Claribelle's Mate

Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Damien's POV

The sound of a pup yipping caught the attention of everyone in attendance. With a short squeak, Mason cut the music and everyone's attention turned to the small brown pup yipping as he stared into the woods, his little eyes wide with terror. Eli and Alice were the first to rush to his side, along with a pair who must have been his parents by the way they scooped him into their arms.

I was quick to rush over as well, along with my parents. I glanced around, looking for Clari. This wasn't something that she was likely to ignore. Something had frightened a pup from her pack, she should be just as worried as the rest of us were. She must be inside getting refresher platters for the buffet.

I stood close by while the pup's parents calmed him down and convinced him to shift back into his human form. They called him Daniel and he curled up in his mother's arms as he looked up at Eli.

"They took her, Alpha," he whispered fearfully, his eyes filled to the brim with tears.

Eli crouched down in front of the boy and his mother. "Took who, Daniel?" he asked gently, but urgently.

"Belle!" he cried. "They took Belle!"

My heart stopped in my chest and I stood frozen. They couldn't have taken her. I reached for her with my mind, determined to prove them wrong. Claribelle couldn't have been taken from us without anyone but a child noticing. There were border patrols, not to mention three packs and a coven of vampires.

I growled aggressively as I was met with an inky blackness instead of the warm summer of Claribelle's mind. The growl ended on a whimper that I was too distressed to be embarrassed about.

I felt someone kneel beside me and wrap a strong, comforting arm around my shoulders. I glanced up and met the worried eyes of Nila. There were no words of comfort shared as we both knew there were no guarantees.

I jumped in shock when Clari's mother kneeled beside me, her face filling my vision. She began talking and it took me a moment to clear the fog in my mind to listen.

"-together. Claribelle is out there somewhere with rogues and it's going to take all of us to find her. I need you thinking straight, Damien. You're our closest link to her. Can you feel her?"

I shook my head. "There's nothing there," I murmured. Jake pulled to the forefront of my mind as he recovered from shock and I easily let him take over. He would be better at finding her than I would.

Cecilia noticed the change and nodded in approval. "Nice to finally meet you, Jake. Find my daughter."

With a loud howl, we shifted and Jake tore off into the woods, managing to pick up the slightest whiff of her scent and following it. We could hear the many feet following along behind us as well as the scent of multitudes of werewolves and vampires.

Jake was sensitive to Claribelle's scent in a way that no one else was, a way that was purely wolf, a connection to one's mate. For that reason, everyone in the packs and coven allowed me to lead the way to her.

Jake was quick to pick up even the most minute shift in her scent and tracked her through the woods until we reached a narrow dirt road, not much more than a two track, where Claribelle's scent came to an abrupt halt, making Jake and I whine in distress.

The others were quick to pick up on the problem and the likely reason. A howl of anger rose from her pack and coven, even a few from my pack. I joined in, louder than most as Jake desired to let the rogues know, no matter how far they had gotten, that we were coming for our mate.