Fated: The Alpha's Unwanted Luna

Chapter 382: Missing Luna_Part 1

Sebastian stepped away from the hall with Matt, walking to a stretch of hallway where the music couldn’t reach them, and stopped at a balcony before turning to face his friend. "What is it?"

Matt came to stand before him with his hands in his pockets and began to report. "The shipment has arrived in Silver, but we unfortunately lost five men to the creature’s attacks."

Sebastian’s expression barely shifted. He had expected something like that to happen. Mermaids were stubborn and would never allow themselves to be taken by werewolves without making them bleed for it. But rather than lose the chance of breaking his curse and building a real future with his Luna, he would sacrifice ten thousand men before he gave up that opportunity, the one thing that had been holding his hope together, especially now that he had accepted there was no prophecy to search for.

Somehow along the way of life, Viola had become his everything, and Sebastian would sacrifice far more than men and sea creatures to have that easy, wonderful life with her.

"Is the mermaid in captivity?" He asked, because that was the only question that mattered to him right now.

"She is. I just got off a call with Ray and he told me he believes they captured one of the bloody royals, and if you don’t get back soon or if they stop giving her the sedative doses, it’s only a matter of time before she floods all of Silver. He said she’s a crazy one." Matt said.

Matt knew how important the mermaid was to his friend. He had worked alongside Sebastian in the search for her, but his entire family was in Silver, and the last thing he wanted was for them to drown.

That was exactly why this news couldn’t wait. The sedative they had been using to keep the mermaid subdued had been developed by their doctor, Gilbert, and he hadn’t produced enough bottles to keep the creature sedated until the next full moon. Without it, she would continue using her powers in the hope of escaping.

There were different kinds of mermaids, just as there were different ranks among werewolves. Alphas were the highest among shifters, and in the same way, royals were the highest of the sea, capable of controlling any form of water, not just what was near them. It was said no other creature had ever come close to a royal, because they never surfaced and every mermaid in existence would lay down their life to protect them.

How Sebastian’s men had caught this one was a mystery.

Sebastian could barely believe his luck. Because the heart of a royal mermaid didn’t just have the power to break the curse of his own generation, it could reach two generations ahead. His son, if he had one, would be born free of it.

"Is Ray certain about what he reported?" Sebastian asked.

"He sounded damn sure, especially after watching her kill his companions with her abilities. I think we need to cut the trip short and return to Silver. Gilbert will have to produce more sedatives to keep her stable until the next full moon, and we need to make sure—" Matt cut himself off mid-sentence and gave Sebastian a sharp, concerned look. "What’s wrong with you?"

Sebastian’s face had gone ashen, nearly the same color as his silver hair, and he was pressing a hand to his chest with a deep frown pulling at his brow.

"It’s not me. It’s my wife," he said, already turning away from Matt and heading back toward the hall.

"She’s been feeling down ever since she sang that song, and I think it’s getting worse. I need to get her out of that hall."

He was more determined than ever to take her back to their room to rest, whether she wanted to or not. He could feel that she clearly wasn’t well and was only trying to put on a brave face for the sake of his image, something he couldn’t have cared less about right now.

Sebastian put the mermaid situation aside and moved quickly back into the hall, but even before he reached their table, he could feel it. She wasn’t there. Zoe, Gilbert, Tess, and Kenny were all seated and talking and laughing around the long table, but the space where Viola should have been was empty. A dark scowl settled hard on his face as he approached.

They all turned to look at him. "Hermano, where is Vee?" Zoe asked, glancing behind him with a smile still on her face.

"I left her here." He said flatly, already turning and scanning the hall.

"Maybe she went to the restroom?" Zoe offered.

Sebastian didn’t wait to hear anything else. He went straight to the female restrooms and asked every she-wolf coming out whether they had seen his Luna, and every one of them shook their heads fearfully at the expression on his face. The feeling inside him was rising, pressing against his chest, and the more he moved through the hall without finding her, the darker it got. Where could she have gone in the space of a few minutes? Had something happened to her?

He tried to track her scent but without a mark between them it wasn’t clear enough, her scent had blended into the dozens of others filling the hall.

He stepped out through the back door and caught it immediately. Faint, but unmistakable. Daisies. He followed it into the garden where it grew stronger, and then it stopped. The feeling in his chest had gone quiet. He could no longer feel her, which meant she was either unconscious or had calmed herself down somehow.

He didn’t like the first option. His pace increased.

He almost stepped on the vomit in the grass before he caught himself and looked down, and he didn’t need to examine it to know it was hers. It carried her essence clearly enough, and the stone that had been sitting in his chest became something heavier in his heart.

’Matt. Send the men out. My wife is missing.’ He sent through the link after searching the entire garden and finding nothing but her faint lingering scent and no sign of her anywhere.

’Have you checked your room?’ Matt asked, already moving, trying to keep his voice steady because he could hear from Sebastian’s tone alone that he was close to the edge in a pack that wasn’t theirs.

’She wouldn’t have fucking gone back without me. I know my woman, she would wait to tell me even if she felt terrible. She would wait.’ His voice through the link was quiet in a way that was far more dangerous than shouting. ’Stop the ceremony if you have to and search the entire grounds. Every corner of it. If anything happens to her before I reach her, I will bring the entire Grim pack to the ground.’

Then he cut the link and kept moving to look for her.