He had heard of mate ache occurring when mates were separated, but he had never witnessed it, nor had he ever expected to suffer from it himself. Yet there he was, lying in his bed, which still smelled of Divina, unable to sleep.
Aric had done everything he could think of to get his wolf to shut up, but nothing worked. Immersing himself in his work had only resulted in shitty carpentry. Cranking music up did nothing to drown out his inner wolf’s wail. Sparring with his pack mates had left him with a black eye, a swollen lip, and a broken cheekbone, too distracted by the longing to be an effective challenger. Letting the beast roam had only resulted in a return to the vardo.
Thankfully, no vampires were around the second time he snooped about, hoping for a lead, a clue, anything to find her. Alas, nothing. No change. He had zero to go on.
As night fell, he tried again to distract himself from the pain, from the howling, from the loss of her. He tinkered around his trailer, fixing things he had promised himself he’d fix for ages but were only mere annoyances. He worked out. He cooked. He tried to watch television. Nothing. Nothing was enough to silence his wolf. The animal would drive him insane if he didn’t find Divina.
With nothing left to try, Aric attempted sleep. It was probably the worst idea yet. The musk of her remained in his bed. Remnants, reminders of the romp he had enjoyed with his mate coiled around him, tickled his nostrils, and spurred his wolf’s cries for her. If possible, they were louder in his head than before.
Aric rolled over, his blankets tightening as they entangled his body. Covering his head with his pillow did nothing to drown out his wolf. Slamming his fists against his temples only caused his growing headache to worsen. The beast called to his mate, but she gave him no reply, no peace.
He checked his phone—just past three in the morning. Though it would be pointless, Aric wished he had gotten Divina’s phone number. Seeing as she had run from his bed, he was pretty sure she wouldn’t answer even if he had it, but at least it would be something he could have given Zeke to trace her.
Desperate for a distraction, he uncoiled himself from his bedding and stalked toward the kitchen area. Shuffling through his freshly organized cabinets, he pulled out the bottle of whiskey he had found earlier. Perhaps that would shut out the wolf.
Eyeing the bottle, Aric frowned. There wasn’t enough to get him to black out, but hopefully it’d be enough to dull the pain. He needed something—anything—to get through the night. He wanted to be sharp the following morning, needed all his faculties to hunt for Divina. And once he found her, he’d need to be in top shape. He had some apologizing and explaining to do, and it was always best to not look like a serial killer when attempting to make a good impression. Something about bloodshot eyes, greasy skin, and fatigue didn’t seem to mesh well with good impressions. He needed to sleep and gulping down the whiskey seemed his best option.
Aric stumbled through his trailer and flopped onto the sofa. He waited, staring at the ceiling. Eventually, buzzed but not feeling any better, his wolf whined. Perhaps the animal had finally reached its limits and had tired himself out. His human was drained; how the animal could have any more energy was beyond him. The howling had stopped, but the whining wasn’t any better. “I want her back, too,” he mumbled. “I’m miserable, too.”
The blackness of night had shifted to the dark blues of early morning. Watching the pinks of the cresting sun paint the sky, Aric groaned as night faded into day. Wallowing in the pain of his and Divina’s separation, he checked the clock on his phone—six in the morning. Falling into the black of dreamlessness, he finally slept.
The vibration in his hand tickled. He furrowed his brow and struggled to open his eyes. The wolf stirred within him but ultimately remained curled in a restful ball. The animal inside Aric seemed to be as drained as the human.
Bringing the phone to his ear, he answered. “Hello?” his sleep-laced voice croaked.
“Aric! I’ve been calling you for an hour,” groused the irritated voice on the other end.
He shot upright and scrubbed his face. Squinting into the beams of bright sunlight, he lifted his free hand to shield his eyes. “Bruce?” With his brain foggy from sleep, Aric was slow to recognize the voice.
“I thought you were in a rush,” Bruce scolded. “Come on down to Zeke’s. Let’s get this thing started.”
