Northern Lands: Bound by fate

Chapter 17

ZANDER

My eyes opened drowsily, my mouth felt stuffed with cotton balls and my body tingled with resistance as I tried to move. My tongue was thick and dry as I fought against the sleep that had me under its spell.

I had never slept so heavily.

Conan was always on alert, and for once, I had trouble reaching the other part of me. I felt his presence in my mind, but he was rendered in the same deep sleep I had fallen into.

My head hurt, and my eyes fought to focus in the daylight streaming through the window. Streaks blurred my vision, and it took some time to see with sharpness. I concentrated on moving my limbs and when I could finally wiggle my fingers and roll over; I reached out to Calandra, to find her side of the bed empty.

The innate impulse to protect my mate surged forwards, breaking the shackles of the dreamlike state I had succumbed to during the night. A state of alarm filtered through my senses and jolted me wide awake.

"Cal?" I shouted, the sound reverberating around the room, but no answer came.

Conan ~ Her scent is faint.

Zander ~ How long?

Conan ~ A couple of hours, I believe.

Conan's voice faded in my head, like there was still something impeding us from reaching each other fully. This had never happened. Even after a fucked up hangover when I was a teenager, we hadn't felt this shitty before.

As I put on my jeans from last night, my body still resisted. I didn't bother with a shirt, as the only thing that occupied my mind was finding Calandra. I wanted to believe that she was around the packhouse, but a nagging feeling that I couldn't shake was saying otherwise.

The way I had slept had been strange, then finding no trace of Calandra had me worried and anxious.

Conan ~ Do you think she left? Rejected us?

Zander ~No, I thought we were past the rejection stage.

After last night, the thought that she would bail on me was something far from my mind as we had been growing closer. I knew she wasn't nowhere near ready to be marked, but I definitely didn't push her in that direction. I desired to explore our bond further, and I wanted to go at a slow pace to not spook her. When werewolves found their fated mates, the bond between their spirits was so strong that they couldn't fight the connection, but I knew it was different for other magical creatures.

When I finally reached the kitchen, chaos ensued. Luna Moriko stood behind the counter, offering bottles of water and sandwiches to clearly exhausted werewolf pack members.

"Zander?" She turned around and set her worried eyes on me. "Aren't you out helping with the fire?"

"What fire?" I croaked through my dry throat, and motioned for the bottle that she held in her hand.

"Arson," Luna Moriko shook her head, deflated. "We have just managed to extinguish the flames. The adjacent houses are scorched, but we contained the damage," she explained as I gulped down the entire bottle.

"Have you seen Calandra?" I asked, still not really knowing what was going on.

"No," she answered, focusing back on the pack members passing through the packhouse. "Wasn't she with you?"

Luna Moriko's voice faded into the distance, as I was already making my way outside.

Calandra couldn't have disappeared.