Page 66 of Hunting Their Omega

I bolted upright, and my chair clattered to the floor behind me. An eerie sense of dread gripped my chest as I ran out of my office, leaving the Beta from the Silver Fang pack yelling after me. Fear coursed through our bond, followed by a spike of pain. Isolde was hurt and terrified. My heart thundered as I sprinted from the security building, racing toward the house and calling her name.

“Isolde! Isolde!” I shouted, not caring that I was drawing attention.

I dashed past houses, franticly searching the busy streets. Panic surged within me, my thoughts consumed by the overwhelming need to find her. Wynn and Alaric were on their way, but their presence was only mildly reassuring amid the mounting worry.

Spotting Winnie painting the side of a house, I rushed toward her, barely able to form coherent words. “Winnie, Isolde, have you seen her?”

Winnie’s eyes widened with concern. “She was with Aunt Eileen the last time I saw her,” she replied, her voice tinged with worry. The paintbrush dropped from her hands. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. She called out through the bond. She’s hurt.”

My heart pounded as we hurried to Aunt Eileen’s house. When we burst into the kitchen, Aunt Eileen whipped around with the speed of someone half her age.

“Bishop, what happened?” she asked.

“We need to find Isolde, where is she?”

Aunt Eileen frowned, knowing me well enough to recognize I was on the edge. “She left about an hour ago,” she said, confusion clouding her features and deepening the wrinkles in her brown skin. “What happened to her?”

“I don’t know.”

The door flew open, and Wynn and Alaric crowded into the tiny kitchen.

“Did you find her?” Wynn asked, his wolf flashing in his eyes.

I shook my head and reached for the bond again, but there was nothing but fog.

“Can you feel her?” I asked my unit.

They both shook their heads, and Alaric said, “It’s shrouded in a cloud so thick I lose track of my own tether if I go too far.”

Wynn’s face was cold, but the concern in his piercing blue gaze was enough to make my wolf want to howl. Every cell in my body roared, anger drowning my fear when we couldn’t reach her.

He thrashed in my mind, demanding to be set free.

Alaric’s Enforcer instincts kicked in. “We have to secure the area,” he said, turning to Winnie. “Where was she today?”

“She was helping restore some of the gardens. She visited Mr. Trobez, Augustine, and then Aunt Eileen.”

“Let’s split up,” Alaric said in a firm voice. “Wynn, you take Trobez. Bishop, take Augustine since we already know Aunt Eileen hasn’t seen her. I’ll circle the village and ask if anyone spotted her in the last half hour.”

We nodded.

“I’ll ask the women,” Winnie said before racing out of the house. Wynn and Alaric followed suit.

Before I left, I turned to Aunt Eileen and took her hands in mine. “If you remember anything, contact me on my comms, okay? Don’t worry, we’ll find her.”

“I know you will.” She spoke the words as if they were fact. I wanted to believe her.

I exited the house and headed for Augustine’s. The older woman lived four houses down from my aunt and was known for being nosey, so I hoped she would prove helpful. I couldn’t panic yet. There were always people milling about. It was fucking impossible that no one saw anything.

Warm liquid spilled over my palms, pulling me from my rageful thoughts. I realized my claws were unsheathed and decided to leave them out. The pain sharpened my mind and kept me in the moment.

Augustine proved to be useless, as was Mr. Trobez.

Fuck. Where is she?

I heard Alaric questioning everyone who might have encountered her that day, but each inquiry led to a dead end. No one knew Isolde’s whereabouts. They saw her in passing but not in the thirty minutes that had lapsed since her disappearance. Terror for my mate threatened to overwhelm me, but my heart swelled with pride at my pack’s genuine concern. Hidden Creek was coming together for Isolde.

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