“Gimme five. I’ll be there.” He groaned and tapped his phone to hang up, then rolled off the couch and onto all fours. With his head throbbing from the rushed consumption of whiskey and lack of sleep, Aric climbed to his feet and rubbed his temples. His wolf had not only awakened but resumed howling. “Morning,” he said as he sighed, and shuffled to the bathroom.
It would be a long day if he didn’t find Divina. It would be a long life if she continued to reject him. He couldn’t let that happen. As he made his way to the sink to brush his teeth and splash some water on his face, he vowed to woo the female, to convince her to be by his side, no matter what it took.
It wasn’t five minutes, as Aric moved slower than he’d like. However, he got to Zeke’s double-wide trailer shortly after the call.
The pack territory sprawled out from the alpha lodge in the center. Pack members who opted to live outside the lodge mostly resided in modular or mobile homes, though a few built small cabins. Zeke’s was pale blue and white, with a rickety old wooden porch.
Aric lifted his fist to knock with one hand and ran the other through his shoulder-length mess of wavy brown hair. He probably should have brushed it. He definitely should have washed it. Functioning while the wolf bellowed within him was hard.
Bruce yanked open the door, red-faced. “Do you think we have all day?” he barked.
“He won’t stop,” Aric explained as he walked past the man and entered the trailer. The smell of breakfast meats and coffee had him salivating. He should have eaten. Concentrating in his state was hard.
Bruce closed the door behind him. “What do you expect? Wolves don’t like parting with their mates,” he said, stating the obvious, stepping toward the kitchen.
Snorting, Aric bit back the retort: Tell me something I don’t know.
He took in the interior of the trailer. Zeke had done some updating. Aric’s trailer was run-down and reflective of the time it was built, whereas Zeke had added granite countertops, tile backsplashes, and some fancy cabinetry. Where Aric’s couch was, Zeke had a command center of sorts, with several monitors, one on top of another, spread out around a half-circle desk. Aric almost missed the young wolf before them, tapping away at a keyboard. “Hey, Zeke, thanks for doing this.”
Bruce appeared beside Aric and shoved a paper plate with some bacon, sausage, and pancakes on it into his hands. “Here, you look like shit.”
As if to respond for him, his stomach rumbled. He nodded in thanks and searched for a place to sit. He lumbered over with Bruce beside him.
“You’re pack. Isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for the pack,” Zeke said once Aric was seated, though the man didn’t emerge from behind his shield of computer screens.
“So, what do we need to kick this thing off?” Bruce asked as he rubbed his knees.
Zeke paused his typing and peered around the monitor briefly. “Basic information is always a good place to start. Name, description, where she’s from, what she’s driving. Stuff like that.” He ducked back behind the large screen, the tippity-tap of his typing began again, and the bank of screens opened to various search programs.
Aric cleared his throat after he swallowed. “Divina,” he stated and then paused. He’d never asked her last name. It didn’t seem important at the time. “She’s a fortune-teller for a carnival or something. Long black hair, blue eyes, really nice tanned skin.”
He closed his eyes, remembering every curve of her body. With his fingers tingling, he recalled the feel of her smooth skin against his own. The taste of her lips came to his tongue. The need for her sparked, and his jeans felt tighter. His body heated at the memory of their kisses, th
eir coupling, and the feel of her pressed against him.
His wolf whimpered. Pain trickled through his chest until, like a bomb, it blasted behind his sternum and a mushroom cloud of torment burst throughout his body. Aric almost dropped his plate, but somehow managed to place it on the table with shaking hands. He squeezed his eyes shut, his lungs struggling to take in air. He leaned forward with a hand over his chest, trying not to gasp.
Bruce rested a hand on his back. “Breathe,” he coaxed.
Zeke peered from behind the screen. “Someone needs to educate these females,” he hissed in disgust.
Aric rumbled a growl. He may be in pain, but he wasn’t about to let anyone talk badly about his mate. Unfortunately, in his current state, words were too difficult to form.
“She’s feeling it, too. Probably not as strong since she’s not a wolf, but she’s feeling it. Once they mated, they bonded, and the pain is from stretching the new bond too thin.” Bruce patted Aric’s shoulder.
