Chapter 2

• Nathan:
• “What do you mean she’s gone?” I snapped, glaring at Ethan, my Beta and best friend. “How can the Omega just easily slip past the guards and not be caught? How can she just run away without anyone noticing?”
• “We couldn’t find her at her house,” Ethan said carefully. “I knocked a few times, and when she didn’t respond, I broke the door down, but she wasn’t there…”
• A muscle ticked in my jaw. Mia was gone.
• “Find her,” I ordered. “I don't care what it is going to take, you are going to find her. I'm not going to allow something like this to happen, not within my pack. If she wants to leave, then she is going to do it on my terms.”
• Ethan nodded and rushed out, knowing better than to waste time questioning me.
• I turned away, running a hand through my hair, trying to contain the frustration boiling beneath my skin. But before I could focus, her voice broke through the silence.
• Claudia.
• My girlfriend. My chosen mate.
• She stood near the doorway, arms crossed over her chest, a frown creasing her features. “She left. Why are you so upset about it? I don't understand. You can just ignore the subject. It's not like she matters to you and it's not like she should be mattering to you.”
• I didn’t answer.
• She didn’t know the truth. Didn’t know that Mia was my mate. Didn’t know that I had rejected her for her over a month ago.
• And she definitely didn’t know that my father would lose his mind when he found out Mia had disappeared.
• Claudia took a step closer, tilting her head. “She left on her own, Nathan. You can’t possibly be blamed for that. Do you know for a fact that she chose to do this? You cannot hold yourself accountable for something that she chose to do. She has to hold herself accountable for it. She has to deal with the consequences.”
• I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge to snap at her.
• Mia didn’t just leave.
• “If I allow her to leave, and if I allow her to just go the way that she wants to go, then others might be doing the same thing too. It is not about her suddenly leaving, it is about the pack members, the rules that we enforce and the boundaries that we set. If I allow her to just leave, if I ignore the subject, then others are going to try crossing limits too.” I said, looking at Claudia, who raised an eyebrow at me.
• “Do you really expect her to just want to stay back? If she chooses to run away then she's going to have to deal with your punishment.” She said, crossing her arms over her chest. I looked at her, my eyes hardening, got her sudden questioning and looking away from me, I could tell that she did not like my reaction.
• “Claudia, can you leave me alone to think?” I muttered, my voice dangerously close to a growl. “There's a lot on my mind and you seem to be talking nonsense about something like this. You don't see the responsibility that I am carrying over my shoulders.”
• “For crying out loud, Nathan, I’m your girlfriend.” She stepped forward, her nails grazing my arm. “I don’t think watching you get all worked up over another woman should be something I allow. I'm sorry, but if you're going to be worked up about something like this, then I'm going to be standing by your side through it all because I don't like it. It is not a subject that I can just ignore if it was me who was breaking over another man…”
• She's talked to herself mid sentence and I could tell that she understood that she was crossing a limit that she should not. She looked away from me and I knew that if I did not calm her down, she was going to start questioning things. Or even worse, she was going to start causing trouble. And I knew that I did not need any more trouble right now. I was going to need to think straight first to find the Omega second, deal with the consequences of whatever she had done.
• I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to stay calm. Then, I reached out, cupping her cheek, tilting her chin up so she would look at me.
• “My gorgeous Luna,” I murmured, brushing a finger along her jawline. “You know the last thing I want is for you to be upset. But I need to find her before we get into trouble with my father. You know how much he values are and the last thing that I'm going to want is to get into more issues with him.”
• Claudia sighed, reluctant but nodding. At least this time, she wasn’t going to push.
• “I don't know why she is this much trouble. It's not like she's anyone that's important.” She said, shaking her head as she looked away from me. “What? I'm going to let it slide if it's going to give you the Peace of Mind.”
• “Thank you.” I whispered to her.
• “I'll be back at the villa. The maids are already preparing lunch. I believe that you would want to have something to eat. You know, with all the things that you need to take care of, you're going to need to maintain your own strength. You cannot deny that.”
• The second she stepped back, I turned, inhaling deeply, trying to catch Mia’s scent.
• She was my mate. I was stronger when it came to detecting her scent. Even if I rejected her, I could still feel her presence, but I couldn't.
• Nothing.
• Not a damn trace.
• She left without a damn trace.
• My chest tightened. Rejected or not, the mate bond was still there. It should have helped me track her, helped me find out where she had gone. But it was as if she had vanished into thin air.
• My mate. Gone.
• And that wasn’t something I could ignore.