Chapter 18
I was in the passenger seat and Bryan was driving. The windows were rolled down and my arm was hanging out. We had taken the Jeep just in case I managed to pick up her scent. At this point though, we were four hours into the drive and I hadn't even picked up a whiff of her. The patrol also was checking in but said she had left the territory a couple hours ago.
“I can't believe she's that fucking fast.” Bryan mused as he wove through traffic. “She’s the damn wind.”
“It just means we might catch up with her in the city.” I looked out the window. “If she makes it that far.”
There was a silence for a while. Most of the ride had been. Bryan was still fairly mad at me and even literally kicked me into the passenger seat. He had the radio on for a bit but after hour two, they started to play the same songs and he turned it down. I just focused my eyes out the window.
“I got to hear her sing.”
My eyes snapped to him, he was looking ahead, both hands on the steering wheel.
“I don't think I've ever heard something so angelic. She's not even my mate and I fucking nearly went weak in the knees.”
I growled. “She sang for you?”
Bryan glared at me for a second before looking back at the road. “Not for me. But she sang while she made the most glorious dinner last night. I think I just happened to be sitting there. Calm your tits, Alpha.”
I felt Cato slink back, still upset. “So my Beta not only had my mates home made cooking before me, but also heard her sing. How am I supposed to react to that?”
He chuckled. “Wallow in self loathing for being an ass to her. Hell, she would probably talk to me before she would you.”
My hand went up to his neck before I realized. I had been on edge already and Bryan was poking the bear. He didn't say anything. His hands still were on the steering wheel and he was still looking at the road ahead. Slowly, I unpeeled my hand from around his neck and sat back in my seat. Bryan didn't say anything for another hour and neither did I
“I can take the highway and head into the city, or we can run into Alpha Leo's territory.”
“And tell him that that I lost my mate after I gave him a stern talking to yesterday about her parents treatment of her? No thanks. If her end goal is The Blood Oath, then we head there first.”
Bryan got over and took the highway. I continued to look out the window. Auri had to be out there somewhere. I tried to reach into the connection of the mate bond but there was nothing. She blocked it off since yesterday and I sighed.
She didn't even have a cell phone. I had gotten one for her back at the house and it was sitting in my office drawer but we hadn't even gotten to that point. I pulled up my phone, the sexy lady photo replaced by a candid I had taken of her looking out the window at the forest. It wasn't the best photo but the look on her face, the serenity on her face with the slight smile. I missed her. Missed her voice, even angry. Missed her smell and her touch. The memory of her hands on my chest, spending her fingers made me involuntarily shiver and felt a wave of goosebumps come over me.
"You okay?” Bryan looked over at me, confused, as he got on an off ramp.
“I'm fine. We just need to focus on finding Auri.”
He cleared his throat, covering the chuckle that he let out. Bryan whipped through the streets and he turned on the navigation for the first time for the drive. We were only about ten minutes away but he made a face.
“It's only 4:30pm. The club won't be open and I don't know if anyone will be there.”
"We can check if I smell Auri though.”
He nodded, making a left and a quick right. We pulled up to a brick building. The neon sign “The Blood Oath’ with a wine glass pouring a drop onto a scroll was dark and unlit. The doors were closed and there was no one out front. I got out and looked around. I walked to the front door and then looped around back to the alley.
'I don't smell her.’ Cato chimed in.
I nodded and came back to the Jeep. Bryan was still sitting in it, looking at his phone.
“I don’t smell her.”
He nodded. “According to the app, they open at 9pm. So we still have a few hours.”
"We don't even know if she made it to the city already. She could still be in the surrounding area.” I jumped in and sat down.
"What do you want to do Alpha?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“Can we at least get something to eat? I'm fucking starving and we can think this through?”
I nodded and Bryan pulled back onto the road. We pulled into a pizzeria about 10 minutes away and I raised a brow at Bryan.
“They have good reviews and it's a place where we can get two large pizzas and no one is gonna look at us weird. I'm hungry. I might even get a damn salad.” Bryan unbuckled his seat bet and hopped out.
I followed suit and sighed, not hungry in the slightest. Bryan really was such a child sometimes. When we pulled up to the club at 9pm we noticed two things. One, we were wholly under dressed. Two, the sheer amount of people trying to get in wrapped around the building. I got out and my senses felt like they had been hit with a baseball bat. Alcohol, blood, werewolves, vampires, sweat, perfume, cologne, and everything in between was enough to make a werewolf sneeze. Bryan looked ecstatic though. I knew he had been wanting to come to this club for a while.
“Bryan, we are here for a reason, not to socialize.”
He made a face and walked over to me. There was a bouncer, a werewolf, who was standing guard in front of the door. There was a second who leaning against a podium, flipping through some papers.
“Name please.” He didn't even look up.
I looked at Bryan. “Alpha Logan Everfell and Beta Bryan Steele. We need to speak to Morgan Russo or Auri Meadows."
At this, the bodyguard stood up and looked at us, and eyebrow raised. “You two aren't on the list.” "We need to speak to them though. It's urgent.” Bryan added.
“Sorry. If you aren't on the list then you don't get in. That's final.”
“Then how do we get on the list.” I growled but he didn't seem phased at all.
“Look, I just make sure who isn't and is on the list goes where they need to. I don't get into how your name gets on the list. Plus...” He looked down at us. “Even if you were on the list, we have a dress code little Alpha.”
My eye twitched and Bryan pushed me away. “Alpha, they have camera's surrounding this place. Plus these two guys and who else would come out. Don't stare a scene. Remember what I said. We can't fuck with Morgan.”
I turned and walked back to our Jeep. I leaned against it, with my arms crossed.
“Do you smell anything?”
I shook my head. “There is so much shit in the air, I've no idea if I could even smell her over all this.” I waved my hand in the general direction of the building.
“Well, we could try again tomorrow. Stay the night in a hotel out here, get some clothes. The camera's could work in our favor as well. Because it means that they know we are here. Asking for the two of them.”
I hated this. Hated all of this. I wanted Auri in my arms now. I wanted to kiss her head, her cheek, her lips. I wanted to apologize and never let her go. I wanted to hear her voice, smell her, and taste her. A headache was forming, like a withdrawal effect from the mate bond. As though I felt it snap back at me. I was frustrated and wanted to destroy everything but at the same time I wanted to fall to knees in tears. Running my hand along my jaw and then into my hair.
“Drop me off at the forest line. Then go get a room for yourself at a hotel. I'll call you when I need to be picked up.”
“You sure you don't want me to go with you?”
I shook my head. “In the morning I want you to grab clothes for us. We will go in the correct dress code. See if Morgan knows we were asking about him and Auri.”
He nodded and jumped into the drivers seat. I got in and started to take off my shirt and jeans. It took another 25 minutes before we made it to a secluded enough place near the forest to rump out and shift. Throwing my boxers in the back, I left Bryan and the Jeep, shifting into my wolf form. I let Cato take over.
'Find her, Cato. We have to."
“Trust me, I know."