“Whoever thought of mixing wolves with non-wolves is a sadist if you ask me,” Zeke said once his typing resumed. “It’s not right what humans do to our pack because they don’t know any better.”
“My. Fault,” Aric rasped between strangled breaths. “She. Didn’t. Know.” He should have done a better job explaining it to her. Hell, he should have asked her beforehand. He would have done a million things differently if he had the chance. Since he couldn’t go back in time, he had to focus on finding her, so he could make it up to her, so he could show her and teach her.
“She. Drives. An old. Pick. Up,” Aric wheezed.
“It will pass.” Bruce squeezed Aric’s shoulder. “Do your best to take in those breaths. Let me know if you’re dizzy. You might pass out.”
Pass out? Aric hadn’t thought of that. As if on cue, spots appeared before his eyes. Slipping from his seat, he fell to the floor on all fours.
“Well, there are a few Divinas in New Orleans, but none who fit the description and drive a pickup truck,” Zeke offered unhelpfully, ignoring Aric’s discomfort. “I’m trying the Louisiana Motor Vehicle database.”
Aric swallowed, attempting to summon the strength to speak again. “She’s. Not. From here,” he ground out. “Chicago.”
“Great!” Zeke exclaimed as his fingers danced across the keys and he rolled closer to a different monitor.
“You’re not dying,” Bruce said soothingly.
Aric turned to face Bruce’s knees. “Feels. Like it.”
Bruce nodded sagely. “The longer you’re apart, the more frequent and intense these attacks will be. My brother lost his mate. The wolf didn’t understand and tormented him until he ended his own life.”
Flinching at Bruce’s words, Aric swallowed before speaking. “Is that. Supposed. To be helpful?” He’d written mate ache off as superstition, a cautionary tale elders told younger wolves to prevent impulsive claimings. He’d never heard of it being fatal. He needed to protect Divina from his own stupidity.
Bruce grinned. “Your breathing is coming easier.”
Sitting back on his heels, Aric continued to run his knuckles over his sternum. His wolf paced within him but was silent. His breaths, although still not full, were less strained. He closed his eyes and nodded. “Thank you.”
Unsure if Bruce had intended his words to distract from the mate ache, Aric assumed gratitude was the appropriate response. Judging by the smug expression on Bruce’s face, he’d been right.
“A trick I picked up with Willie before it got too bad,” Bruce said as he popped a piece of pancake in his mouth, “is that distraction can ease things in the beginning. The sooner we find her, the better.”
Aric crawled back into his chair. He looked at his breakfast and lost his appetite. He wanted his mate. No food could fill that void.
A flicker on one of the screens drew his attention just as a face popped up. His eyes widened. Divina’s face stared back at him. The wall-to-wall monitors behind Zeke showed a tight-lipped, almost sulking Divina with her hair loose over her shoulders, looking into the camera in front of a pale blue background.
“That her?” Zeke asked. “Got it from the motor vehicle database.”
Aric lifted himself to his feet and walked around the desk to get closer to her image. The wolf panted within him, not understanding that it was only a picture. The beast urged him to touch her, grab her, take her home and never let her out of his sight.
“Your mate’s had quite a past. It seems her address was a foster home,” Zeke explained. “She has a trailer of some sort registered to her, as well as the pickup you mentioned.”
Aric only nodded.
“Sure picked a pretty one,” Bruce commented from behind him.
Aric’s wolf curled his lip at the elder male, despite his position in the pack. His wolf just wanted his mate.
“She has a few speeding tickets,” Zeke continued, seeming disinterested. “Something about doing business without a permit.” More tapping on the keys as the screens flashed information.
Their voices dulled as Aric stared at her face. It remained on one screen while the others listed various information about her. Her eyes, pale and blue, looked past him. He wanted to feel her gaze on him again. He tilted his head as he studied her mouth, her plump, beautiful lips. What he wouldn’t give to kiss them again.
“Gotcha!” Zeke proclaimed, waking Aric from his daydream.
Aric twisted to look at the smaller screen upon which Zeke focused. “What?”
