Page 103 of Marking Mia

I surge to my feet, tearing through the room with desperate energy. Her dresser drawers are partially emptied—clothes are missing, but not many. Her toiletries are no longerin the bathroom. She planned this. While I slept beside her, sated and unaware, she was calculating her escape.

Where would she go? And how long before another alpha scents her, tracks her, and tries to claim what’s mine?

The thought sends a surge of primal rage through me, my claws extending unbidden, tearing into my palms as I clench my fists. Blood drips onto the hardwood floor, the scent momentarily cutting through her fading sweetness.

“Kane?” Jace’s voice, thick with sleep, comes from the doorway. “What’s going on? I smell blood.”

I turn to face him, not bothering to hide the raw agony etched across my face. His eyes widen, his amber gaze sharpening as he takes in my state, the empty nest, and the desperate energy vibrating from my skin.

“Where’s Mia?” he asks immediately.

I can’t bring myself to say the words aloud. Instead, I retrieve my phone from where I dropped it, scrolling to her message and wordlessly holding it out to him. Jace reads quickly, his expression shifting from confusion to understanding to alarm.

“Fuck,” he breathes, looking up at me. “How long has she been gone?”

“Hours,” I manage to choke out. “Her scent is cold. She left in the night while we were sleeping.”

Jace runs a hand through his tousled hair, his usual playfulness completely absent. “We need to find her. She doesn’t understand the danger she’s in. An unclaimed pregnant omega wandering alone?—”

A growl tears from my throat, silencing him. “Mia’s not unclaimed. She carries my mark. Our marks.”

“You know what I mean,” Jace says, softer now. “Without our physical presence, other alphas will see her as vulnerable. Available.”

The words send another surge of panic through me, andmy wolf howls, demanding release, demanding we hunt now. Find her. Bring her back. Claim her again and again until she never thinks of leaving. I press the heels of my hands against my eyes, fighting for control.

“What happened?” Finn joins us, standing in the doorway behind Jace, already fully dressed and alert despite the early hour.

Jace hands him my phone silently. Finn reads the message, his expression unwavering, though I notice the slight tightening around his eyes and the almost imperceptible flaring of his nostrils.

“She overheard us yesterday,” Finn states, not asking a question but making a declaration. “About the pregnancy. About moving her.”

“Yes,” I confirm, the single word tasting like ash in my mouth.

“So she ran,” Finn continues, his tone maddeningly calm. “She made her own choice when she felt we had taken her choices away.”

“We need to find her,” I insist, stalking toward the door, toward action, toward anything that might ease the terrible hollow feeling in my chest. “Now. Before something happens to her.”

Finn’s hand on my chest stops me, his strength equal to mine despite his leaner frame. “And do what, Kane? Drag her back here against her will? Prove everything she said in that message, correct?”

His words land like blows, and I stagger back, my legs hitting the edge of the nest.

“I can’t just leave her out there,” I whisper, my voice breaking. “She’s carrying my pup. She’s my mate. My omega.”

“She was also raised as a human,” Finn reminds me, his green eyes steady on mine. “She doesn’t understand our kind.”

“She has no idea what she’s walking into!” I argue. “Otheralphas will scent her pregnancy and try to claim her. She doesn’t know how to defend herself in our world!”

“I’ll find her,” Jace interjects, already pulling on jeans and a t-shirt. “I can track where she went and make sure she’s safe without letting her know we’re watching.”

I nod gratefully, the crushing pressure in my chest easing slightly. “Yes. Just make sure she’s safe. Don’t approach her unless she’s in danger.”

“And if she is in danger?” Jace asks the question, hanging heavy in the air between us.

“Then you bring her back,” I command, the alpha authority clear in my voice. “By any means necessary.”

Finn’s lips thin into a hard line. “You would override her choice if you deemed it necessary.”

It’s not a question, but I answer anyway. “To keep her alive? To protect our pup? Yes, I would.”

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