Chapter 137 – Missing

Natalie stepped out of Gavin’s truck and rushed toward Jacob as he was walking out of the abandoned building.

Tears were burning the brim of her eyes as she looked at him with anger and confusion before she asked him, “Where’s Cass?”

Jacob’s chest tightened as he stared at his mate’s best friend. He stayed quiet until he gathered his strength to tell her the truth. “Adrian took her.”

Natalie’s tears fell down her cheeks as her chest filled with anger and frustration. She lifted her hands, clenching them into fists before she started to punch Jacob. “You were supposed to save her,” she cried out.

Jacob looked away as he stood there, allowing Natalie to use him as a punching bag to release some of her grief. He was ashamed of himself for letting Adrian take his mate and not doing anything to stop him. But Adrian was threatening his pack, and as Alpha, he was forced to make a difficult decision.

“You were supposed to protect her,” she sobbed. Natalie stopped punching, buried her face into her hands, and cried.

Gavin stepped up behind his girl, turned him toward her, and held her in his arms to console her.

“I need her, Gavin. I can’t do any of this without her,” she confessed.

Gavin rubbed her back to try and calm her down.

Jacob was still staring at the warehouse when he said, “We have to get back to the pack. Adrian is threatening to hurt them.

Gavin’s heart raced when he heard his pack members were being threatened. He had been spending so much time with Natalie, building on their relationship. He had let his duties as Beta to the pack fall to the wayside.

He nodded his head as he brought his hands to Natalie’s arms, continuing to rub them and send her calming energy through their touch. Gavin pulled her gently away as he squared himself to her eye level and stared into her green eyes. “I need to go with Jacob to help protect the pack. Take my truck and head back to the cabin. I’ll be there once we are sure the pack is safe,” he assured her.

Natalie stayed quiet as she nodded her head. She understood and respected how important his role in the pack and his pack members were to him.

Gavin gave her a soft kiss and said softly, “We’ll get her back, I promise.”

Natalie gave him a small smile before turning toward his truck and making her way to the driver’s side of the vehicle. She got inside and started the engine but waited to leave until after Gavin and Jacob were gone.

Gavin moved closer as Jacob continued to stare at the abandoned building.

“Are you okay?” Gavin asked, his voice filled with concern for his best friend/ Alpha.

Jacob pinched the bridge of his nose, “What do you think?” He answered before shifting into his wolf and taking off toward his pack.

Gavin sucked in a breath before shifting into his wolf and following his Alpha closely behind him.

Natalie watched the two wolves run away through the dark night. She closed her eyes for a moment and prayed that everyone would make it out of this okay.

***

Cassidy woke up in a small bed. She lifted her hand to her head to stop it from spinning and throbbing, but it didn’t work. She blinked her eyes several times before she was able to regain focus and slowly lifted her head off of the pillow. She looked around the small room, taking in her surroundings. Nothing looked familiar to her, and she couldn’t remember how she had gotten to wherever she was. She pulled herself into a sitting position as she tried to think about the last thing she could remember, but she was having a hard time keeping her thoughts straight.

Cassidy panicked when she heard the door unlock and cowered into the corner of the bed as she lifted the blanket as a shield to protect her from whoever was coming into her room.

The door was pulled open, and Adrian stepped into the small room to see his new possession. “I see you’re finally awake,” he said to her as he pulled in a chair from outside the room and placed it next to the bed to sit in. A tray of food was brought in by one of his female members. She placed the tray down on the bedside table by the bed, bowed to her Alpha, and left the room.

“Why am I here?” she asked softly.

Adrian sucked in a breath and could still smell the drugs in her scent. He shook his head and sighed. “What can you remember?”

Cassidy blinked her eyes as she tried to get her thoughts clear. “You’re Adrian Santos, the man who is interested in buying my grandfather’s property.”

“Anything else?”

“Umm, my best friend and I came up for the holiday weekend to check the cabin out for the very first time."

Adrian lifted his brow at the girl; she was describing something that happened months ago.

“Do you know what day it is?” he asked.

Cassidy looked around the dull room. There was nothing decorative or anything that showed the day or time to help her. “All I remember is the holiday weekend. Where is Nat? I want to see my friend, where is she?” she said with her voice filled with panic.

Adrian smiled softly. “There, there, don’t panic. Everything will be just fine.”