“Seems she didn’t get all that far,” Zeke said. Click, click, tap-tap, click. Zeke’s screen flipped from window to window. “Some Podunk town in Mississippi. She got a warning or something two hours ago. It’s about an hour, maybe an hour and a half away. I got a buddy out there. He can do some sniffing.”
“What’s his name? I’ll meet him,” Aric eagerly responded. His gaze was drawn back to his mate’s photo on the wall of screens. “I don’t want to waste time.”
“Good idea,” Bruce interjected. “I’ll go with you.”
Aric turned with a furrowed brow. “Why?”
He didn’t mean for it to come across as a challenge, though his wolf meant it that way. His beast was on edge, and any male coming near his mate with their bond so weak was a threat.
Bruce lifted a brow, unaccustomed to having his suggestions questioned by those beneath him in the pack hierarchy. “It seems you need some lessons on how to romance a female,” he replied rather arrogantly.
“All right,” Zeke interrupted the two men. “Smitty’s on the lookout. Said he heard about a new girl at the diner this morning. He’ll keep an eye out for her. I’ll tell him you’re both on your way.”
Aric frowned. He wasn’t sure how he felt about having a chaperone, though what Bruce said was true. He hadn’t done so well at keeping Divina the first time around. Maybe he could use some advice from the pack elder.
He nodded.
Bruce did as well. “Text me Smitty’s number,” he instructed Zeke, then turned back to Aric. “You go take a shower. Can’t show up smelling like a distillery and looking haggard.”
Aric snorted. However, again, he couldn’t argue with his elder. He felt like death warmed over.
With one more glance at his mate’s photograph, he turned and exited the trailer. The moment her image was out of sight, the wolf resumed his howling.
CHAPTER 7
In Europe, in the old countries, the vampires held courts in enormous old and drafty castles. Castles that had been passed down through the generations. As the United States and its vampire population lacked such history, they held court at the closest US equivalent—an old plantation. With the expansive lands and large wraparound porches, these dwellings seemed ideal for privacy and day sleeping.
Silence accompanied Rori during the drive to the vampire court. The cell phone ringing and Divina’s recorded message were the only breaks to the quiet. Staring at her number, he tried it a handful of times with no success. He peered out the window and
watched as the world raced by, wondering where his love had gone.
He had never been to vampire court before. Officially, Rori held no station within the community. As a lowly vampire, his only obligation was to follow the rules passed down from those of a higher station, so there had been no need for him to visit it. For the most part, his encounters with those of the court had been minimal, cordial, and only when necessary. Even with the prophecy, Rori never saw the need to insert himself into the political realm. Perhaps that had been a mistake.
Slouching in the back of the car, he sighed. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he dropped his phone on the seat beside him. The prophecy and its empty promises had ruined Rori’s life enough. If he was honest with himself, he knew he had no business being emperor. That was why he never sought a station at court. Sure, he could fantasize about what it would all mean, could pretend he’d be able to exact some revenge on the Ember Witches for their meddling ways, but truth be told, he had no experience with leadership of any kind. He wouldn’t even know how to govern his race in this portion of the world. Let the other potentials squabble for it. He wanted his Divina.
After driving down a wide dirt lane canopied with thick-trunked oaks on either side, the car stopped. Rori righted himself and stuffed his phone in the pocket of his vest. The rear door of the car opened, and the dense, humid air of the Louisiana night smacked him in the face.
Stepping out of the town car, Rori re-buttoned his jacket and vest. He nodded to the driver before taking in the large black staircase leading to the upper-level porch of the white plantation house. The black wooden shutters were open for each pair of tall windows on either side of the grand door. The lower level appeared inaccessible from the front of the house, its blacked-out windows at ground level, hinting toward a basement.
Having arrived in a separate vehicle, Rori watched Jonas exit his black SUV and stroll toward him. Jonas sidled up to him while he took in the magnificent splendor that was the vampire court lit up at night. The two stood silently for a moment, observing the symmetrical building and the thick white columns flanking the steps as it glowed in the moonlight.
The Wolf of the Prophecy Page 5
