Page 99 of Alpha Chase

Jax holds up a hand, shaking his head in reassurance. “She’s fine. She’s headed to the IT hub to meet Brooke. They’re going to see if they can track the girls’ phones to get a location.”

Theo blows out a relieved breath, scrubbing a hand over his face.

“Brock and Astrid are on their way,” Jax provides, moving closer to Gray and nudging him with an elbow. “Maybe she’s seen something that can help.”

My vision tunnels as I stare down at my phone in my hands, unlocking it, pulling up Vienna’s contact, and hitting dial. I bring it to my ear, drawing shallow breaths as it rings and rings…

The third ring is cut off when the call connects.

“Baby, where are you?” I bark frantically, the other guys’ heads whipping around to stare in my direction. “Everyone’s freaking out and-”

Click.

The line dies, and with it, a little piece of my soul.

“Fuck!” I roar, turning and slamming my fist through the drywall beside the stairs. “It’s that fucking rogue, isn’t it?! Where are the trackers, we need to-”

“Already on it,” Theo interjects, approaching me and clapping a hand on my shoulder before I take my frustration out on the wall again. Of all the guys, Theo has always been the most stand-offish toward me, so his unexpected advance actually reins me in momentarily. He leans closer, hazel eyes boring into mine as his grip on my shoulder tightens. “We’ll get them back.”

“Easy for you to say,” Reid scoffs, shooting Theo a glare as his composure continues to unravel before our eyes. “Your mate is safe.”

“And her sister’s missing,” Theo points out. “You think she’d ever fucking forgive me if something happened to Fallon?” He glares right back at Reid, the tension in the air thickening.

“Everybody needs to calm the fuck down so we can come up with a plan,” Gray snaps. The strain in his voice sets my teeth on edge- if Gray’s this rattled, then we’re all well and truly fucked.

I pace into the living room, slowly descending into madness with every second that ticks by. My head jerks up when I hear the packhouse door opening, my breath catching in my throat as I half expect the girls to come stumbling through, laughing about how they pulled an epic prank on us. My hopes are dashed when I see that it’s Brock and Astrid, their faces painted in anguish and looking as wrecked as the rest of us. Reid rushes over to Astrid as my phone vibrates in my hand, my gaze dropping to read the message on the screen.

Vienna:Cabin 12. Come alone or she dies.

It’s immediately followed up by an image, and my blood turns to ice in my veins when I see it. It’s a picture of Vienna- one that I already know I’ll never be able to scrub from my mind. Her body is propped up on a wooden chair, her arms and legs bound to it with yellow plastic zip-ties. Her white uniform shirt is soaked in crimson blooming out from a wound in her stomach, and her posture is slumped like she’s unconscious or worse, her face hidden from view by the spill of her long dark hair.

Desperation claws at my gut as I stare unblinkingly at my phone screen, the photo going in and out of focus as waves of panic and anguish crash over me, threatening to pull me under.

I need to get to her. There’s no other fucking option.

My lungs deflate as I struggle for air, tearing my gaze from my phone to look toward the guys, all of them distracted by Brock and Astrid’s arrival. The words of the message run through my mind over and over like a twisted chant.

Cabin 12. Come alone.

I slowly back toward the sliding glass door to the patio, my face burning and the deafening thump of my pulse drowning out all other sound. I froze on the battlefield when we were at war with the shadow pack; my dad’s death was a direct result of my inaction. I won’t make that mistake again. I won’t lose Vienna.I can’t.

She brought me back from the brink after my dad died. I was so lost in my grief, numbed by the all-consuming despair of it that I didn’t think I was capable of feeling anything- and then she crashed into my life like a runaway train with all of her feisty, chaotic energy and kickstarted the shriveling organ in my chest. Now it beats for her alone, andfuck, I need to tell her that. She needs me right now, and I won’t let her down.

With a last glance back at the other alphas, my fingers find the door handle and curl around it.

What would they do if they were in my shoes?

What would Dad do?

It feels like my mind’s buried in quicksand- the harder I fight to grab onto a thought, the deeper I slip into oblivion. It’s dark. Desolate. There’s a hollow space in my chest where my wolf usually resides; I can’t feel her at all.

Did I die?Is this what death feels like, just a bottomless pit of tangled thoughts and darkness?

No, if I was dead, I wouldn’t still feel pain. My belly burns like a white-hot poker is embedded in my flesh, searing me from the inside out. I latch onto that pain, using it as a catalyst to claw out of the dark and muddled chasm of my mind until I can make out a sliver of light, forcing my eyelids open.

I’m alive.

My vision struggles to come into focus as I raise my heavy head, taking in my surroundings. Wood floors, log walls, and bland, impersonal furnishings. I’m in a cabin, and if the logo emblazoned on the throw pillow resting on the couch to my right is any indication, it’s one of the guest cabins at the Cedar Ridge ski resort.

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