Chapter 43

**Adam’s POV**

Two weeks.

It has been two weeks since I have held my mate, since I have felt the sparks he leaves on my skin, heard his laugh, smelled his fresh citrus and bergamot scent.

We have spent every day and night trying to get him back, it has been many fruitless raids on Dark Claws pack lands which is like a fucking ghost town and meetings with several different packs and Alphas looking for allies and any bit of information that they might possess.

The sun went down hours ago, I left early before it rose and am only now walking back into my home. I have always woken well into the morning if I didn't have an alarm set to take Luca to work or Althea to school. Now though I can barely fall asleep before I subconsciously reach out to grab Roman and when I find nothing on his side of the bed I wake feeling lonely with my mind racing as to what he is going through.

I hear the whir of the stand mixer and it draws me to the kitchen where I see her in the same place I’ve seen her everyday. Althea has been baking non-stop for the whole two weeks that Roman has been gone, only stopping to go to school and to hand out the many muffins, cupcakes, cookies and breads to the pack so they don’t fill up our entire kitchen.

“Althea, it’s late and you have school tomorrow, maybe we can close the bakery tonight?” I suggest, while reaching to turn off the stand mixer before she gives me a glare till I pull my hand back.

“Adam dont you dare ruin my pastry, it will be finished soon and then I can leave it to chill in the fridge overnight, now go boil the kettle” she instructs pulling two large trays of brownies out of the oven and as usual I follow her instructions filling our electric kettle and switching it on to boil.

As the Kettle starts bubbling my sister pulls out a cup and begins brewing a cup of french earl grey tea. It has become a ritual for us every night, she would make me a cup of it before I went to bed knowing that it was one of the few things that could soothe me.

The notes of bergamot in the tea almost give the illusion that Roman is near and I melt into the taste of it as I watch her wrap up a ball of dough in plastic wrap, placing it in the refrigerator. “I saw Luca today”

“How is he?” I have barely seen our brother since Roman was taken, he wasn’t coping well with the loss of his friend and has been staying at the pack house with Logan. I think he blames me for not protecting him and out of guilt I have left my little brother alone.

“He wants to talk to you, but I said you weren't home and he left after grabbing some clothes” my baby sister tries to hide the sadness in her voice as she keeps her back to me stacking up the dishwasher. Althea has matured so much over the past few years I need to remind myself she is still only fifteen and needs her big brothers.

Hopping down from the stool at the kitchen island I wrap my arms around her in a bear hug placing a soft kiss into her hair. “I’ll make time to see him tomorrow, and maybe he and Logan will stay for dinner?”

She looks up at me with a hopeful smile which tugs on my heart, I have been obsessing over getting Roman back every waking second since he disappeared that I have not really checked in with my siblings. I've left Logan to take care of my brother and let Ally throw herself into her baking. I feel like I’m failing as an older brother, but even just the thought of stopping for a few hours to have dinner with my family feels like time that should be spent looking for my mate.

Alpha Romeo and Luna Anne are truly devastated, also investing every spare minute into bringing their son home. The Luna has been organising meetings and alliances with neighbouring packs while the Alpha and I busy ourselves with forming attack strategies and training as many wolves into warriors as possible. Beta Jiang has also been a great help, organising search parties for Dark Claw’s hideout and wherever they are keeping my mate. All of our raids have been unsuccessful so far but I am holding out hope it’s only a matter of time.

During the past two weeks many of the pack have already gotten into the habit of referring to me as Alpha which doesn’t feel quite right without my little mate by my side taking on the titles together. I do not ask them not to call me Alpha though since right now I need to show that I am strong enough to lead and protect this pack. When I am alone though I feel like I'm not strong enough to bear that responsibility that comes with that name.

After laying in bed for hours restlessly with a racing mind and heavy heart I plan for the day ahead of me. As soon as the first rays of light flood through my curtain I crawl out of my bed and into the shower. I need to figure out a way to conquer my grief and focus it into getting Roman back.

First task of the day is to talk to Beta Jiang. He lost one of the most precious people in his life three years ago but was still able to be one of the strongest Beta’s this pack has ever seen. Hopefully he can offer me some guidance. So with a stolen container of the sweet treats Althea made, I knock on the door of his home hoping he is awake even though it is barely seven in the morning.

The door opens, revealing a very dishevelled Beta. Jiang is still wearing the clothes I saw him wearing yesterday with dark circles surrounding his brown eyes. A look of surprise flashes across his face as he recognises who is at his door. “Adam, what brings you here so early?”

“I was hoping for some advice, do you have a minute?” I ask hopefully but instead he narrows the opening of his front door looking behind it, furrowing his brow when he sees what I’m assuming is his living room.

“Maybe come back later, I need to clean up a little Adam” he tries to close the door on me but I’m in need of a lifeline right now. In desperation I push against him, opening the door enough for me to slip into his home.

“Please Beta, I’m not afraid of any mess, but I really could use your help right no-” The words get caught on my through when scattered all over his coffee table are various photos of his son Qiang. The photos however are all recent, the boy I haven’t seen in years has aged and is almost unrecognisable if not for his mothers eyes and the birthmark on his wrist. In the pile is the photo that we found at Dark Claw, the picture of my mate unconscious, his head being held up by a hand covered in that same red stain that can be spotted in most of these photos.

Qiang is alive and being held at Dark Claw, by the looks of the evidence in front of me, the boy is being used as a pawn to weasel information from his father. The scent of fear and panic emanating from our Beta clues me in to the fact that in a desperate plea to get Qiang back, he has betrayed our pack.

Of course we have never found anything on a search led by Jiang, he probably knows exactly where to take us so we don't endanger Qiang, but while protecting his son he has endangered our pack and my mate.

Red floods my vision and I have to fight the urge to shift and tear the man beside me to shreds. Wrapping my fingers around his neck I pin him to the wall and raise him so his feet dangle above the floor.

“TELL ME DARK CLAW IS HIDING ROMAN OR I WILL RIP YOUR THROAT OUT”