Chapter 2: Missing

Nolan’s POV

Pain seared through me from the mate bond that had just been broken.

I looked around the bustling pack center, my eyes searching for the familiar figure of Elva. She was hard to miss.

Elva’s beauty was the type that wasn’t hard to miss and on more than one occasion, we have had some rogues attack us because of how attractive she was.

But that was the problem. Being that beautiful and weak was trouble-seeking. I had dreams of expanding the pack when I become Alpha. We could make as many rogues as possible submit to us and join the pack.

A man like me, destined to stand above others couldn’t have a Luna that was as weak as Elva. And so when the pain tore through me one more time, I clenched my fists tightly, determined to not let it show.

For the last two years, I have tried to overlook all my suspicions of Elva being human. There were many cases of late transformation. But with Elva, it was different. It didn’t feel like there was some wolf lying dormant in her.

She smelled no different from humans and even as mates, I had never felt the slightest tug from her wolf….

“You should lead the full moon celebrations tonight with Jake,” my father’s voice rang out from behind me, interrupting my thoughts about Elva and me.

“Okay, dad.” I was going to be announced as the new Alpha in less than two days, him asking me to do this was no surprise. And since Jake was going to be my Beta, it was just perfect.

“Where’s Elva? I haven’t seen her the whole day,” dad asks, his eyes sweeping through the pack grounds.

After three years, everyone in my family had long taken Elva as their own especially now that I was going to become Alpha and start my own family, they paid even more attention to her.

Breaking the news about our now broken mate bond was not going to be easy and a part of me wondered if they were still going to like her the same way if they found out what I had learned from her parents.

Knowing my father, the only reason that could make him accept that I broke off the mate bond would only be if I had proof that Elva was human.

Because he had ruled the pack for the last hundred years by making sure that omegas were not treated differently from others. 

“We were together not too long, she would be here soon,” I lied, well not necessarily a lie, because knowing Elva, she was going to end up coming out again.

I was going to have to talk to her before she talked to anyone else. That way, our mate bond doesn’t affect my Alpha position.

Jake and four others walked up to me and before long, all thoughts about Elva and the bond were pushed to the back of my mind.

The only thing that mattered now was my Alpha duties.

“Where’s Elva? I thought you both were together?” Jake asked after a while and my mood took a downturn from there.

Elva again!

Before I could reply, one of the guys sniggered, “Our pack’s perfect couple,”

“If I had a beauty like Elva as my mate, I would spend every day praying to the moon goddess,” Pete said, revealing his obvious interest in Elva whom we all knew about.

It had been a trophy at first, having a mate that all the other men wanted to be with. But that has long lost its appeal for me.

There was a lot going on in our world and strength was the only important currency at this time.

“What’s the point of being so beautiful and being a weakling,” I muttered, allowing my emotions to get the better of me.

The group became silent and I stood up, no longer in the mood for sitting around with them.

“What the fvck do you mean by calling my sister a weakling?” Jake asked, standing up and blocking my path.

“Don’t ask me a question you can’t refute, Jake.” I snarled back at him. 

Looking at the excited pack below us, I sighed. I couldn’t let him suspect anything before I talked to Elva.

“It’s hard to ignore that Elva hasn’t gotten her wolf at twenty, Jake. As her mate, do you know how worried I am that someday I would be unable to protect her?”

Jake’s stance softened a little when he heard my words and looked away. “She would get her wolf soon,” he argued.

“Hopefully. Father asked us to take control of the celebrations, let’s get it started.” 

I looked up into the night sky, confirming that the moon was at its strongest already.

When we climbed up the platform that had been built just for this, my eyes scanned the crowd one more time for Elva.

But even up until most members of the pack transformed and howled into the night sky, I didn’t see her familiar frail figure.

“Jake! We can’t find your sister,” Mrs. Williams cried out as she ran towards us.

She was in her human form and she looked around frantically.

“I have checked every part of the pack grounds, she isn’t here and she isn’t home too.” She added and Jake shot me a questioning look.

“She told me she wanted to go home before coming out for the celebrations,” I told him while my mind also ran through the possible places that she could be. I had been overwhelmed by the pain earlier and didn’t even know the direction she had taken from the forest. 

Before long, several pack members still in their human form gathered around. As an elder’s daughter and the future Luna, Elva was known by everyone in the pack. After splitting into two teams, I led my team toward the pack’s forest. 

Anytime a scent trail was picked, the wolves ahead would bark for us to check around. The wolves barked continuously while on the trail we passed earlier. 

“Nolan, her scent ends here, let’s try the other side of the pack,” someone suggested after some minutes of fruitless searching around the pack. 

Following her scent, I confirmed that Elva had indeed come back home but her scent was scattered around the house. “Search all the vicinity here too,” I instruct while I enter inside to check her room one more time. With the mate bond gone, finding her was a lot harder than before but after combing her room, I confirmed that she wasn’t there too. 

The chances that she had entered her room were slim as her scent there was a lot fainter than it was around their house. 

“What did you do to my sister!” Jake’s voice thundered as he barged through the door and lunged for me. I dodge but he had calculated my move accurately and managed to grab hold of me. 

My heart dropped as I saw the pure anger in Jake’s eyes. Elva must have told him. “It’s not what you think!” I rushed to explain.

Jake pulled me along outside and while it would be treacherous to behave like this if I was his Alpha, I wasn’t his Alpha yet. 

His hold is tight and it’s only when we get to the cliff at the edge of the pack borders that Jake lets go of my arms. My nose flared at Elva’s familiar scent but when I searched around, there was no Elva. Just the search team that had followed Jake.

“Tell us exactly what you did to my sister and why her scent ends at the cliff with one of her shoes floating in the river!” 

“What are you talking about?” I demanded as a bad premonition swept through my mind. I walked forward, stopping at the edge of the cliff until I could see the river that was right underneath it. 

There was a lone shoe swimming in the chaotic water. With Elva’s scent and her shoe, it was hard to not know what had happened here. 

“This is not me, Jake,” I said and raised my hands up. If Elva’s death was pinned on me, father would never let me become Alpha. This was even worse than breaking off the mate bond. 

I would lose my chance completely. Fear gripped my heart just thinking of that and I looked around at the solemn faces of everyone around me. 

“If I were here with her, surely, my scent would be here before I arrived. Jake, I have no idea what’s happening here.”

“Jake, I know you are angry. We can continue searching around the pack. Elva was still fine today,” john interfered and I let out a sigh of relief. 

Mary also spoke up, “your father is right. Nolan’s scent wasn’t here. We can only hope that she had lost her shoe here and walked back to somewhere in the pack.” 

Her voice was not as firm and she looked like she didn’t even believe herself. But her words did the magic as Jake’s shoulders slumped in defeat. 

Without another word to me, he walked away.