining tearing someone apart.

“There was a struggle here.”

“Look,” Lucas says, pointing. “Drag marks.”

The four of us fan out, moving carefully through the underbrush. The world narrows. No birdsong, no breeze, just the sound of breath and breaking branches.

“I’ve got something,” Liam growls, shifting back. He’s panting, his face pale. He holds something between his fingers, a scrap of cloth.

I take it from him, lifting it to my nose.

Fuck.

The scent is Rachel, sharp and sweet, but there’s something else. A chemical tang that makes my dragon recoil.

“Sedative,” I rasp. “Chloroform or something worse. That’s why the bond is so quiet.”

Bas’s fists clench at his sides. “They drugged her.”

Lucas lets out a shaky breath and scrubs a hand down his face. Liam is still crouched, his eyes flicking back and forth like he’s tracking ghosts. My pulse pounds so loud I can hear it in my ears. The trees feel like they’re closing in.

My vision edges with red. The urge to shift, to raze the woods, to hunt, is almost unbearable.

“We’re going to find her,” I say, looking each of them in the eye. “We’re not stopping until we do.”

She’s more than a mate. She’s our axis. The center of everything. Without her, our bond frays, our balance slips. I won’t let that happen. I can’t.

Because if we lose her, we don’t just lose our future. We lose ourselves.

“Someone took your mate, Derrick.” My father doesn’t raise his voice, doesn’t snarl. But the way he says it lands like a battle cry. “We’ll find her. No matter what it takes.” His voice holds the finality of a death sentence. He’s not just a father now. He’s a dragon on a mission. And if the universe dares stand in our way, it better start running.

My dragon roars inside me, and I nod once. “And if we don’t, we’ll burn this fucking place to the ground.”