ELIAS'S P.O.V
I was pacing the room when Shanti walked in.
"Babe, are you okay?"
How do I respond to that?
"Just peachy." I ended up saying instead of what I really wanted to say.
"Why are you in a panic then?"
Do I tell her it's because my tech-guy can't ping the location on Zola's phone? Or that he couldn't track her car?
"Can't a guy pace without being questioned?" I replied with an irritated underlying tone.
"Sure, but you look bothered. What's a mate for if not to release the burden of stress?"
Aslan huffed internally at her response. He was never fond of taking Shanti as our chosen mate. We hadn't made it official yet, but she knew as well as I, that she was the only option. I suppose that wasn't completely true though. I could take a random mate, like my father did.
'I bet that she'd be better than her.' Aslan huffed out dramatically.
Shanti had never done anything for him to dislike her, aside from the way she spoke of Zola. But I guaranteed any female in her position would've. It doesn't make it right, but I can understand her jealousy. I mean just look at the way I am acting. Had another member disappeared, would I be this worked up? I'm not saying I wouldn't care. I cared deeply about the safety of each person in my pack. But that wasn't the question. The question was, would I act this way? Probably not. Which meant I had too big of an attachment to Zola.
"I'm just upset." I replied with a hasty attitude.
"About what? Her?"
The way she said 'her' made my skin crawl. I understood her not caring, but to openly express not caring pissed me off.
"Of course I am upset about her. She is a member of my pack and her disappearance has us all on edge."
I was trying to refrain from saying what I really wanted to say. But I had a feeling she'd push me to verbalize exactly what was on my mind.
"She is a human, not a wolf."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"She isn't technically a member of the pack if she can't even have a connection to them."
"You have no connection to them." I stated as rudely as I could.
"Not yet, but I will be."
"Zola will always be a member of my pack, regardless of her species. We treat all of our members the same. If you can't do that, then you aren't fit to be at my side."
Her silence told me that I had her attention.
"Every member, regardless of what kind is important. Therefore, I will not tolerate a mate who chooses to act like they don't matter solely based on what they are."
"I didn't mean it like that." She said, trying to defend her arrogant ways.
"Yes you did. And I will make myself clear here. Zola is missing. She had completely disappeared without so much as a word. Not even to her mother. Her being found safely is all that matters right now. And if you don't value the safety of every single member of my kingdom, then you will never be my queen."
I meant every word and could only hope that she received my message the exact way it was intended.
"It's not that I don't care about the kingdom's safety. But you keep saying she disappeared like she didn't run away herself."
A pang of pain ignited within the depths of my chest at her words. The reality spoke numbers. She did indeed run away. But I had to know why. Which was why I sent my own trackers out to hunt her down. While also hiring multiple tech-guys to find a location on her car and phone. Hell, I even hired more witches to do location spells that Novalee hadn't done. But everything left me with more questions than answers. Zola was completely off the grid, she didn't want to be found. But why? We had such a magical night. She seemed so happy. So why'd she leave?
"I never once said I didn't care about her safety. Don't get me wrong, we have our differences. But I'd never wish her to be harmed. I am simply pointing out that we are using so many resources, which are being wasted. Someone like her will only be found when she wants to be found. And clearly she doesn't want to be. That's the truth of the matter here. Whether you face that truth is on you. But I am telling you now, you're wasting your time and resources."
I hated that she was right. I wanted so badly for her to be wrong. But I knew she wasn't. Zola left on her own. She packed her bags, spent a glorious night with me at the pier, and left without so much of a word to a soul. I knew in my heart that I wouldn't find her unless she wanted to be found, just like Shanti said. But I just couldn't accept that fact. Neither would Novalee nor Irelyn. Which ultimately meant that I couldn't give up without giving us all the answers we sought.
"I need to be alone." I then said, storming past her.
I had to get out of here. My head was swirling with intruding thoughts that I couldn't get under control so I made my way down the stairs. When I reached the front door to leave for a run, a soft sniffle from the living room echoed out. I needed to get out of this house, but the crying caught my attention. I turned around and made my way to where the sounds were coming from. When I entered the living room, I saw my mother rubbing circles on Novalee's back while she sobbed. Across from her, Irelyn sat on a chair, a pained expression painted on her face.
"What's going on?" I asked, gathering the attention of all three women.
Irelyn's eyes scanned a piece of paper in her hand before looking back up at me.
"She wrote us a letter. It came in the mail today with no return address."
I crossed the room as fast as my legs could take me, my hand extended out for the letter. Irelyn looked at the sobbing Novalee before handing it over. It was definitely Zola's handwriting, I was sure of that, I'd seen it many times before. I briefly skimmed the contents of the letter before looking back up.
"That's it?" I asked while looking between them all.
I could feel my anger bubbling back up. I looked back down at the letter in my hand. The once nicely folded paper now crumbled.
"That's all she has to fucking say for herself?" I then asked again. More anger present than before. I had to get out of here before I wrecked my entire living room.
I dropped the letter, letting it fall to the ground and turned to leave.
As soon as I was outside, I shifted. Not caring an ounce about shredding my clothes in the process of the shift. Nor did I even think about my father and his new family possibly seeing me shift. All I knew was that at that moment, I had to get as far from here as I could.
'She leaves without telling us. Then have the nerve to send that?' Aslan roared. His voice was laced with anger and pain. Something we both felt.
His paws were pounding hard against the ground, twigs snapping beneath us. I wanted answers. I needed more. How could she do this to us?