Page 34 of Her Reborn Mate

“I might be drunk, but I’m aware enough to hear your troubles and help you with anything. I am the second in command, after all. So, what is it?” he asked.

I passed him a cup of black coffee and waited for him to take a few sips before unburdening myself on him.

Vincent drank the steaming cup of coffee, then shook his head vigorously. “Goddamn, that’s strong.”

“Listen to me,” I said, seating myself beside him. “Something is going on, and I am not entirely certain what it is. It’s about Alexis.”

Upon hearing her name, all traces of drunkenness were dispelled from Vincent’s face. He took another sip of coffee, then stared at me intently, hanging on to my every word.

“She’s not here. People have looked for her all around the commune and even in the city, but there isn’t a single sign of her anywhere. I have tried to use my bond with her, but all I’m getting back is pure darkness. I could do with your assistance,” I said, taking a sip from my coffee.

“She can’t be dead,” Vincent said. “Last I checked, you were still her mate. A mate feels the death of his woman so terribly that the pain becomes more than just emotional agony. It transforms into physical anguish that grips your entire body. At least, that’s what the elders used to say. Or the romantic wolves who used to write poetry after their mates had died. In any case, you haven’t had any such pains, have you?”

It made me suddenly very afraid to mention the pain I had experienced when I woke up, but in the face of the greater issue, I chose not to hide things and told Vincent what I had felt and how I had heard her voice.

“That’s not bad news, then!” Vince said with fervor, getting up from his stool all of a sudden. “Have you tried tapping into the bond right now?”

“I’m trying, but it’s all silent. That’s why I am so afraid,” I said.

“But she contacted you. So she’s alive. Now that that’s out of the way let’s ascertain in which condition she’s alive. For someone to be so untethered, they’d have to be quite weak and injured. Do you think something bad has happened to her? Is that why maybe the bond isn’t working as it is supposed to?” Vincent asked.

I didn’t respond right away. Instead, I focused on our bond and closed my eyes, hoping to contact her. All I could see was pure darkness.

Alexis?I called out, praying to all the gods that she’d respond.

It was then that I heard her voice, so faint, so weak, but unmistakably hers:I’m stuck somewhere terrible.

I gasped in pain as the bond intensified, allowing me to feel what she was feeling. She was experiencing crippling pain all over her body. Alexis was tied, and her mouth had been taped. But I still could not see where she was.

“She’s alive,” I whispered, my body covered in sweat for the second time since I woke up. I struggled to stand up, holding Vincent for support. “But she’s been beaten up, tied down, and weakened. That’s why the bond isn’t working as I want it to.”

I looked into Vincent’s eyes and saw that he was completely sober and just as worried as I was.

“There’s no time to waste. I have to go find her,” Vincent said.

“Why you? Why not me?” I asked, feeling my temperature rise.

“Because you’ve just been the Alpha for less than a day. The pack needs you for guidance. You can’t just go on your solitary quests like before. You’re accountable to the people. They need you more than ever. Let’s face it; you don’t know the lay of the land as well as I do. Logistically speaking, Alexis couldn’t have gone far in a single day. At least not that far. We can assume that wherever she is, she’s close by. Don’t forget that Blair and my dad are still out there, and if either of them came across her last night, they might have kidnapped her as retribution,” he said.

“I will not sit idly by while her life is in danger,” I growled.

“Then do the wise thing. Delegate the task to your pack members. Have half of them go look in town and see if Blair has had anything to do with it, and have the other half go see if this is Maurice’s doing. I’ll go and scout the entire area and see if the surviving vampires have taken her. It’s a lot of work to do, and it needs a lot of people. You can’t go on spreading yourself too thin. For fuck’s sake, you’re the alpha. So many lives depend on you. Not just Alexis’s!”

I grabbed Vincent by his shoulders and shook him. “Don’t you see how hard it is for me to just wait and do nothing?”

“You’re not doing nothing!” Vincent spoke loudly. “You’re our leader, our captain, our alpha. While you’re here in the pack, no one can attack us, knowing that you are alive and have returned and are ready to defend your people and your land from any threat that comes your way. You need to start trusting other people, especially those in your pack. Look. I’m not even going to wait for the morning. I’m going to scout for Alexis right now.”

With that, he started putting on his shoes and his jacket.

“If you come across danger, you call me,” I said, handing him his phone.

“Ah, the student has become the master,” Vincent said whimsically. “I remember a day when you didn’t trust these phones.”

“Well, needs must when the devil drives,” I said bitterly. “I still don’t trust these phones, but I have got to admit that they’re convenient.”

“Protect the pack. Their very lives depend on you. Imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up last night. We would have all been dead,” Vincent said.

“You have my word,” I said, waving at him as he left his home.

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