DARIUS' PO.V.
I was beyond furious at the way things played out. I should have known better than to take Leindra out again especially because of what happened the last time. I just wanted her to be happy. I wasn't thinking. I don't do much of that where Leindra is concerned and it cost me her. She was with Fate and I had no idea where all because I couldn't keep my fucking dick in my pants.
I let out a frustrated growl.
I remembered the exact moment Jared mind linked me and told me Faye's men were on their way to the restaurant. The only thought I had was to get Leindra to safety. Everything else revolved around her. I wanted her out of danger and I was willing to do anything, even throw myself in front of it to ensure that. I handed her over to Amaris hoping they would get out but she would have been safer with me- they both would have.
Ian was the one who noticed something was wrong. His eyes grew wide and he let out a roar of pain. It was nothing like what I had ever heard before and I knew something was wrong. He fought through the sea of men like a man possessed and he rushed over to the back of the restaurant. Amaris was bleeding on the floor and Leindra was nowhere to be found. Before she passed out, she told me that Faye had her.
We scoured the entire forest all night but there was no trace of both of them. We watched the CCTV footage and were able to see what happened. Leindra had sacrificed herself for my sister and it was my fault. I was torn between staying at the hospital with my sister and looking for Leindra but I chose the latter. Amaris had Ian. I didn't know what was going on with them but I knew there was something.
It had been twenty-four hours since she went missing and there was nothing to be heard of so far. I had tried to reach out to Faye but she wasn't interested in ransoms, she had gone radio silent. I had not been able to step into my room since Leindra went missing because it reminded me of waking up with her in my arms. I feared I would never be able to do that again.
The door to my office opened and my eyes narrowed. Everyone knew not to bother me unless there was some news on her. I saw Ian and for a split second, hope rose in my chest but he shook his head and it deflated like a balloon. I went back to the map on my desk expecting him to leave but instead, he made his way further inside and shut the door behind him.
"Get out, Ian," my voice was hoarse because I hadn't used it in a few days. "Unless you have something that you think can help me find her then I suggest you leave."
"You haven't slept and you haven't eaten. If you continue like this, you will break down. You are no use to Leindra if you aren't at your best."
"Would you eat and sleep if it was Amaris missing?" I asked and a foreign expression crossed his face.
"It is not the same?"
"Isn't it?" I crossed my arms over my chest as I turned to him. "It is only mates that I know of that can feel each other's pain. I may not speak but that does not mean I am a fool. Amaris is old enough to make her own decisions but she is still my sister and I know the way you look at her. I will ask again, would you eat and sleep if she was the one missing? You know what Faye is capable of."
"I wouldn't," he mumbled and I scoffed. "Darius, we are all worried about you. Amaris came back today and she is terrified to see you because she thinks you're going to yell at her for losing Leindra."
"Leindra's loss was no one's fault but mine," Ian opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off. "Relay that message to her and get out."
I went back to the map and he knew the conversation was over. I knew there was more he wanted to say but he sighed and walked out of the office. Once he left, I allowed the mask to fall and I ran my hands through my hair. There were things I hated about being Alpha and this was one of them. I could not afford to show weariness or fear in front of the others but that was all I could feel.
They all looked up to me to find out the next step but I was at a crossroads. I knew Faye wouldn't take her so far but I could not figure out where she could be. I was worried that I would be too late, I was worried that Faye would kill Leindra. I could not imagine what Leindra was going through and because she was a human, I had no idea.
If Leindra was a wolf, I would have felt her wolf through our bond but seeing as she was human, I relied on her human emotions and when she was too far, I couldn't feel them. The only way I would feel Leindra from the distance we were at would have been if she died and I was praying against that. I would rather deal with the quiet than the gut-wrenching pain that would come from feeling her death.
There was a knock at my door and I wanted to scream. Why couldn't everyone understand that I wanted to be left alone? It wasn't a hard request and it was certainly one that I knew they could adhere to.
"What is it?" I couldn't keep the bite out of my voice. When the door opened and I saw Amaris, I felt a pang of guilt for yelling at her. "How are you feeling Amaris? You should be in bed."
"Maybe." She shrugged as she made her way closer. The knife she was stabbed with was a silver knife so it delayed her healing process especially since the silver had gotten into her system before we arrived. "I needed to see you first. I needed to talk to you."
She looked hesitant as she made her way closer and I gestured for her to take a seat. I still didn't want to see anyone but I would never turn my sister away, especially not in her condition.
"Ian told me that you felt responsible for what happened to Leindra?"
"What is going on with you and Ian?" I asked changing the subject. "Whatever it is, you better be certain because I don't need my Beta slacking on his work in case whatever this is ends."
"This isn't about me and Ian, I can handle myself, you know that. This is about you and Leindra and I'm not letting you change the subject. You were not responsible for what happened. This is as much on all of us as it is on you."
"You aren't her mate, it isn't your job to protect her. It was mine and I failed. I thought I sighted Faye in the next town and I thought we were safe going out. I let my guard down and Leindra was taken for it."
Amaris scoffed. "You are such a self-righteous idiot. You cannot do everything on your own. Do you blame yourself for me getting hurt?"
"Of course, you are my responsibility Amaris. It doesn't matter how old you are, it was my job to watch over you."
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Amaris had never raised her voice at me before. She didn't need to because we always got along but this time, her cheeks were red and she slammed her hand down on the table with such force that the map shook. I raised a brow at her but she wasn't backing down.
"You did not stick that knife in my back- Faye did. You did not take Leindra- Faye did. Darius, I am sorry for everything that happened to you growing up. I am sorry you had to shoulder so much at a young age but you are not at fault for any of this. You did everything you could have done. It is not your fault that Leindra is gone."
I sighed and looked her square in the eye. "You can scream it until you are blue in the face but the truth is that I don't care. I know what I believe and you are allowed to believe otherwise but it does not change the truth. You can either sit there and yell or you can sit there and help me find out where Faye could have taken her. No one knows her better than the both of us and I have gone over this map over twenty times but I cannot figure out where she is."
She looked like she wanted to argue but she sighed and dragged her chair over to my side so we could ponder over the map together. Amaris would say I was the brave one but I always thought it was her. She was the middle child so she was often overlooked for Faye or me but she never held it against any of us. She was the best of us and she never seemed to see it.
We pored over the map together but nothing seemed to stand out to her just like I had complained. We stayed there for over an hour and still had nothing to show for it and I was even more frustrated than before we started.
"It makes no sense," Amaris complained. "Did you check where we grew up?"
"She wouldn't take Leindra that far but I did and there is no one there. I know Leindra
is someone within Lunarius, I just don't know where."
"It has to be a place that means so much to Faye. She never lived here so I don't know anywhere like that." She seemed lost in thought and her eyes widened in shock. "What if she took her to where he died?"
"He?" I asked with scrunched brows but Amaris waved me off.
"I think I might know where she is."