Derek's POV
****3 days later.
The best warriors and trackers in our pack still haven't been able to find Tiana. Her scent just faded away. She doesn't have a wolf, so finding her shouldn't have been this hard. Like, where on earth could she possibly be? She couldn't have gone far... Could she?
“This is all because of you!” Ryder screamed inside my head. “How could you be so foolish to not understand the mate bond?”
For the past two days, Ryder hasn't spoken to me; he has been giving me the silent treatment, but I can't blame him. After a little while of ranting and cursing me, I blocked him from communicating with me. I miss Tiana and all, despite the way I treated her, but this stupid wolf would not shut up. Out of all the wolves in the world, this is the wolf the moon goddess decided to give me...
“I heard that,” he growled at me.
“Yeah, you think I don't know that?” I replied, and I started trying to provoke him in order to get his mind off our missing mate.
“But you shouldn't have let our mate go like that,” he cried out. “She was our gift from the goddess; we were supposed to love, cherish, and protect her, but we couldn't do any of that. And what pains me the most was that I warned you not to reject her, but you ignored my warnings.”
“I know Ryder, and I'm sorry for acting foolishly. I shouldn't have rejected her; I should have heeded your warnings, but I didn't, and I'm sorry for that.”
“Viktor, any update on your search? Does your group have any trace of her?” I asked for what seems like the umpteenth time today.
“No,” he sighed. He has been upset about not being able to find his sister. Without being told, I knew he was extremely angry with me because he no longer talked to me unless it was necessary.
“Ask Drew,” he said after a few minutes.
Drew is the head warrior of our pack. He was my personal guard and was with me throughout the four years when I was travelling around in search of my mate. He was promoted to the position of head warrior of our pack when we got back, but for some odd reason now, he preferred the shadows. He was always unavailable now, whether it was an important pack meeting, the pack runs, or even training periods.
Maybe I should look into his sudden change of behaviour... But I don't think I have that time right now. I need to find Tiana and accept her as my mate before Beta Ealy and my father returns from the peace treaty. If I don't find her, I know they are both going to rain fire and brimstone on me. Worst of all, I don't even know if the news had gotten to them.
“Drew, and update? Did you pick up any traces of her?”
“No, sir. There is nothing. It just seemed like she disappeared into thin air,” he replied.
No, that's not possible. The only supernatural beings with the power to mask their scent are... No, she can't be. She would've shown signs that she was one of them. The true Lycan descendants of the moon goddess are powerful beings. They were the first creation of the moon goddess and were the strongest supernatural creatures in the world.
They were created to rule the supernatural world, and all other supernatural beings were created to serve them. But after a series of events that weren't recorded in the supernatural history book, the moon goddess decided to wipe them off the face of the earth in order to avoid creating unbalanced power on Earth.
I can't help but think about Tiana. She was so kind, and despite the way people treated her, she never stopped being nice. Her eyes always had ways of finding the helpless. She was also able to work well even under stress and pressure, and she never complained.
Now it makes sense how she was able to do all these things, even though she didn't have a wolf. However, it still doesn't make sense because both her parents are werewolves, and I know werewolves can't give birth to Lycan's unless one of them is a Lycan.
“Alpha, we are returning. It's too late to search now. We can try again tomorrow,” Drew's voice cut through my wandering thoughts, snapping me back to reality. I sighed with displeasure. How could I just let her slip from my hands?
“I blame this on you!” Ryder seethed. His voice was laced with anger and worry. No doubt mine was too. I blocked him from ranting any further in my head. I knew it was all my fault. I didn't deny it. But I'm already feeling guilty.
And the consequence of my action was that I didn't have Tiana with me anymore. I was already being punished by the moon goddess for my foolishness and would probably be punished for the next few years. If it took me four years to find my fated mate, who knows how long it's going to take me to find my second chance mate?
I shook my head to free it from the depressing thoughts flowing through my mind.
“That's fine, you and your men can come back,, we will continue tomorrow” I replied.
“Don't worry. We'll find her. At least I hope we will. Drew soothed me.
“I'll stay back and continue searching,” Viktor called out. “I have sent the warriors with me back to the pack.”
“Ok,” I replied. “Let me know when you find anything.”