Chapter 9

David

The next morning as the sun filtered through the window, his eyes began to open. David instantly knew something was wrong. The bed beside him was completely empty. He reached out and the only body in the bed belonged to his brother. His hand searched around as he tried to convince himself he was imagining her absence. The only thing he found was her heart-shaped hair clip.

David sat up in a panic. His eyes frantically searched the room around him, but it was completely empty. He began to call for his guards frantically. Daniel sat up groggily.

The two dragon shifters who normally stood outside his door at night rushed into the room with their weapons drawn fully prepared to defend their king. One rushed to the king’s side while the other searched the room for the danger. When the soldier found nothing but an angry and confused Daniel, he fell back to king’s side.

“I’m sorry friends, I didn’t mean to alarm you. Did you see where the queen has gone?” Davis asked breathlessly. He hadn’t mean to startle his subjects.

“The queen?” the younger of the two guards asked. He looked stunned at first and then guilty.

“Yes, the queen, our mate.” He pointed between Daniel and himself. “I am looking for the small blonde that was in my bed last night.” He held up the small heart clip.

The two guards looked at him carefully like they thought they were being tested. They looked at each other with a panic expression and then back at David. Finally the older one cleared his throat and looked at the floor.

“Sir, I never saw a woman. I beg you for mercy, my lord. There was no one on duty when you arrived home from the ball, because we didn't know you were back in the castle. No one from the staff saw you enter. After midnight I began to worry so I checked your chambers. When I found you, you two were sleeping alone. We honestly never saw a woman.”

David let out a frustrated sigh. “I am not crazy. She was here. She’s a tiny thing with short blonde hair and green eyes. She’s absolutely stunning. She has our mark on her neck.” He turned and showed the two guards the golden and silver dragons on his neck.

“I don’t doubt your sanity, I honestly didn’t see a woman.” The guard pleaded.

David reached out and put his hand on the older man’s shoulder and his face softened. “We have been friends a long time Argus. If you say you didn’t see her, then I believe you. This is my fault.” He hung his head and growled in frustration.

“We will find her again, sir.” Argus said. “She couldn’t have gone far. She might have tried to find the kitchens or something and gotten lost. We will bring you any screaming blonde women we find.”

“She won’t likely be screaming. She’s the quietest woman I’ve ever seen, which will likely make her harder to find.” David said with a half-smile. “I’ll join the search myself.” He declared.

David and Daniel left his chamber and began to scour the castle and grounds. By lunch they had managed to cover a five-mile radius around the castle by foot and another ten by air. Stormy was nowhere to be found.

As more of his soldiers and subjects began to ask questions about his little mate, he realized he knew absolutely nothing about her. He couldn’t tell them what race she was, or what kingdom she hailed from. He didn’t know her surname or who her parents were. The best he could do was that she spoke with her hands, touch and expressions, she liked dragon riding and fruit was her favorite food.

By mid-afternoon David was frantic. He and Daniel had shifted into dragon form and flown back to the site of the party the night before. The werewolf hosts graciously met them as they landed back at the ballroom. Sadly they were of little help because they could find no record of a Stormy on the guest list and none of the serving staff could even recall seeing her. His flight back to the castle was much lonelier than his last one.

David was heartbroken at losing Stormy. His heart ached as he went over the night before in his head over and over again. She seemed so happy to be with him, he couldn’t imagine why she would have ran away. If she had planned to reject him or Daniel, she likely would have never have consented to be marked, as it bound them together forever. He felt nothing malicious or malcontented when he was with her. It just didn’t make sense.

He considered the possibility that she could have been taken against her will while they was sleeping. However, there was no sign of struggle. Getting past two sleeping dragons would have also proved to be a dangerous and arduous task. Not to mention it would have been almost impossible for her kidnappers to exit the castle without being seen dragging an unwilling woman. The only reason that they had gone unnoticed the night before, was that seeing the king slip around the castle at night was considered normal.

By nightfall, the king slunk to his bed completely downcast. Daniel has also dragged himself into his own chambers like the world was ending. David’s hand had rubbed over his mate mark reassuringly so many times through the day that the skin felt chaffed. He was heartbroken and worried about his little mate. He had only been with her a few hours but he already missed her. After what felt like forever of staring at the ceiling, He finally drifted off into a fitful sleep.

His dream of Stormy was different this time. It wasn’t just her face that he saw, but instead she was on what looked to be a large grassy field. Fireballs were being launched at her and the brunette from the party. They were hunkered behind a giant boulder and both of them were panting.

Stormy reached up and pressed her fingers to his mating mark and frowned. The brunette shook her head. “I know you miss them, but you have more important matters to focus on. You should never have let them mark you.” Stormy’s friend scolded.

Stormy shook her head and drew a heart in the air. She clutched her hand to her chest while her friend looked annoyed.

“Training now, love later,” the brunette snapped. She pointed at something up the field that David could not see. Stormy nodded and shot a bright red fireball out of her hand.

David was startled awake as the fireball flew towards the target. He sat up and gripped the side of the bed. He knew he had been dreaming, but part of him wondered if what he saw was real.