Page 3

X ander

I tear through Faye’s room. Her scent is everywhere. Every item is a reminder of my sweet mate, but there’s nothing to indicate where she might have gone. No note. No diary entry. Nothing.

The door to her room comes flying open, and Maverick stands in the doorway.

The large feral’s face is flushed nearly as red as his long hair, his shirt is buttoned incorrectly, and he’s not wearing shoes.

Each of us had set off to comb through the castle for any sign of her, but no one had yet returned to tell me they’d found her.

I hated that I had been the one commanded to remain in her room in case she returns, or in case I could find some clue to her disappearance.

I’d much rather be out searching for her.

“Anything?” I ask him.

Maverick’s green eyes flash with pain. “Nothing. Kurt’s room was empty. There’s no sign of him in the castle and no clues as to where he might have taken her.”

“He might not have taken her at all,” I say, but the words fall flat.

Our mate had been given specific instructions not to leave her room without us.

I had wanted to start a rotation for us staying in her room with her, but I hadn’t made the suggestion, worried that the idea might push Faye further away from us.

Even knowing that The Selection doesn’t allow us to spend the night at this point wouldn’t be enough to stop me.

The others had seemed so certain that if she didn’t leave her room without one of us by her side, the guard in the hallway was enough.

They were wrong.

“Did you question the guard further?” Maverick asks, pacing the room as I go back to tearing it apart.

“He said she’d left early in the morning, in a dress and a coat, after being given a note of some kind. He had no idea where she was going, but she had been alone at the time.”

“Fuck,” Maverick shouts, and pounds his fist against Faye’s dresser. “Where could she be?”

Cayson is suddenly in the room. His blond hair is disheveled.

He’s still wearing his pajamas—a cotton t-shirt and sweatpants.

He’d been asleep when I’d come to visit Faye early in the morning, to be with her while she got ready for breakfast. When I’d found her gone, I’d run to get the others, knowing the four of us searching was better than just me.

“Anything?” Cayson asks, desperation in his voice.

I shake my head.

Maverick looks at him, and his expression says everything I can’t.

Cayson tangles his hands through his hair and lets out a string of curses. “Nothing at the greenhouse, the lake, or any of the property around the castle. Have you heard from Ezra?”

Materializing as if from thin air, Ezra arrives.

He’s dressed in his usual attire—dark slacks and a dark blue shirt.

Even his hair has been styled. But that’s because he’d been awake and ready for his day when I’d come to him.

His appearance did nothing, however, to take away from the wild look in his eyes.

I’d never seen Ezra like this, didn’t even know he was capable of falling apart like this.

Not that I’ve known him long, that’s just my impression of him so far.

An impression I think is right.

“I’ve been through every room in the castle.” He seems to choke on the words. “She’s nowhere. How the hell can she just be gone?”

Cayson grasps his shoulder. “We’ll find her. We have to find her.”

Ezra shoves him, but there’s no fight in the movement, just heartbreak. “Where, Cayson? Tell me where?”

Cayson doesn’t seem to know what to say. “We follow her scent.”

“I can smell her… everywhere, can’t you?” Ezra asks.

Cayson’s expression falters.

“We need to go to the utimas,” Maverick says. “We need their help to find her.”

Ezra shakes his head. “We’ll get caught up with their shit, and we’ll lose her. Can’t you guys feel it already? We’re losing her! She’s somewhere, with Kurt, and if we don’t find her, he’ll–”

Cayson pulls him into a hug and Ezra clings to him. My heart bleeds, and Maverick grips my shoulder, giving me a lost look. Our mate. Our Faye. She means everything to us. Without her, we’re lost.

We need to find her. We need her to be safe.

I truly don’t know what will happen to any of us if we don’t.