Page 3

2

VINCENT

A maya?

It's dark in here except for the random gold pulse. It beats like a heart and acts like a gentle hue for half a moment, not allowing me to see anything. My entire body feels numb, but with each pulse of gold, I feel her. Amaya. I'm not alone, even in this vast nothingness where her bond thumps through me.

"Amaya?" I croak, stumbling and trying to focus my gaze. With the next surge, I swear I hear her whispered voice. "Little mate?" I gasp and run forward without caring if I'm headed in the right direction.

"Alpha?" My omega's soft hum curls around me in a tired tone that sends the thundering in my chest even wilder.

A sputtered gasp falls from my lips. "Where are you, Omega?" Please, please, please, tell me.

Gold thrums across my vision. A soft vibration follows, feeling like her dainty purr. "It's going to be okay, alpha," she replies, her voice everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

"Why do you sound like that?" I snap. Amaya should never sound quiet and resigned, especially not in here–our bond, our tether. If I'm right, I'm stuck in the place between us. "Amaya, please , where are you?"

The gold pulses and holds a second longer than before. Then again. "Breathe, Vincent. Breathe with me."

I can't help but follow her direction and take quivering breaths with the soothing thump of our bond. My plea cracks. "Am-Amaya."

Another gentle vibration coils around me and presses on my chest. Fear of losing even just this hypothetical touch of my mate makes me grip at the pressure. Come on, where are you, little mate? I turn in circles, still seeing nothing but darkness and the dull hue of our bond pulsing around me.

"All you need to worry about is healing."

"What," I growl, "the fuck are you talking about?!"

On the final thump of the heartbeat of our bond, a tsunami of affection slams me right in the chest and surrounds the ache in my brain. Amaya's voice is a distant hum beyond the sparkling gold that blinds me. "I love you."

With a desperate lunge, I reach for my omega who doesn't seem to really be here anymore. "NO!" Instead of colliding with Amaya like I wished, I'm swept away in a wave of love and encouragement.

Gold turns to darkness once again.

"NO!"

Pain.

Not only did my shout feel like it ripped my vocal cords in half, but even the hoarse volume of it makes my head throb. Beyond the thundering in my skull, shrill beeps get louder and louder. Suddenly my dream comes rushing back to me.

"AMAYA!" No please, god no. Is it possible it was truly just a dream and the pulsing bond was the headache trying to force my eyes out of their sockets? Or did my omega shut me out in a burst of love?

Darkness still swallows me. Instead of a room, I'm trapped in something that feels like a scratchy coffin. Wrestling and writhing, I try to find the thump of my omega in my soul. Maybe I can drag her to the forefront so she's all I feel instead of the agony searing through every inch of my body.

My golden girl, come back. I plead and whimper, thrust and snarl. Nothing will keep me from my omega. Not the blinding pain, and definitely not the fucking numbness I feel in my soul.

It can't be true. "Come back!" My throat strains telling me my horrified begging was audible. She can't be gone. My omega can't leave me!

"OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES!"

"Jesus, Oliver!"

"What?! He's going to hurt himself if he doesn't snap out of it."

A hot touch burns my arm, instantly helping the struggling limb to relax. My face pinches, though, not wanting to be controlled. I have to fight for my omega. Nothing will stop me.

"Do what I do!"

"Sam, I don't think..."

A snarl. "Just touch him!"

Heat warms both my calves, my other arm and my forehead. Like a drug, the warmth seeps through the coffin holding me down, and instead of fighting it, I sink.

Amaya...no...have to bring her back.

"It's working." Awe laces the voice I've come to crave.

"How did you know, Oli?"

"Pack." My heart calms with the words spoken near me. "We're a fated pack. We need each other, too."

Pack.

The voices finally register as I become one with the nothingness around me. Samuel, Oliver and Emmett.

But where's Amaya?