The storm is coming...

“Don’t batter at yourself, we'll find out what’s going on and solve this problem in a nick of time, you’ll see,” he consoled me, his smooth, velvety voice seeping into my pores. 

I tipped my head up with watered eyes fixed on his face, he wasn’t my fated mate, but with time we got closer to each other, and eventually things just happened between us. He looked down at me, and sometimes I wished we’d never find our mates, so we could be together for as long as it took. His shaggy hair, falling on top of those soulful silver eyes that held so much love and care deep in them, and his hard, angular jaw that spoke volumes. Teague was my beta, and a relentless warrior, once engaged in battle he’d turn cunning, cruel and abrasive, he could shut off his emotions and focus on the task ahead, but no one knew the affectionate, patient, and oddly enough, shy man behind the rough edges like I did.  

“You know I can’t see you cry, Vicky.” he was barely audible, his sweet warm breath hovering onto my mouth, inching his full, sexy lips into a slow, tender, and yet drugging kiss. If it was meant to make me feel better, it was working. 

“Is it mean of me, wishing our fated mates never showed up?” I asked, trying to catch my breath, as his easy laughter echoed through the room. 

“No, it’s not. You don’t have a mean bone in this glorious petite body of yours,” and he embraced me tightly to him, kissing the top of my head.

I sighed contentedly, inhaling his forest scent with a touch of honey just like his hair, as I basked in the warmth of his body. He always made me feel protected and cherished, mainly when I felt down, powerless, and so insecure of my future. It wasn’t an easy feat to leave my family behind, and work hard to build a new pack. I had to be strong even if I was breaking inside, and Teague had been there with me, every step of the way. He was my strength and my haven.

“Thank you, you’re so sweet, I don’t know what I’d do without you.” I squeezed him in my arms and pushed him a bit from me. “Thank you, really. But you have to go now, they wait for you, and I’ll see you tomorrow at the pack house, hopefully we’ll have a plan until then,” I rose to my tiptoes and pecked him, nibbling at the corner of his bottom lip playfully. A naughty smile made its way to his mouth, and he captured my lips in one more full-blown kiss before he let go of me.

“You’re right. I have to go, I have a lot to deal with at the station. It won’t be easy to divert the speculations on top of the case, but I’ll do my best,” and delivering quick kisses all over my face, he disappeared from my office.

Sitting behind my desk, I just stared at the wall. I didn't know what to do or think. I felt totally lost. Something bad knocked at our door, and I was sure hard times were coming to us. We needed a plan by tomorrow, but I didn't have a clue about it. So I decided to go back to my inventory, maybe keeping my mind occupied, something would come up. 

“Is everything fine, Vicky? Teague left with that face of his carved in stone, and creeped me out!”

“We'll have to wait and see, Arabel. By the way, use discretion with the fact, I don't want you gossiping around, understood?” she nodded and went back to her chores, and I made my way to the storage room. Arabel was a nice person, but with too big of a tongue, and I had to keep her on a tight leash sometimes. 

An hour passed, and I was about to finish the inventory, when a feeling of dread crept on me, it started with a pain in my stomach, and my shoulders curled forward, caving into my chest, as I wrapped my arms around my midsection. The weight squashing my heart got heavier and heavier, and suddenly a loud roar invaded my mind, lots of irrational thoughts followed, and a desire to tear everything apart, then a lump in my throat made it impossible to breathe, as tears came crashing down my cheeks full force. I sobbed so hard, I wasn't even able to stand and leave the small room to get some fresh air. Bash! Something was wrong with him, I felt his pain. When I tapped at our link, the rage, fear, and despair hit me in the gut. His mind was in chaos, and my heart fell to my knees. 

“Brother, why the distress? What happened, talk to me, please. Your pain is ripping me out!” 

“My mate, Vicky. She's gone! Someone took her!” He howled in agony. “We've just found each other.” 

“Calm down, Bash. You need a clear mind to figure out what to do. I know the mate bond is strong, but unfortunately you'll need to suppress these feelings, if you want to get her back,” I advised him. I was being cruel, I knew, but he couldn't go on like this. My wolf linked with his, and their agonizing howling in my head was too much. I couldn’t think straight, my heart filled with pain, and to address the situation I had to make them cool down. He had to get his shit back again, as her life depended on him. “I'm sorry, Bash,” and I cried with him, and my wolf with his, until they had no more tears.

“You’re right, Vicky,” I heard his choked voice. “I need to treat this as cold as possible, without letting my emotions get in the way, or I will put her life in jeopardy, but it's hard! You know, I already lost Isabella, and now fate is taking Teresa away from me!”

“I feel for you my beloved brother, and I wished I was there in person with you when it happened, but things are kinda hard here, Bash. But I was glad Erik was there with you!”

“Yes, he’s a great friend. I he asked me if you were fine, and if something happened on your end, sister,” he was a strong and powerful leader, and hearing him so desolated showed me how fragile he was at the moment.

“Unfortunately Erik was right, Bash, bad things are coming on our way. I have three missing women in my pack, one of them is Sarah, plus a human woman,” he silenced for a few minutes, but he was there. I couldn’t hide the concern in my voice. 

“Is Sarah gone, too?” he whispered sadly. 

I wanted to cry again, both our worlds were crumbling down on us, and I felt so damn helpless. It was frustrating not knowing if they were fine, or suffering, or God knew what. I didn't wish this horrible feeling to anyone. 

“Yes, Bash, and her mate was injured. We're having a meeting with the pack warriors in the morning, so I can check on him, and see if he can come up with some answers.”

“Do you think he witnessed something? Probably, right? He must have fought whatever took her.”

“That's what I'm counting on,” I tried my hardest not to transpire the defeat that invaded my soul at that moment. My brother was already suffering enough, and I didn't need to add to his burden. “My hope is to catch him conscious tomorrow, but I don't know, he's been badly hurt, and the pack doctors worked on him. Otherwise, we'll have to wait, but we don't have that much time.”

“Vicky,” his voice came out serious and grave, and goosebumps crawled all over my skin. “I think it's all connected, and we're dealing with something very dangerous here.” 

“Unfortunately, I can't say you're wrong, Sebastian… I just wished we were closer, brother… I love and miss you, please take care of yourself, I know you’ll get Teresa back!”