SWNOVELS Chapter 45 - Mia
There's warmth everywhere and I'm floating on a cloud of bliss. Sunlight touches my skin and it feels like it's penetrating every inch of my skin, filling me up with nothing but contentment.
I haven't felt this happy since Niko told me he loves me, and the memory alone brings a smile to my face. Closing my eyes, I allow myself to drift some more, knowing that this happiness won't leave me wherever I end up.
Then I feel a shift in the air, and a crack of lightning splits the sky. That warmth is now replaced by a chill, and my blue skies are now tainted with black clouds.
“Mira, wake up!” I hear a voice calling me, It sounds like a whisper, then it swells. “Mira, wake up! There's danger! An enemy is close!”
My eyes shoot open and I sit up in bed too quickly; a dizzy spell threatens to pull me under again and I blink the hazy feeling away. I take a few breaths, placing a hand on my heart to steady myself. What had woken me up? Oh, it was a voice, wasn't it? Wait...was it Star's voice? Danger...an enemy. An unknown yet familiar scent hits me and I whip my head to the left quickly. As I spy the empty bassinet, I know what Star meant by that warning....and I scream.
Ares, my baby! Someone has taken my baby! Where is Niko? Why isn't he here?! Without thinking, my hands go to my hair and I start to pull - the pain pales in comparison to what I am feeling right now.
The door to the bedroom bangs open and Niko rushes in with Maxim at his side. He looks at me with wide, fearful eyes while scanning the room for a threat.
I leap out of bed and rush to him. “He's gone, Niko! Ares is gone!” tumbles out of my mouth; that familiar fear constricts my heart so much I struggle to catch my breath. Niko pulls me close and everything falls away.
My heart is thudding painfully in my chest while flashes of memory appear in my mind's eye. Ares’ birth, feeding him, touching his tiny little hands, and kissing them. A heart-wrenching sob splits my heart in two as the realization hits me.
Someone took my baby.
I hear voices but I don't put two and two together, not until Niko lets go of me and he walks towards the empty bassinet beside our bed. The anxiety coming from him knocks the wind out of me and I watch as he takes something out of it.
Niko's footfalls cause me to look toward him and his eyes are wide. “Can you sense him?”
I nod as determination shoots through me and I shed the worried, crazed mother persona for an angry she-wolf out for blood. “I can, so you have to let me come with you. Get the Gammas ready while I get dressed; we're doing this together, Niko, you are not leaving me behind.”
Something akin to pride flashes in his eyes as they shimmer to crimson. “Five minutes, in my office,” he says, then claims my mouth in a fierce kiss before walking out of our bedroom.
I can't afford to be a weak, crazy mother right now. Yes, I am trembling with worry for my baby, but I think the nerve of what Lilah did is erasing more of it. She made me complacent, she coaxed me into being a good little girl for her Alpha just so she can take his child.
And bring it to his abusers.
The anger I feel towards her is filling my heart and I know I'll never be able to think with a clear head. When I walked out of the shower and saw her with Ares, Star nearly ripped her head off.
I thought it was just my overprotective motherly instincts getting ahead of me, but now I know my wolf knew more than I ever could.
/“Star,"/ I call to her as I slip on a pair of trainers. /“I need your help; please guide me."”/
Her silver eyes are flashing with the same fury flowing through me. /“I'm always here, but I need you to do something so we can show them you're not just a lowly Omega. You need to trust me, Mira; trust the gift the Goddess has given us and follow your instincts.”/
I blanch. /“A gift? The Goddess blessed me?"/
/“She did, but it went away when your trauma blocked me. Allow your gift to lead us and get Ares back,"/ she says, then looks at me with warmth. /“Focus your thoughts on Ares and we will find him, but for now we need to move, okay?"/
Nodding, I tie my hair up in a high ponytail and walk out of the bedroom with renewed determination. The Goddess blessed me with a gift, an instinctive feeling and I need to start trusting my wolf if I am going to beat them at their own game.
The Gammas are gathered around Niko, all but Descry who seems to have run ahead with Maxim. They see me enter and I spot shame in Panzer's eyes but I simply nod my head. “She's stopped moving; they're about twenty miles out and heading East,” I say and they all look at me as if I've gone mad.
“Mia-"
/“Alpha, we're following the scent East and it's getting stronger,”/ Descry says over the mind link and they turn to me with their mouths gaping.
/“How far, Descry?"/ I ask.
/“Eighteen miles, Luna; we're entering an abandoned storage container yard,”/ he responds and I feel a smile creeping onto my face.
I turn my back to the men and walk out. “We don't have time to waste; let's go,” I call over my shoulder while waiting for them to follow me out.
They're all quiet when we file into the two SUVs, none of them are looking at me after I barked that order. I sit up front with Niko while the rest take the other SUV and ride ahead.
"How did you know?" Niko finally asks after a while. “How did you know they went East?”
I turn to face him with a small smile on my lips. “Found out a little late that the Goddess blessed me with an intuitive gift, one that had laid dormant when I blocked out Star,” I say with renewed confidence.
Niko chuckles and shoots me a look of pride. “That's my girl,” he says before the steely look is back in his eyes. Twenty miles went by in a blur and when I looked again, we'd entered the container yard.
A growl escapes me as I catch three distinctive scents surrounding my Ares; someone is going to die tonight.