The Moonlit Path

Chapter 22: Say That Again

I'm going to kill them all. Find her and bring them to me alive.

The two headed off down the road to follow the tracks while I headed back to the house, shifted and dressed. Grabbing our things from the bedroom I caught sight of Liana's bag in the bathroom, her smell was strongest in here. There were tears stinging the corners of my eyes but I couldn't let them fall. Instead I smashed through the shower door with my fist and let the glass fall onto the floor. My sweet mate, so kind and beautiful, always full of laughter and love; and just like that I had lost her.

"Fuck!" I threw the bag out of the bathroom and put the other fist through the wall. I had waited for her my entire life and when I found her she was everything I had ever wanted and never earned. How could I have failed in the one thing I swore I would always do? How could I have failed to protect her? What if I can't find her?

We will find her; she's our mate. She won't give up. Telum tried to comfort me but I couldn't compose myself and put the anger aside. When I left the house there were holes in walls, the furniture destroyed, and the front door hung off the hinges. The house could survive without a door but I wouldn't survive without her.

* * * * *

"What do you mean you lost the trail?!" I threw everything off my desk as my brother and Bella stood in front of me.

With sadness in his eyes, Ven tried his best to explain. "We can't follow it back to their territory, it goes cold."

"Titus, we may need to come to terms with the facts. We can't scent or sense her wolf, you can't feel her through the bond." Bella's implication was clear.

"She's not dead," I wouldn't accept her being dead unless I saw it with my own eyes; but I also doubted Philious would be so stupid. If Liana died, he would get nothing but death himself. "I can't feel her pull but I know she's alive or I would be dying too."

The matebond is designed to keep you together and when one mate dies the other is often immediately to follow. In some cases, strong Alphas or even Betas can survive the death of their mates and continue to live. But it's a half-life, one barely worth living because your love has already come and gone.

"Keep looking," I sighed and waved the two out of my already destroyed office.

Bella left without a second thought but Ven lingered a moment.

"Titus?"

"What?"

"You need to eat and sleep. She's been gone six days and you look like shit."

"I'll sleep and eat when she's back in my arms Ven."

"You won't make it like this." I growled at him even though I know that he's right. "She wouldn't want you to torture yourself. She needs you alive when she gets back."

I ran my hand through my hair and put my face into my hands trying to contain myself. "I can't sleep without her."

"I know it's hard but you have to try."

"Easy for you to say," I snapped back at him. I immediately regretted it. Ven was one of the lucky ones. He had found his mate at 18 and they had been the best of friends already. She was beautiful and strong, and she made him everything that he never was alone. There was an accident in the forest during a rouge attack and she was killed. He had almost died too; but the Goddess had looked on him with kindness and let him live. He will tell you it's a curse; but I love my brother and losing him would have been nearly unbearable.

"I have hope for you Titus... but I lived and so will you if anything happens." Ven turned to leave the office but just before the door closed he peaked back in. "One of her shirts wrapped around a pillow might help settle Telum a little bit. It worked for me." The door clicked shut leaving me alone with my regrets.

There was something in the back of my mind itching at me. It was like a fine little voice that I couldn't quite hear. All I wanted to hear was my mates voice again, her sweet laugh, the way that she said my name. I wanted to see her smile again, one more time.

Stop talking about her like she's dead. Telum demanded from the back of my mind. I had tried locking him out but he was too anxious and determined to be left out of the search for his mate.

Can you find Amara?

She's out there somewhere but she's too weak to connect with me. I can feel her heart beating though. Our mate is alive.

Although that couldn't completely eradicate my fears, it gave me some peace to know that she was still alive, still holding on and that she was strong enough to continue to wait for me to find her.

I chose to take Ven's advice after pacing around my office for another hour. I needed sleep and planning to get her back. So I went to our house and did as he said. The combination of her scent and my exhaustion lulled me to sleep faster than I expected.

I woke with a start as my back seared with pain and my legs burned like a thousand bee stings. I felt my stomach aching, my throat was dry. What the hell is happening? I tried to reach out through the mindlink to get ahold of my mother and sisters but I couldn't connect with any of them. After what felt like hours, my breathing slowed and the pain stopped.

VEN! It didn't take long before he crashed through my bedroom door to find me curled into a fetal position on the bed. I gave up all hope of holding back the tears that had been threatening to fall since she went missing.

"What's wrong?" He approached me carefully.

"She's hurt!" I growled.

"What? What happened?"

"I can feel what she's feeling. There was pain all down my legs and back. I don't think they're feeding her; I could feel her practically starving and my throat..." I tried to think of what it felt like.

"Burning?"

"For lack of a better word, yes."

"Titus..."

"She's not dead but she's fucking hurt!" The growling wouldn't stop as I ripped through the remaining pillows on the bed. "We have to find her and we have to find her now!"

"Fuck," he whispered and whipped out his cellphone. Talking to someone on the other end he relayed the information. I assumed he was talking to Bella. But his face suddenly went pale and his voice got quieter, more deadly than I had heard it since he lost his own mate. "Say that again Mathias."