Page 15 of Bound to the Dragon
No one has an answer for me, and a spark of panic strikes me. Have all of the rogue shifters been accounted for? Could one of them have taken her?
I pace the halls of the estate in search of my mate, my pulse quickening as I check each room. Stopping every pack member, I ask about Madison, my chest tightening when no one has seen her.
Where did she go? I don’t want the moment of hysteria to overtake me, but I can’t help it, my eyes darting everywhere as I look for her.
“Everyone!” My cry booms across the estate and stops both packs in their tracks. “Find Madison!”
I’m irrationally afraid for her and her mother. I can’t still my rapidly beating heart.
“Alpha, she’s in her suite.” The call comes from the second floor, and the relief sweeps through me with so much force that I’m out of breath.
“Good. Good.” I rush toward the staircase, willing myself to calm down, ignoring the curious looks of the others. “Get the Silver Glade pack members out of here. There’s no reason for them to remain now.”
I’m not sure I can trust them on my property, either, after this. We need to regroup and figure out what just happened.
But first, I need to talk to my new mate.
CHAPTER 5
MADISON
“Mom, you have to calm down!” She’s getting worse by the minute, her body heaving with sobs, every word I speak seeming to make her condition worse. Nothing I can do or say is placating her, and her nerves are fraying mine. “The Alpha is going to be up here any second, and you’re a wreck!”
“The rogues came here for us!” Her wails reach a fever pitch and are starting to send me into a spiral. She needs to keep her voice down, but she’s not showing any signs of relaxing.
“What other reason would there be for them coming here today of all days?”
I don’t want to admit that she’s right, but I also don’t want to fuel her panic by giving her more ammunition.
“Mom, you don’t know it was them for sure,” I say, trying to sound reasonable. I hope that my low tone will encourage her to relax.
Virginia enters the bedroom area, my friend’s eyes wide and worried.
“What is it, Virginia?”
“The Alpha is at the door looking for you.” She scrunches up her face in concern. “He doesn’t look happy.”
Great. Also, what a shock. When does Blaze ever look happy? I haven’t seen the Alpha smile yet.
“Not now. Tell him to come back.”
Virginia stares at me like I’ve lost my mind, and I immediately realize how stupid what I just said was. She’s in no position to turn away the Alpha.
“I can’t do that, Maddi.”
She’s right, of course, and I’m already on Blaze’s bad side. I have to deal with him.
My eyes narrow at my mom. “You don’t move. Don’t say a word.” I extend my finger to get my point across.
She nods and lowers her head as I rise from the bed to find my mate stalking across the sitting room, his hands folded behind his back. He stops abruptly when he sees me, and I’m taken aback to see a look of relief on his face.
“You can’t do that!” Smoke emanates from his nostrils.
I stare back at him in confusion. “Do what?”
“You can’t just disappear without telling anyone where you went!”
Baffled, I tip my head back and peer into his conflicted face, trying to understand his anger. But it’s not just anger. There’s genuine concern plastered all over his face.
