Kai POV
Fang's paws pound the pavement as he chases Tish's scent. It is faint in the air, but Fang isn't having problems following it. Fang has always been a strong tracker and fighter, but he can hold a grudge forever. He isn't speaking to me. He didn't want to sleep with Jessica, but I did anyway. Now, he blames me for Tish's disappearance.
'You should keep to the shadows,' I tell him. 'We don't want to be seen on the main highway.'
'Shut up,' he growls at me, but he still moves into the shadows.
Fang knows we can't be seen. If humans were to spot us, they would instantly know they had seen something unnatural in the human world.
His heart is thundering in his chest, and he is gradually getting tired, but he refuses to slow down. Slobber is running out of his mouth, and his tongue is flapping in the wind. Night is starting to fall and he dares to inch a little closer to the road.
Cars are zooming past us at ridiculous speeds, but it doesn't phase him. His black fur makes him almost impossible to see on the long stretch of highway, where there are no lights. I can see why the driver took this route. No one would notice a few cars on the side of the road and if they did, no one would care.
Fang freezes on the spot and sniffs the ground. A growl rumbles in his chest as he searches for Tish's scent.
'This is where she was standing,' Fang tells me. 'There are three other scents mixed with hers.'
'Male or female?' I dare to ask him.
'Male,' he snarls.
'Rogues?' I ask.
Fang cocks his head to the side and sniffs the ground again. 'No,' he replies. 'Not all rogues.'
'South Pack members?' I ask him.
'I don't know,' he mutters. 'One scent isn't one I have smelled before.'
He sniffs a spot on the ground, and a loud growl reverberates from his chest. He paws at the spot, trying to get a better whiff of the scent. I look through his eyes, and it is not hard to see what has him so upset. Dark red spots have stained the ground. The scent of Honey mixed with iron tells me it belongs to Tish.
'She is fucking hurt,' I snarl.
'Because of you,' he snaps back at me.
Guilt flows through me, and I let out a little whimper. Fang is right, but I don't know how to make it right.
'Which way did they go? Please tell me you know which way they went,' I beg Fang.
Fang lets out a huff. 'Now you care.'
'Would you just fucking find her,' I snap back at him.
'I am not finding her for you,' he tells me.
'You think she is going to choose you over me,' I groan.
'Yes,' he replies. 'I will keep this form forever.'
'You are a stupid wolf,' I laugh. 'She doesn't have a wolf. You will never be able to mark her or mate her.'
Fang growls at me before placing his nose back on the ground. He knows I am right. He can't have Tish without me. His nose brushes against the ground as he searches for her scent.
We walk in circles for what seems like hours. Eventually, Fang sits down beside the highway and lifts his nose into the air. He lets out a mournful howl, and I know he has lost her scent. Both of our hearts are breaking.
'We should get back to the pack,' I tell him. 'Maybe they got some information out of Cedric.'
Fang gets to his feet and heads back to the South Pack. His head is hung the whole way. He doesn't run. Instead, he drags his feet lazily.
'If you keep this pace, we won't make it back by morning,' I try to urge him to move faster.
'I don't care if we ever get back,' he whimpers.
'We will find her,' I promise him.
'What if she doesn't come back to us?' He wants to know. 'Now that I have found my mate, no other woman will please me.'
'You can say that again,' I mumble.
I wait for Fang to pick up the pace, but he doesn't. Deciding there is no point in arguing with him, I settle in our mind and wait for us to get back to the South Pack.
The sun is rising as we pass through the gates of the South Pack. My warriors are giving me odd looks, but they step out of the way and let Fang pass through. His head is still hung low, and his tail is dragging the ground. Exhaustion isn't the only thing plaguing him.
We walk up the front porch steps of the pack house, and Fang collapses on the wood. He gives up the reigns, and I begin to shift back into my human form. It is possibly the most painful shift since my first one. I grunt and hiss out in pain as my bones retake their shape.
My eyes are squeezed shut when someone kicks me in the side. "Go away," I groan. "I am sleeping."
"You can't sleep on the front porch of the pack house," Alpha Kieran's voice rings in my ears.
I open my eyes and see him standing over me. I expect him to have a pleased look on his face, instead he looks worried. I roll onto my back and throw my arms to the side like a starfish.
"I couldn't find her," I sigh. "My wolf couldn't find her. I have failed as a mate."
Alpha Kieran sits beside me and gathers his legs underneath him. "You will only fail if you give up trying to find her."
"Why did you come for her?" I ask him.
"Mae asked me to bring her back to the North Pack so she could talk some sense into her," Kieran tells me. "We weren't taking her away forever."
"Why didn't you tell us that?" I blurt out.
Alpha Kieran shrugs his shoulders. "Tish needed to think she was escaping and I didn't think you could keep your mouth shut. If she thought was coming back she may not ever see what she is missing out on. Or at least that's what my mate says. She knows Tish better than anyone."
"She still loves her?" I ask. "Even after all the mistakes that she made."
"Much to my chagrin," Kieran laughs. "Mae loves her deeply. Sometimes, I think she loves Tish more than me. She is going to be pissed when I tell her she has been kidnapped."
"You haven't told her yet?" I ask.
"No," he whispers. "Her situation is delicate at the moment. I don't want to upset her."
"What about your sister?" I wonder aloud. "Will the Luna Queen know what we have done?"
Alpha Kieran studies me carefully. "My sister has a big mouth. We will keep things under wraps for now."