Page 52 of Pack Owned
“Back the fuck off,” Ryker pushes back as he steps into my space. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Kayla’s missing.” Dane strides toward us, every inch the military man, calm in the face of chaos. “We’ve torn this place apart. She’s not here. And neither was your ass.”
“Missing?” Ryker’s eyes narrow, the revelation hitting him like a punch. The volatile energy that always surrounds him shifts, becomes something darker, more dangerous.
“Since breakfast,” I spit out. “And the internet’s down. Can’t check the cameras. Your bed hasn’t been touched, so don’t fucking tell me you were here all night.”
“Shit.” Ryker rakes his fingers through his black hair. “I didn’t take her anywhere.”
“Then where the fuck is she, Ryker?” My voice is a growl. “She’s ours, damn it. If something’s happened to her...”
Dane steps between us. “We need to figure this out. Together. We’re her Alphas, and we have to find her.”
My blood thunders hot through my veins. Every instinct screams to hunt, to find, to claim. Kayla is the missing piece of our goddamn puzzle.
A metallic taste floods my mouth, and my pulse is hammering against my temples as if trying to bust through the bone.
“Where the fuck is our Omega?” The words claw out of me, jagged and raw.
“Listen,” Dane’s trying to hold us together, keep us from tearing at each other’s throats. His hand on my chest feels like it weighs a ton, but it isn’t enough to ground me. Not now.
“Kayla,” I rasp, the name a shard of glass in my throat. A shudder rips through me, the primal part of my brain screaming that our Omega is missing, that she might be out there, alone, scared... or worse. I shove Dane’s hand away and stalk toward the house, needing to move, to do something, anything.
“Fuck.” The curse is a whisper torn from the depths of me. It’s more than worry; it’s a visceral dread that eats at my insides. She’s ours—mine—and the thought of her being anywhere but safe under my watch is a living fucking nightmare.
“Ryker, if you know anything—” I start, spinning on him with a snarl, ready to tear the truth from his lips.
“I don’t.” He cuts me off, his voice like gravel, just as torn up inside as I am. “I swear it.”
The sound of her laughter last night haunts me, her head thrown back so carefree, eyes glittering like the damned stars themselves. She trusted me enough to fall asleep next to me, her breaths soft and even. I watched over her, the silent guardian. The Alpha in me vowed to protect her at all costs.
“Then we find her. Now.” I’m already moving, every cell in my body ignited with purpose. “We track her down.” I’ll burn this fucking world to ashes before I let her slip through my fingers.
CHAPTER 16
RYKER
The very thought that those Nexus bastards might’ve snatched her right from under our noses sends a wave of fury through me. My fists clench so hard, my knuckles crack. My vision narrows, and I focus on the rage boiling inside.
Then an even worse scenario slams into me—another Alpha catching her scent, claiming what he has no goddamn right to. Bile burns the back of my throat.
“Fuck this. We’re wasting time here.”
Dane’s eyes meet mine, sharp with that soldier’s focus he never really sheds. “What do you suggest?”
“Split up. You take the outside. Look for tracks, anything.” My gaze shifts to Liam, his shoulders rigid like he’s prepared for shit to hit the fan. “Liam, you hit the security feeds, check for anything out of place.”
Dane heads to the open gate, peering at the bushes and road beyond.
“Ryker...” Liam trails off, but I’m already turning away, my mind a snarl of dark thoughts.
“Inside’s mine.” My declaration is final.
As I stalk through the mansion’s corridors, each room I check ratchets up the tension coiling inside me.
Where the hell could she be? The idea of her alone, possibly hurt or worse, claws at my gut.
“Kayla!” My throat feels like sandpaper, rough and raw. Each call unanswered stokes the fire of panic that I refuse to acknowledge.
